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YEAR 2 Developmental > Prelinguistic Speech Processing > Flashcards

Prelinguistic Speech Processing Flashcards

1
Q

True or False?

Language is generative

A

True

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2
Q

Language is comprised of small units that are combined

This is known as…?

A

Phonology

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3
Q

What is language comprised of?

A

Phonology

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4
Q

What is phonology?

A

Small units that are combined

Simply = Sounds or gestures that make up words in that language

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5
Q

What does language convey?

A

Meaning (semantics)

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6
Q

True or False?

Languages do not have rules about how words go together (syntax)

A

False

Languages have rules about how words go together (syntax)

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7
Q

True or False?

Language is social

A

True

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8
Q

What are the 5 characteristics of language?

A

1) Language is generative

2) Language is comprised of small units that are combined (phonology)

3) Language conveys meaning (semantics)

4) Languages have rules about how words go together (syntax)

5) Language is social

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9
Q

True or False?

Infants learn their native language slowly and follow different developmental paths according to culture

A

False

Infants learn their native language quickly and effortlessly, and follow the same developmental path regardless of culture

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10
Q

How do babies learn languages quickly?

A

They identify key sounds and their meaning

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11
Q

What are the 3 types of infant designs used to study how infants learn languages?

A

1) Preference studies

2) Habituation /familiarisation studies

3) Change detection studies

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12
Q

Preference studies is a type of infant study design

What do preference studies look at?

A

With no training, what do infants want to listen (or look) to

Simply = Baseline preferences infants might have

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13
Q

Habituation/familiarisation studies is a type of infant study design

What do habituation /familiarisation studies look at?

A

First, we train infants and then measure what they prefer

Simply = Look at what they learn and process after a training period

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14
Q

Change detection studies is a type of infant study design

What do change detection studies look at?

A

We train infants to respond to a change (can infants tell the difference between two things)

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15
Q

With no training, what do infants want to listen (or look) to

Simply = Baseline preferences infants might have

What type of infant study design is this?

A

Preference studies

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16
Q

First, we train infants and then measure what they prefer

Simply = Look at what they learn and process after a training period

What type of infant study design is this?

A

Habituation/familiarisation studies

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17
Q

We train infants to respond to a change (can infants tell the difference between two things)

What type of infant study design is this?

A

Change detection studies

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18
Q

What are the 2 types of sounds infants learn to recognise in their language?

A

1) Prosody
2) Phonemes

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19
Q

What is a prosody?

A

The pattern of stress and intonation in a language

Simply = The musicality of a speech

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20
Q

The pattern of stress and intonation in a language

Simply = The musicality of a speech

This is known as..?

A

Prosody

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21
Q

What are phonemes?

A

The perceptually distinct units of sound in a language that distinguish one word from another (e.g., p, b, d, t)

Pat, bat, bad, pad

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22
Q

The perceptually distinct units of sound in a language that distinguish one word from another (e.g., p, b, d, t)

Pat, bat, bad, pad

This is known as..?

A

Phonemes

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23
Q

True or False?

Languages have the same prosodic patterns

A

False

Languages have different prosodic patterns

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24
Q

True or False?

Languages have the same sounds that they use as
phonemes

A

False

Languages differ in the sounds that they use as
phonemes

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25
Q

True or False?

The foetal auditory system is fully functioning during the last trimester

A

True

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26
Q

The foetal auditory system is fully functioning during the ___ trimester.

a. First
b. Second
c. Last

A

c. Last

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27
Q

Whose voices do newborns prefer?

A

Their own mother’s voice

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28
Q

Can newborns discriminate languages with prosody?

A

They can discriminate languages with different prosody (German/Spanish) but not languages of similar prosody (English/Dutch)

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29
Q

What language do newborns prefer?

A

They prefer their native language compared to a foreign language

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30
Q

True or False?

Newborns cry in a monotonous way

A

False

Newborns cry with an “accent” that their mothers have

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31
Q

True or False?

Newborns prefer their own mother’s voice

A

True

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32
Q

True or False?

Early language processing has nothing to do with prenatal experience

A

False

Early language processing is influenced by prenatal experience

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33
Q

True or False?

Newborns can discriminate languages of similar prosody (English/Dutch) but not languages of different prosody (German/Spanish)

A

False

Newborns can discriminate languages with different prosody (German/Spanish) but not languages of similar prosody (English/Dutch)

34
Q

Can foetuses in the womb make out individual words?

A

No

They can make out sounds but not individual words

35
Q

True or False?

Newborns prefer their native language compared to a foreign language, even if the language is spoken by a stranger

A

True

36
Q

What is known as the sounds that distinguish words?

