Pertemuan ke 8 Jenjang S1

Semester Genap Ujian Tengah Semester (UTS) SKS 2

Tahun Ajaran 2024 Psycholinguistics Kode -
Tgl 24/04/24 Waktu 11.30 – 12.30 (60 menit)

Name : Vesna Elfrida Panjaitan

Reg. Number : 2213121032

1. What is the target of Psycholinguistics’ experts’ research? and how about the research target
of formal linguistics?
Answer : Psycholinguistic experts are usually interested in understanding the mental processes
that occur in humans when using productive language and receptive language. For example,
about how humans hear and recognize, then understand the meaning of words or sentences,
after that, how humans produce words or sentences. Besides that, how children learn their first
language and adults learn a second or foreign language, then how disorders affect language
processing.
Meanwhile, research targets in formal linguistics focus more on the structures and rules in
language, without considering the underlying mental processes such as phonology,
morphology, syntax semantic, and pragmatics.

2. Suppose an expert of Psycholinguistics does a research in which he provides pairs of words,

like:
vase and base; sea and she; thin and tin
and provide some pictures that the words label or the words refer. The expert, then, pronounce
the words, asks the students to tick one picture that refers to the words pronounced.
Question: (a) What is the target of this expert’s research?

(b) What other knowledges should the expert apply in order to achieve his target?
Answer :
a) The expert’s research target is investigate the phenomenon of phonological similarity
effects in language processing. By providing pairs of phonologically similar words
(e.g., vase and base; sea and she; thin and tin) and asking participants to select the
appropriate picture based on the spoken word, the expert can see whether the sound
 similarity between the words makes us faster or slower in selecting the correct image.
That way, experts can find out how phonological similarities between words affect the
way we understand and process information.
b) First, they must understand how people process language, which falls under the field
of psycholinguistics. Then, they must know how to properly design experiments to
prevent bias and ensure reliable results. Additionally, they need insights from cognitive
psychology to understand how the mind perceives, remembers, and makes decisions.
Experts must also understand phonetics and phonology to help in understanding how
sounds affect word recognition. In addition, awareness of the semantic basis is
necessary to control for its potential impact on word comprehension. Finally, they need
to develop reliable assessment methods to effectively measure participant responses.

3. Suppose a Psycholinguistic expert does a research in which he provides text A and B, as shown
below:
A. A speaker said to his audiences: nowadays, you need to be critical in thinking because
we live in a disruptive technology era where you face very dynamic change which
causes a lot of problem that you should solve if you want to survive.
B. Teacher: Have you submitted your assignment Mary?
Mary : Yes sir.
Teacher: When did you submit it?
Question: (a) What is the target of this expert’s research?
(b) What other knowledges should the expert apply in order to achieve his target?
Answer :
a) The research goal of psycholinguists is to investigate how language is used and
understood based on personal pronouns used in different contexts or situations. By
providing two different texts (A and B), experts can analyze how individuals
understand the meaning of personal pronouns based on the context and role of the
speaker.
b) Experts must apply knowledge such as psycholinguistics, constructing the meaning of
personal pronouns, linguistics, and communication science. Psycholinguistics
provides insight into how language is produced, understood, and represented in the
mind, which is important for analyzing how individuals interpret given texts. Then, the
 meaning construction of personal pronouns helps experts learn how personal pronouns
affect the meaning of sentences. Meanwhile, Linguistics contributes principles for
analyzing linguistic structure, discourse, and semantics. And The last, communication
studies provides a framework for understanding how context, social roles, and
interactions influence language use and interpretation.

4. Read this sentence: She saw a man with binoculars.

Question: (a) what do you understand about this sentence?
(b) What makes you understand the sentence the way you do?
(c) Suppose you do a Psycholinguistic research and you make yourself as the
sample of the research, what conclusion will you draw?
Answer :
(a) This sentence describes a woman observing a man using binoculars or a woman observing
a man who is holding or using binoculars.

(b) First, I understand a sentence like this because in this sentence, “She” is the subject, “saw”
is a verb that indicates an action, “a man” is the direct object of the action, and “with
binoculars” is a prepositional phrase that describes how the woman observes the man.
The second, in this sentence I understand "with binoculars" is a prepositional phrase that
describes the appearance of the man carrying or using binoculars.

(c) If I conducted psycholinguistic research using myself as a sample, I might interestingly

conclude that individuals rely on their understanding of grammar and semantics to
interpret sentences, using cues such as word order, verb forms, and contextual information
to derive meaning.