chapter 2 Flashcards
1
Q
Vervet monkeys (and relation to Hockett)
A
- produce sound of alarm calls to warn eachother of nearby predators with each diff sound indicating a dif predator
- Hockett: shows semanticity and arbitrariness but not displacement, duality of patterning, or productivity
- calls are learned from birth, they are genetically wired to make specific sounds that are associated with specific meanings
- reactions take months
2
Q
humans learn language through cultural ____
A
- transmission
- no child is born knowing certain words are associated with certain things)
3
Q
baboons and status
A
- study where vocal recordings were taken and reassembled
- baboons ated shocked that the trad power dynamic was shifted from higher status grunt and lower status scream to the opposite
3
Q
monkeys and apes have much more flexibility and capacity for learning in ____ signals than ____ them
A
interpreting, producing
4
Q
t or f: speaking and understanding are typically the mirror image of each other
A
false, they are not necessarily the mirror image, seen in animals understanding sound but not producing it as often
5
Q
hockett’s design features (list)
A
- productivity
- duality of patterning
- rapid fading
- vocal-auditory channel
- broadcast transmission and directional reception
- total feedback
- specialization
- semanticity
- arbitrariness
- discreetness
- displacement
- interchangability
- traditional transmission
- prevarication
- reflextivness
- learnability
6
Q
hocketts design features: productivity
A
- language can say things never before said and it is still understandable from the perceiver
7
Q
hocketts design features: learnability
A
- users of one language can learn to use another
8
Q
hocketts design features: duality of patterning
A
- meaningful units (words) are made by combination of small amount of elements (sounds) into variety of sequences, several sounds can create more and more words
- ex pat, tap, apt
9
Q
hocketts design features: reflexiveness
A
- language can be used to refer to/describe itself
10
Q
hocketts design features: prevarication
A
- language can be used deliberately to make false statements
11
Q
hocketts design features: total feedback
A
- senders can hear and internalize message sent
12
Q
hocketts design features: specialization
A
- production of sound has no purpose but to communicate
13
Q
hocketts design features: arbitrariness
A
- meaningful associations between language and the world are arbitrary
14
Q
hocketts design features: discreetness
A
- units of language are separate and distinct from one another rather than being part of a whole
15
Q
hocketts design features: semanticity
A
- fixed associations between language and world aspects
16
Q
hocketts design features: displacement
A
- language can communicate things not present in time and space
17
Q
hocketts design features: vocal-auditory channel
A
- language is produced in the vocal tract and transmitted as sound which is perceived in auditory tract
18
Q
hocketts design features: broadcast transmission and directional reception
A
- sound can be heard from many directions but is perceived as coming from one location
19
Q
hocketts design features: rapid fading
A
-sound produced by speech quickly fades away
20
Q
hocketts design features: interchangeability
A
- user of language can send a receive the same message
21
Q
hocketts design features: traditional transmission
A
- specific language adopted by user has to be learned by exposure to other users; precise details aren’t by genetic transmission
22
Q
findings from work in raising monkey species as humans
A
- environment matters: in human enviro they show displacement, lying, productivity
- all of the hocketts design features learned were not present in their natural environments
- had difficulty with spoken but advancement in sign and symbols with semantic structures
23
Q
how can you ensure that monkeys/apes have the same advanced cognitive understands of language as us and are not mirroring operant conditioning
A
- ensure they use the word/symbol in correct context every time
- they do it with no cues from researchers
- use the symbol in situations with choice/difficulty
24
evolutionary adaptations
- genetically transmitted traits that give bearer advantages (help ppl stay alive long enough to reproduce)
-
25
it is possible that skills that support language fall into what two categories
1. those that are necessary to get language off the ground but arent specific to language
2. traits that evolved bc they make language more powerful and efficient
26
the ability to understand ____ ____ separates human ancestors paths from monkeys
communicative intentions
27
t or f: apes and monkeys have similar social understandings and goals as little humans do
false, they do not have similar social abilities and have difficulty with helping others achieve their goals, unlike humans
- they also do not have altruistic traits
28
our experiences are shaped a lot by ____ whereas apes are shaped by ___ realities
social, physical
29
joint attention
- awareness between 2+ ppl that they are both paying attention to the same thing
- allows us to guess what other peoples noises are intended to mean
30
babies had larger vocabs when they engaged more in ______
joint attention/ are more responsive to joint attention
31
what are the levels in which combining smaller elements to make larger linguistic units take place
