The Cognitive Basis of Immediate Sentence Recall - Essay Example

Deep Structure or Semantics: The Cognitive Basis of Immediate Sentence Recall The purpose of this experiment is to establish the syntactic priming of a hypothesis in the recall of a sentence for a generation of a new sentence. The subjects are asked to read sentences rapidly and asked to recall after an intervention task that is aimed at distracting them. The results show that the prime sentence was theoretically unrelated to the intended sentence, as well as, the syntax of the VP mismatched or controlled with respect to the target sentence. Notably, the experiment predicted that the immediate recall of a sentence entails restoration of the surface syntax. The use of the syntactic module is essential recalling a sentence; moreover, Introduction Arguably, semantic memory, which is the long term memory that provides reference to information without mention of place and time where learning occurred. This plays a critical role in the language recall and low people to communicate effectively (Baddeley, 1986). In essence, semantic memory allows the brain to store information on words and what the words symbolize. This is critical since it helps in recalling how the words were used and how it looks like. Notably, people use semantic memory in producing language thus, enabling people to communicate effectively (Branigan, 1995). Moreover, this helps in drawing knowledge that an individual possess on the subject. Simply, semantic language is the network of concepts, images, and words that enable an individual to make inferences. Essentially, this helps individuals in understanding the language, as well as, conduct basic functions of language. For instance, writing, reading, speaking and comprehending. It has to be restated that language plays a critical role in reasoning since t is a culmination of cognitive process. In other words, language serves as the medium of understanding the cognitive processes (Chomsky, 1965). Notably, language is valuable and complex aspect of cognition as it helps species with the ability to survive. Essentially, the basic role of language to individual is enabling communication through reading, understanding, writing, and speaking. Inherently, people would not be able to understand each other if language could not be spoken, written, or read (Potter, 1998). Essentially, language has been used in developing the society, through establishment of laws, homes, lifestyle, and culture. Semantic memory is essential in spoken language; notably, the first person hears the sound as process in the auditory system (Branigan, 1995). This process is known as the tilted perception, then the sounds triggers representation of the concepts. The representation of the matching conceptions in the semantic memory is known as the tilted pattern recognition (Chomsky, 1965). Notably, when an individual reads the words as written then, the semantic memory is functional. It can be said that semantic memory uses written language by using the word orthography; essentially, this is the arrangement and how words looks like. The arrangement of words or orthography is critical in the visual recognition or the direct access view. This means that words can be accessed easily using the written label. This is critical in accessing the appropriate representation of the semantic memory (Hitch, 1976). In other words, where direct access view is present, and then the phonological view or the indirect access of word recognition is present. Simply, word recognition happens through phonological representation of words before identification. For instance, when one hears word Lady Gaga, the visual representation is tattoos, yellow hair and weird outfit. Essentially, this process happens without an individual understanding the complexity of the process (Chomsky, 1965). Apparently, language is a powerful tool that helps in communication and enhancing daily activities such as reading, writing, speaking and understanding. Notably, many people find it difficult to remember more tat seven related words; however, they can remember a full sentence of more than 20 words. According to psychologist this difference is known as verbatim memory (Fedorenko, 2006). Essentially, this difference is essential in preservation of the surface sequence of a sentence in a phonological mode. Potter and Lombard assert that immediate recall in a sentence is regenerated from a representation of the meaning using recently activated words (Branigan, 1995). This hypothesis was reached at through an experiment where an individual read a sentence and is engaged in a distracting conversation, to lure him/her. When the individual is incidentally distracted they are asked to recall the statement that they made. In such circumstances, recalling sentences is accurate with an exception of plausible substitute to a sentence. This means that the lure intruded on meaningful percentages of trial, thus supporting the claim that surface representation of a sentence is unreliable (Branigan, 1995). Language ability is probably the most important skill for human beings to communicate and understand each other. We adapt information and store knowledge through language and transform into our own memory. It is important to find out the relationship between language and memory in order to maximize the efficiency of our communication. In general, we can use deeper structure, conceptual meaning of sentence, or surface structure, order in which words is presented within the sentence to communicate (Fedorenko et al, 2006). Hitch and Baddeley (1976) discussed the possibility of a centralized cognitive working memory system dedicated to verbal reasoning. With the existing assumption that people who have a more rapid reaction time have a greater ability to process sentences meaning. Though as Potter and Lombardi concludes, both semantic and syntactic knowledge of a sentence are required for the immediate recall of verbal memory, our goal is to extend Potter and Lombardi’s experiment proposition and find out the relationship between the immediate recall and the sentence complexity. Both Gibson and Rohde (2006) and Hitch and Baddeley (1976) contextualized our experiment in a cognitive framework and shows us that sematic and syntactic knowledge are the underlying mechanisms for sentence comprehension. The independent variable of our experiment is the syntactic complexity of the sentences, and the dependent variable is the accuracy of response to question. Therefore, the hypothesis is that the sentences with fewer transformations will result in subjects recalling better than those with more transformations, and will decrease subject’s reaction time (Chomsky, 1965). Reason is to discover the relationship between number transformations and reaction time. The other dependent variable is the response time for the subject to select the correct answer, therefore the hypothesis is the sentences with fewer transformations will prime subjects for content recall better than those with more transformations and with increase subjects accuracy (Chomsky, 1965). The present study was designed to investigate the sentence priming and complexity’s effect on people’s memory recall of the meaning of the sentence The participants in this experiment are twenty college students, who English is their first language; notably, they were divided into two groups. The result of this experiment shows that a sentence that can be recalled easily is prone to syntactic priming. This experiment shows that the conceptual representation of the meaning can be expressed by regeneration of a sentence using a normal sentence production technique (Potter, 1998). In addition, the results surmises that the lexical items of the sentence perceived have the probability of being chosen while regenerating a sentence. Moreover, syntax priming enhanced the likelihood of recalling a sentence correctly with the syntactic structure. Conclusion In sum, Language ability is a critical sill that has enables human beings t related to each other and develops lifestyle. In other words language helps in understating one another and issuing instructions. Apparently, human beings adapt information and store knowledge through language and transform into our own memory. Therefore, this research is essential in establishing the relationship between language and memory in order to maximize the efficiency of our communication. In general, we can use deeper structure, conceptual meaning of sentence, or surface structure, order in which words is presented within the sentence to communicate. This discussion examines researches on this topic and has established that there is a possibility of a centralized cognitive working memory system dedicated to verbal reasoning. Reference Baddeley, A. (1986). Working memory. Oxford: Clarendon. Branigan, H. P. (1995). Syntactic priming:Investigating the mental representation of language. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 24,, 489–506. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press. Fedorenko, E. E. (2006). "The Nature of Working Memory Capacity in Sentence Comprehension: Evidence against Domain-specific Working Memory Resources.". Journal of Memory and Language, 541-53. Print. Hitch, G. J. (1976). "Verbal Reasoning and Working Memory." . Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 28.4 , 603-21. Print. Potter, M. C. (1998). "Syntactic Priming in Immediate Recall of Sentences." . Journal of Memory and Language 38.3 , : 265-82. Print. Read More