1
Q
A system of communication allows
A
information to be sent & received between groups & individuals
2
Q
What qualifies as language
A
- most psychologists only consider human communication to demonstrate the qualities of language
–> According to operational definitions of language accepted by most psychologists, no other species of animal except humans use language. - other animals have communication not language
3
Q
TEXTBOOK DEFINITION: Language
A
- Language is a sophisticated form of communication unique humans, characterized by the use of symbolism, arbitrary associations, productivity, & rule use.
4
Q
Researchers have identified criteria that outline a “true” language. Explain
A
1) Language is regular–> meaning that it is governed by rules & grammar about what makes sense still exist despite the productive nature of language.
–> A sentence can be reorganized & still retain
its meaning cuz a system of rules details how each word fits with others around it.
–> 1 consequence of the symbolic nature of language is that the words we use for concepts r arbitrarily assigned.
2) Language is arbitrary–> The sound assigned to a concept does not need to represent it in any way. It can be completely arbitrary. –> There is nothing special about the sound of the word cat to indicate that it refers to a furry animal with whiskers & a tail. –> otherwise it would make no sense to call it something else in a diff language –> This is why various languages exist
3) Language is productive–> means that there r almost limitless ways to combine words to describe objects, situations, & actions.
–> Language is designed to use a small # of components to produce & understand a wide range of symbols.
–> allows us to combine a series of representative symbols to express novel meaning in groupings of words that may never have been presented together before.
5
Q
Onomatopoeia
A
- An exception to the arbitrary nature of language where the sound of the word is associated with its meaning.
- The sounds of the words r not set arbitrarily but attempt to imitate natural sounds to reflect their meaning.
–> Ex, the words ‘meow’, ‘splash’ & ‘hiccup’. - It’s interesting to note that given the same source of natural sounds, various languages apply slightly diff onomatopoeia words to familiar animal calls. –> Ex, an English duck would say “quak, quack”; Swedish: kvack; Dutch: kwak, kwak; Hebrew: ga ga ga; Japanese: gaagaa; Russian: krya-krya; Polish: kwa kwa.
6
Q
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
A
- aka Whorfian hypothesis
Language influences our thoughts & the way we perceive & experience the world. - proposed by Professor Edward Sapir & his student Benjamin Whorf
- based on the theory that our very thoughts r shaped by language
7
Q
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Evidence from Piraha
A
- supporting evidence come from tribe caed the Piraha. –> the native language contains only 3 counting words corresponding to: 1, 2, & many
- According to strongest version of Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis, tribe members should have trouble understanding fine numerical concepts cuz language lacks words for these fine distinctions. - Peter Gordon of Columbia
University, asked members to match groups of objects according to how many items
were in each group.
–> he laid out a # of familiar objects, such as sticks or nuts &
asked tribe members to lay out the same # of objects on their side. –> As expected, members of the tribe performed well on this task when there were groups of 1 or 2 objects, but performance worsened with test sets >3 objects.
8
Q
Evidence that counters The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
A
- consider cultures that lack specific words to differentiate relatives.
–> Ex, in French, 1 word is used to describe both mother-in-law & stepmother (belle-mère).
–> but French speakers clearly understand the diffs between these individuals, & r able to
understand precisely how they r related to each one - the Arapaho indigenous people of Wyoming have 1 word in their language to describe a senior male relative. –> Thus, Arapaho speakers use same word for an older brother, a father, an uncle, & a grandfather.
–> Despite this, the Arapaho clearly understand the diffs between these individuals & r able to understand precisely how they r related to each one. - cultures that differ in the # of words they have for colours –> Davies & Corbett (1998) chose people from diff cultures that used a language that had a diff # of words for colours, & asked them to sort a set of colour chips, much like the paint chips you might see in a paint store.
–> Despite the fact that some of their participants used languages that had twice as many colour words as others, the participants generally sorted the colours into very similar categories.
9
Q
Morphemes are
A
The smallest unit of sound that contains information.
- Often a word, but some words contain multiple morphemes
- In oral languages= the smallest units of sound that contain information.
- In a manual, or sign language= r identified in units of signs rather than sound.
- Morphemes themselves can form complete words or can be combined to form words.
- Prefixes, suffixes, & individual words r all morphemes (checkpoint)
10
Q
How many morphemes does the term “Laptop Computer” have & what r they?
A
- ‘computer’ acc has 2 morphemes: compute & r.