1. making words from sounds (duality of patterning - small units dont have meaning on their own but are combined to have meaning)
2. combine meaningful elements (separate words) to make other, larger meaningful elements (have a structure to how the words are assembled in a sentence)
32
there is structure inherit at the level of syntax as well as ____
sounds (ex order of letters, how you pronounce the letter based on what precedes/follows it)
32
syntax
in a given language, the set of 'rules' that specify how meaningful linguistic elements are put together so that their meaning can be clearly understood
33
recursive
- 'nesting' of related clauses or other linguistic units w/in each other
- allows linguistic objects to be nested w/in other linguistic objects of the same kind
34
t or f: recursive rules are within reach of apes
false, it appears to be out of their cognitive reach, though they can manage a small number of word-combining rules
35
what does platos problem applied to for language
- any situation where there is a gap between experience and knowledge, suggesting that language was the case
- children know things about language they werent taught
36
instead of being born with preconception of specific human language, what did chomsky argue
that we are prepacked w knowledge of kinds of structures that make up human languages
37
universal grammar
innately understood system of combining linguistic units that constrain structural patterns of all human languages
38
resistance to universal grammar
- people may be underestimating how much children can learn about structure from input/observation
- knowledge that seemed to be language specific has basis in perceptions/cognition and can be applied to non-linguistic info
- knowledge that seemed to be language specific has been available to other animals not just humans
- human languages may not be as similar to each other as previously believed
- certain pattern may be bc humans are all trying to solve problem of communicating to each other
39
production of sound
- pushing air out of the lungs and through vocal folds in the larynx
- air passes through vocal folds which act like flaps and vibrate as the air is pushed up
- vibrations create vocal sounds and making the sounds different is controlled by the shape of your mouth, lips, and tongue
40
in order to make full range of vowels and consonants, you have to coordinate the shape and movement of ___, ___, and ___ within ____ level timing
tongue, lips, vocal folds, millisecond-level timing
41
whose larynx rests lower: humans or chimps
humans, which gives us a roomier mouth where the tongue can move around and make acoustically distinct sounds
42
humans have a broad tongue that curves ______
- downward toward the throat
- chimps have long narrow oral cavaties that make it harder to produce sounds like vowels
43
what is the downfall of having a lower larynx
we cannot breathe and swallow at the same time, like apes can (cannot breathe and eat therefore we can choke)
44
t or f: much like humans, when ape species are switch and fostered in different families, they can easily learn and sound more like their adoptive families
false, apes sound more like their genetic famly
45
how do bird differ from apes in language aquisition
birds are more mimic-learning based, if not exposed to the song of their breed, they cannot replicate it as well in adulthood
46
what tend to be the first sounds babies make
the a in cat, and consonants b, m, p, and d
47
babbling is an ____ function
imitative (seen in ASL babbling)
48
affective pathways
- sound production (vocalization) have to do with states of arousal, emotion, and motivation
- affective sound production is innate, doesnt require learning, and is generally flexible
49
cognitive pathways
- controlled, highly malleable sound production that requires extensive auditory learning and practice
- includes human language sounds and some bird songs
- require auditory learning before production
50
t or f: there are no fundamental differences between spoken and signed languages in the way that theyre learned, used, and understood by humans
true
51
proof of gestures used first then speech being evolved
- apes are bad at communicating through speech but good at gesture
- when ape communicate in the wild, they use gestures and are less limited than vocal sounds
52
darwin said different species could have similar traits to each other because they have ___ or ___ traits
- homologous: they all inherited it from a common ancestor
- analogous: species independently arrived at similar solutions bc they faced similar evolutionary pressures
53
how are birds similar to humans in speech development
- birds also learn song from listening, go through babbling phases, and mimic other adult bird
- notes can be combined into syllables and they can be combined into larger motifs which can combine to form full songs
54
nativist view
- genes endow us with general capability for language and lay out language structures, processes of acquiring language, etc
- language is a genetically driven instinct
55
anti nativist view
- language isnt genetic but a byproduct of extensive cognitive abilities
- due to better brain development in humans compared to other species (ex supercomputers vs rudimentary technology)
56
language as a tool
- compares language to arrows (no reason for it to be shaped like that but across cultures it is)
- humans came to speak to one another to solve problems and achieve goals