(e.g., pat/bat, sip/zip)

A

Phonemes

37
Q

Across the world’s, there are about ___ consonants and ___ vowels.

But any language uses about ___

a. 600, 40, 200
b. 200, 600, 40
c. 40, 200, 600
d. 600, 200, 40

A

d. 600, 200, 40

38
Q

True or False?

Children’s babble initially starts with only producing sounds of target language

A

False

Children’s babble initially starts off with a wide range of sounds

Only in their first year, they move towards producing only sounds of target language

39
Q

At what age do infants move towards producing only sounds of target language?

A

In their first year

40
Q

At what age can infants discriminate between all sounds, even foreign ones?

A

1 - 2 months

41
Q

At what age do infants experience a systematic decline in ability to
distinguish sounds from nontarget language and increase for target language?

A

7 - 11 months

42
Q

True or False?

At 5-8 months, infants can
discriminate between all
sounds, even foreign ones.
Adults only discriminate those in their language

A

False

At 1-2months, infants can
discriminate between all
sounds, even foreign ones.
Adults only discriminate those in their language

43
Q

True or False?

Between 1-4 months,
systematic decline in ability to distinguish sounds from nontarget language and increase for target language

A

False

Between 7-11 months,
systematic decline in ability to distinguish sounds from nontarget language and increase for target language

44
Q

Young infants are _____ sensitive to subtle differences between all phonetic units, whereas older children _____ their sensitivity to distinctions that are not used in their native language

a. More, Lose
b. More, Gain
c. Less, Lose
d. Less, Gain

A

a. More, Lose

45
Q

What are young infants especially sensitive to?

A

Acoustic changes at the phonetic boundaries between categories, including those of languages they have never heard

46
Q

An experiment on early phonological development phonemes was conducted.

A 6 month old infant was presented with 2 hindi sounds, “da” and “dda”

Meanwhile, a 10 month old infant was presented with the same 2 sounds

Which infant would be most likely able to tell the difference between the 2 phonemes?

A

The 6 month old infant

47
Q

True or False?

The loss of discrimination for foreign-language distinctions is paralleled by an increase in sensitivity to native-language phonetic units

A

True

48
Q

At what age can infants segment words from
their language?

A

7.5 months

49
Q

Describe Jusczyk & Aslin’s experiment investigating whether infants can segment words from their language

List 3 things

A

1) 6 m/o and 7.5 m/o went through a familiarisation phase where they were presented with the target word repetitively

2) The infants were then presented with a sentence that includes the target word in the test phase

3) The experimenters measured whether the infants listened longer to the sentence with their target word

50
Q

Describe the results of Jusczyk & Aslin’s experiment investigating whether infants can segment words from their language

A

Infants can segment words from their language at ~ 7.5 months, but not 6 months

Simply = They can distinguish individual words from the sentence

51
Q

How do infants learn that certain sounds that co-occur together are likely to be part of the same word?

A

They use statistics and track the co-occurence of syllables

Syllables that co-occur often are likely part of the same word

52
Q

Give and example of how infants learn that certain sounds that co-occur together are likely to be part of the same word?

A

Consider the phrase ‘pretty baby’

Among English words, the probability that ‘ty’ will follow ‘pre’ is higher than the probability that ‘bay’ will follow ‘ty’

If infants are sensitive to adjacent transitional probabilities in continuous speech, they might be able to parse speech and discover that pretty is a potential word, even before they understand its meaning.

53
Q

How do infants identify word boundaries?

A

Infants can use both transitional probabilities between syllables, and prosodic cues, which relate to linguistic stress

54
Q

Describe the experiment by Saffran et al. with 8-month-olds using highly controlled made-up language

List 4 points

A

1) 8 m/os were presented with made up words

e.g. lamipe, nubefe, duvoca, telugo

2) They listened to the words in a randomised order for a few minutes

e.g. nubefe, lamipe, nubefe, duvoca

3) They were then presented with the made up words again as well as part-words

e.g. mipenu, befedu, vocate, lugola

4) The experimenters measured how long the infants listed to the words

55
Q

Describe the results of the experiment by Saffran et al. with 8-month-olds using highly controlled made-up language

A

8 m/o infants listen longer to part-words, suggesting they found the words in the stream

Simply = The infants were aware that sounds that occur more often together are more likely to be part of the same word and sounds occurring less often together signify word boundaries

56
Q

Describe the 4 characteristics of infant directed speech

A

1) Higher pitched

2) Slower speaking rate.

3) Important words are generally at the end and are exaggerated more.

4) The boundaries between phrases are enhanced, making it easier to segment speech

57
Q

True or False?