–> Together these label a machine that does computing.
–> Thus, term ‘laptop computer’ has 4 morphemes: lap, top, compute, & r, which together label a machine that does computing & can sit on ur lap.
11
Q
Morpheme examples
A
- the word “table” has 1 morpheme
- “(table)(cloth)” has 2 morphemes –> each morpheme provides diff piece of info
- not all morphemes can be used as an individual word; some must be added to
another morpheme to make sense
–> Ex, “(table)(s)” is made of 2 morphemes –> the morpheme “table” identifies the object, & the morpheme “s” indicates that there is more than 1 - Some morphemes indicate the occurrence of another.
- Ex, the word ‘cleaning’ can be split into its 2 morphemes:
the morpheme “clean” identifies the action, & the morpheme “ing” indicates that the action is presently taking place. –> the morpheme ing can be replaced with the
morpheme ed indicating the action took place in the past.
12
Q
Phonemes are
A
the smallest unit of sound in speech
- We can break down a morpheme into its
constituent sounds= phonemes
- morpheme dog has 3 phonemes: /d/, /o/, & /g/.
- various languages contain diff libraries of useable phonemes & rules about how they can be combined
–>Ex, to make English sounds, we can combine certain phonemes, such as /ch/, /ai/, /r/, but not others, such as /k/, /v/, /t/ which may be allowed in another language
–> within English, you can follow rules of phoneme
combos to make up a plausible word that has no meaning–> Ex, kwijibo is not a real word, but sounds like it could be
13
Q
How many phonemes r in each language
A
- English only uses about 40 phonemes
- Various languages typically use a set of between 30-50 phonemes.
- some African languages use over 100 phonemes which linguists estimate is at about the limit of the human capacity to distinguish & recognize basic phonemic sounds.
14
Q
is each letter in English 1 phoneme?
A
- It may be tempting to think that each letter of a written language represents a single phoneme, but it is often more complicated.
–> In English, some letters can represent more than one phoneme. –> Ex, c can make a /s/ sound or a /k/ sound.
–> The letter g can also make 2 sounds, as in the words green & gentle.
–>combinations of letters can make new phonemes, as in the case of th or sh.
15
Q
Transparent Orthographies
A
- Consistent letter-to-sound correspondence, so that a given letter will always make the same sound.
–> basically that the letters used in that language each correspond to a single phoneme –> Ex, the ltalian language - have important consequences for reading development.
- Children learning to read languages with transparent orthographies have a much easier time than children learning to read English & master reading relatively quickly –>cuz rmr that in English some letters can make multiple sounds (I think) –> like g in green vs gentle
16
Q
Syntax is
A
- aka grammar
the rules that govern how words in a sentence r put together. - Syntax also relates to the idea of regularity, 1 of our 3 characteristic features of a language
- Diffs in syntactic rules among languages r as varied as the cultures they originate from.
–> Some languages (such as French) assign gender to objects - sometimes it’s hard to identify errors –> Ex, You have to really be careful. This is an ex of a split infinitive –> this has to be changed to ‘You really have to be careful’. to meet formal rules of grammar
17
Q
Semantics
A
- refers to the meaning of each individual word
–> Semantics can also refer to the fact that we r able to understand diff meanings for a word depending on the context in which it is presented. - As a child’s vocab increases, linguists would note that semantic knowledge increases.
- a sentence may have perfect syntactical structure, yet have no semantic meaning
–> Ex, “The colourless green ideas sleep furiously beside the kwijibo” violates no English syntactic rules, but it contains no semantic meaning.
18
Q
Children language development Milestones (MODULE)
A
8 weeks –> makes cooing sounds; vowel sounds
16 weeks –> Turns head towards voices
6 months –> begins babbling; adds consonant sounds
8 months –> complex, non-random babbling
2 years –> uses 50-250 words; uses 2-word phrases
2.5 years –> vocabulary >850 words
-Even very young infants show language-related skills, such as responding to the presence of another & smiling socially
19
Q
Children language development Milestones (TEXTBOOK)
A
0-4 months –> Turns head towards sound source; makes noise when spoken to
6-12 months –>Tries to imitate sounds and later begins to babbles; understands ‘no’;
12-17 months –> Answers simple questions non-verbally; points to objects & people; follows simple directions paired with gestures; uses 1-3 words in combination
18-23 months –> Follows simple verbal directions; asks for familiar items by name; starts combining words (‘more juice’); imitates animal sounds
24 months –> Uses approximately 50-250 words
2-3 years –> Speaks in 2-3 word phrases; answers simple questions; begins to use plurals & past tense
5 years –> Understands more than 2000 words; uses longer sentences (at least 8 words in length), can engage in convo
6 years –> Understands more than 10,000 words & continues to develop sentence structure
20
Q
Cooing
A
- Infants begin cooing @ around 8-12 weeks, making sounds that combine consonants with ‘oo’ and ‘ah’ sounds. (TEXTBOOK)
- parents can practice ‘conversational skills’ with their infants by taking turns cooing or vocalizing with them
–> This turn-taking is an important part of later conversational skills (pragmatics) : trying to have a convo with someone who does not take turns is frustrating!
