Greg Detre
Tuesday, 26 March, 2002
How has linguistic theory influenced models of on-line sentence
processing?
What does ambiguity tell us about the
sentence processing mechanism?
The grammatical knowledge investigated by linguists has little
relevance to language processing. Assess this claim with reference to the use
of cross-modal priming as an 'on-line' measure in sentence processing
experiments.
What have experiments on cross-modal priming revealed about the
structure of the language processing system?
What have studies of neurological patients told us about the
organisation of syntactic processes?
What can lesion studies tell us about
language processing? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the case study
approach?
What do we know about hemispheric specialisation for language?
How do listeners identify individual words in a continuous stream
of speech?
What do 'garden path' and 'centre-embedded' sentences tell us about
the human language system?
What have we learnt about language processes by studying sign
language?
Is language best characterised by productive regularities and
compositionality or by idiosyncratic exceptions, flexible pattern completion
and statistical tendencies?
What can be learn about language by studying sign language?
Why are there so many natural languages?
Does language processing rely on the use of symbolic rules?
Compare single-route and dual-route models of inflectional
morphology with particular references to languages other than English.
Do the 'empty categories' postulated by linguistics theory (such
as trace) play any role in language processing?
How is meaning represented? Does it depend on language?
To what extent are specific brain regions specialised for particular
language functions?
What can lesion studies tell us about
language processing? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the case study
approach?
Does the right hemisphere of a right-handed person have any language
abilities?
Is the mental lexicon an
informationally encapsulated cognitive module? Evaluate the experimental
evidence.
How is semantic knowledge represented?
What have studies of neurological patients told us about the
organisation of syntactic processes?
Has knowledge about brain organisation constrained theories of
visual and auditory word processing?
How is meaning represented? Does it depend on language?
What, if any, are the linguistic capacities of the right
hemisphere?
Compare and contrast two models of lexical access. What are the
strengths and weaknesses of each, and how well do they account for the data?
Is the mental lexicon an
informationally encapsulated cognitive module? Evaluate the experimental
evidence.
In order to explain subjects' performance on lexical decision
tasks we need to distinguish between *word recognition* and *lexical access*.
What does non-word reading reveal about the mental lexicon?
What is the importance of joint attention for lexical development?
In order to learn about the syntactic rules of their language,
children need to know what syntactic categories words belong to. But in order
to assign words to syntactic categories, children already need to know about
syntactic structure. What is the problem here and how could it be solved?
How is semantic knowledge represented?
Compare the interactive activation model of lexical access with at
least two other models.
Is there a 'mental lexicon'?
Contrast the accounts of repetition priming and of semantic
priming provided by at least three models of lexical processing.
How is meaning represented? Does it depend on language?
Describe and evaluate two accounts of how children acquire the past
tense in English.
What has the study of sign language
taught us about the nature and acquisition of language?
Is a vocabulary spurt during the second
year a linguistic universal? Discuss the implications for theories which
attempt to account for this phenomenon.
Does 'negative evidence' play a role in early language
acquisition?
In order to learn about the syntactic rules of their language,
children need to know what syntactic categories words belong to. But in order
to assign words to syntactic categories, children already need to know about syntactic
structure. What is the problem here and how could it be solved?
Most children show a spurt in vocabulary growth during the second
year of life. What drives this process?
Compare the
interactive activation model of lexical access with at least two other models.
Compare single-route and dual-route models of inflectional
morphology with particular references to languages other than English.
What methods have been used to determine whether animals possess the
capacity for language? What do the results suggest?
Can apes manipulate arbitrary symbols, learn logic or master
syntax?
What aspects of language can be acquired by non-human primates?
"The boundary wall between humans and apes has finally been
breached." (S Savage-Rumbaugh). Do you agree?
What has the study of sign language taught us about the nature and
acquisition of language?
What can be learn about language by studying sign language?
What have we learnt about language processes by studying sign language?
Why is coarticulation a problem in speech? How have different
theoretical approaches attempted to address it?
How do listeners identify individual words in a continuous stream
of speech?
How does the perception of continuous speech differ from the
perception of isolated words or syllables?
How can we explain the reception of invariant phonetic categories?
What is the relevance of categorical perception to speech
perception?
To what extent are reading processes constrained by the specific
orthography what we are reading?
Briefly explain deep dyslexia, surface dyslexia and phonological
dyslexia. What (if anything) do disorders of reading tell us about the nromal
operation fo the readin� system?
What is impaired in (a) phonological dyslexia and (b) deep
dyslexia? Do these impairments tell us anything about normal reading?
Briefly explain
deep dyslexia, surface dyslexia and phonological dyslexia. What (if anything)
do disorders of reading tell us about the nromal operation fo the readin� system?
What can lesion studies tell us about
language processing? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the case study
approach?
What have studies of neurological patients told us about the
organisation of syntactic processes?
What have experiments on cross-modal priming revealed about the
structure of the language processing system?
What have studies of neurological patients told us about the
organisation of syntactic processes?
What is impaired in (a) phonological dyslexia and (b) deep
dyslexia? Do these impairments tell us anything about normal reading?
Contrast the accounts of repetition priming and of semantic
priming provided by at least three models of lexical processing.
To what extent,
if any, would human thinking be impaired if we did not have language?
Is language best characterised by productive regularities and
compositionality or by idiosyncratic exceptions, flexible pattern completion
and statistical tendencies?
Has knowledge about brain organisation constrained theories of
visual and auditory word processing?
Does language processing rely on the use of symbolic rules?
What does the
McGurk Effect tell us about speech perception?
What is Baker's Paradox and why has it assumed such importance?
mental lexicon
neurophysiology of language
�������� hemispheric
specialisation
syntactic processing
�������� lesions +
experiments
sign language
animal language
some nn stuff
??? lang acquisition
ignore language + thought
1.���� Language and thought
2.���� Speech
perception/production
3.���� Language acquisition
device
4.���� Inflectional
morphology
5.���� Lexical processing
6.���� Animal language
7.���� Sentence processing
8.���� Hemispheric
specialisation