Language Flashcards
Criteria for language
arbitrary, productive, regular
Arbitrary associations
the word used to represent the shape is not constrained by any characteristics
Productive
language has a limited set of rules that can be used to combine a limited set of symbols in infinite ways
Regular/rule-governed
each combination must follow a specific set of rules in order to make sense
Changing cultural values
changes in word use is likely due to a shift in the culture
Morphemes
smallest units of sound that contain information; often words but not all morphemes can be used individually
Phonemes
constituent sounds; some letters can represent more than one phoneme; combinations of letters can make new phonemes
Transparent orthographies
consistent letter to sound correspondence; a given letter will always make the same sound; low amount in the English language
Grammar
rules that govern how we put words together to form a sentence; generally an expert but difficult to describe to others
Overregularization
children are in the process of learning the rules of language, but have not yet mastered the exceptions to the rules
Semantics
meaning contained within a language; sentence may have perfect syntactical structure but no semantic meaning
0 - 4 months
turns head towards sound source; makes noise when spoken to
6 - 12 months
tries to imitate sounds and later begins to babble; understands “no”
12 - 17 months
answers simple questions nonverbally; points to objects and people; follows simple directions paired with gestures; uses 1-3 words in combination
18 - 23 months
follows simple verbal directions; asks for familiar item by name; starts combining words; imitates animal sounds
24 months
uses approximately 50 - 250 words
2 - 3 years
speaks in 2-3 word phrases; answers simple questions; begins to use plurals and past tense
5 years
understands more than 2000 words; uses longer sentences (at least 8 words in length); can engage in conversation
6 years
understands more than 10 000 words and continues to develop sentence structure
Universal phoneme sensitivity
ability of infants to discriminate between virtually all phonemes even before learning language
Conditioned headturn procedure
if they play a novel sound and the infant turns their head, the researchers infer than the infant can discriminate between the sounds
Different language cultures - Hindi and English
infants from English-speaking families were almost at good as Hindi phoneme discrimination as Hindi speakers;
English adults were significantly worse than Hindi adults and infants
Different language cultures - Korean and Japanese
adults who only speak Korean or Japanese have trouble discriminating between r and l;
Korean or Japanese infants are able to easily discriminate these sounds
Perceptual narrowing
process of losing the ability to distinguish between contrasts in sound not used in native language; universal phoneme sensitivity lost during first year of life
Infant directed speech
speaking in a higher pitch and exaggerating changes in pitch and use of rhythm
exaggerated changes in pitch help discriminate between different vowel sounds
Broca’s area
damage to Broca’s area leads to difficulty in the production of fluent speech
Wernicke’s area
damage to Wernicke’s area allows individuals to speak fluently but their speech makes no sense
Foreign accent syndrome
typically suffer from a stroke or head injury that has damaged areas in the left hemisphere involved in motor control of speech; able to speak their native language but seem to have a foreign accent
Still-face procedure
infants who are only 2-3 months will become distressed, indicated that they have some expectations on how a face-to-face social interaction should proceed
Babbling
wide range of repetitive combinations of consonants and vowels; may sound like a real sentence or question because of the use of inflection and rhythm in the production of the babble
Holophrastic phase
single word is used to indicate the meaning of an entire sentence
Naming explosion/word spurt
occurs around 18- 24 months; rapid increase of vocabulary
Fast mapping
children learn the meaning of a word following only 1 or 2 encounters with a new word
Expressive vocabulary
words that children use to speak
Receptive vocabulary
words that children can understand but may not yet use; develops before expressive vocabulary
Segmentation abilities
good speech segmentation skills = larger expressive vocabularies;
poor speech segmentation skills = smaller expressive vocabularies
Overextension
errors that involve using a fairly specific word for a broader set of related items
Underextension
general term is used for only a very particular instance of an item
Telegraphic speech
use short phrases that contain only the most crucial information they are trying to communicate
Bilingualism
no effect for intelligence; bilingual children perform worse for language processing and proficiency; advantages in episodic and semantic memory
Whorfian hypothesis
our thoughts are shaped by language; language may influence how we perceive and experience the world
Social learning theory
children learn language through a combination of imitation and instrumental conditioning; important role of positive reinforcement that comes with language and language-related behaviours
Innate mechanism theory
humans are born with an innate mechanism (language acquisition device) that allows them to learn language
Sign language
children developed a basic sign language on their own, which evolved into a complex and fully symbolic language;
people from different cultures use different sign languages
Laura Ann Petitto - sign language
toddlers generally have trouble using “you” and “me”, as the words have the opposite referent to when the adult is speaking;
in ASL, 2 year olds will still mix up the pronouns
Manual babbling
systemic and rhythmic errors in motions that are precursors for more advanced or complex signing
Interactionist theory
argue for a combined role of nature and nurture;
recognizes that children are biologically prepared for language, but also require extensive experience for adequate development
Washoe
taught how to communicate using ASL; could use signs to communicate requests; did not seem to use systematic grammar
Sarah
taught to use symbols to communicate ; used a large vocabulary, was able to answer questions; however, could not generate new sentences
Kanzi
taught to use lexigrams to communicate; utilized full immersion rather than classical conditioning (through observation); could communicate some novel requests; limited grammar
Swearing and the brain
taboo words activate brain areas associated with negative emotion - right hemisphere;
when we swear = basal ganglia;
when we listen to others swear = amygdala
Dysphemistic swearing
making people think about how awful something actually is; opposite to euphemisms
Emphatic swearing
draws attention to a certain phrase; can be positive or negative
Cathartic swearing
rage-circuit theory; when injured, language system is triggered
