Events 
| Lecture |
| Donnerstag, 12.11.2009 16:15 - 17:45 | |
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Pienie Zwitserlood (University of Münster) will give a talk on the neural correlates of vocabulary learning: Title: "Neural correlates of learning a novel vocabulary" Abstract: Language learning in adulthood becomes more and more of a necessity in in times of globalisation and increasing mobility. Concentrating on vocabulary, we investigated how novel words can be acquired with associative learning, and the cognitive and neural changes accompanying such learning. Associative learning mimics naturalistic learning situations. It constitutes a powerful training method in which to-be-learned novel words are coupled with existing concepts more frequently than word/concept combinations that should not be learned. We demonstrated that a large amount of new vocabulary can be learned with this method, and that once learned, the novel words display characteristics very similar to words from one’s native language. The fast and robust acquisiton of novel linguistic material holds for nouns and verbs, but is not suited to induce changes in the phonemic inventory of one’s native language – as we found out in an additional study. We validated word-learning success by means of behavioural responses and neurophysiological correlates from MEG. The component of interest is the N400m, the magnetoencephalographic counterpart of the N400, which is considered to be an index for semantic (in)congruencies and/ or the ease with which cues can access conceptual knowledge. As expected, novel words induced large M400 components before learning, and this amplitude was reduced after learning. Importantly, the N400 was reduced only when novel words and concepts matched. Depending on the type of linguistic material that had to be learned, different neural networks were involved in the integration of novel information into already existing lexical and semantic networks. I hope to see you all there. Colliquium "Language and Cognition" |
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| Contact | |
| contact-person: | Pia Knoeferle |
| E-mail: | This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |