Dictionary of terms, over the years
The following list of terms and definitions are from texts beginning with Potter in 1892 and ending with Singh and Kent in 2000. The aim of this dictionary is to show how terminology and concepts used in texts geared to speech-language pathologists have shifted over the years. The entries are listed in chronological order, from old to new. Some of the terms in the list are no longer in use in the United States. The references following the terms and definitions give the sources for the dictionary items.
Agnosia.
· Disturbance of recognition of objects, persons, or events in one's
environment so that they are not readily compared with previously observed
objects, persons, or events. (auditory agnosia = see dysacusis below) (Berry,
1969, p. 427).
· Originally Sigmund Freud used the term agnosia to mean loss of
perception. It is now applied to disorders whereby the patient cannot interpret
sensory information correctly even though the sense organs and the nerves
leading to the brain are operating normally. Thus in auditory agnosia the
patient can hear but he cannot interpret sounds (Gregory, 1987, p. 18).
· Impairment of sensory recognition of familiar items caused by damage
to sensory association areas or association pathways of the brain; often
named to denote the sensory system involved; for example, visual agnosia,
auditory agnosia (Singh & Kent, 2000, p.6).
· Loss of the ability to interpret sensory stimuli, such as sounds
or visual images (Danesi, 2000, p. 11).
Agrammatism.
· Ungrammatical speech which may consist of inability to utter words in their correct sequence, misuse of infinitives, omission of conjunction, or lack of grammatical inflections. Caused by brain lesions (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 220).
Agraphia.
· Loss or impairment of the function of language arising from morbid
conditions of the higher centers governing written language (Potter, 1882,
p. 31).
· The loss of the ability to write, which may or may not be connected
with alexia, the loss of the ability to comprehend the written or printed
word. It is thought to be caused by a liesion in the cerebral cortex or
by more generalized cerebral dysfunction (Gregory, 1987, p. 39).
· Loss of writing ability in the absence of abnormality of a limb
and usually associated with damage to brain language centers. Characterized
by spelling errors, reversals, impaired word order, and other manifestations
of faulty written language use, such as alexia and aphasia. Sometimes called
dysgraphia (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 6)
· Loss of the ability to write (Danesi, 2000, p. 11).
Alalia:
· Disorders of language (Potter, 1882).
· See alogia, below (Travis, 1931).
· Mutism, one type of dyslalia or speech disorder (Stinchfield,
1933).
· Literally, without speech. A general term for speech disorders
characterized by complete disability to articulate meaningful speech (Berry,
1969, p. 417).
Alexia (word-blindness).
· The inability to read the printed or written word, usually caused
by damage to the cerebral hemisphere (Gregory, 1987, p. 19).
· Impairment in reading the printed word; may be acquired or developmental.
Acquired alexia is a reading impairment that accompanies or is a part of
aphasia. Frequently called dyslexia and also known as word or text blindness
or visual aphasia (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 7).
Alogia.
· Inability to speak due to some psychical defect. Synonym:
alalia (Travis, 1931, p. xxiii).
· Lack of ability to articulate (Travis, 1931, p. xxiii).
· Inability to speak; lack of ideas. Cause may be defective intelligence, or a lesion in the nervous system (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 220).
Aphasia.
· Loss or impairment of the function of language arising from morbid
conditions of the higher centers governing spoken language (Potter, 1882,
p. 31)
· A mental disorder consisting essentially of an inability to use
articulated speech and to comprehend spoken words (Travis, 1931, p. xxiv).
· 1. Power of speech partially or completely lost; expression of language impaired. 2. Inability to use articulate speech and to comprehend spoken word. 3. Defect of loss of power of expression and comprehending spoken or written language. In all cases, apparatus of sound formation and external speech organs and organs of intellect intact. Caused by lesion of the brain (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 220).
· (adult) General language deficit that crosses all language modalities
(perception, speaking, reading, and writing) and may or may not be complicated
by such other sequalae of brain damage as impaired auditory, visual and
senaorimotor processes not associated with verbal disturbance (Berry, 1969,
p. 428).
· Loss or impairment of language ability because of brain damage.
Aphasic syndromes vary, depending on the site of the damage (Gleason, 1997,
p. 473).
