Exam 1 Flashcards
Communication
Exchange of information and ideas, needs, and desires between 2 or more individuals
Speech
Verbal means of communication that requires very precise neuromuscular coordination
Language
Socially shared code or system that requires ideas or concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rules
Paralinguistic
Intonation, stress or emphasis, speech rate
Non linguistic
Gestures, body posture, head and body movement, eye contact, and facial expression
Expressive language
Language produced
Speaking
Receptive language
Language understood
Comprehending
Phonology
Aspect of language concerned with the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of “speech sounds” and their combinations
-m vs b in mat vs bat
What is the smallest linguistic unit of speech that can signal a difference in meaning?
Phoneme
Morphology
Study of the internal organization of words
-one puppy vs two puppies
Free morpheme
Independent and can stand alone to function as words
-nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
Bound morphemes
Cannot stand alone and are always in conjunction with free or other bound morphemes
-prefixes and suffixes
What is the smallest grammatical unit?
Morpheme
Syntax
Set of rules or principles that govern the structure of sentences when given language, specifically word order
-Mary kissed the boy vs John was kissed by Mary
Semantics
Rules of ‘meaning’ that words and sentences convey
-“push car”(action- object) or “mommy eat”(agent- action)
Lexicon
Mental dictionary that word knowledge forms (words)
Pragmatics
Rules that govern the use of language in social context
-greeting, asking questions
Form
The structure of language
-syntax, morphology, phonology
Content
The meaning of language
-semantics
Use
The purpose of language in social context
-pragmatics
Nature
Language development occurs because it is natural and inherent part of being human
-Generative, behaviorism
Nurture
Language development occurs because of nurturant and learning from the environment/ experience
Generative/ Nativist approach
- Children are able to acquire language because they are born with innate knowledge(universal grammar)
- innate rules present at birth in the language acquisition device(LAD)
- minimal environmental language expose to prime LAD
Behaviorism/ Empiricist Theory
Learning occurs when an environmental stimulus triggers a response or behavior
- imitation, reinforcement, and successive approximations towards adult language behaviors
- environment is CRITICAL
Cognitive theory
Language emerges as product of cognitive development
- capacity to perform higher mental processes associated with learning and problem solving
- cognitive achievements are fundamental to linguistic development
Cognitive development (piagent)
- Sensormotor: children from birth to 2 years learn through trial and error
- preoperational: children develop language, memory, and intuitive intelligence through making believe play between 3 and 7
- concrete operational: logical thinking and concrete referencing develops from 7-11
- formal operational: adolescence and adults attain lifelong intellect through hypothetical and abstract thinking
Social interaction approach
Communicative interaction plays a central role in children’s acquisition of language
- parent- child communication routines
- child is contributing member in learning process
Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Area between zone of competence and zone of incompetence
- at the point where children can perform tasks with some assistance
- key to maximize child’s learning
Heschl’s Area
Primary auditory area
-60% of auditory info corpses over to opposite hemisphere while 40% stays on the same side
Language comprehension
- consists of auditory processing and language decoding
- Hechl’s area sends linguistic info to Wernick’s area in left hemisphere
- paralinguistic info to the right hemisphere
Language production
- Message is organized in Wernick’s area and then the message is transmitted to Broca’s area
- Broca’s prepares and coordinates motor program for verbalizing the message
- signals go to motor cortex where it activates the muscles for speech
Broca’s Aphasia
Difficulty in speech production
Wernick’s Aphasia
Difficulty in comprehension and lexical/ semantic processing
Neuron Growth
Neurons in brain are developed be the end of the second trimester
- brain overproduced neurons so half are pruned back
- 100 billion neurons must fire synapses(synaptogenesis) for networking to begin
- early experiences are critical for most activation
Sensation
Ability to register sensory information
-touch is first sense to develop in utero
Speech Perception
Werner and Tees study on native and non native
3 months: babies discriminate diff prosodic patterns
1-4 months: differentiate every speech sound contrast used in both native and non native languages
- loose ability to perceive non native sound contrasts by 8-10 months of age
6 months: significant correlations exist and later word understanding, production, and phrase understanding
-8-10 months: learn patterns of prosody and phonotactic organization of native language
Phonotactics
Rules for allowable combinations of phonemes
-strata or rtsata
Babbling sounds related to the constant vowel co occurrence patterns
/ba/ or /mama/: labial consonants with central vowels
/dae/ or /dada/: coronal consonants with front vowels
/gu/ or /cookoo/: dorsal consonants with back vowels
Critical period hypothesis
- determined time period during which development must take place if it is to take place at all
- 18 months- early puberty
- some say closed by 5 years and others say early puberty
Gestures
- use of gestures is an indicator of later language learning
- pointing, arms waving, arms up
Intentional reading
Ability to understand or interpret other people’s communicative intentions
Joint attention
- Shared focus of two individuals on an object
- communicative pointing, gaze following
- predicts later language development
Imitation
- Motor imitation and vocal imitation
- important skill to both promote attention to others and language development
- increase in language and joint attention
Symbolic play
Developing ability to use actions, objects, or ideas to represent other actions, objects, or ideas
- 18 months: uses one object to represent others and engage in one or two actions of present play
- pretend and language are forms of symbolic functioning
Infant direct speech
Characterized by short utterance length, simple syntax, and use of a small core vocab
- mother’s use paralinguistic variations, such as intonation, timing, pause, and higher pitch
- 6 months: mothers use more informational style and talk more about environment and the babies behaviors
Gaze
Caregivers modify gaze pattern, eye contact with infant for more than 30 sec
- during play, gaze may occur 70% with vocalization
- learns to follow point
- infant’s gaze establish joint reference
