The neural basis of lexicon and grammar in first and second language: the declarative/procedural model

2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Ullman
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Lexical Memory ◽  
Electrophysiological Studies ◽  
Neural Bases ◽  
Basal Ganglia Structures

Theoretical and empirical aspects of the neural bases of the mental lexicon and the mental grammar in first and second language (L1 and L2) are discussed. It is argued that in L1, the learning, representation, and processing of lexicon and grammar depend on two well-studied brain memory systems. According to the declarative/procedural model, lexical memory depends upon declarative memory, which is rooted in temporal lobe structures, and has been implicated in the learning and use of fact and event knowledge. Aspects of grammar are subserved by procedural memory, which is rooted in left frontal/basal-ganglia structures, and has been implicated in the acquisition and expression of motor and cognitive skills and habits. This view is supported by psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic evidence. In contrast, linguistic forms whose grammatical computation depends upon procedural memory in L1 are posited to be largely dependent upon declarative/lexical memory in L2. They may be either memorized or constructed by explicit rules learned in declarative memory. Thus in L2, such linguistic forms should be less dependent on procedural memory, and more dependent on declarative memory, than in L1. Moreover, this shift to declarative memory is expected to increase with increasing age of exposure to L2, and with less experience (practice) with the language, which is predicted to improve the learning of grammatical rules by procedural memory. A retrospective examination of lesion, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological studies investigating the neural bases of L2 is presented. It is argued that the data from these studies support the predictions of the declarative/procedural model.

Implications of the declarative/procedural model for improving second language learning: The role of memory enhancement techniques

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T Ullman ◽  
Jarrett T Lovelett
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Retrieval Practice ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Memory Enhancement

The declarative/procedural (DP) model posits that the learning, storage, and use of language critically depend on two learning and memory systems in the brain: declarative memory and procedural memory. Thus, on the basis of independent research on the memory systems, the model can generate specific and often novel predictions for language. Till now most such predictions and ensuing empirical work have been motivated by research on the neurocognition of the two memory systems. However, there is also a large literature on techniques that enhance learning and memory. The DP model provides a theoretical framework for predicting which techniques should extend to language learning, and in what circumstances they should apply. In order to lay the neurocognitive groundwork for these predictions, here we first summarize the neurocognitive fundamentals of the two memory systems and briefly lay out the resulting claims of the DP model for both first and second language. We then provide an overview of learning and memory enhancement techniques before focusing on two techniques – spaced repetition and retrieval practice – that have been linked to the memory systems. Next, we present specific predictions for how these techniques should enhance language learning, and review existing evidence, which suggests that they do indeed improve the learning of both first and second language. Finally, we discuss areas of future research and implications for second language pedagogy.

The role of declarative and procedural memory in disorders of language

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Ullman
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Memory Impairments ◽  
Fluent Aphasia ◽  
Basal Ganglia Structures

Language is often assumed to rely on domain-specific neurocognitive substrates. However, this human capacity in fact seems to crucially depend on general-purpose memory systems in the brain. Evidence suggests that lexical memory relies heavily on declarative memory, which is specialized for arbitrary associations and is rooted in temporal lobe structures. The mental grammar instead relies largely on procedural memory, a system that underlies rules and sequences, and is rooted in frontal/basal-ganglia structures. Developmental and adult-onset disorders such as Specific Language Impairment, autism, Tourette syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and non-fluent aphasia each seem to involve particular grammatical deficits and analogous non-linguistic procedural memory impairments, as well as abnormalities of procedural memory brain structures. Lexical and declarative memory remain relatively intact in these disorders, and may play compensatory roles. In contrast, Alzheimer’s disease, semantic dementia, fluent aphasia and amnesia each affect lexical and declarative memory, and involve abnormalities of declarative memory brain structures, while leaving grammar and procedural memory largely intact. Overall, the evidence suggests that declarative and procedural memory play critical roles in language disorders, as well as in language more generally.

