Chapter 6: Language Development Flashcards

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1
Q

Language learning in children

A

Learning starts in utero, and meaning is very important. Assumption is that children imitate to learn (environmentally-dependent nurture view)

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2
Q

Chomsky’s Universal Grammar

A

Counters behaviorist beliefs. Cites that children can produce novel utterances and make errors that don’t match the correct stimulus that they hear.

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3
Q

Inherent language genetics

A

Natural view; supported by the fact that we all progress through the same milestones, all cultures have language, and that language is uniquely human.

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4
Q

Language milestones

A

Cooing, babbling, first word, word explosion

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5
Q

Cooing

A

Non-crying regular vowel sounds. Occurs between 2-6 moths

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6
Q

Babbling

A

Repeated consonant-vowel pairs. Occurs between 6-12 months. Same sounds regardless of native language. Sounds do not have meaning, purely motor development. Involved in learning how to converse and take turns talking

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7
Q

Manual babbling

A

Sign language babble for non-hearing babies. Follows same patterns as verbal babbling

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8
Q

The first word

A

Occurs around a year old. Usually a concrete noun. Different pronunciation than the adult word. Facilitated by baby-sign because verbal processing will develop before motor skills of the mouth do

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9
Q

The word spurt

A

Violent jump in number of words known and used. Occurs around 18-24 months. Can form two word sentences (telegraphic speech).

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10
Q

Bilingualism effects on language learning

A

No long term effects. Language mixing and slight delays may occur, but may also promote cognitive strength

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11
Q

Jusczyk preferential looking experiment

A

Showed babies two videos while a sentence played in the background. Found that babies will prefer to look at the video that is accurate to what is being said verbally. Shows that language comprehension develops before motor skills of speech production. Similar findings for knowing the meaning of a word before being able to speak it (around 24 months)

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12
Q

Nicaraguan sign example

A

Deaf children in Nicaragua were taught a sign language developed by hearing people. As the generations went on, the language was adapted and became more conversational.

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13
Q

Gavagai problem

A

Each word has millions of possible meanings when used in any context, especially when there is no visual match

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14
Q

Whole object constraint

A

Assume a label refers to an object as a whole

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15
Q

Mutual exclusivity constraint

A

Expect that an object has only one name; used around 17 months old. Used less by bilingual children

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16
Q

Fast mapping

A

Map novel words onto a novel item/object

17
Q

Caney and Bartlett fast mapping experiment

A

Gave kids (2 yrs old) new words with limited information to see if they could comprehend meaning. Half of the kids could remember the word a week later. Occurs in non-humans

18
Q

Overextension

A

Use one word for everything in a given category (all 4-legged animals are doggies)

19
Q

Underextension

A

Use specific words on general categories (all dogs are named the family pet’s name)

20
Q

Shape bias

A

Using shape to generalize a novel word. 2-3 years will generalize words across sizes and textures, but not shapes (dax experiment)

21
Q

Brown grammar study (1957)

A

Showed children the word ‘sib’ in various syntactic positions alongside the same image. Asked children to point out what ‘sib’ meant. Showed that syntax is used to parse novel meanings

22
Q

Syntactic bootstrapping

A

Use syntax to determine meaning

23
Q

Difficulty of learning morphology

A

Lots of irregularities that need to be learned. Leads to overextension of grammar rules. Parental correction will not facilitate learning.

24
Q

Wug test

A

Proved children can apply basic grammar rules to novel words with new meanings

25
Q

Socio-economic status effect on language development

A

Wealthier families hear more words and have faster reaction time for speech processing.

26
Q

Critical period of language development

A

There is a sensitive period where children need input to properly learn language. Evidenced by Lenneberg and Johnson + Newport

27
Q

Lenneberg study of language development (1967)

A

Kids with aphasia will recover better than adults. Issue is they are relearning a language, which might make a confound

28
Q

Johnson and Newport bilingual study

A

Found that learning a second langauge at different ages will effect the fluency reached, specifically in grammar rules. Later learning in life leads to less grammar fluency

29
Q

Newport ASL study

A

Looked at kids who did not have access to ASL. They would form their own home-sign language, but when they were exposed to ASL they made grammatical errors. Found same with late native learners of languages.

30
Q

Cross-situational word learning

A

parsing meaning from multiple ambiguous experiences

31
Q

Dual representation

A

an object is mentally represented as both a real object and a symbol for something else. Difficult for children until around 3 years old. Evidenced by shrunken room tests (children could not map the real big room onto the model room without some sort of transition item)