week 2 Flashcards
What is linguistic communication?
Communication using natural language, characterized by generativity, being automatic and effortless, and involving comprehension and production.
What is infant-directed speech (IDS)?
Also called ‘motherese,’ it uses a louder voice, slower speech, simpler words, and accentuates word boundaries. It often repeats and expands child utterances.
What cues help in segmenting words from a speech stream?
Pauses, stress patterns, and transitional probabilities.
Why are pauses not reliable for segmenting words?
There are often no clear pauses between words in natural speech.
How do stress patterns help infants in word segmentation?
Infants use the predominant stress pattern of their native language to identify words.
What did Jusczyk (1999) demonstrate about stress patterns?
7.5-month-olds can segment words based on their native language’s stress patterns.
How do infants adapt to new stress patterns in word segmentation?
Infants can learn to use a different stress pattern, such as trochaic or iambic patterns, as shown by Thiessen & Saffran (2007).
What is transitional probability?
It measures the likelihood of one sound following another, aiding in word segmentation.
What are one-word utterances?
Words like ‘mommy’ or ‘doggie’ that emerge around one year and often function as holophrases.
When do multiword utterances appear?
Around 18 months, often learned by rote and resembling telegraphic speech.
What is the problem of referential ambiguity?
Difficulty in linking words to the correct concepts or objects in the environment.
What are some word learning heuristics?
Shape bias, whole-object bias, taxonomic assumptions, and mutual exclusivity.
What is the shape bias?
A tendency to generalize word meaning based on object shape, critical for vocabulary growth.
What is the whole-object bias?
Assuming a new word refers to an entire object rather than its parts or features.
What is mutual exclusivity?
Assuming one label per object and rejecting alternative names.
How do social cues aid word learning?
Gaze following, pointing, and responsiveness from caregivers provide clues to word meanings.
What is cross-situational word learning?
Using consistent object-word pairings across different situations to infer meanings.
What external factors affect vocabulary development?
Socioeconomic status, child-directed speech, interaction styles, and caregiver education.
What is the ‘30-million-word gap’?
A term from Hart & Risley (1995) describing word exposure differences between socioeconomic groups by age 3.
What are the effects of the ‘30-million-word gap’?
Differences in vocabulary size, language development, and academic performance.
How does SES affect language processing?
Children from higher SES families show better language skills and vocabulary at 18 months (Fernald et al., 2013).
What is child-directed speech (CDS)?
Speech tailored to children that predicts vocabulary development, influenced by caregiver education and interaction quality.
Is child-directed speech universal?
No, its prevalence varies across cultures, with more use in urban than rural settings (Casillas et al., 2020).
How does maternal responsiveness influence language milestones?
It predicts the timing of first words, combinatorial speech, and use of language for past events.
What are examples of maternal responsiveness?
Affirmations, imitations, descriptions, questions, play prompts, and exploratory prompts.
What is the role of interaction style in language development?
Responsive interaction styles foster better vocabulary and language milestone achievements.
What does ‘fast mapping’ refer to?
The quick association of a new word with its meaning after minimal exposure.
What are early vocabulary characteristics?
Dominated by concrete nouns and basic-level category names.
How do 12-month-olds learn nouns?
Using cross-situational statistics to link words to objects (Smith & Yu, 2008).
How do 2.5-year-olds learn verbs?
Through observation of consistent action-word pairings across contexts (Scott & Fisher, 2012).
What are common features of infant-directed speech?
Simplification, repetition, and emphasis on key elements to facilitate understanding.
What are examples of perceptual heuristics?
Shape bias and preferences for consistent sensory features.
What is the taxonomic assumption?
A bias to group objects categorically rather than thematically.
What is ‘telegraphic speech’?
Speech in young children that includes only essential content words, omitting smaller grammatical elements.
How does genetics influence vocabulary development?
Genetics affect baseline capabilities, while environmental factors shape outcomes.
What is the significance of caregiver education in CDS?
Higher caregiver education correlates with better child vocabulary outcomes through quality and quantity of interactions.
What does ‘interaction style’ refer to?
The manner in which caregivers engage with children, such as responsiveness or use of prompts.