· Impairment in the comprehension and production of language symbol
systems that results from fairly localized damage to the brain, especially
in right-handed persons. Usually accompanies focal areas of damage to the
left cerebral hemisphere. Affects reading, writing, speaking, understanding,
gestures, and other symbol systems used in communication (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 14).
· Total or partial loss of the power to use or understand words,
phrases or sentences, usually caused by disease or injury to one of the
brain's language centers (Danesi, 2000, p. 19).
Aphemia.
· Partial or complete loss of articulate speech (varying degrees of inability to find words for expression); defective articulation; disturbance of writing and genture language; perseveration of understanding and memory of words; intelligence intact. Caused by a disturbance of the motor center of speech (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 222).
· An extreme temporary form of dysphemia characterized by complete dumbness. The organs concerned with articulatin and with vocalization and their innervation remain intact, and there is no visible lesion in any part of the nervsous system. Aphemia is a symptom of certain psychoneuroses, more especially of hysteria (Robbins, 1963, p. 23)
· Obsolete term for aphasia (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 15).
Aphonia.
· Voicelessness (Travis, 1931, p.xxiv).
· 1. Loss of voice ranging from a degree of hoarseness to complete voicelessness. No approximation or tension of the vocal cords. 2. Voicelessness. Caused by paralysis of vocal cords, benign or malignant growth on the vocal cords, some injury or disease of the larynx, or hysteria (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 223)
· The absence of vocal fold vibration; this term commonly describes
people who have "lost their voice" after vocal fold injury. In
most cases, such patients have very poor vibration, rather than no vibration;
and they typically have a harsh, nearly whispered voice (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 15).
Apperception.
· Conscious experience (Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 179).
Apperceptive mass.
· According to Herbart, the cluster of interrelated
ideas of which we are conscious at any given moment (Hergenhahn, 2001, p.
179).
Apraxia.
· The loss of ability to perform skilled movements with any part
of the body in the absence of any actual paralysis in this part (Travis,
1931, p. xxiv).
· Sensorimotor disorder characterized by confused perception of the
sequential pattern of movements required for the act, or by inability to
carry out the movement patterns although perception of the sequence is adequate
(synonym: ideokinetic apraxia). (Berry, 1969, p. 428).
· The inability to make purposeful skilled movements (Gregory, 1987,
p. 34).
· Total or partial loss of the ability to carry out coordinated movements
or to manipulate objects, caused by an impairment of a motor or sensory
nature (Danesi, 2000, p. 20).
Articulation.
· The method by which voice-sounds are converted into the elements
of speech (Potter, 1882, p. 22).
· The enunciation of words and sentences (Travis, 1931, p. xxiv).
· Moving and positioning of the vocal organs in order to produce
speech sounds (Danesi, 2000, p. 27).
Associationism.
· The belief that the laws of association provide the
fundamental principles by which all mental phenomena can be explained (Hergenhahn,
2001, p. 153).
Ataxia.
· Lack of power to coordinate properly (Travis, 1931, p. xxiv).
· Marked loss of motor coordination and appearance of intention tremor
caused by lesions of cortex, brain stem, or cerebellum (Berry, 1969, p.
428).
Auditory discrimination.
· Act of meaningfully interpreting (or discriminating) sounds and
sound sequences employed in oral communication (synonym: auditory perception)
(Berry, 1969, p. 443).
· The process of hearing accurately the individual sounds of language-for
instance, the ability to hear the difference between sat and fat (Gleason,
1997, p. 474).
Autism.
· Child psychosis reflected in inability to identify or communicate
with others and with the environment; behavior is frequently bizarre, compulsive,
repetitive and nonpurposive (Berry, 1969. 429).
· A childhood disorder, probably neurological in origin, characterized
by stereotypic behavior, and a broad range of social, communicative and
intellectual deficiencies (Gleason, 1997, p. 474).
· A developmental disorder affecting communication and social skills;
characteristics may include delayed language, insistence on preservation
of sameness and stereotypies (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 23).
Aversion therapy.
· Applying, or showing, situations of objects which
frighten, or disturb, with gradually increasing nearness, or frequency of
presentation, as a way of alleviating phobias by gradually increasing familiarity
with the frightening object or situation.
bb. One who believes generally that the principles of learning can be used
to explain most behavior, and that observable events, rather than mental
activity are the proper objects of study (Gleason, 1997, p. 474).
