Case Studies For Nature Flashcards
Chomsky’s nativist model?
Language development is innate to all humans.
We aren’t exposed to all language structures, yet we fully achieve knowledge of them.
What is a language acquisition device?
An innate sense of how to speak, all overgeneralisations show the workings of inbuilt rules in language.
‘Sheeps’ and ‘mouses’ not commonly heard from parents, so can’t simply be imitating
What is universal grammar?
It is wired into our brains
75% of world languages use either SVO (English, french, Spanish) or SOV (Japanese, Korean) for the structure of sentences, which children learn as they grow
What is critical period hypothesis?
By Lenneberg
The extent to which the ability to acquire language is linked to age.
There is an ideal time window to acquire language after which it becomes more difficult.
The first few years are crucial to learning, and if done after, the individual wont achieve a full understanding of language.
Which case studies support CPH?
Case study of Genie.
Found at 12/13, after 7 years of rehab, she still lacked linguistic competence
Case study of Jim.
Two deaf parents, exposed to tv and radio, never learned to speak, speech development severely impaired until sessions with speech therapist.
Both show interaction is crucial
What is the poverty of the stimulus?
The idea that children aren’t exposed to rich enough data to learn every feature of language. It challenges the empirical idea of learning through experience, as it suggests people must be born with an innate ability to learn language, as even though we don’t have enough experience of language we still develop and learn enough to function.
