Mysak’s or Anybody’s Model of Speech & Language

Mysak's or Anybody's Model of Speech & Language. The Receptor Unit of Mysak's Model is the same as the Transducers we have been discussing: Auditory, Visual, Tactile and Proprioceptive. ● ● ● We are discussing here, "Mysak's Model," or at least a modified version of it. Actually, it may have been simplified to the point where Mysak would prefer we didn't use his name, but it is shorter than "Hall's Hallucinatory Image," so we will stick with it. We are talking about Mysak's Model for two reasons. First, it is fairly representative of the models one finds in the literature. Hence, we would like to discuss it by correlating the terms he uses with the names of the processes we have been describing. For example, the first four boxes in Mysak's Model are the Receptor Unit, boxes 1-4. In our discussion, these were the Receptive Transducers: Perhaps the Visual, Auditory, Tactile and Kinesthetic. The Integrator Unit of Mysak's Model Represents the Process of Perception. ● ● ● ● The receptive transducers, you remember, process energy patterns from the environment by changing them into electro-chemical impulses in the nervous system. The next process after transduction, that we discussed, was Perception--the way the inflow of electro-chemical impulses are organized in the brain to achieve meaning. That process is represented in Mysak's Model by the Integrator Unit, boxes 1 and 2. But why are there two boxes here for this process? The second contributor to the process is our pool of past experiences. Learning plays a powerful role in how we organize incoming stimuli. ● Because each of us have had different experiences, it should not surprise us when we experience the same situation differently. The Storage Unit of Mysak's Model Represents the Process of Memory. ● ● ● The next box in Mysak's Model is Storage. This is the process of Memory, which we have discussed in terms of Concepts and Symbols. By all rights, this box should be ten times as large, because humans are masters at this skill. Our ability to develop and maintain concepts, symbols, recollections of past experiences and a plethora of motor patterns is unparalleled in the world of the living. What we shall see, when we discuss Memory later, is that like Language, Memory is a bundle of processes, including a number of them for forgetting. The Governor of Mysak's Model Represents the Process of Consciousness--bringing to mind an idea to be communicated. ● ● ● The Governor, in Mysak's Model, is the seat of Consciousness. What exactly that is has been the topic of intense discussion and speculation for ions by philosophers great and small. Descartes said, "Because I think, therefore I am!" This threatens my very existence, so I don't want to go into that too deeply. Our small concern with consciousness here, is the process of bringing to mind some idea which we wish to communicate. Language is a Process of going from an Unsymbolized Idea (Deep Structure) to a Symbolic Expression (Surface Structure). ● ● ● ● This idea, that we hold in consciousness, is an unsymbolized notion which we will call Deep Structure. How we take that notion and clothe it in symbols for the final expression (which we call Surface Structure) is the essence of the story of language. Transduction, perception and storage are all necessary for the development and use of language. But language development itself is the process of learning how to go from deep structure to surface structure, as we will explain later. However, our description will be a little more inclusive than Chomsky's definition). The Mixer holds the secret of most motor behaviors including Speech. ● ● The Mixer answers a riddle that many of us may have pondered in an idle moment--How do we talk? We do it effortlessly, and copiously (if you are a professor), and yet we have little awareness of the specific movements we make to do it. Indeed if we did, speech would cease, because the number of movements and the speed and precision required is almost beyond comprehension. It exceeds by far the finest of ballet routines. The Mixer is a neural Juke Box which holds records of all the motor behaviors we have learned throughout life. ● The Mixer, then, is a storage mechanism for all of the motor patterns (praxis) we have learned throughout our lives. Apraxia, you remember is a problem in retrieving motor behaviors. ● ● This includes, walking, eating, brushing our teeth, tying our shoe laces, dressing, playing a musical instrument, performing sports and, of course, speech. The Mixer is like the old fashioned juke box that brings up a record upon request. If we wish to do something or say something, the message is sent to the mixer which finds the proper motor patterns and sends this information to the transducers to be executed. The Effector Unit of Mysak's Model Represents the Expressive Transducer for the Auditory Modality (Speech). ● ● ● ● The EFFECTOR UNIT of Mysak's Model is the Speech Mechanism. It consists of three parts: The Motor, which is the muscle system that serves as the source of energy for speech (e.g., the Diaphragm and others); the Generator, which is a mechanism for creating the sound for speech (e,g the Larynx); and the... Modulator, which is a system of resonating air chambers that shape the air waves from the larynx to make them sound, among other things, human. The Channels are the routes in the environment for the propagation of the sound waves generated through transduction. ● ● ● The three boxes of the Effector Unit underscore the complexity of the Speech Mechanism, and the allocation of many body parts and functions to that process. Once the neural impulses are transduced into sound waves, they are propagated through the environment by two Channels to breach the gap between the speaker and the listener. But why are there two channels in Mysak's model? For the speaker only, as far as the sound waves are concerned, there are two channels of propagation. A Speaker Hears him/her self through two Channels: Air and Bone. ● Channel 1 is the air through which sound waves travel. Everyone hears those sounds including the speaker. Channel 2 (for the speaker only) are the bones of the skull through which his/her own speech sounds travel. ● ● That is why when we speak, we hear ourselves slightly differently than the rest of humanity. When we hear ourselves for the first time through only one channel (as through a playback from a tape recorder) it is typically amusing since we are not used to hearing ourselves sound that way. The Air and Bone Channels are used to Diagnose Different types of Hearing Loss. ● ● The two Channels have a medical significance also. Audiologists compare them to diagnose different types of hearing disorders. If the hearing thresholds in both channels are elevated, this is indicative of a Sensory Neural (Nerve) loss. But if the threshold in the Bone channel is better (lower) than the Air channel, a Conductive hearing loss is indicated. These types of hearing loss have different ramifications in terms of their impacts on speech and language, and their rehabilitation measures. The four Sensor boxes are the Receptive Transducers again, used to detect stimuli produced by the Expressive Transducer. ● ● The four Sensor boxes in Mysak's model are the Receptive Transducers again, but this time serving a different purpose. They are tuned to detect the stimuli that are emanating from the expressive transducer. That includes the sounds that are being produced, the sensations of touch from the tongue and lips, and the kinesthetic feedback from the jaw movements, to mention a few. The Comparator in Mysak's Model uses the Feedback from the Sensor Units to monitor the Expressive Transducer. ● ● The Comparator is the new function on the block, and the Second reason we are looking at Mysak's model. This is one important process we have not yet discussed. The name of the game is FEEDBACK. It is virtually impossible to learn or maintain any motor behavior without feedback. Before any movement ever actually takes place, there is a flurry of activity in the brain. Feedback from the Sensors is Compared to the Expectancies in the Comparator. ● ● ● ● ● Expectancies of what is to be accomplished by the movement is set up in the Comparator, which is probably a number of locations in the brain--such as the frontal lobe, the cerebellum, and the brainstem to mention a few. If the feedback from the Sensors does not match the expectancies, error messages are sent to the Mixer to correct the movement and to the Governor so that we are aware of the process. This process applies to all motor movements, whether pointing our toe, reaching for a spoon or making a sentence. The process is very rapid. In terms of speech, we hear speakers make mistakes all the time and correct them as they talk, in mid-sentence. So this is Mysak's or anybody's model. Ironically, most of these processes we have been describing are not strictly language! They support the development and use of language; and language could not exist without them naturally, but the "guts" of language is evident only in the Governor of Mysak's Model. Now I would like to return to the Governor and look at the processes of going from Deep Structureto Surface Structure--the true essence of language. .