1. Words and Meanings How we understand words and what they mean 1 of 10
Lotte Meteyard and
Proffessor Gabriella Vigliocco
of University College London
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2. 2 of 10
Language
Language is one of the most unique things we do as humans, and it separates us from other animals.
It is thought we know upwards of 20,000 words and we use language all the time, usually without any effort at all.
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3. 3 of 10
Words
How do you know all these words and how do you know what they all mean?
We can only use all these words because we have them stored somehow in our brain.
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4. 4 of 10
Meanings
Each word means something. Each word refers to something in the world, or to something we have experienced.
For example…
“green” means this colour
“kitten” means one of these
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5. 5 of 10
Storing meaning
Our brain responds to and records these experiences. For example, a part of my brain is active when I see green
When we see, hear, touch, taste or smell something we have an experience of what that thing was like.
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6. Understanding meaning
6 of 10
Understanding meaning
When I write the word “green” you can imagine the colour, even if you don’t see it
We use words to label these experiences, like
colours and animals that we see. We use it to describe our experiences to other people, like eating a nice cake or going on holiday.
With words, I can make you imagine what I am thinking!
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7. 7 of 10
Simulating meaning
One idea is that we understand a word because our brains can simulate what the word means.
We do this by using the parts of our brains that are active when we actually experience the thing itself.
“green”
“green”
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8. 8 of 10
Simulating meaning
So each time I read, hear or say the word “green”, my brain simulates what it is like when I actually see green.
I understand language because I simulate what it means.
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9. 9 of 10
Taking part
This simulation should happen without us being aware of it, but by using experiments we can find out if it actually does happen!
If you would like to take part in an experiment to help us find out, please ask one of the scientists here at Live Science,
Thank you!
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10 of 10
Words and meanings
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