:) Flashcards
language
the systematic and conventional use of sounds (or signs or written symbols) for the purpose of communication or self-expression
phonology
the sounds, sound system, rules about sounds, and putting sounds together in language (blicks “s” vs. wugs “z”)
lexicon
words knowledge (horse vs. wolf vs. dog)
morphology
system for combining units of meaning (words and parts of words such as -ed)
syntax
system for combining words into sentences (the boy washed the dog vs. the dog washed the boy)
pragmatics
knowledge that underlies the use to language to serve communicative functions (talking to supervisor vs. friends)
sociolinguistics
knowledge that allows the socially appropriate use of language
literacy
knowledge of reading and writing
behaviorism
change in behavior occurs in response to the consequences of prior behavior (ex: rat learns task because it is given food as reinforcement)
cognitivism
behavior cannot be understood without understanding what is going on in the mind of the organism producing the behavior (cognitive science emerged from cognitive rev. of 1950s)
what are WIERD populations?
Western, educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic- WEIRD samples mostly used research on language development
bootstrapping
when one aspect of language is used to understand another (ex: use grammar to understand meaning- “she blicks the ball”)
generativity/productivity of language
the ability to create new meanings with words
What is the primary debate that theorists are trying to answer related to language development?
Given the speed and complexity of language development, how and why does (can) it occur?- Focus on grammar
Describe Psammetichus’s study of language development and what assumptions he had about where language came from
Psammetichus: Egyptian king in 640 BC
- Question: who were the “first people”?- idea that people intrinsically have language
- Study: two newborns
- Results: “becos” Pyrgian word
- Assumes language is innate to humans
Describe the study of the Wild Child of Aveyron. What questions were the researchers looking to answer? How successful were the attempts to teach Victor language?
- Child found in the winter of 1800, untouched by culture
- History: Revolutions and questions of innate abilities, what it means to be human
- Question: What is intrinsic to humans if they are not touched by culture?
- Result: able to speak words, show empathy, but not full syntax
what is behaviorism and how would a behaviorist explain how language develops?
learning through classical and operant conditioning; focus on observable behaviors, no consideration of internal mind (The environment shapes our behavior; imitation, punishments, and rewards)
What was Skinner’s theory of language development and what was the name of his book?
language is learned through imitation, rewards, and punishments- behaviorist approach (correct imitation is rewarded with social interactions); book: “Verbal Behavior” (1957)
What is Chomsky’s theory of language acquisition?
countered behaviorist approach with an extreme nativist/nature argument- language is biologically programmed into humans and is innate; book: “Syntactic Structures” (1957)
What are the tree things Chomsky noted about how children learn grammar to support his claim?
language develops rapidly, effortlessly, and without instruction
Universal Grammar (UG)- chomsky
rules underlying structure of all language
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)- chomsky
innate human mechanism allowing for UG acquisition
What was the “Chomskian revolution”
part of the revolution away from behaviorism- thinking about behavior in a new way
interactionism theory of language acquisition
humans have special abilities that when exposed to language allow for language development (nature & nurture work together)
what is Constructionism ?
an interactionist theory in which a child actively explores to change their knowledge-actively construct knowledge by incorporating new info into their pre-existing knowledge (Piaget)
what is Social Interactionism?
social interaction drives language acquisition (Snow)
what is Nativism?
people who take the nature approach
domain specific view
language is an innate, self-contained module, a.k.a. “modular view”- ability to learn language is not affected by any other cognitive abilities (Grammar (UG): Chomsky- module in the brain LAD)
domain general view
general cognitive skills that lead to language are innate- skills are not specific to language and support areas of cognition too
statistical learning
counting the frequency with which one stimulus is followed by another
word boundaries
where one word ends and the next begins- identifying a word in the stream of language
What do Behaviorism, Nativism, and Interactionism all have in common?
all state that children learn rules of grammar, just differ in how they are learned
what are the recording devices used for MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI)
LENA (recorders that kids can wear that record all interactions directed at the child and the child’s communication), goPros (putting camera on kids to see what they’re focusing on), extreme version: Dr. Deb Roy (extra credit)
what is the benefit of using a device such as LENA at home rather than collecting data in a lab?