Behaviorism.
· The central tenet of behaviorism is that thoughts, feelings, and
intentions, mental processes all, do not determine what we do. Our behavior
is the product of our conditioning. We are biological machines and do not
consciously act; rather we react to stimuli (Gregory, 1987, p. 71).
· A philosophical perspective on learning and behavior that emphasizes
observable behaviors and their effects (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 31).
· The school of psychology, founded by Watson, that insisted that
behavior be psychology's subject matter and that psychology's goal be the
prediction and control of behavior [Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 369].
Biological determinism.
· The type of determinism that stresses the
biochemical, genetic, pphysiological, or anatomical causes of behavior (Hergenhahn,
2001 p. 21) (see psychobiology below).
Bottom-up processing.
· A term taken from artificial intelligence to depict the direction
of processing. In bottom-up models, reading is conceptualized as dependent
on accurate decoding of the letter strings that make up words (Gleason,
1997, p. 474).
· Information processing that is data driven; properties of the data
are primary determinants of higher level representations and constructions
(Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 35)
Broca's aphasia. (Broca's area).
· Area of the left hemisphere in the frontal region. Damage to this
area results in aphasia characterized by difficulty in producing speech
(Gleason, 1997, p. 474).
· Aphasia characterized by loss of fluency and reduced paucity of
vocabulary, usually arising from lesion in Brodmann areas 44 and 45 of the
dominant cerebral hemisphere (Broca's area); characterized by good language
comprehension, but poor speaking ability; patients often have anomia (Singh
& Kent, 2000, p. 36).
Catalogia.
· A condition in which the individual repeats words and
sentences without reference to their meaning (Travis, 1931, p. xxiv) (see
echolalia).
Cerebral dominance.
· The concept that certain higher level brain functions, such as
language, music, art, or logical thought are more localized in one hemisphere
of the brain than the other. For speech, the left cerebral hemisphere is
typically dominant (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 43).
· Neuroscientific theory positing that the left hemisphere of the
brain is the dominant one controlling the higher mental functions, such
as language and reasoning. This idea came to be widely held late in the
19th century and in the first half of the 20th (Danesi, 200, p. 46).
Cluttering. (also called blocking or paraphrasia praeceps).
· Symptoms: extremely rapid speech tempo, a more or less undecided
articulation, occasional repetition of syllables, swallowing of words, syllables,
sounds and prolepsis as well as post positions (Froeschels, 1933, p. 213).
· A speech-language disorder characterized by rapid speech rate,
irregular speech rate, or both; a fluency disorder related to, but different
from, stuttering; may coexist with stuttering. Also defined as a fluency
disorder with rapid rate, indistinct articulation, and impaired language
formulation, possibly suggesting poor organization of thought with reduced
or absent awareness or concern about the problems. Certain elements of treatment
are common to stuttering and cluttering (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 47).
Communicative competence.
· Linguistic competence plus knowledge of the social rules for language
use. The speaker has phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic
knowledge, and the knowledge of pragmatics necessary to use language in
its social context (Gleason, 1997, p. 475).
· The ability of speakers to adjust their messages to effectively
influence their listeners. Also, proficient use of a language in everyday
conversations. This term accentuates being understood rather than being
"correct" in using language rules (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 51).
Communicative functions.
· The purposes for which language is used; for instance, even infants
use language to express rejection, requests, and comments (Gleason, 1997,
p. 475).
· Intentions exhibited by infants and toddlers as classified by M.
A. K. Halliday (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 51).
Conduction aphasia.
· An aphasic syndrome characterized by inability to repeat, typically
resulting from damage to the arcuate fasciculus (Gleason, 1997, p. 476).
· Aphasia often attributed to lesion of the arcuate fasciculus; characterized
by intact auditory comprehension, but poor repetition of verbal materials
(Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 52).
Decoding.
· In learning to read, the deciphering of the sounds and meanings
of letters, combinations of letters, whole words, and sentences of text;
conversion into intelligible form; recognizing and interpreting (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 62).
· The process of deciphering a sign or text in terms of a specific
code (Danesi, 2000, p. 73).
