Understanding our Language and Google Search
October 2019 is a monumental event to google search workers. Google updated their algorithm to understand better user queries and show helpful information from the web. Understanding user queries is a science of language understanding.
How Language Position in the Brain
The four basic functions of our brain are
- voluntary movement,
- perception,
- homeostasis and
- abstract or higher functions or cognition.
Learning, language, perception and memory are some part of our brain higher functions. This area is also responsible on how we interact and collaborate with other people.
Our brain is composed by different regions:
- Forebrain
- Hindbrain and
- Midbrain.
Our forebrain is critical to higher functions. It has a two major parts: diencephalon and the telencephalon.
Major parts of Diencephalon are
- thalamus
- hypothalamus
Major parts of Telencephalon
- Cerebral hemisphere
- Hippocampus
- Amygdala and
- Basal ganglia
There are two major areas in cerebral hemisphere: the left and right hemisphere. Language is in the left hemisphere.
Prosody
We cannot understand others by words alone. We use body language, facial expression and the context. These are factors in how we understand the things that somebody is trying to communicate to us. Basically, we can communicate without words, and we can with words if we add prosody. Prosody is all about the speech properties such as loudness and pitch of voice or timing.
How do we produce prosody and how do we understand it?
If language is in the left hemisphere, we can say that comprehension of prosody is in the right hemisphere.
Why is it important to Google search intent?
The primary goal of Google is to provide users the most relevant, highest quality results based on users search queries, what they want and needs when they are searching online.
To understand users, we need to understand how people think and uncover search intention. When a person come to search, sometimes they are not always sure about the best way to plan a query and might not able to know the right words to use or spell something.
It is the job of Google to find out user intent and show relevant information no matter how people spell or combine words in their query. This can by analyzing user query searches. If we add location, time, context to user search queries we can catch prosody in a virtual world and get a better view of user’s intention.
On the same week of Google Search Update, they published a study that shows the emotional state behind needs and search behavior.
The study says that search behavior are segmented in six needs categories. These are “surprise me”, “help me”, “reassure me”, “educate me”, “impress me” and “thrill me”.
These segments will help narrow down user intention and will help managers to position their business. In neuroscience, these are the events trigger that release of the neurotransmitter called dopamine AKA “feel-good neurotransmitter”. These chemical works with the reward system that lies between the axis of pleasure and satisfaction.
Google integrates different fields of studies to understand users from a unique perspective. These advancements lead them to develop big leaps forward in the history of Search. Understanding language is still the ongoing challenge of Google. The complexities of human cultures and languages motivates them to continue to improve Search, and they are getting better to find meaning and most helpful information from user searches.
This article is part of our course discussion in Neurobiology of Everyday Life Course
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
