Semantic processing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:39, 7 March 2020

Revision as of 09:36, 12 January 2023

Line 1:

{{short description|Mental process of relating a perceived word to other words of similar meaning}}

{{multiple issues|

{{essay-like|date=December 2015}}

{{unreferenced|date=December 2015}}

}}

In [[psycholinguistics]], '''Semanticsemantic processing''' is the stage of [[language processing]] that occurs after weone hearhears a [[word]] and encodeencodes its [[Semantics|meaning.]]: the Semanticmind processing causes us to relaterelates the word we just heard to other words with similar [[etymology|meanings]]. Once a word is perceived, it is placed in a context mentally that allows for a deeper processing. Therefore, semantic processing produces [[Multiple trace theory|memory tracestrace]]s that last longer than those produced by shallow processing, since shallow processing produces fragile memory traces that decay rapidly.

Semantic processing is the deepest level of processing and it requires the listener to think about the meaning of the cue. Studies on [[brain imaging]] have shown that, when semantic processing occurs, there is increased [[brain activity]] in the left [[prefrontal cortex|prefrontal regions]] of the brain that does not occur during different kinds of processing. One study used MRI to measure the brain activity of subjects while they made semantic decisions. The participants then took a memory test after a short period of time. When the subjects showed high confidence and correctly retained the information, the fMRI measured increased activity in the left prefrontal regions.