Language Development (9)

Question 1

How is language species specific and species universal?

Answer 1

species specific - language communication is specific and unique to humans
species universal - all humans are capable of language acquisition

Question 2

symbols

Answer 2

arbitrary pairings, system for representing and communicating

Question 3

generativity

Answer 3

despite finite set of words/morphemes, can create infinite sentences, infinite expressions of ideas

Question 4

recursion

Answer 4

nesting many of ideas into one sentence

Question 5

phonemes

Answer 5

smallest units of sound in a language that make up words (consonants and vowels)

Question 6

phonological development

Answer 6

(before birth - adolescents)
learning to differentiate and produce sounds of native language
-perceptual development by 10 months

Question 7

morphemes

Answer 7

smallest meaningful units of language

Question 8

semantics

Answer 8

understanding the meaning of words and sentences

Question 9

syntax

Answer 9

the rules of how words are combined to form meaningful phrases and sentences

Question 10

semantic development

Answer 10

(birth +)
mostly nouns
requires segmenting of speech to identify words/phrases/sentences and meaning

Question 11

syntactic development

Answer 11

begins with “telegraphic speech” 2 words
pronouns at 3yrs
slows by age 5-6, but wide range of normal

Question 12

telegraphic speech

Answer 12

baby talk, using 2 word utterances

Question 13

pragmatics

Answer 13

how the language is used (socially) and expressed (non linguistic communication)

Question 14

fast mapping

Answer 14

a skill by which a child learns a new word based on all the other words they know surrounding that word (the chromium tray, not the red one)

Question 15

What is the Quinean reference problem?

Answer 15

all labels are inherently ambiguous
whole object bias
mutual exclusivity bias (one label per object, object has one label only)
basic level bias (versus superordinate (category) or subordinate (subcategory)

Question 16

Quinean reference problem: linguistic context

Answer 16

grammar and syntax help infer what the novel word refers to (-ing, -ed)

Question 17

Quinean reference problem: pragmatic cues

Answer 17

expression, intonation or gestures help infer what the novel word refers to

Question 18

shape bias

Answer 18

extend familiar words to novel objects of the same shape

Question 19

cross-situational word learning

Answer 19

when the same object is always present across situations to determine the novel word refers to it

Question 20

syntactic bootstrapping

Answer 20

strategy of using grammatical structure of a whole sentence to figure out novel word

Question 21

overregularization

Answer 21

treating irregular forms as if they were regular (eg. grewed up)

Question 22

collective monologue

Answer 22

children’s conversations are more like monologues before 3 yrs, the do not respond to what the other just said

Question 23

Language development: behaviourist account & criticism

Answer 23

learn language through reinforcement
parents correct childrens mistakes and reward them when they are correct
-not all parents do this yet the child learns
-children say things they have never heard (generativity)

Question 24

Language development: nativist account & support

Answer 24

Noam Chompsky pioneered this view
dedicated language module has evolved in humans (modularity hypothesis)
specific brain areas are used for language
born with universal grammar (unconscious rules that apply to all language)
support: all children acquire language

Question 25

Language development: connectionist account

Answer 25

opposite of nativist account
children learn language same as everything else (domain general)
support: computers can learn language with repetitive input

Question 26

Language development: interactionist account

Answer 26

some initial bases to learn language at birth which is elaborated by experience
social communication drive development
focus on word learning (less grammar)

Question 27

metalinguistics

Answer 27

ability to use language to talk about language development

Question 28

name four accounts of language acquisition

Answer 28

behaviourist, nativist, connectionist & interactionist

Question 29

connectionism

Answer 29

info-processing theory that emphasizes many simultaneous and interconnected processing units