Week 8 Flashcards
Phonology
Sounds of language
Morphology
Rules of meaning within the language
Morpheme
smallest unit of meaning
Semantics
meaning of words
Syntax
rues of how to combine words to form sentences
Pragmatics
communicative functions of language; rules that lead to effective communication
- turn taking
-eye roll
-air quotes
Infant communication
- Crying ( present at birth)
- Cooing 1-2 months; gurgling sounds
- Babbling: about 6 months
Study that infers that infants recognize words before they learn to speak or walk
- when 7.5 month olds repeatedly hear the word bike they listen longer to sentences that contain ‘bike’ than sentences without bike
Sensitivity to statistical regularities in 8 month olds
- Exposed to endless stream of triplets for 3 minutes
- showed dishabituation to combinations that rarely occurred during familiarization phase
Natural statistics
9 month olds can identify a novel word better that starts with d than t when preceded by s
Joint attention
- Develops at 9 -12 months
- Parents encourage learning of words by pointing to an object and naming it
- not necessary; can infer based on context of frequent use
Can babies use symbols to communicate
yes
Language development
- Start with 1 word utterances (6 to 12 months)
- 2 word utterances
- 3 word utterances reveal grammar
- by 3-4 years are creating novel word combinations correctly
Vocabulary Spurt
Stage in which infants learn new words much more rapidly than before
- 10 words per week
- around 18 months
Fast mapping
connects new words to objects without considering all possible meanings
Rules for learning words
- One-to-One mapping of words to objects
- Name refers to whole object
- If a second name is presented for an object already learned it must be a subcategory
- given many similar category members, a word applied consistently to only one of them is a proper noun
Cross-cultural differences in language acquisition
Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Japanese learn verbs earlier than English infants
Symbolic representation
- 9 month olds try to grab objects in photos
- scale models are useful only when children understand representation
Sign language
a gesture can map on easily to intended meaning, but sign language is more symbolic
Scale Errors
Emotions can override sense of scale due to fragile sense of scale
Overextension
defining a word too broadly
-common around 1-3; disappears as children master language
Underextension
defining a word too narrowly
- common around 1-3; disappears as children master language
Wug experiment
Used made up word with grade 1 students
-revealed understanding of morphology
-children know rules well enough to apply to new instances
Bilingualism
- Best if second language is acquired before puberty
- early acquisition means same brain areas for processing both languages
- children and adults learn languages differently
Critical Period
Notion that specific experience is necessary during a developmental period for a behaviour to develop
Sensitive periods
Flexible time window in which experience has optimal effect on behaviour
-behaviour can still be modified outside this window
Bilingual benefits
BETTER
- attentional control
- concept formation
- analytic reasoning
- inhibition
- cognitive flexibility, complexity, monitoring
ESL duration of time to become proficient
4- 7 years
-use native language and English to increase success
Behaviorist perspective of grammar acquistition
- Children imitate what they hear
- Children are rewarded for using words correctly
- Limitations: cannot explain novel combinations and uses of words and parents rarely correct grammar
Nativist perspective
Noam Chomsky (1957)
- Humans born with neural circuits that allow acquisition of grammar (Language acquisition device)
Semantic Bootstrapping theory
A nativist perspective theory where individuals automatically know how to categorize words and infer rules for combining words using this innate knowledge
Universal Grammer
- Similarities in grammatical structure across languages
- Humans are born with a grammar that allows us to acquire language quickly with minimal guidance
5 supports for universal grammar
- Specific brain regions for processing language, including grammar
- Only humans learn grammar readily
- children develop linguistic communication with little/no formal input
- Critical period for learning language
- Development of grammar tied to development of vocabulary
Aphasia: Speech disorder
Broca’s Area
-Production
-damage leads to broken speech
Wernicke’s area
-comprehension
-damage leads to “fluent aphasia”
-words flow but are incomprehensible
Apes and sign language
- Bonobo observed human models using symbols while interacting with other apes
- eventually learned hundreds of lexicons and English words
- Chimps can use 2-word combinations (mostly action object)
Is language unique to humans
Yes
- non-human animals can learn associations between symbols and actual things/actions
- No animal has shown mastery of syntax
Soundless environment
Babies learn sign language from their deaf parents in the same way as hearing children who learn spoken language
Acquisition of vocabulary and grammar
Children not only learn new words, but learn “position” of word simultaneously
Cognitive perspective
- Cognitive skills allow children to learn regularities in their environment
- Infants’ statistical inference is a manifestation of powerful cognition
- Infants memory improves as vocabulary improves
Williams Syndrome
Low intelligence by high expressive verbal ability
Social Perspective
Children master language in the context of social interactions
