Learning Aim B Unit 1

Question 1

describe what you understand about Chomsky’s language acquisition device (LAD)

Answer 1

Chomsky’s believes that language is a different type of learning. His theory believes that LAD is not an actual device in the brain,its a term for referring to an idea that we as humans must have a process or system that allows us to access language in a way that animals cannot.
According to Chomsky we can acquire language because we are genetically encoded with a universal grammar - (a basic understanding of how communication is structured).
Chomsky argued that even though we can learn elements of language from our environment,we end up gathering a lot more knowledge about language and its structure then we are ever taught - backing his theory of LAD. E.g kids automatically grasp the correct way to arrange sentence structure with out being taught.
His understanding is that every language has similar elements and structure, an example of this is nouns and adjectives and with a few rare exceptions recursions is another shared language characteristic.
However other Linguists have criticized his theory, in arguing that there are hardly any properties shared by all languages - recursion is an example of this.

Question 2

Define nature (as in nature and nurture)

Answer 2

Refers to our genes that we inherit from our parents and family members, this includes an individual’s physical appearance

Question 3

Define maturation

Answer 3

This is the process or the stage where an individual grows or develops, it’s the genetically programmed sequence of change

Question 4

Define nurture (as in nature and nurture)

Answer 4

Nurture looks at the way we are brought up and the surroundings around us, that shape the way we develop. Nurture focuses on environmental factors such as friendships and relationship groups

Question 5

What are different perspectives on the nature vs nurture debate

Answer 5

Nativism - the belief that we are born with our behaviours, we inherit them from our parents or family members
Empiricism - they believe that our behaviours are learnt and also influenced by our environment

Question 6

What did Arnold Gesell believe?

Answer 6

1. Development is sequential, orderly and predictable and builds on previous / earlier learning behaviours or skills
2. Children develop at their own pace and individually but all children follow the same sequence
3. Certain aspects of development happen at specific times and can lead to state of equilibrium and disequilibrium

Question 7

What criticisms are they of Gessell?

Answer 7

It is claimed that Gesell focuses too much on intellectual and motor development and does not take in to account emotional development and does not take in to account children with learning difficulties

Question 8

What is social learning theory

Answer 8

Bandura suggested that through observational learning, children model their behaviour by watching others.
Bandura stressed that observational learning could be used to explain why young children imitate positive and undesirable behaviour, as seen in Bandura’s Bobo doll study where children copied the aggressive behaviour an adult model inflicted on a bobo doll.

Social learning theory can be used to explain why young people may succumb to peer pressure and carry out risk-taking behaviour such as having unprotected sex or drinking alcohol.

Question 9

What is a criticism of social learning theory

Answer 9

It could be argued that this study is not truly valid as it is a laboratory study