A lot of different things factor into our perception of speech and language. For this post, I will be focusing on how each language has different rules for combining phonemes to create words, which is why it can be so difficult to pronounce words from unfamiliar languages. In addition, I will be focusing on how it is difficult to know where words begin and end when listening to native speakers and how visual information from the movement of the mouth when talking plays a role in what we hear.

I grew up speaking only English, but I picked up on Spanish later in life. By no means would I say I speak perfect Spanish, but I know enough to be able to handle myself in a Spanish speaking country. I can read Spanish, I can write in Spanish, I can speak Spanish (not perfectly with some of the more advanced grammatical concepts), and I can understand Spanish. However, I have always found the area that I struggled most to be understanding Spanish, specifically native Spanish speakers. Spanish and English have different rules for phonemes together because they are different languages. Since I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish, it was more difficult for me to understand these rules and is more difficult for me to understand native Spanish speakers. When native speakers rattle off sentences, I tend to get lost in what they are saying and find it difficult to pick up when one word ends and another begins. This could be because of the fact that I am not as familiar with the phonemic rules as native speakers would be and could also be a result of my lack of familiarity with different slang words and lingo. When native speakers slow down their speech for me, it is much easier to pick up on the different words they say, possibly because they are making an effort to annunciate and pronounce each word more clearly.

I also remember experiencing the effects of the role of visual information in processing speech first hand while taking different Spanish courses in school. We would have “listening” sections on exams where an audio recording was played and we had to answer questions about it based on what we heard. This was always the more difficult part of exams for me. The speakers didn’t speak too quickly, so I never understood why it was so difficult. Now I understand that it could be due to the lack of visual stimuli. I wasn’t able to watch the speaker’s mouth move while listening to them, so determining the context of what they were saying while being unable to see the mouth move made it much more difficult to grasp the conversation.

Have you ever listened to a song and been transported back into a certain time in your life? For me, every time I hear the song “Follow Me” by Uncle Kracker, I am transported back into my high school psychology classroom junior year. This song was incorporated in the lesson on classical conditioning. My teacher played the song over and over and slammed a textbook on the ground at the same spot in the song every time to demonstrate how he could condition us to flinch whenever we heard the song. Four or five years have passed since then, but I still remember the circumstances of this particular lesson. I remember I was sitting on the right side of the classroom, next to my friend Emily. I can still visualize my teacher walking around the classroom as the song was playing and can see him slamming the textbook down on the floor. I can remember exactly when I learned about classical conditioning and can remember the circumstances surrounding it.

This is an episodic memory for me because I can remember the event and the exact time that I encoded the memory of learning about classical conditioning. Typically over time, memories become semantic because we remember the facts and the knowledge but we no longer remember the exact time we learned the information. This does not occur for me because every time I hear the song or am reminded of classical conditioning, I participate in mental time travel; I go back to my high school psychology classroom on the day that I learned about classical conditioning.

In addition, this represents a topic that we discussed regarding recall of long-term memories. The song serves as a retrieval cue for the episodic memory of learning about classical conditioning. Long-term memories need a retrieval cue to be accessed and recalled. These cues can be anything that relates to the memory. In this case, it’s the song because every single time I hear it, I am immediately reminded of classical conditioning because it is brought back into my working memory.

In conclusion, the song, “Follow Me” by Uncle Kracker, relates to a couple of concepts recently discussed in class. First, it is an example of an episodic memory for me because it is a memory of an experience. While many memories eventually become semantic over time, meaning we remember the facts and no longer the circumstances, this memory has remained episodic for me because I still partake in mental time travel. This means that every time I hear the song, I am transported back into the exact moment in my junior year psychology classroom that I learned about classical conditioning. The song also serves as a retrieval cue for the long-term memory because it reminds me of classical conditioning and brings it back into working memory for me to recall it.

In Lesson 2, the structure of the brain and the functions of different parts were outlined as a part of the broader topic of cognitive neuroscience. Different parts of the brain have different functions, but they all work together to create perception. The hindbrain and the midbrain are in charge of things essential to survival such as heart rate and breathing. The cerebellum is important for balance and coordination. The cerebral cortex is important for many cognitive functions and is divided into different lobes which specialize in different things. The occipital lobe is important for receiving and processing visual information, the temporal lobes are important for audition, the parietal lobe receives sensory information such as touch and temperature, and the frontal lobe plays a role in decision making and fine motor control. This is a very simplified and general summary of the functions of each part of the brain. Each section of the brain is responsible for many different functions than I have listed, but for the purpose of this post I have provided just an outline.

A couple years ago, I saw firsthand how certain parts of the brain play a major role in different aspects of cognition. I have been involved in martial arts since I was seven years old, and a part of being a martial artist is knowing how to defend yourself and how to fight. I was at a travel team practice the one Saturday, and we were working on sparring. I pushed my opponent to the edge of the ring, and since its just practice, I stepped back and started to move towards the center of the ring again to reset. I made the mistake of assuming my opponent was on the same page as me and turned my back to reset and ended up catching a heel to the back of the head. I don’t remember getting hit, but I remember the aftermath and being confused as to why everyone was so concerned about me and asking if I was okay. I ended up having a pretty bad concussion for 10 months.

I was kicked in the back of the head, which is where the occipital lobe and cerebellum are located. Most of my symptoms were problems with my eyes and my balance. My gait was messed up because I was trying to account for my issues balancing. My depth perception was messed up, and I had trouble focusing my eyes. I remember the doctor telling me to follow his finger with my eyes, and my eyes would keep moving even after his finger had stopped. I had to do vestibular therapy, which is basically physical therapy for your eyes, for months because it hurt to move my eyes in any capacity. Obviously, this was not a fun experience, but it is interesting to look back on now. The part of my brain that was most likely damaged from the kick was the part that controls balance and visual input. My concussions symptoms corresponded with the functions of the cerebellum and the occipital lobe.

Although I would have rather not spent ten months dealing with the repercussions of a concussion, I found it interesting how the functions of the different parts of the brain connected to the location of where I got hit.