21
Q
Babbling
A
characterized by drawn-out sounds made up of a variety of combos of vowels & consonants
- occurs between 6-12 months of age (TEXTBOOK)
- Babbling often includes
rhythm & inflection, so that the infant may sound as though he’s asking a question or deeply involved in a convo
- Cooing & babbling may constitute a form of practice for later language production, as the infant gains some control over his vocal system & uses sounds present in his native language
- As development progresses, they begin to repeat certain
combos of sounds particular to the language, which forms the basis for their 1st words –> occurs around 1 year of age –> Typically, first word refers to something that is important in infant environment
22
Q
Holophrastic phase
A
- When a child uses a single word to indicate the meaning of an entire sentence.
- This phase of language development typically starts between 10-18 months of age
–> Ex, child says ‘ball!’ to indicate that he wants you to give him his ball, or may cry ‘mommy’ to indicate that he misses his mother. - stage that occurs after babbling & first word
23
Q
Early language
A
Early language development, 10-18 months of age, is characterized by certain errors such as overextensions & underextensions.
- This phase is also characterized by telegraphic speech.
24
Q
Naming Explosion
A
aka Word Spurts.
- A rapid expansion of vocabulary seen between the ages of 18-24 months.
- BEFORE naming explosions the infant is learning only 2-3 new words per week
- tho there have recently been questions as to whether this is actually a typical & qualitatively unique stage in language development, children typically acquire a vocab of about 250 words by the time they r 2 .
–> by 2.5, vocab is >850 words & increases rapidly until they r about 6 years old when vocab is 10000 words - @ 6, increase in vocab starts to slow down & most children have mastered a large majority of the vocab of their language, tho the complexity of their grammar may continue to improve with throughout childhood.
25
It is important to note that there r large individual diffs in children vocab size. ELABORATE
- Ex, vocabs of 1½-year-olds ranged in size from 6-357 words.
- 1 important factor involved in individual diffs is gender --> girls typically have larger vocabs & overall better language skills than boys between the ages of about 2-6
--> potential reasons include biological factors (diffs in brain maturation rates between boys & girls, especially in brain language areas) & environmental factors (maybe girls play in ways that encourage more language interactions)
- birth order may also play a role in individual diffs in vocab size --> 1st-borns tend to develop larger vocabs earlier than 2nd-borns, @ least based on mothers’ reports of vocab
- also diffs in the age at which girls & boys start using particular types of words --> Ex, Wehberg et al. (2008) found that girls start using words about social relations & for objects that need to be cared for (e.g., doll, baby) earlier than boys. -->In contrast, boys start using words for loud moving objects earlier than girls
26
Fast Mapping
- is when children learn the meaning of a word after only 1-2 encounters with it.
- A characteristic process observed during time of rapid vocab growth
27
the 'language explosion'
-@ about 1.5 to 6 years, children enter the ‘language explosion’. --> Vocab
increases very rapidly & most children have mastered the major aspects of language.
- Throughout childhood, the complexity of their syntax continues to improve.
28
Segmenting individual words is difficult in the speech of a foreign language. Elaborate
- If u don't speak the language, u would obviously have difficulty in understanding the meaning of the words --> u would also probably have a difficult time separating the individual spoken words apart
- This problem translates into ur perception that a person speaking an unfamiliar language often sounds as though they r speaking very
quickly. --> This illusion is caused by the difficulty u have segmenting the speech stream into word units
- It's kinda like the disorienting effect of reading a sentence with no natural breaks to
guide u --> It's much easier when the stream is naturally spaced apart into words.
29
Does an infants' proficiency at speech segmentation, predict later language ability?