Deep structure.
· A component within Chomsky's government-binding theory that contains
the sentence structure rules and a language user's lexicon (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 62).
· Noam Chomksy's notion that sentences have an underlying level on
which their meaning can be interpreted (Danesi, 2000, p. 73).
Developmental apraxia.
· A child's lack of ability to plan or sequence
the motor movements of speech and resulting in the impaired production of
speech sounds; not attributable to muscle weakness or muscular neurological
impairment; sometimes called developmental verbal apraxia (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 65).
Determinism.
· The belief that everything that occurs does so because
of known or knowable causes, and that if these causes were known in advance,
and event could be predicted with complete accuracy. Also, if the causes
of an event were known, the event could be prevented by preventing its causes.
Thus, the knowledge of an event's causes allows the prediction and control
of the event (Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 21).
Developmental dysphasia.
· Congenital language disability in the absence
of obvious cognitive, perceptual or neurological deficits. A more current
term is specific language impairment (Gleason, 1997, p. 477).
Diagnosis.
· The determination of the nature of an organic or functional abnormality
(Travis, 1931, p. xxvi).
·Scientific identification of cause or reason for injury, impairment,
or disease based on patient signs and symptoms, laboratory analysis and
other tests, and a health history (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 66).
Dys-
· Prefix meaning bad, painful, with difficulty (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 69
Dysacusis.
· Impairment of auditory perception of speech resulting
not from a loss of acuity, but from dysfunction of choclea and/or auditory
circuits of CNS. Sometimes called auditory agnosia (Berry, 1969, p. 433).
Dysarthria.
· Defects of articulation due to lesions of the nervous system (Stinchfield,
1933, p. 24).
· Difficulty of articulation: labored hesitant, Jerky speech. Caused by a lesion in the nervous system (Ogilvie, 1942, p.227).
· Innervation disturbances of articulation due to trauma, inflammation, degeneration, or arrested development of the brain or to peripheral nerve lesions (Robbins, 1963, p. 41)
· A neurogenic speech disorder that results in weakness, slowness,
or incoordination of the muscles of respiration, phonation, articulation,
and resonation (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 69).
Dyslalia.
· Stuttering, difficult interrupted speech (Potter, 1882).
· Defect of articulation in certain consonant or vowel sounds; slurring and indistinctness in speech. Caused by defects of motor nerves of articulatory organs or by ataxia (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 227).
· Defective articulation without demonstrable lesions in the nervous
system and with or without abnormality in the peripheral speech mechanism
(Travis, 1931, p. xxvi).
· Functional and organic defects of articulation, more commonly called
lisping (Stinchfield, 1933, p. 25).
· Stammering-the absence or defective pronunciation of single sounds,
or the substitution of one sound for another (Froeschels, 1933, p. 123).
· Defective articulation of speech (Berry, 1969, p. 433).
· Old term for articulation disorder (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 69).
Dyslexia.
· Impairment of the ability to read silently or aloud in the absence of aphasia and independent of any speech defect (Robbins, 1963, p. 42).
· Neurological disorder characterized by visuomotor disturbances
in reading (Berry, 1969, p. 433).
· The term 'specific developmental dyslexia' is frequently used in
neurological, psychological, and educational literature to describe a severe
disability which reveals itself initially in difficulty in learning to read,
and subsequently by erratic spelling and deficits which affect written as
opposed to spoken language (Gregory, 1987, p. 205).
· Any one of a number of conditions that lead to a specific impairment
in learning to read. Dyslexias are typically linguistic processing problems,
rather than difficulties with perception (Gleason, 1997, p. 477).
· From the Greek for "difficulty with words or language,"
dyslexia is a disorder manifested by difficulty in learning to read despite
adequate intelligence and sociocultural opportunity; may include other language
processing problems (Singh & Kent, 2000, 69).
Dyslogia.
· Difficulty in the expression of ideas by speech due to
psychoses (Stinchfield, 1933, p. 25, Travis, 1931, p. xxvi).
· 1. Difficulty in expressing ideas. 2. Illogical or delusional speech. Caused by mental disorders (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 227).
· Defective enunciation and language, due to permanently arrested mental development (Robbins, 1963, p. 42.)
