📘 Overview

Welcome to Introduction to Psycholinguistics! This week, we begin by exploring what psycholinguistics is, what questions it asks, and how it connects to other fields. You’ll learn about what makes human language unique and how language relates to cognition, evolution, and communication.

We’ll also discuss myths about language, compare human and non-human communication systems, and learn how language may (or may not) shape the way we think.

🎯 Learning Goals

By the end of Week 1, you should be able to:

• Define psycholinguistics and identify its major areas of study.
• Describe the six core design features of human language.
• Distinguish between descriptive and prescriptive grammar with examples.
• Discuss the continuity vs. discontinuity debate in language evolution.
• Evaluate whether animals can “use language” as humans do.

📖 Required Reading

• Chapter 1 (pp. 1–31) from Introduction to Psycholinguistics: Understanding Language Science (2nd ed.) by Matthew Traxler.
  Link to Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Lecture Notes: An Introduction to Language Science

Key Threads: Language Characteristics, Grammar/Origins/Nonhuman Communication, Language & Thought, Processing System Preview

1. What is Psycholinguistics?

Psycholinguistics studies the mental and neural processes behind language use—how we know language, which cognitive skills support it, and how it differs from nonhuman communication.

Foundational Components

• Lexicon: Long-term memory for words (e.g., dog = sound /dɔɡ/ + meaning “four-legged pet”).
• Grammar: Mental rules for combining symbols to express meaning (e.g., The cat chased the mouse = structured to show “cat = agent, mouse = patient”).

Critical Distinction

• Descriptive Grammar: Rules speakers actually use (e.g., English adjective-noun order: red car).
• Prescriptive Grammar: Social “rules” (e.g., “don’t end sentences with prepositions”)—not the focus of psycholinguistics (we model mental grammar).

2. Language Characteristics (Design Features)

Core features that define human language (apply to spoken and signed languages):

3. Grammar, Language Origins, & Nonhuman Communication

A. Grammar: Descriptive vs. Prescriptive

• Descriptive: Mental rules for structure (e.g., English = adjective-noun; French = noun-adjective: vin rouge = “red wine”).
• Prescriptive: Social etiquette (e.g., “don’t split infinitives”)—not reflective of how speakers naturally use language.

B. Nonhuman Communication

Animals have meaningful signals but lack humanlike grammar:

Key Takeaway: Symbol use ≠ language. Human language requires productivity (new sentences) and rule-governed combination (grammar).

C. Language Origins: Continuity vs. Discontinuity

• Continuity (Gradual): Language evolved from animal communication (gestures, calls) + cultural learning (turn-taking, shared goals).
• Discontinuity (Leap): Language relies on unique human traits (e.g., recursion) or neural changes (descended larynx, fine motor control).
• Synthesis: Both biological (neural biases) and cultural (conventionalization) factors shaped language (e.g., Nicaraguan Sign Language, where children created grammar from limited input).

4. Language & Thought (Whorfian Hypotheses)

How language influences (but does not control) thought:

Takeaway: Language “nudges” cognition (e.g., counting systems affect exact number tasks) but does not rewire perception.

5. Preview: Language Processing System

A. Production (Meaning → Sound/Sign)

1. Conceptualization: Plan your message (e.g., “tell someone to pass the salt”).
2. Lemma Selection: Pick words with syntactic features (e.g., pass = verb, needs an object).
3. Grammatical Encoding: Build structure (e.g., You pass the salt).
4. Phonological Encoding: Retrieve sound forms (/pæs/, /ðə/, /sɔlt/) and plan speech movements.
5. Articulation: Speak/sign; movements overlap (coarticulation) for fluency.
6. Monitoring: Check for errors (e.g., “uh—I mean salt, not pepper”).

B. Comprehension (Sound/Sign → Meaning)

1. Perception: Turn continuous sound/sign into units (e.g., /pæs/ → pass).
2. Lexical Access: Activate word candidates (e.g., pass vs. past).
3. Parsing: Build structure incrementally (e.g., “The old man… ” → initially think old describes man).
4. Interpretation: Combine meanings + context (e.g., “pass the salt” = request, not “move past the salt”).
5. Discourse Integration: Link to prior conversation (e.g., “it” = salt from earlier).

Quick Review Questions

1. What makes language “generative”?
2. How do nonhuman communication systems differ from human language?
3. What’s the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammar?
4. Give an example of linguistic relativity.
5. What step in production involves picking a word’s syntactic features?