Infants prefer to listen to Infant Directed Speech (IDS) and interact with people who use IDS

A

True

58
Q

Are children more or less attentive when an adult uses infant directed speech with them?

A

More attentive

59
Q

Which is better for infant segment speech?

a. Adult directed speech (ADS)

b. Infant directed speech (IDS)

A

b. Infant directed speech (IDS)

60
Q

What 2 types of words act as anchors for infants when they listen to a speech stream?

A

1) Highly frequent salient words (e.g., Mummy, child’s name)

Simply = Socially important words

2) Highly frequent linguistic words (e.g., the, he/she)

61
Q

True or False?

If you can identify a word in the speech stream you cannot identify one boundary of the adjacent words

A

False

If you can identify a word in the speech stream you can identify one boundary of the adjacent words

62
Q

True or False?

Highly familiar words (own name, “Mommy”) help 6-month-olds segment words

A

True

63
Q

Describe the experiment by Bortfeld et al. investigating whether 6 m/o infants can use highly familiar words to help segment words

List 3 points

A

1) Baby Maggie and Hanna were presented with their respective target word repetitively

e.g. bike…bike…bike or cup…cup…cup…

2) They were then presented with a sentence that included the name Maggie or a sentence with the name Hanna along with their target words

e.g. The bell on Maggie’s bike was really loud or Hanna’s cup was bright and shiny

3) The experimenters measured whether the infants recognised the words next to their name

64
Q

Describe the results of the experiment by Bortfeld et al. investigating whether 6 m/o infants can use highly familiar words to help segment words

A

Baby Maggie recognized words next to the name “Maggie”

Baby Hanna recognized words next to the name “Hanna”

Recall that 6-month-olds fail in the Jusczyk & Aslin (1995) study

Simply = Highly familiar words (own name, “Mommy”) help 6-month-olds segment words

65
Q

At what age can infants use “the” to segment nouns

A

At 8 months

66
Q

Do infants listened longer to an isolated word that was taught with a real function word or without it?

A

An isolated word that was taught with a real function word

e.g. Infant was taught “An apple”

When “apple” was mention without the function word “An”, the infant listened longer, because they were unfamiliar with it/found it unusual

67
Q

In English, function words tend to go to before (articles, pronouns, prepositions):

  • An apple
  • The dog

What must infants do in order to learn syntax?

A

Infants need to learn the word order

68
Q

In Japanese, the order is switched

Articles are after the noun,
postposition rather than prepositions

At what age are infants sensitive to this?

A

8 months

69
Q

Italian is a frequent-first
language whereas Japanese is a frequent-final language

Which infant is more likely to listen longer to frequent-first sentences

a. Italian 8 m/o
b. Japanese 8 m/o

A

a. Japanese 8 m/o

70
Q

Italian is a frequent-first
language whereas Japanese is a frequent-final language

Which infant is more likely to listen longer to frequent-final sentences

a. Italian 8 m/o
b. Japanese 8 m/o

A

b. Italian 8 m/o

71
Q

At what age have infants started to learn some of the ordering rules for their language?

A

By 8 months

72
Q

True or False?

By 2 months, infants have started to learn some of the ordering rules for their language

A

False

By 8 months

73
Q

At what age can infants track the syntactic organisation of sounds/words?

A

8 months old

74
Q

Syntax requires learning the abstract rules of a language

What does this mean?

A

Syntax requires having knowledge on which word goes in which position

75
Q

At what age can infants learn abstract rules of a language?

A

6 months old

76
Q

What were the results of the experiment investigating whether 6-month-olds could learn an abstract rule with linguistic stimuli?

List 2 points

A

1) Those familiarised to ABA word pattern listened longer to new ABB words

2) Those familiarised to ABB word pattern listened longer to new ABA words

e.g. Infants familiarised to ABA word pattern listened longer to the word ‘gatiti’ in comparison to ‘gatiga’

e.g. Infants familiarised to ABB word pattern listened longer to the word ‘linali’ in comparison to ‘linana’

77
Q

Infants make rapid strides in language acquisition over the ____ year

a. Second
b. First
c. Third

A

b. First

78
Q

In their first year, infants identify: ____, ____, ____ and ____

A
  • sounds
  • statistics
  • patterns
  • word boundaries
79
Q

True or False?

Infants develop early preferences and skills for starting to crack language complexities

A

True

80
Q

True or False?

Infants tune the specifics of their language (sounds, order) well before they begin to speak

A

True

81
Q

To learn language infants must be able to…? List 3 things

A

1) Identify the sounds the make up their language

2) Segment speech into smaller units (words)

3) Figure out how those smaller units are organised to convey specific meanings

YEAR 2 Developmental (5 decks)

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