Dysphagia.
· Marked hoarseness; difficulty in swallowing. Caused by pulmonary tuberculosis of a lesion in the larynx (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 227).
· Difficulty in swallowing, often in conjunction with esophageal obstructive or motor disorders (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 70).
Dysphasia.
· Impairment of language, due to weakened mental imagery, through
disease, shock or injury (includes aphasias) (Stinchfield, 1933, p. 26).
· 1. Disturbance of syntax and sentence arrangement. Caused by brain injury or disease. 2. Stuttering and stammering (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 227).
· A grammatical deficit characterized by difficulty in using grammatical
morphemes, such as the forms of the past tense. Some researchers have claimed
that this disability is genetically determined (Gleason, 1997, p. 478).
Dysphemia.
· Variable disorders of speech due to psychoneuroses (includes
stuttering) (Stinchfield, 1933, p. 27; Travis, 1931, p. xxvi).
Dysphonia.
· Defects of voice. This includes all disorders of phonation due
to organic or functional disorders of vocal cords, or defective respiration
(Stinchfield, 1933, p. 27)
· Any defect of phonation (Berry, 1969, p. 433).
· Any impairment of voice or phonation (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 70).
Dysrhythmia.
· Abnormality of the rhythm of speech (Travis, 1931, p. xxvi).
· Defects of rhythm (other than stuttering). (Stinchfield, 1933,
p. 29).
Echolalia.
· Child merely echoes words or phrases with no understanding of their
meaning" (Stinchfield, 1920, p. 14).
· The meaningless repetition by the individual of words addressed
to him. Synonym: echophrasia (Travis, 1931, p. xxvi).
· Repetition of all or part of another's utterance at one's turn
in a conversation; common in children with autism (Gleason, 1997, p. 477).
· The meaningless repetition (usually unintended) of words or phrases
(parroted speech) made by others (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 73).
· Immediate or delayed, whole or partial repetition of previous utterances
of others with the same intonational pattern (Owens, 1999, p. 486).
Egocentric speech or language.
· Egocentric language. Early state in child's linguistic development
characterized by the initial inability to decenter, to shift the given cognitive
or mental perspective in social and other relationships in which language
plays a part (Berry, 1969, p. 437).
· Egocentric speech. Speech not adapted to listener needs, e.g.,
using complex language to young children, or using color terms to direct
the action of a blindfolded (or blind) listener (Gleason, 1997, p. 477).
Empiricism.
· The belief that the basis of all knowledge is experience
(especially sensory experience(Hergenhahn, 2001, p.22 & p. 153).
Encoding.
· Process of constructing, selecting, or composing a sign
or text in terms of a specific code (Danesi, 2000, p. 86).
Ethnography.
· Study and systematic recording of human cultures, with research
that is qualitative rather than quantitative (e.g., engages in fieldwork,
interviews, and observation), with communicative behaviors being a vital
aspect of such studies (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 78).
· Type of research conducted by living in a community and observing
what goes on (Danesi, 2000, p. 89).
Etiology.
· The study of theory of the causation of diseases and abnormalitites
(Travis, 1931, p. xxvii).
· Science and study of all factors leading to a disease/disorder
(Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 78).
Feedback.
· (1) The aspect of speech whereby one responds tactile-kinesthetically
and auditorially to his own speech. (2) Perceptual reaction of a person
to his own response, a process by which direct responses are controlled
and corrected (Berry, 1969, p. 434).
· A signal that is returned from the periphery to a central controller;
often used to increase stability in a system or a communication exchange
(Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 82).
· In information theory, the process of detecting signals or cues
issuing from the receiver of a message so that the performance or control
of the communication system can be maintained or improved (Danesi, 2000,
p. 92).
Field theory.
That branch of physics that studies how energy distributes
itself within physical systems. In some systems (such as the solar system),
energy can distribute itself freely. In other systems (such as an electrical
circuit) energy must pass through wires, condensers, reisitors, and so forth.
In either type of system, however, energy will always distribute itself
int the simplest, most symmetrical way possible under the circumstances.
According to the Gestaltists, the brain is a physical system whose activity
could be understood in terms of field theory (Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 428).
Figure-ground relationship.
