英语语言学Chapter-6-Language-Processing-in-Mind[精]

Chapter6LanguageProcessinginMindIntroductionChomsky’statementon“language”:Languageisamirrorofthemindinadeepandsignificantsense.Itisaproductofhumanintelligence,createdanewineachindividualbyoperationsthatliefarbeyondthereachofwillorconsciousness.(ReflectionsonLanguages,1975)Somedistinctions:PsycholinguisticsPsychologyoflanguagePsycholinguisticsPsychologyofcommunicationPsycholinguisticsPsycholinguisticsstudythestorage,comprehension,productionandacquisitionoflanguageinanymedium;whilepsychologyoflanguagedealswithmoregeneraltopicssuchastheextenttowhichlanguageshapesthought.Besidestherelationshipbetweenthoughtandlanguage,thelatteralsoincludesnon-verbalcommunicationsuchasgesturesandfacialexpressions.CognitivepsycholinguisticsExperimentalpsycholinguisticsItisconcernedaboveallwithmakinginferencesaboutthecontentofthehumanmind.Itissomewhatmoreconcernedwithempiricalmatters,suchasspeedofresponsetoaparticularword.MajorStrandsofPsycholinguisticResearch1.Languagecomprehension:howdopeopleusetheirknowledgeoflanguage,howdotheyunderstandwhattheyhearorread?2.Languageproduction:howdotheyproducemessagesthatotherscanunderstandinturn?3.LanguageAcquisition:howlanguageisrepresentedinthemindandhowlanguageisacquired?1.LanguagecomprehensionWordrecognitionLexicalambiguitySyntacticprocessingSemanticandsentencememoryBasicprocessesinreading1)FrequencyEffect:thereistheadditionaleasewithwhichawordisaccessedduetoitsmorefrequentusageinthelanguage.2)RecencyEffect:thereistheadditionaleasewithwhichawordisaccessedduetoitsrepeatedoccurrenceinthediscourseorcontext.3)Context:peoplerecognizeawordmorereadilywhentheprecedingwordsprovideanappropriatecontextforit.(relatedconcept:SemanticAssociationNetwork)SemanticAssociationNetworkItisamechanismthathasbeenproposedtoaccountforContextEffecttheoryintheprocessofwordrecognition.Thisnetworkrepresentstherelationshipsbetweenvarioussemanticallyrelatedwords.Wordrecognitionisthoughttobefasterwhenothermembersoftheassociationnetworkareprovidedinthediscourse.Itisobviousthatthemeaningofawordistiedtoourunderstandingandgeneralknowledgeoftheconcepttowhichitrefers.LexicalambiguityWhenpeopleareaskedtofinishasentence,theytakelongerwhenthefragmenttobefinishedcontainsanambiguouswordthanwhentheambiguouswordisreplacedbyanunambiguousterm:a.Aftertakingtherightturnattheintersection…b.Aftertakingtheleftturnattheintersection…LexicalambiguityFrequencyandcontexteffectsinlexicalambiguity:1)Ifoneofthemeaningsismuchmorefrequentthantheother,peopletendtoassumethatthewordhasmorefrequentmeaning.2)Semanticcontexteffectalsoplaysasignificantpartindecidingwhichmeaningisthemostappropriate.SyntacticprocessingAssumption1:onceawordhasbeenidentified,itisusedtoconstructasyntacticstructure,whichisbuiltassoonaspossibleratherthanwaitingtoseewhatthewholestringofwordsisbeforedecidingwhatstructureithas.Assumption2:peoplenormallyalreadyknowwhatthebeginningofthesentencemeansbeforetheyhearthewholething.SyntacticprocessingSyntacticambiguity:syntacticambiguityappearsduetotheambiguityofindividualwordsandtothedifferentpossiblewaysthatwordscanbefitintophrases.Thecopsawthespywiththebinoculars.Someambiguitiesareduetotheambiguouscategoryofsomeofthewordsinthesentence.Thedeserttrains….…mentobehardy…seldomrunontimeSyntacticprocessingGardenpath:somesentenceswouldbeinitiallyinterpretedwithadifferentstructuretheyactuallyhave.Suchsentencesarecalledasgardenpathsentences.Ittypicallytakesquitealongtimetofigureoutwhattheotherstructureisifthefirstchoiceturnsouttobeincorrect.Thehorseracedpastthebarnfell.SyntacticprocessingAssumptionsforsolvingsyntacticambiguity:1)Peopleconsiderallpossibilitiesanddecidewhichisthebest.2)Peopleusesomestrategytodecidewhichstructuretoconsiderfirst.(relatedtheory:Minimalattachmenttheory)SyntacticprocessingMinimalattachmenttheory:peopleinitiallyconstructthesimplest(orleastcomplex)syntacticstructurewheninterpretingthestructureofsentences.SemanticandsentencememoryDiscoveryaboutmemory:undercertainconditionsmemoryrepresentationsarenotsyntacticbutsemantic.Thesyntacticdetailsoflinguisticmaterialarenotusuallystoredforverylonganditisarepresentationofasentence’smeaningwhichasubjecthasavailableinhismemoryundernormalcircumstances.(Demonstration:P202)SemanticandsentencememoryAssimilationtheory:assimilationtheoryemphasizeontheimportanceofbackgroundknowledgeinnormalsituationswherewemightmemorizelinguisticmaterial.Thereisevidencetoindicatethat,forsomelevelsofmemoryrepresentation,thisbackgroundknowledgeconstitutesanecessarycondition,i.e.withouttheknowledgetheappropriaterepresentationcannotbesetup.BasicprocessesinreadingEyemovementTheperceptualspanTheimmediacyassumptionEyemovement(目光移动）:whenweread,oureyesactuallymakeaseriesofrapidmovementsknownas“saccades”,andbetweensaccadestherearefixationperiodslastingforapproximately250milliseconds.Apointtowardsthebeginningofawordisusuallyfixated,andthereisadistanceofapproximatelyeightlettersorspacesbetweensuccessivefixations.Theperceptualspan（感知区间）:itreferstotherangeoflettersfromwhichusefulinformationisextracted.Thep