LENA and goPros allow researchers to see kid’s interactions in their natural environments
what is CHILDES?
Child Language Data Exchange System- archive of collected speech samples and online/computer based data sharing
longitudinal studies
researchers examine a set group of individuals over a period of time (typically over a number of years)
cross-sectional studies
a type of observational research that analyzes data of variables collected at one given point in time across a sample population or a representative subset
noun bias
kids know exponentially more nouns than verbs in English (this does not apply to all languages, ex: Korean)
motherese/infant-directed speech
sing-song voice directed at children- Debate on training parents to increase language to children
In what ways is language universal?
All people have language and there is a universal pattern of development-proof that there is a biological factor
Pidgins
used between speakers of different languages; Not very rule based, “primitive grammar”- nouns and verbs (ex: think of someone bartering in another country)
Creoles
grammatically complex language created by the people using a pidgin (ex: spanglish, Jamaican creole)
what % of children born deaf have hearing parents?
90%
What is so important about the Nicaraguan Sign Language with respect to Creole languages?
in 1978 school for the deaf opens & teachers tried to teach children sign language, but children made up their own full language to communicate in 5 years
What features of the human anatomy seem to help in speech but cause risks in survival?
- teeth are upright: allows for complex speech sounds but can cause impacting/infection –> death
- low vocal tract/larynx: allows for wide array of speech sounds but causes high risk for choking (larynx drops at 6 wks)
neurolinguistics
brain and language relationship
corpus collosum
fibers that connect the right and left hemisphere
Contralateral connections
opposite side of brain controls opposite side of body
neurons
information messengers on the brain- use electrical impulses and chemicals and signals to transmit information in the brain and between the brain and nervous system
synapses
connect neurons
brain lesions and how they help us study the connection between brain and behavior
damage to the brain- presents as scar tissue; Help us know if an injury to an area corresponds to ability loss
aphasia
damage in an area of the brain (left hemisphere) leads to impaired language functions
Broca’s Aphasia
nouns and verbs with little grammatical structure (intact meaning, semantics, understanding)- slow, halting speech
Wernicke’s Aphasia
“speech salad” no meaning (intact grammar)- correct syntax, not meaningful (understanding intact, access to language is not)
double dissociation
- Damage area A: function X damaged, function Y fine
- Damage area B: function Y damaged, function X fine
(ex: Broca’s: meaning intact, grammar damaged; Wernicke’s: meaning damaged, grammar intact)
dichotic listening
identifies what hemisphere processes occur in (play different things in each ear- contralateral connections)
right ear advantage
we process language in the left hemisphere, so sounds processed in right ear are preferred by the brain and processed easier
split brain
cut the corpus callosum which connects the two hemispheres is split- often done to prevent seizures
Event Related Potentials (ERP)
measures electrical activity in response to an event-Portions of EEG related to cognition
EEG Mismatch Negativity (MMN)
used to identify if people can differentiate between 2 stimuli (ex: “ba” and “ga”)
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
magnets that measure blood flow
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
tracks white matter connections- what regions communicate (Traditional MRI- grey matter)
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
inhale or inject low level radioactive substance
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)
uses light to transmit through the skull and blood to determine blood flow
where is language primarily processed in the adult brain?
left hemisphere
Equipotentiality hypothesis
hemispheres equally able to support language
Invariance hypothesis
left hemisphere is lateralized from birth
neuroplasticity
ability of parts of the brain to take over functions they wouldn’t normally serve
synaptogenesis
formation of the connections between neurons
when does synaptogenesis start and when is it largely finished?
start: 5 weeks after conception; largely finished: around age 2
how many synapses are created per second from 2 mo after birth to 2 years of age?
1.8 million new synapses per sec
synaptic pruning
used synapses become stronger ad faster and synapses that are not used die away (brain becoming efficient)
gray matter function
mainly functions to receive info and regulate outgoing info (contains cell bodies of neurons)
white matter function
serves to transmit signals to other regions of the brain, spinal cord, and body (composed of axons)