· The most basic type of perception, consisting
of the division of the perceptual field into a figure (that which is attended
to) and a ground, which provides the background for the figure (Hergenhahn,
2001, p. 428).
Functional analysis.
· Skinner's approach to research that involves
studying the systematic relationship between behavioral and environmental
events. Such study focuses on the relationship between reinforcement contingencies
and response rate or response probability [Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 400].
Generative grammar.
· Attempt to define rules that can generate an nlimited number of acceptable sentences in a language; linked to transformational grammar, which tries to identify rules governing relations among sentence aspects (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 95).
· Analysis of language initiated in 1957 by Noam Chomsky in his book
Syntactic Structures, by which sentences are viewed as hierarchically organized
structures generated by rules that are said to make up the native speaker's
linguistic competence (Danesi, 2000, p. 99).
Global aphasia.
· Aphasia resulting from extensive brain damage; the patient has
poor comprehensiuon and little voluntary language (Gleason, 1997, p. 478).
· The most severe of aphasias; suggestive of severe impairment in
comprehension and use of language; a common occurrence in the beginning
hours and days of injury but not necessarily indicative of long-term impairment
(Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 97).
Idealists.
· Those who believe
that ultimate reality consists of ideas or perceptions and is therefore
not physical (Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 22).
Idioglossia
· Invented language characteristic of individuals of low
mentality. Synonym: idiolalia (Travis, 1931, p. xxviii).
· Distortion of sound so that the patient appears to speak his own invented language; substitution of unusual and inaccurate sounds for vowels and consonants; mutilation, substitution, and dropping of consonants and normal vowels; speech unintelligibel except to patient's own family. Caused by mental retardation or developmental retardation somewhere in the audito-motor area (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 231).
Idiopathic.
· Cause unknown (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 112).
Idiopathic language retardation.
· Delay in development of language
for which no physiological cause is known (Berry, 1969, p. 436).
Information processing psychology. The approach to studying cognition that
follows in the tradition of faculty psychology and methodological (mediational)
behaviorism and typically employs the computer as a model for human information
processing (Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 549).
Lal-, lala-, -lalia, -lalo.
· Prefixes and suffixes pertaining to speech, babbling, or speech disorder (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 126).
Lalling, lallation.
· Reiteration of a sound or syllable observed particularly
in infants and idiots (Travis, 1931, p. xxix).
· 1. A babbling, infantile form of speech. 2. substitution of one sound for another; caused by idiocy or imbecility, or by a persistence of childish habits. 3. A stage in acquiring speech (Ogilvie, 1942,p. 231).
Lalopathy.
· Any form of speech disorder (Travis, 1931, p. xxix).
Mental impairment.
· A state
of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant
impairment of intelligence and social functioning and is associated with
abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct (Gregroy, 1987,
p. 755).
Mental retardation.
· A cognitive deficit of varying etiology. Individuals with mental
retardation score two or more standard deviations below the mean on IQ tests,
with measurable IQs of 70 or less (Gleason, 1997, p. 480).
· Intellectual function below normal range (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 145).
Neobehaviorism.
· Agreed
with older forms of behaviorism that overt behavior should be psychology's
subject matter but disagreed that theoretical speculation concerning abstract
entities much be avoided. Such speculation was accepted provided that the
theoretical terms employed are operationally defined and led to testable
predictions about overt behavior (Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 400).
Neologism.
· Introduction of new words characteristic of the insane (Travis,
1931, p. xxx).
· New,made-up words, often not words in the language, as wheen a
Wernicke's aphasia patient refers to an ashtray as a "fremser"
(Gleason, 1997, p. 482).
· Novel word coined by an individual, but lacking shared meaning
a with listener (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 156).
Nominal aphasia.
· Inability to find the word or expression desired
(Travis, 1931, p. xxx).
Organismic.
· Pertaining to the correlation of activities of the body and
preservation of its unity (Travis, 1931, p. xxxi).
Paralalia:
· A failure in the action of certain muscles of articulation, due
to some mechanical or central obstacle, or to defects in the muscles themselves,
or to disturbed transmission of nervous impulses (Potter, 1882, p. 33).
