Lecture 3 - Lexical Development Flashcards
What did Werker and Hensch (2015) propose about perceptual development in language acquisition?
- They illustrated a cascading model of perceptual development with different stages (e.g., language discrimination, phonetic categories, word forms), each having distinct critical/sensitive periods
- These periods can influenced by sensory, pharmacological, or linguistic exposure, affecting later language outcomes such as vocabulary size
What are some methods used to study lexical acquisition in young children?
- Naturalistic observations
- Parental reports (like the CDI)
- Preferential looking
- Object selection tasks
- Technological advancements (like head-mounted eye-tracking)
What are the typical stages of early speech development observed in naturalistic studies?
- Babbling (6 months)
- First words (12 months)
- Two-word utterances (24 months)
- Telegraphic speech (soon after)
What is the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI)?
The CDI is a parent-report tool developed at Stanford to track children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary, adapted into many languages and widely used in language development research
What are typical receptive and expressive vocabulary milestones in children? (approx words in vocab)
- Receptive: 50 words at 12 months, 120 at 15 months, 170 at 16 months, 200 at 18 months
- Expressive: 2-6 words at 12 months, 10 at 15 months, 50 at 18 months, 200 at 24 months
What is Wordbank and its purpose?
- Wordbank is an open database of vocabulary growth from CDI data, allowing researchers to explore lexical development trends globally
What did Bergelson and Swingley (2012) find using preferential looking?
Infants as young as 6 months showed greater gaze toward the named object (e.g., banana),even when paired with unrelated objects, indicating early comprehension before production
What is the typical pattern of vocabulary growth in infants?
According to Fenson et al. (1994): Children experience a vocabulary spurt around 18 months (50 words), followed by rapid increases (10 new words every two words)
What is the gavagai problem in language learning, as described by Quine (1960)?
The gavagai problem highlights referential ambiguity - how do you know what a word refers to when there are many possible references present?
What are under and over extensions in lexical development? (use “dog” as an example)
- Under-extension: Applying a word too narrowly (e.g., “dog” only for their pet)
- Over-extension: Applying a word too broadly (e.g.m calling all four-legged animals “dog”)
What strategies help children solve referential ambiguity (the gavagai problem)
- Joint attention
- Mutual exclusivity
- Whole object assumption
- Taxonomic constraints
How has technology advanced the study of word learning? (Give examples of research)
Tools like head-mounted eye trackers and wearable cameras help researchers observe real-time child-environment interactions (e.g., Adolph et al., 2012; You & Smith, 2013)
Why did Roy et al. (2015) demonstrate about language input?
They demonstrated that developmental experience is structured; language learning is grounded in real-life perceptual input, with AI now able to learn language from such embodied data.
What is being done for children with motor/attentional difficulties in language learning?
Projects like the JSMF grant, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, and EPSRC PhD studentship aim to understand and support these children using advanced research and funding
Who proposed that language acquisition follows a cascading model with distinct sensitive periods? A) Fenson et al. B) Quine C) Werker & Hensch D) Roy et al. (2015)
C) Werker & Hensch
What does the CDI measure? A) Language processing speed B) Receptive and expressive vocabulary C) Parental communication styles D) Syntax understanding
B) Receptive and expressive vocabulary
Around what age do children typically experience a vocabulary spurt? A) 12 months B) 15 months C) 18 months D) 24 months
C) 18 months
What method did Bergelson & Swingley (2012) use to assess infant comprehension? A) EEG B) Parental interview C) Naturalistic diaries D) Preferential looking
D) Preferential looking
Which of the following is an example of under-extension? A) Calling all animals “dog” B) Saying “gavagai” for rabbits C) Using “dog” only for their own pet D) Refusing to use new words
C) Using “dog” only for their own pet
