Language (6) Flashcards
Infant Language Preferences
Human over artificial speech (1-2 days)
Human speech over monkey calls (3 months)
Rhythm of mothers modern language (newborns)
Phonological Development
Learning sounds
Semantic & Morphological Development
Learning to express meaning in language
Syntax Development
Learning to combine words and phrases
Pragmatic Development
How language is used
Language Generativity
Finite number of words can create infinite numbers of sentences
Phoneme Categories
Speech sounds with meaningful distinctions
Categorical Perceptions
Infants and adults perceive speech sounds as belonging to discrete categories, even with slight variations (suckling rate/habituation method)
Narrowing Speech Perception Study
Werker; 6-8 month English learning babies are able to distinguish and associate phonemes of unfamiliar languages; ability lost at 10-12 months. Native language perception increases as foreign language perception decreases
Word Production Milestones
1 year 1 word, 2 years 300 words, 3 years 1000 words, 4 years many thousands, 5 years 10,000 words; rapid expansion after two years old
Whole Object Constraint
Probability of meaning referring to a single object versus its parts
Mutual Exclusivity
The bias to assume that if one object has a name and another name is called, it’s assumed that the new name is referring to something else
Overextension Error
When labels are extended too broadly; beyond the category that the term represents
Under extension Error
Assumption that a word has too narrow of a application
Learning Account
Constraints stem from learned patterns in words
Patterns
Words kids hear usually refer to whole objects, each word representing a different item
Intersubjectivity
Parents and infants share a common focus of attention; observing the same thing
Joint Attention
The parent follows the child’s lead and comments on what they are doing or looking at
Pragmatic Cues
Using social cues like focus of attention to infer the names of objects (what I’m drawing attention to is the meaning of the name)
Holophrasic Period
When children express one words as full phrases (mine)
Telegraphic Speech
12-24 months; two word phrases with missing content (car go street = the car is going down the street)
Hypotheses for Infant Sensory Coordination
Infants form associations + correspondences between what they touch and see (demanding of experience), lack of brain specialization supports synesthetic processing and infants are more likely to pay attention to things that occur together (inter sensory redundancy); roses and their scent
Preferential Looking Techniques
Methods for studying visual attention; preference for contrast over muted images; width and spacing of stripes test visual strength
Visual acuity
Sharpness of vision; needed to identify objects and how they relate to each other; vision is nearly fully developed at 8 months, complete by 5-6 yrs
Categorical perception
Innate language hypothesis; innate language specific information including biases to assume that labels refer to entire objects that don’t already have names
Learning account; constraints stems from awareness of word patterning, if words they hear typically DO refer to single objects, they learn that single words describe single objects
Overregularizations
Generalizing exceptional grammar in incorrect instances; use of “goed” to communicate the past tense of going somewhere instead of went, “sheep’s” instead of sheep (irregular verbs, past tense terms); taking the past tense version of a regular verb and applying it to irregular verbs