· 1. Any speech disturbance. 2. Substitution of one sound for another. 3. Marked articulation alteration. 4. Words of one sense are substituted for appropriate words (Ogilvie, 1942, p. 235).
· Morbid alteration in articulation (Travis, 1931, p. xxxi).
Passive mind.
· A mind whose contents are determined by sensory experience.
It contains a few mechanistic principles that organize, store, and generalize
sensory experiences. The British empiricists and the French sensationalists
tended to postulate such a mind (Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 180).
Polylogia.
· Excessive loquacity. Synonym: Logorrhea (Travis, 1931,
p. xxxi).
Positivism.
· The contention that science should study onlhy that which
can be directly experienced. For Comte, that was publicly observed events
or overt behavior. For Mach, it was the sensations of the scientist (Hergenhahn,
2001, p. 154).
Pragmatics.
· Relations of signs to people who use them (Berry, 1969, p. 444).
· The rules for the use of language in social context, and in conversation,
or the study of these rules (Gleason, 1997, p. 483).
· Study of speech acts and the contexts in which they are performed,
along with the societal-dependent aspects of communicative interaction;
exploration of the rules of social interaction such as turn taking and topic
maintenance, as well as the accepted contexts for questioning and assigning
titles to conversational partners (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 182).
· The branch of linguistics concerned with how language is used in
social situations. The pragmatic study of language deals with who says what
to whom in specific situations (Danesi, 2000, p, 182).
Psychobiology.
· The attempt to explain psychological phenomena in
terms of their biological foundations (Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 567). (See biological
determinism, above.)
Pragmatism.
· A largely American philosophic tradition which stresses the purposive
nature of cognition and seeks in practical consequences the key to the meanings
of concepts or the correctness of belief (Gregory, 1987, p.631).
· A philosophical movement developed by Charles S. Peirce and William
James distinguished by the tenet that the validity of an idea or a proposition
lies in its observable practical consequences (Danesi, 2000, p. 182).
Psycholinguistics.
· A branch of linguistics concerned with such topics as
language acquisition by children, speech perception, aphasia, and others
that involve psychological aspects of language (Danesi, 2000, p. 187).
Rationalism.
· The philosophical belief that knowledge can be attained only by
engaging in some type of systematic mental activity (Hergenhahn, 2001, p.23).
· The philosophical position postulating an active mind that transforms
sensory information and is capable of understanding abstract principles
or concepts not attainable from sensory information alone (Hergenhahn, 2001,
p. 180).
Realism.
· The belief that abstract universals (essences) exist and
that empirical events are only manifestations of those universals (Hergenhahn,
2001, p. 81).
Scaffold.
· A supportive linguistic/communicative context supplied by mothers
and other adults to young children. (Gleason, 1997, p. 484.
· Format, cross reference. In Vygotskyian theory, adults are thought
to provide intellectual interaction that serves as a scaffold, or format,
that makes it possible for children to develop at a much faster rate than
they could without this helpful intervention (Gleason, 1997, p. 478).
· teaching or coaching building on a student's repertoire of knowledge
and understanding (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 202).
Script.
· Refers to a known scheme or structure of knowledge. A story's script,
therefore refers to our previous knowledge about the organization, plot,
characters, and so on (Gleason, 1997, p. 485).
· Basic sequential notion of familiar events (Owens, 1999, p. 487).
· A presumed mental representation of repeatedly occurring, sequenced
events, episodes, or personal experiences; used in teaching advanced language
skills including narrative skills; a description of baking cookies, or plan
for running a hot dog stand is each a script; there needs to be a beginning
and an end; actions people take or roles people play (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 204).
Script theory.
· A theory which posits that most of human discourse
unfolds in a highly formulaic, script-like manner. Formulaic knowledge is
thought to be stored in memory in the form of frames that are adapted to
fit with present reality (Danesi, 2000, p. 2000).
Semantic aphasia.
· Inability to comprehend the significance of words
and phrases as a whole (Travis, 1931, p. xxxii).
Shaping.
· A method of bringing about a desired behavior in an organism by
rewarding (reinforcing) successive approximations of the target behavior.
According to learning theorists, parents shape children's babbling into
words and sentences (Gleason, 1997, p. 486).
· Gradual modification of a behavior, with variations progressively
approximating a goal (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 207).
