History of Language Science

Question 1

Skinner’s Associative Chain Theory

Answer 1

Strongly associated words (article, noun)

When you hear a sentence of words with strong associations, you judge it as grammatically correct

Question 2

Grammatical:

Answer 2

associated words in a frequently encountered order (only the beginning of the sentence matters)

Question 3

Skinner’s language assumptions: Language is….

Answer 3

… learned
… based on stimulus –> response associations
… shaped by imitation and reinforcement

Question 4

Chomsky’s argument against Skinner:

Answer 4

Poverty of Stimulus Argument

Question 5

Chomsky’s Poverty of Stimulus Argument

Answer 5

We aren’t exposed to all possible sentences

Question 6

Chomsky’s language assumptions: Language is…

Answer 6

… creative
… innate
… has a universal grammar

Question 7

Chomsky’s linguistic competence vs. performance

Answer 7

Competence: knowledge of language rules (what you know) - whatever your native language is you have perfect competence of that language
Performance: use of language in real situations (how you use language) - performance can be affected even if competence is fine
Focus is on competence