57
homesign
- personal communication system initiated by a deaf person to communicate through gestures with others who, like the deaf person, do not know sign language
- comes from child's initiative
- different gestures have referential functions
- adds complexity over time but doesnt develop into full languages if only engine behind is a single person
58
apart from being born with the ability to learn languages, children have the ability to ____ languages
invent
59
nicaraguan sing language
- developed by students at a school for the deaf
- combined many homesigns
- when younger children learned it, they used it more effectively
60
when gestures accompany speech, they often have a ___ quality to it
pantomime
61
linguistic code
- system of symbols and combinatory rules that are conventionally agreed upon by community of lang learners as conveying specific meanings
- often not enough to convey speaker's intended meaning, hearers must align linguistic code w inferences based on context
62
what two ingredients were needed for NSL to progress beyond its beginnings
1. community of speakers using same linguistic systems
2. generational progression in which very young speakers were exposed to structured input of linguistic predecessors
63
sensitive period
- window of time in which a specific type of learning (ie language learning) takes place more easily than at any other time
64
is sensitive period explained better by nativist or non nativist viewpoints
nativists, because non nativist view makes it hard to explain why younger ppl can learn better if they dont have the advance cog capacities. also, in nature there are examples of traits not beign developed if not taught by a certain time frame
65
Williams syndrome and language
- despite other serious cog impairments, language function appears to be preserved
- similar IQ and cog functions to Down syndrome
- numerical and visual-spacial difficulties
- conceptual understand of that of a 6 y/o
- show understanding of how syntactic structure contributes to meaning
66
mental age
person's overall level of cognitive function related to chronological age of person w typical development
67
for people with WMS, relative to their mental age, they perform better on tests of ____ vocab and ability to hold ____ info in short term memory. however they score poorly on comprehension of ____
receptive (words recognized and understood), auditory, complex syntactic structures
68
specific language impairment
- SLI
- disorder which children fail to develop lang normally even tho theres no apparent neuro damage/disorders, general cog impairment/delay, hearing loss, and abnormal home enviro that would explain the failure
- errors at all levels of lang found (sound, sentence, and complex word structures)
69
domain specific perspective
- in regard to specific lang dev, view that linguistic deficit strikes at mechanisms that are particular to language rather than mechanisms that are shared w other cognitive abilities
70
domain general perspective
- in regard to specific lang impairment, view that linguistic deficit is only one effect of more general cognitive problems that also affect non-linguistic processes
- cog deficits may coexists w lang deficits but they dont have anything to do w the lang deficit itself
71
research of genetics and function has shown that SLI is a catchphrase for _________
a cluster of cognitive vulnerabilities that end up disproportionately affecting lang function
72
SLI linguistic and non linguistic deficits
- linguistic: deficits of sound, words, sentence structure
- non-linguistic: perception of rapid stimuli, short memory spans (WM), analogical reasoning, difficulty in visual imagery tasks
73
FOXP2 genes and language
- first gene to be identified as important for lang
74
FOXP2 gene mutation
- mutation found in specific family where half had severe lang learning probs as children
- the prob was inherited from at least one parent who carried the gene mutation
- also non-ling probs (sound production, lower IQ, and facial movements)
75
two reasons mutations take hold
- genetic drift: mutations spread randomly when ppl reproduce more then others NOT bc of genetic advantage but bc of luck
- directional selection: mutations enhance ppl's prospects of passing genes onto offspring bc they outcompete genotypes that dont have the advantage
76
what characteristics give lang a better chance at being passed on?
- it needs to be communicatively useful (conveys info efficiently)
- new learns must be able to learn it
77
cultural transmission view of language change and how it challenges nativist views
- languages change overtime to adapt to human mind, w all constrains/limits/abilities that human minds bring to the task of learning/using lang
- challenges nativist view which says human mind changes overtime bc it has become adapted to requirements of lang
78
Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL)
- emerged in small Israeli community
- many inherited deafness bc of intermarraige
- 3 gens old but og speakers are dead so unknown beginnings
79
ABSL vs NSL
- ABSL: come from single community w connection vs large region w little connection for NSL
- ABSL starts at birth vs NSL when they go to school
80
why is it good that NSL made signs more precise
- makes it less ambiguous which reduced the need for ppl to rely on shared contextual knowledge to recover subtleties of intended meaning