Working, Declarative, and Procedural Memory in Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 4162-4178
Author(s):  
Emily Jackson ◽  
Suze Leitão ◽  
Mary Claessen ◽  
Mark Boyes
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Spatial

Purpose Previous research into the working, declarative, and procedural memory systems in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) has yielded inconsistent results. The purpose of this research was to profile these memory systems in children with DLD and their typically developing peers. Method One hundred four 5- to 8-year-old children participated in the study. Fifty had DLD, and 54 were typically developing. Aspects of the working memory system (verbal short-term memory, verbal working memory, and visual–spatial short-term memory) were assessed using a nonword repetition test and subtests from the Working Memory Test Battery for Children. Verbal and visual–spatial declarative memory were measured using the Children's Memory Scale, and an audiovisual serial reaction time task was used to evaluate procedural memory. Results The children with DLD demonstrated significant impairments in verbal short-term and working memory, visual–spatial short-term memory, verbal declarative memory, and procedural memory. However, verbal declarative memory and procedural memory were no longer impaired after controlling for working memory and nonverbal IQ. Declarative memory for visual–spatial information was unimpaired. Conclusions These findings indicate that children with DLD have deficits in the working memory system. While verbal declarative memory and procedural memory also appear to be impaired, these deficits could largely be accounted for by working memory skills. The results have implications for our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying language impairment in the DLD population; however, further investigation of the relationships between the memory systems is required using tasks that measure learning over long-term intervals. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13250180

scholarly journals Disruption of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Facilitates the Consolidation of Procedural Skills

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1158-1164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M. Galea ◽  
Neil B. Albert ◽  
Thomas Ditye ◽  
R. Chris Miall
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Left Dlpfc ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal

In explicit sequence learning tasks, an improvement in performance (skill) typically occurs after sleep—leading to the recent literature on sleep-dependent motor consolidation. Consolidation can also be facilitated during wakefulness if declarative knowledge for the sequence is reduced through a secondary cognitive task. Accordingly, declarative and procedural consolidation processes appear to mutually interact. Here we used TMS to test the hypothesis that functions in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) that support declarative memory formation indirectly reduce the formation of procedural representations. We hypothesize that disrupting the DLPFC immediately after sequence learning would degrade the retention or the consolidation of the sequence within the declarative memory system and thus facilitate consolidation within procedural memory systems, evident as wakeful off-line skill improvement. Inhibitory theta-burst TMS was applied to the left DLPFC (n = 10), to the right DLPFC (n = 10), or to an occipital cortical control site (n = 10) immediately after training on the serial reaction time task (SRTT). All groups were retested after eight daytime hours without sleep. TMS of either left or right DLPFC lead to skill improvements on the SRTT. Increase in skill was greater following right DLPFC stimulation than left DLPFC stimulation; there was no improvement in skill for the control group. Across all participants, free recall of the sequence was inversely related to the improvements in performance on the SRTT. These results support the hypothesis of interference between declarative and procedural consolidation processes and are discussed in the framework of the interactions between memory systems.

Procedural Learning and the Development and Stability of Character

1994 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 355-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Grigsby ◽  
George H. Hartlaub
Keyword(s):  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Procedural Learning ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Neurologically Intact ◽  
Over Time

This manuscript presents a neuropsychological model of the development and stability of human character. We define character as those things which people do routinely, automatically, and unconsciously—those which make people know-able and predictable. According to the model, the substrate of character is comprised of one's phenotypically based temperamental predispositions. This substrate is modified as a result of experience. Research has indicated the existence of multiple, relatively independent memory systems, and we are particularly interested in the distinction that has been made between declarative and procedural learning. Declarative memory involves recall of information and events, while procedural memory involves the learning of skills and other processes. In neurologically intact persons, these systems work in concert, yet they are relatively independent of one another. This model constrains the concept of character in a manner that allows researchers to address several issues, including (1) the manner in which character develops over time, (2) the mechanisms involved in the stability of character, and (3) the processes likely to be associated with character change.

Declarative and procedural memory as individual differences in second language acquisition

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
KARA MORGAN-SHORT ◽  
MANDY FARETTA-STUTENBERG ◽  
KATHERINE A. BRILL-SCHUETZ ◽  
HELEN CARPENTER ◽  
PATRICK C. M. WONG
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Procedural Learning ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Stages Of Development ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Syntactic Development

This study examined how individual differences in cognitive abilities account for variance in the attainment level of adult second language (L2) syntactic development. Participants completed assessments of declarative and procedural learning abilities. They subsequently learned an artificial L2 under implicit training conditions and received extended comprehension and production practice using the L2. Syntactic development was assessed at both early and late stages of acquisition. Results indicated positive relationships between declarative learning ability and syntactic development at early stages of acquisition and between procedural learning ability and development at later stages of acquisition. Individual differences in these memory abilities accounted for a large amount of variance at both stages of development. The findings are consistent with theoretical perspectives of L2 that posit different roles for these memory systems at different stages of development, and suggest that declarative and procedural memory learning abilities may predict L2 grammatical development, at least for implicitly trained learners.