- study by Newman and colleagues, researchers began by familiarizing infants, ranging in age from 7.5 - 12-months, with a target word, like dog
- When the infants were later read stories, the question was: could the infant detect the target word from the speech stream?
- When those same infants turned 2, parents completed a checklist of expressive
vocabulary= total # of words that r produced by a child.
- Interestingly, researchers found that early speech segmentation skills showed a strong +ve correlation
with expressive vocab @ 2
- Children who demoed good speech segmentation skills as infants, now had larger
expressive vocabularies
- children who demoed poorer speech segmentation skills,
now had smaller expressive vocabs.
30
Expressive Vocabulary
- Words that children can actually speak.
31
Receptive Vocabulary
Words that children can understand but may not yet speak.
- infants & toddlers can understand a lot more complex words & sentences than they r able to produce.
- Receptive vocabulary develops well before expressive vocab.
- SIDE NOTE: language comprehension is just as important as production for language development.
32
Development & the Segmentation Problem: Implications
- @ theoretical level, these findings give us a glimpse into understanding how language
develops.
- @ a clinical level, these findings could lead to infant screening tests to predict later
problems in language development, & direct early treatment interventions.
33
Universal Phonetic Sensitivity is
the ability of infants to discriminate between any sounds they're tested on. Includes sounds from non-native languages.
-Infants demonstrate universal phoneme sensitivity
- Researchers at the UBC have investigated a very interesting aspect of infant speech perception: very young infants can actually discriminate more phonemes than adults can
- Korean languages do not contain the /ra/ & the /la/ phoneme distinction that is
present in English. --> Adult speakers of Korean have difficulty hearing the diff
between these sounds.
--> However, Korean infants are quite capable of discriminating
these sounds.
34
If the infants being tested are still pre-verbal, how can researchers test their universal phonemic sensitivity?
- Researchers rely on techniques such as the head-turn procedure to indirectly
measure perception of phonemes
- In the training phase, an infant learns to discriminate 2
diff phonemes, and turn their head towards the speaker.
--> When they do so to a new sound, they r rewarded with the presentation of a toy doll.
- In 2nd phase, the infant becomes habituated to a particular phoneme by hearing it played over and over again until they stop looking.
--> A new test phoneme is then presented. If the infant turns their head towards the
speaker, it indicates that they can discriminate the 2 sounds.
- Researchers @ Werker's lab @ UBC compared 6-8-month-olds from English-speaking families, English-speaking adults, & Hindi-speaking adults on their ability to discriminate 2 diff /t/ sounds which r present in Hindi but not in English
- Interestingly, using the head-
turn procedure, infants performed almost as well as the adult Hindi speakers! --> Similar findings have been reported with specific phoneme discrimination tasks from other languages.
35
Now the big question was: When does this Universal Phonetic Sensitivity ability disappear? Why does this happen?
- When researchers compared the ability of infants raised in English speaking families to discriminate between 2 Hindi sounds, a striking developmental pattern emerged:
--> by the end of the 1st year of life, infants had already lost
most of their ability to discriminate the non-native phonemes.
WHY?
- ans appears to deal with experience with relevant phoneme contrasts. --> Ex, the Korean & Japanese oral languages don't differentiate between the phonemes /r/ and /l/. --> cuz adult speakers of Korean & Japanese do not have practice using this phonemic contrast in their language use as adults, they have difficulty perceiving the diff between these sounds.
--> Thus, infants are born prepared to deal with any language & as their perceptual system is exposed to a particular language setting, it develops accordingly.
36
Perceptual Narrowing
- The process where one loses the ability to distinguish between contrasts in sounds not used in one’s native language.
When does this happen?
- when the UBC researchers compared 6-8-month-olds, 8-10-month-olds, & 10-12-month-olds on their ability to discriminate between the 2 Hindi phonemes, they found that over 96% of the youngest infants could discriminate the difference, about 70% of the middle age group could, & only 20% of the eldest infants could.
--> also demoed a similar pattern of decreasing perceptual ability using phonemes that r used in Nthlakapmx, a language used by aboriginals in BC.
-->suggests that this phenomenon is somewhat inherent but shaped by early experiences such as infant directed speech.
37
Universal Phonetic Sensitivity: Even more incredible is the fact that infants are especially well-tuned to do this.Elaborate
- exposing an adult to a new language for 10 months will improve her ability to speak & understand the language, but they will need much more time with a very intensive practice program before being able to discriminate fine phonemic contrasts.