📚 Essential Terms (EN ⇄ 中文)

• Psycholinguistics 心理语言学 — mental processes in language use
• Semanticity 语义性, Arbitrariness 任意性, Discreteness 离散性
• Displacement 移位性, Duality of Patterning 双重结构性, Generativity 生成性
• Descriptive Grammar 描写语法 / Prescriptive Grammar 规定语法
• Recursion 递归 — embedding structures (clauses within clauses)

🔁 After Class (Review & Retrieval)

1. Worksheet — Week 1 Knowledge Check (design features; grammar types; recursion; ape studies).
2. Reflection (≤120 words) — What changed in your view of language today?
3. Optional enrichment
   • BBC: Talking gorilla? (Koko)
   • 60 Minutes: Koko the Gorilla Signs
   • Language Log: Pullum on the “Eskimo snow words” myth
   • Steven Pinker: Linguistics & the Brain (short talk)

🧪 In-Class Activity: Signals or Language? — A Design-Feature Audit

Topic: Grammar, Language Origins, & Nonhuman Communication
Goal: Decide whether real communicative systems count as language by applying Hockett-style design features and a simple grammar test (is there rule-governed combination beyond isolated signals?).

What you’ll do (≈25 min):

1. Form groups of 3. Grab one handout (below) and a pen.
2. For each short case vignette, check which features are present and argue Language? (Yes/No/Unclear).
3. Note one piece of evidence for or against grammar (rule-based combination, productivity, displacement).
4. Mark which origins view the case best supports: Continuity (gradual evolution) or Discontinuity (qualitative leap).
5. Be ready to defend one judgment to the class in 30 seconds.

🧩 Feature & Grammar Checklist (use for each case)

📝 Tip: “Grammar” here means systematic combination that yields new meanings (not just a memorized string or a request pattern).

🔍 Case Vignettes (audit 4–6 of these)

1. Vervet Alarm Calls
   Distinct calls for eagle, leopard, snake; listeners respond appropriately (look up / climb / scan ground). No evidence of combining calls to make more complex messages.

2. Bee Waggle Dance
   Dance encodes direction and distance to food relative to the sun. Stable signal → meaning mapping; limited arbitrariness and no productive syntax.

3. Songbird Repertoires
   Learned, patterned songs (often culturally transmitted). Rich sequences but little compositional meaning (combinations don’t yield novel propositions).

4. Dog “Chaser” (Toy Names)
   Retrieves hundreds of objects by arbitrary names; can exclude by a novel label. Strong lexical mapping; little evidence of grammar or displacement.

5. Bonobo “Kanzi” (Lexigrams + Spoken Commands)
   Understands many novel multi-step instructions; uses lexigrams spontaneously. Strong symbol use/comprehension; limited evidence of productive syntax/recursion.

6. Chimp “Nim” (Signs)
   Many signs, mostly requests; some two-sign frames (more X, give X). Debate: fixed habits vs. combinatorial rules; weak displacement.

7. Human Child (≈2;6)
   Uses displaced reference (“Daddy come tomorrow”), combines function words and inflections, extends patterns to novel sentences (overregularization = rule use).

8. Creole / New Sign Language Emergence
   Children conventionalize limited input (pidgin/homesign) into a system with word order, morphology, and increased productivity within a generation.

🧠 Quick Reference: The Six Features

• Semanticity: signals carry specific meanings.
• Arbitrariness: form–meaning links are conventional (not iconic).
• Discreteness: small contrastive units combine categorically.
• Displacement: talk about things not here/now.
• Duality of Patterning: meaningless parts → meaningful units → larger structures.
• Generativity: finite rules → unbounded new messages.

Language ≠ symbols alone. We expect grammar (rule-based combination), productivity, and often displacement.

🧩 Mini-FAQ

• Does onomatopoeia disprove arbitrariness? Not really—forms differ across languages and aren’t systematic.
• Is “wrong grammar” ungrammatical? Not necessarily. Descriptive grammar captures what speakers actually do, including dialects.
• If Pirahã lacks recursion, is recursion not universal? The debate is ongoing; treat claims cautiously and look at broader evidence.

Extra:

• Did you know there’s a talking gorilla? – BBC
• Koko the Gorilla Signs – 60 Minutes

🧭 Looking Ahead

Week 2–3: Speech Planning & Errors.
Bring one real slip of the tongue you notice during the week (yours or someone else’s)!