最新科研成果：大脑是如何造句的

最新科研成果：大脑是如何造句的(2009-04-23 20:03:38) 标签：杂谈  复杂的语法也许只依赖于
一个相当简单的记忆系统。

【1】造出一个语法正确的句子似乎离不开高级的认知技能，然而最近的一个研究似乎表明，我们充满创造力的语言能力所依托的系统并不像我们想象的那么复杂。该研究表明人类造句的能力可能基于过程性记忆，这个记忆系统与让狗记住“坐”这个命令的过程一样简单。
【1】Forming a grammatically correct sentence may seem to require advanced cognitive skills, but it turns out that our creative language capacity might rely on a less sophisticated system than is commonly thought. A recent study suggests that our ability to construct sentences may arise from procedural memory—the same simple memory system that lets our dogs learn to sit on command.

【2】加利福尼亚大学圣迭戈分校的Victor S. Ferreira介绍，过程性记忆与学习某种技巧有关，如游泳，而说明性记忆则用来存储知识和事件，如一个人的生日。为了确定哪一种记忆与造句有关，科学家们对这种两种记忆体系进行比较。Ferreira和他的团队发现了一种叫做“句法持续”的现象，即说话者倾向于使用其曾经用过或者听到过的句子的语法模式。
【2】Scientists distinguish between procedural memory, which is relevant for learning skills such as how to swim, and declarative memory, which stores knowledge, including facts and memories of events, such as one’s birthday, says Victor S. Ferreira of the University of California, San Diego. To find out which system is at work when we form sentences, Ferreira and his team exploited a phenomenon called syntactic persistence—speakers tend to use the same grammatical pattern they have used or heard in previous sentences.

【3】研究者测试了四个健康的人和四个失忆症患者。失忆症者的过程性记忆没有问题，他们可以通过反复练习学习到一些技能，然而，他们的说明性记忆能力已经损坏，所以他们记不住新的事情。首先，所有参与试验者重复他们听到的一个句子，然后给他们看一副与句子无关的图片，并要求描述，最后，再让所有人听与之前的句子在含义、语法结构上一样的句子，或者就是原句。
【3】The researchers tested four healthy individuals and four amnesic patients. The amnesiacs’ procedural memory was intact, meaning that they could learn skills with repetitive practice, but their declarative memory abilities were damaged, leaving them unable to memorize new facts. First, all participants heard and repeated a sentence. Then they saw an unrelated picture and had to describe it. Finally, participants heard another sentence that was either identical to the original sentence or subtly changed in its meaning or grammatical structure, or both.

【4】结果是，两组都表现出使用之前听到的句子的语法规则描述眼前图片的倾向。然而，失忆症患者并不记得他们曾见过这个句子。Ferreira说，这个现象说明了过程性记忆在造句这个过程中起了作用。除此之外，这个发现还更新了我们对过程性记忆本身的认识。此前认为，过程性记忆只与一些特殊的经历，或者是与发动机技术之类相关。这个新的发现充分说明过程性记忆还与抽象知识有关，证明其作用“比之前认为的更加强大”，Ferreira解释道。
【4】Both groups tended to use the grammatical rules of the prime sentence when describing the picture; amnesic patients, however, did not remember that they had seen the sentence before. The fact that they still used its syntactic structure is surprising because it suggests that the procedural memory system is responsible for putting grammatical sentences together, Ferreira says. He adds that the findings also shed light on our understanding of procedural memory itself, which was thought to be restricted to specific experiences and motor skills. This study shows it is also able to support abstract knowledge, making it “more powerful than previously thought,” he explains.