Quiz on Language Acquisition and Moral Development Flashcards
How do we know that language acquisition is a function of both nature and nurture?
We know that language acquisition is a function of both nature and nurture because it is the complex interaction between the child’s innate (natural) capacities and the cognitive, linguistic, and social supports provided in the environment. Nature and nurture work together to help us learn, use, and understand language.
What evidence do we have for the interplay between nature and nurture in the cognitive development of language?
Nature:
We can distinguish words from other sounds and can develop a broad schema for definitions.
Ex. Young children can put together sentences they’ve never heard before. They leave out the words that are irrelevant for conveying the meaning (and, the, etc.). Most children’s early words are nouns because they are the things that are relevant for coding a child’s world.
We can expand our vocabulary very quickly.
Ex. Children know 25 words at ~15 months. By age 5, kids know 8-10,000 words which is almost all of the words you will ever know. Picking up vocabulary this quickly rarely happens for adults.
Nurture:
We do not develop concepts and ideas that we do not have words for
Our words shape the way we think about vocabulary
What evidence do we have for the interplay between nature and nurture in the linguistic development of language?
Nature:
We have to learn the rules of our language
Grammar → The rules of a language. Evidence shows that we actually understand grammar rules, and we aren’t just parrots. This is seen when most grammatical mistakes go uncorrected in young children, but they clearly internalize the rules. We can tell by the mistakes they make. Ex. “runned”, “eated”, etc. We learn the grammatical rules of the language, but our ability to figure out and apply the rules is innate (natural).
Nurture:
Babies are ready to learn any language
Phonemes → Perceptual unit that composes speech. They quickly begin to focus on their native language, and by about 12 months old, babies can only “hear” the sounds that are relevant or their native language.
We learn the patterns of speech in our language, or auditory clues that something is a question vs a statement for example, with motherese
Motherese → A high-pitched, exaggerated way of speaking that we use when we talk to babies. Babies seem to prefer it, and this suggests that it is an adaptive pattern. It slows down our speaking so that babies can learn phrasing, etc.
What evidence do we have for the interplay between nature and nurture in the social development of language?
Nurture:
Babies learn how to have conversations even before they can talk
Babble conversations → Back and forth between baby and caregiver, occurring before kids even know basic vocabulary. This seems to help shape what the child does innately (make sounds) in learned patterns of speech.
Cultural patterns influence speech within the same language, and children learn how to USE the language differently. This impacts patterns of speech that persist over long periods of time.
In the US, families of color are more likely to ask questions of their babies where the answer is unknown.
In the US, white families are more likely to ask questions where the asker already knows the answer
Nurture:
Language is a fundamental part of the human experience, and it is our natural way of communicating with one another.
How does our moral thinking change as we get older?
Preconventional Morality → Starts around age 5 and goes until age 10. The child understands authority figures are in control, and therefore it is important for everyone to follow the rules. The child also wants to do what’s best for themselves.
Conventional Morality → Starts around age 10 and goes until age 15. The teenager is most interested in being seen as a “good person” and wants to do good deeds that support other people. They are also aware of society as a whole and know that laws and rules are in place to keep society functioning.
Postconventional Morality → Starts at 15 and goes on into adulthood. The adult is focused on the reasoning behind the laws, and whether the rationale is applicable in that particular case. There is also an ethical hierarchy that guides decision-making.
What are some critiques of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?
Cultural biases
Kohlberg took a very Western approach to creating his theory of moral development. He talks a lot about the law and rights that people have which is very prevalent in the US.
Gender biases
In his early studies, he only interviewed boys of a similar age rather than starting off with a representative sample of people.
Moral reasoning vs. moral behavior
Kohlberg’s theory is all about how people think about moral development, but in reality, it changes when people actually have to choose to act morally or not
Stage theory limitations
Kohlberg suggests that moral development happens in stages, but some people disagree and say that moral development is not as linear as Kohlberg makes it out to be.
