1 / 13

Understanding the Brain's Language Computation and Perception

Explore Hickok's perspective on the functional neuroanatomy of language, including ambiguous lexemes, categories in thinking, the motor theory of speech perception, and the dangers of binary thinking in neurolinguistics. Uncover the complexities of language processing in the brain.

mrush
Download Presentation

Understanding the Brain's Language Computation and Perception

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ling 411 – 21 The Functional Neuroanatomy of Language (Part I)

  2. Gregory Hickok (UC Irvine)

  3. Hickok: The Functional Neuroanatomy of Language http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B75DC-4WKTWYR-1-W&_cdi=13035&_user=963248&_pii=S1571064509000220&_origin=gateway&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F2009&_sk=999939996&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzz-zSkWA&md5=530582ee8ec8c2ab9c110448b9d5dffe&ie=/sdarticle.pdf

  4. Hickok’s “computation” • “… to think of human language as a computational system in the brain that computes a transform between thought (ideas, concepts, desires, etc.) on the one hand and an acoustic signal on the other” (122) • Surely he is using the term metaphorically (not literally) • Example: “we went to the bank at noon” • “could imply a financial transaction or riverside picnic” • Hickok doesn’t say anything about what the “computation” consists of – how it works • The important point is that there must be some process that “computes a transform between thought… and an acoustic signal…” • How it works is outside the scope of the article

  5. Ambiguous lexemes Meanings Lemma

  6. Polysemy: e.g., bank RIVER COUNTRYSIDE MONEY BUILDING Meanings bank

  7. “Computation” as broadcasting and integration Integration Broadcasting Lemma

  8. Category thinking in neurolinguistics • Hickok: phonological processes in spoken word recognition are supported by STG and STS – bilaterally • The dangerous* category: phonological processes • Underdifferentiation • Maybe there are different subsystems for different kinds of phonological elements • Known from previous findings: • Consonants in LH • Vowels and tones in RH • Heavily entrenched things can be bilateral *i.e., potentially misleading

  9. Thinking in Categories • Underdifferentiation • Members of same category treated alike • Unwarranted attribution of properties • Overdifferentiation • Members of different categories treated as altogether different • Really, they may share important properties • Us vs. them • Humans vs. animals

  10. Thinking in categories Example: Tomatoes Briggs & Calloway, Nutrition and Physical Fitness (1984): One medium-sized tomato contains 0.3 mg of zinc.

  11. Either-Or thinking in Neurolinguistics:The motor theory of speech perception • The argument: • Phonemes can’t be perceived as units (1) • Stop consonants: silence during the stop itself • But consonants can function as units in speech production • Therefore speech production mechanisms must be responsible for speech perception (2) • Fallacies and corrections: • (1): But demisyllables can be perceived • (2): Either-Or thinking! • Better: Motor structures contribute to perception

  12. Binary Thinking • Either-Or Thinking • The Yes-or-No Fallacy • Is there thought without language? • Do animals have consciousness? • The All-or-Nothing Fallacy • Chicken and Egg Questions • The Essence Fallacy

  13. end

More Related