Unit 5; Language

Question 1

What are the three things that make a language

Answer 1

Regular
Arbitrary
Productive

Question 2

What does regular mean

Answer 2

It is regulated by the rules of grammar and sentence structure

Question 3

What does arbitrary mean

Answer 3

The phonemes don’t represent the function

except for onomatopoeia

Question 4

What does productive mean

Answer 4

Different ways/word combos to say the same thing

Question 5

What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Answer 5

Language influences our thoughts and h’ow we perceive/experience the world

ex. one word for “5 or more” means cant differentiate between 5 and 6

Question 6

What is grammar/syntax

Answer 6

The rules for making sentences

Question 7

What are semantics

Answer 7

The meaning/understandability of a sentence

Question 8

What is a morpheme

Answer 8

The smallest unit of sound that contains information

ex. table / cloth / s (3M)

Question 9

What is a phoneme

Answer 9

The smallest unit of sound

ex. sh, d, ph, ai

Question 10

What is transparent orthography

Answer 10

A given letter will always make the same sound (not English)

• Easier for children to learn

Question 11

What is the order of language milestones

Answer 11

(8 wks) Cooing / vowels
(16 wks) Turns head towards voices
(6 mnth) Babbles / vowels + consonants
(8 mnth) Non-random babbling
(2 yrs) Uses 2 word phrases + 50-250 words
(2.5 yrs) Vocab > 850 words

Question 12

When does the language explosion occur

Answer 12

1.5 - 6 yrs old

Question 13

Why do foreign languages sound too fast

Answer 13

Speech segmentation problem

Question 14

What is universal phoneme sensitivity

Answer 14

Infants can discriminate between all phenomes (even non-native ones)

Skill disappears around age 1

Question 15

What is perceptual narrowing

Answer 15

Loss of universal phoneme sensitivity

Question 16

What is an overextension? Does it support SLC or IMT?

Answer 16

Categorizes object too broadly
(ex. every animal with 4 legs = “doggie”)

Supports IMT as no adult would make that mistake

Question 17

What is an overregularization? Does it support SLC or IMT?

Answer 17

Grammar/syntax rule applied too broadly
(ex. “I runned”)

Supports IMT as no adult would make that mistake

Question 18

What is an underextension?

Answer 18

Categorizes objects too specifically
(ex. “doggie” for only their dog)

Question 19

What are the two theories for language acquisition

Answer 19

Social Learning theory and Innate Mechanism theory

Question 20

What examples support SLT (2)

Answer 20

Genie
Babies reinforcement

Question 21

What examples support IMT (4)

Answer 21

Sign language development
Neural activation - babies prefer speech over non-speech sounds
Over/Underextension

Question 22

What does infant-directed speech sound like

Answer 22

High pitch, exaggerated changes in pitch and use of rhythm

Question 23

What are pragmatics

Answer 23

Skills that allow children to communicate appropriately and effectively in a social situation

ex. taking turns in a convo

Question 24

What is a holophrastic phrase

Answer 24

Single word used to indicate a full sentence

Question 25

What is telegraphic speech

Answer 25

Short phrases that contain only crucial info

ex. “where mom”

Question 26

How many word encounters needed during fast mapping

Answer 26

1-2 encounters

Question 27

General language facts about girls (2)

Answer 27

Larger vocabs between 2-6 yrs
Use social relation / objects needing care words before boys

Question 28

General language fact about boys (1)

Answer 28

Use loud moving object words before girls

Question 29

General language fact about firstborns (1)

Answer 29

Develop larger vocabs earlier than secondborns

Question 30

What is expressive vocabulary

Answer 30

Words children can speak / produce

Question 31

What is receptive vocabulary? Does it develop before or after expressive?

Answer 31

Words children can understand but not yet speak

develops before expressive

Question 32

Where is Broca’s area? What happens if someone injures it?

Answer 32

brocas area = broken speech = frontal lobe

Left frontal lobe

Can’t speak fluently
Understand what’s said to them, can’t respond

Question 33

Where is Wernicke’s area? What happens if someone injures it?

Answer 33

wernicke = writing = temporal

Left temporal lobe

Can speak fluently but speech makes no sense
Can’t understand written/spoken language

Question 34

Where in the brain is injured causing Foreign Accent Syndrome? What changes?

Answer 34

Left hemisphere involved in motor control of speech

Changes to speech timing, rhythm, prosody

Question 35

What are some non-verbal cognitive abilities that bilingual children have

Answer 35

Selective attention
Inhibition of distractors
Task switching
Working memory
Abstract & symbolic representations

Question 36

Dysphemic wording

Answer 36

Saying it in the worst way

Question 37

Euphemic wording

Answer 37

Saying it in the least vulgar way

Question 38

Emphatic swearing

Answer 38

Swearing to emphasize a word

Question 39

Cathartic swearing

Answer 39

When you hurt yourself

Question 40

Rage-circuit theory

Answer 40

Swearing relieves pain + speeds up healing

Mammals: loud noise to startle attackers
Humans: mean words to hurt people

Question 41

Brain parts connected to swearing/negative emotion

Answer 41

• Right hemisphere
• Basal ganglia (when you swear- by myself)
• Amygdala (when someone else says the words - Ami)
• Limbic system