Social disinhibition.
· Inability to inhibit "acting out"
behaviors often seen with traumatic brain injury (Owens, 1999, p. 487).
Spasmophemia.
· Stuttering or stammering (Travis, 1931, p. xxxiii).
Specific language impairment (SLI).
· Delayed or deviant language development in a child who exhibits
no cognitive, neurological, or social impairment (Gleason, 1997, p. 486).
(See developmental dysphasia).
· Inability to use language to meet the requirements of most communication
environments that often has no known cause, with common known causes including
hearing impairment, traumatic brain injury, mental retardation, and other
neurological or cognitive functioning impairment (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 214).
Speech.
· The power of combining articulate sounds, so as to convey
ideas from one person to another (Potter, 1882, p. 25).
Speech act.
· View that an utterance can replace an actual physical
act or desire for some action (Danesi, 2000, p. 216).
Stuttering.
· The difficult, unrhythmical speech characterized by spasmodic contractions
of the entire oral mechanism and incoordiantion of the respiratory, laryngeal
and oral muscles" (Stinchfield, 1920, p. 15).
· A disturbance in the rhythm of speech; an intermittent blocking;
the convulsive repetition of a sound. Synonym: Stammering (Travis, 1931,
p. xxxiii).
· Lack of fluency in speech, characterized by prolonged or repeated
segments, often produced with extreme tension (Gleason, 1997, p. 486).
· Articulatory or phonatory problem that typically presents in childhood
and is characterized by anxiety about the efficacy of spoken communication,
along with forced, involuntary hesitation, duplication, and protraction
of sounds and syllables (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 221).
Syntactical aphasia.
· Characterized by faulty grammatical structure
of the phrase (Travis, 1931, p. xxxiii).
Text.
· Anything put together
with signs to represent or communication something (Danesi, 2000, p. 230).
Top-down processing.
· A term taken from artificial intelligence research to depict the
direction of processing. Top-Down (or concept-driven) indicates that processing
moves from the level of concepts downward to basic level data. Top-down
reading models conceptualize reading as involving the generation and testing
of hypotheses (Gleason, 1997, p. 487).
· Information processing that is knowledge, or concept, driven, with
higher level constraints guiding data processing, leading to data interpretation
consistent with the constraints (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 240).
Trachyphonia.
· Hoarseness of the voice (Travis, 1931, p. xxxiv).
· Roughness of voice (Ogilvie, 1942, p.243)
Vitalism.
· The belief that
life cannot be explained in terms of inanimate processes. For the vitalist,
life requires a force that is more than the material objects or inanimate
processes in which it manifests itself. For there to be life, there must
be a vital force present (Hergenhahn, 2001, p. 23).
Wernicke's aphasia.
· Aphasia characterized by fluent but relatively empty speech, poor
comprehension, and neologisms in severe cases (Gleason, 1997, p. 488).
· A type of aphasia named after the Polish neurologist who first
described its features (Karl Wernicke, 1848-1905); characterized by fluent
flow of jargon, but with little or no comprehension of the spoken word;
a severe fluent (sometimes nonsensical) aphasia (Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 260).
Whole language.
· A philosophical and theoretical approach to teaching language in
which classroom activities become language-based with meaning-driven reading
and writing (Owens, 1999, p. 487).
· Educational theory incorporating teaching strategies and experiences
to promote learning of reading, writing, speaking, and listening in natural
language situations. Instruction with a whole language approach is informal
and transactional, following a psychosociolinguistic approach. Also, an
amorphous cluster of ideas about language development in the classroom;
generally supports a holistic and integrated teaching of reading, writing,
spelling, and oracy (function matters rather than the form of language)
(Singh & Kent, 2000, p. 260).
Will.
· According to Wundt, that aspect of humans that allows them
to direct their attention anythwer they wish. Because of his emphasis on
will, Wundt's version of psychology was called voluntarism (Hergenhahn,
2001, 257).
Word-deafness.
· Inability to understand the meaning of spoken words.
Synonym: sensory aphasia (Travis, 1931, p. xxxiv).
Zone of proximal development.
· In Vygotskyian theory, the range of behaviors available to a child in the
helpful presence of a guiding adult (Gleason, 1997, p. 489).
References
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