scholarly journals Declarative and Procedural Memory as Individual Differences in Second Language Aptitude

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Buffington ◽  
Kara Morgan-Short
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Language Aptitude

Domain-general approaches to second language acquisition (SLA) have considered how individual differences in cognitive abilities contribute to foreign language aptitude. Here, we specifically consider the role of two, long-term, cognitive memory systems, i.e., declarative and procedural memory, as individual differences in SLA. In doing so, we define and review evidence for the long-term declarative and procedural memory systems, consider theories that address a role for declarative and procedural memory in L2 acquisition, discuss evidence in support of the claims that these theories make, and conclude with discussion of important directions and questions for future research on the role of declarative and procedural memory as individual differences in assessing L2 aptitude.

Inflectional morphology in a family with inherited specific language impairment

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL T. ULLMAN ◽  
MYRNA GOPNIK
Keyword(s):  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Memory System ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Word Forms

The production of regular and irregular past tense forms was investigated among the members of an English-speaking family with a hereditary disorder of language. Unlike the control subjects, the family members affected by the disorder failed to generate overregularizations (e.g., digged) or novel regular forms (plammed, crived), whereas they did produce novel irregularizations (crive–crove). They showed word frequency effects for regular past tense forms (looked) and had trouble producing regulars and irregulars (looked, dug). This pattern cannot be easily explained by deficits of articulation or of perceptual processing, by previous simulations of impairments to a single-mechanism system, or by the extended optional infinitive hypothesis. We argue that the pattern is consistent with a three-level explanation. First, we posit a grammatical deficit of rules or morphological paradigms. This may be caused by a dysfunction of a frontal/basal-ganglia “procedural memory” system previously implicated in the implicit learning and use of motor and cognitive skills. Second, in contexts requiring inflection in the normal adult grammar, the affected subjects appear to retrieve word forms as a function of their accessibility and conceptual appropriateness (“conceptual selection”). Their acquisition and use of these word forms may rely on a “declarative memory” system previously implicated in the explicit learning and use of facts and events. Third, a compensatory strategy may be at work. Some family members may have explicitly learned a strategy of adding suffix-like endings to forms retrieved by conceptual selection. The morphological errors of young normal children appear to be similar to those of the affected family members, who may have been left stranded with conceptual selection by a specific developmental arrest. The same underlying deficit may also explain the impaired subjects' difficulties with derivational morphology.

scholarly journals Contributions of declarative and procedural memory to accuracy and automatization during second language practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 639-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Pili-Moss ◽  
Katherine A. Brill-Schuetz ◽  
Mandy Faretta-Stutenberg ◽  
Kara Morgan-Short
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractExtending previous research that has examined the relationship between long-term memory and second language (L2) development with a primary focus on accuracy in L2 outcomes, the current study explores the relationship between declarative and procedural memory and accuracy and automatization during L2 practice. Adult English native speakers had learned an artificial language over two weeks (Morgan-Short, Faretta-Stutenberg, Brill-Schuetz, Carpenter & Wong, 2014), producing four sessions of practice data that had not been analyzed previously. Mixed-effects models analyses revealed that declarative memory was positively related to accuracy during comprehension practice. No other relationships were evidenced for accuracy. For automatization, measured by the coefficient of variation (Segalowitz, 2010), the model revealed a positive relationship with procedural memory that became stronger over practice for learners with higher declarative memory but weaker for learners with lower declarative memory. These results provide further insight into the role that long-term memory plays during L2 development.

Neural correlates of grammatical inflection in older native and second-language speakers

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
KRISTIN PREHN ◽  
BENEDIKT TAUD ◽  
JANA REIFEGERSTE ◽  
HARALD CLAHSEN ◽  
AGNES FLÖEL
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Imaging Data

Speaking a late-acquired second language (L2) involves increased cognitive demands, as has been shown mainly in young and middle-aged adults. To investigate grammatical inflection in older L2 speakers, we acquired behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging data, while L1 and L2 speakers performed a grammaticality judgment task. L2 speakers showed higher error rates than native speakers, specifically when incorrect forms had to be rejected. Poorer performance in L2 speakers was accompanied by increased activity in the medial superior frontal gyrus (SFG), indicating the additional recruitment of executive control mechanisms. In addition, post-hoc within-group comparisons of behavioral and neural correlates provide evidence for dual-mechanism models in older adults, suggesting that language processing involves both procedural and declarative memory systems. Moreover, we demonstrated that speaking an L2 requires more executive control and relies to a lesser extent on the procedural memory system than speaking one's own native language.

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