the acquisition of our first language part 1 Flashcards
what is the initial debate around language 1950s
nativist vs behaviourism
who proposed the theory of behaviorism
skinner 1956
what does the behaviourism theory believe
-when born we know nothing
-blank slate (tabula rasa)
-all language is learnt not innate
-learning based on principles of operant cond
how does the behaviourist theory claim language is learnt
imitation
feedback on success (reinforcement)
practice
habit formation (word learnt)
who drove the nativist theory
chomsky 1958
what is the central belief of the nativist theory
imitation plays a part but does not give full account of language learning
-all humans with normal capacities dev language and learn to follow its complex rules
-language is universal and dev is similar across cultures
-languages are unique but the same (all have tenses, verbs, nouns, words, sounds, rules, norms etc)
-language learning is innate
what are chomskys oppositions to skinners key principles of language learning
-argument against imitation:
–children are exposed to so much incorrect language, if learning solely based on imitation then children would learn lang incorrectly but this is not the case
–potential number of word combinations is huge (unlimited), sentences cannot be acquired through imitation alone
-argument against feedback/reinforcement:
–children are not systematically corrected
–children often reinforced on utterances that are incorrect e.g by laughing or hugging child even when wrong
what aspect of naturism is a major criticism to the learning mechanism
babies know things about language despite being exposed to such limited language
what is chomskys LAD
language acquisition device
-programs childrens brains to analyse the language they hear and figure out its rules
just because infants appear to have knowledge about certain aspects of language it doesnt mean…
its not due to experience/ been learnt
-this is because of technology advancements suggesting learning takes place before birth
what does MEG stand for
magnetoencephalography
what does an MEG do
-looks at brain activity and blood flow of a foetus by magnetic fields
draganova et al 2007 study using MEG
-mismatch neg response (MMN) elicited to auditory stim is indicator of sound discrimination in adults
-recordings of foetuses started at 28 weeks GA, then 2 weeks after birth
-2 tone bursts presented: one standard (500Hz), one deviant (750 Hz)
-found discriminative brain response to tone frequency change detected at 28 weeks old GA
-ability of foetus to detect changes in sounds is a prerequisite to normal dev of cog function `
what does GA stand for
gestational age
what is another piece of technology looking at foetuses and language
the heart monitoring device
kisilevsky et al 2009 study using the heart monitoring device
-foetal language abilities observed in 104 foetuses at 33-41 weeks GA
-foetuses familiarised with tape recording of their mother or a female stranger reading the same passage
-subsequently presented with a novel speaker or novel lang
-novelty response to mothers voice and novel foreign lang detected by changes to HR
-evidences foetal attention, memory, learning of voices/lang etc
what do these studies into technological advancements of observing foetuses show
-newborn speech/lang abilities have origins before birth
-neural networks sensitive to properties of mother’s voice are being formed
why does evidence of foetuses question chomksys LAD
as we have been learning lang since before we were born
who researched infant phonetic discrimination
Eimas et al 1971
how did eimas et al 1971 study infant phonetic discrimination
-HAS high amplitude sucking technique
-computer measures frequency and amplitude of the sucks on a pacifier
-sound presented everytime a high amplitude suck occurred so babies quickly learnt their sucking controls the sounds
-baby will suck more when they hear sounds they like (sucking increased when interested)
-babies lose interest when sound has repeatedly been played (habituation = less sucking)
findings of eimas et al HAS study
-showed for the first time young infants could discriminate and categorise speech sounds like adults, even the diff between /p/ and /b/
what 3 dimensions do language sounds differ in
place of articulation
manner of articulation
voicing
what is the only difference between /p/ and /b/
eimas et al 1971
-the vibration of the vocal fold
what is the vocal fold
-near top of larynx
-loosely attached flaps that vibrate as air passes through
-vibrations produce sound waves shaped into diff speech sounds by the rest of the vocal tract
what is the voice onset time (VOT)
-time that passes between the release of a stop consonant and the vibration of the vocal fold
-VOT for /b/ is vibration of 60ms or less
what do experiments with chinchillas, primates and birds show
Kuhl and miller
-these animals can also discriminate phonetically
why dont we discriminate all sound differences
-our auditory system (characteristics shared w other species) is not a perfect channel to transmit sound
-sound waves arrive distorted to brain from the ear and NS
-this distortion prevents perception of some diff in the sound wave
what are babies known as at 6 months of age and why
citizens of the world
-at this age babies can discriminate sounds from nay language
-babies have the ability to learn any lang
-at 6 months + babies lose this ability if not exposed to these other languages
what research shows babies are citizens of the world at 6 months
-head turn study
-babies can distinguish between 2 types of /d/, one english and one hindi
-adults cannot hear the difference but a baby 6 months old turns their head when they hear a different /d/
foreign lang exposure study
-cond 1:live exposure to mandarin, cond 2: tv exposure to mandarin, cond 3: auditory exposure
-english infants age 10-12 months have lost the ability to contrast between phonemes
-american infants exposed to live mandarin age 10-12 months perform as well as controls in discrimination task
-american infants 10-12 months exposed by tv/auditory show poor discrimination performance
-we hold onto ability to discriminate phonemes when we have been exposed (live) to the lang
