Chapter 9 - Language and Thought Flashcards
what is language?
a system for communication with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and that convey meaning
the set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages:
grammar
- is more complex than other forms of communication
- involves words representing intangible things
- used to think and conceptualize
these are all characteristics of:
human language
what are the two basic characteristics of human language?
- phoneme
- morpheme
what is a phoneme?
the smallest unit of sound recognized as speech
what is a morpheme?
the smallest unit of meaning in a language
true or false: morphemes have both morphological and syntactical rules
true
what are the three main characteristics of language development?
1) children learn language at an astonishing rate
2) children make few errors while learning to speak
3) children’s comprehension of language develops faster than their production
true or false: infants are unable to distinguish between all human phonemes
false, they can; however, this ability dissipates by age 6 months
at what age does this language milestone occur: can tell the difference between speech sounds; coos, expecially in response to speech
0-4 months
at what age does this language milestone occur: babbles consonants
4-6 months
at what age does this language milestone occur: understands some words and simple requests
6-10 months
at what age does this language milestone occur: begins to use single words
10-12 months
at what age does this language milestone occur: has vocabulary of 30-50 simple words
12-18 months
at what age does this language milestone occur: two word phrases are ordered according to syntactical rules, vocabulary consists of 50-200 words, understands rules
18-24 months
at what age does this language milestone occur: has vocabulary of about 1000 words, produces phrases and incomplete sentences
24-36 months
at what age does this language milestone occur: vocabulary grows to more than 10000 words, produces full sentences, shows mastery of grammatical morphemes
36-60 months
occurs when children map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure:
fast mapping
devoid of function morphemes and consists mainly of content words:
telegraphic speech
as children learn grammar, they tend to ____________ rules
overgeneralize
the orderly progression of language development might depend on:
- general cognitive development
- experience with a specific language
what is the behaviourist explanation for language development?
language is learned through operant conditioning and imitation
what are the limitations of a behoviourist explanation to language?
- parents spend little time teaching language
- children generate more than simply what they hear
- errors made cannot be explained through conditioning or imitation
what is the nativist explanation/theory for language development?
language is an innate biological capacity
the collection of processes that facilitate language learning, associated with nativist theory:
universal grammar
what are the interactionist explanations for language development?
- social interactions play a crucial role in language development
- social experience interacts with innate, biological language abilities
what is broca’s area?
part of the left frontal cortex in the brain responsible for language production
what is wernicke’s area?
part of the left temporal complex in the brain responsible for language comprehension