- However, learning another language at a young age leads to superior mastery of all aspects of language.
38
infant-directed speech
- informally known as "motherese"
- When people talk to infants, they tend to speak in a higher pitch & exaggerate changes in pitch & use of rhythm.
--> Dr. Trainor from Mac for that the exaggerated changes in pitch used in infant-directed speech help 6-7-month-olds discriminate between different vowel sounds, possibly helping them learn the categories of vowel sounds that r present in their native language.
39
Neurological & cognitive research has provided strong evidence for the specialization of certain brain areas for the production & comprehension of language. ELABORATE
- Ex, damage to Broca’s area, a small area in the left frontal lobe, leads to difficulty in the production of fluent speech.
--> Individuals r likely to understand what is being said to them, but they seem to have trouble finding the words to respond.
- Damage to Wernicke’s area, located in the left temporal lobe, allows individuals to speak fluently, but their speech makes no sense.
--> Such individuals also have difficulty understanding written & spoken language.
- these r not the only syndromes that exist within the domain of language.
40
Foreign Accent Syndrome
- aka FAS
- FAS patients have typically suffered from a stroke or head injury that has damaged areas in the left hemisphere involved in motor control of speech
--> When individuals regain speech after the incident, they r able to speak their native language, but they seem to have a foreign accent. --> other than that, their language seems normal
- 1st ex of FAS came in the early 1900’s & since that time only about 60 cases have been reported.
--> Despite its rarity, this syndrome can teach us a lot about the brain areas & processes involved in speech production.
41
FAS: Case Examples
-(Mariën & Verhoeven, 2007) worked with Dutch speakers: One developed a French/German accent; another, a North African accent that improved with speech therapy.
- (Luzzi et al., 2008) worked with Italian speaker: Developed a Spanish-sounding accent without stroke or traumatic brain injury — later found to have a degenerative neurological disease cuz her language began to deteriorate in other ways & struggled creating fluent speech. --> FAS was the 1st sign
(Naidoo et al., 2008 looked @ Canadian woman: After a stroke, spoke with a Newfoundland accent despite never living there --> unusual cuz FAS patients r typically perceived as having an accent of a diff language instead of a diff dialect of their native language --> which is why FAS diagnosis delayed cuz it resembled a dialect, not a foreign language.
(e.g. Luzzi et al., 2008 looked @ Mongolian speakers: often started using an accent of a language they have never used or heard
42
What is the explaination behind FAS? How to people speak in accents they have had no prior experience with?
- ans is a work in progress
- but careful analysis of FAS patients’ speech indicates that while it sounds like they r speaking with a foreign accent, this perception is caused by fairly simple but consistent changes in the way they speak--> Ex, case study of the Italian woman’s FAS, her pronunciation of the Italian sound ‘il’ changed slightly so that it sounded more like a Spanish ‘el’. --> the same happened with her pronunciation of several Italian consonants
- analysis FAS patient speech often reveals that their speech is modified in its basic timing & rhythmic properties, or prosody, leading to the perception of a foreign accent. --> These subtle shifts make speech sound foreign even though it doesn’t match any real language pattern exactly.
- Listeners interpret these altered speech patterns as a “foreign accent” due to the brain’s tendency to organize sounds into familiar categories.
--> The perceived accent can vary depending on the listener (e.g., the same person may be heard as having a German, Chinese, or Swedish accent).
43
the still-face procedure
- Although they don't start producing language until late in their 1st year of life, infants show language-related skills very early in life.
- In the still-face procedure, adult looks @ infant while having a non-responsive, neutral facial expression.--> I 2 or 3 months old infants will become distressed, indicating that even at this age, they have some expectations about how a face-to-face social interaction should proceed.
- Sometime during the first 2 months of life, we also typically see an infant’s first social smile—a smile in direct response to a social interaction.
44
Pragmatics
-The skills that allow children to communicate appropriately & effectively in a social situation, such as taking turns during a conversation.
- though early experience with turn-taking and other conversation-related skills does exist, pragmatic abilities continue to develop throughout childhood & r fine-tuned into adolescence
45
Language: Nature vs Nurture
- Much debate has long existed over whether language is a product of nature or nurture, but modern views hold that it is a combo of both factors that results in human language.
- If we consider that only humans use language, it suggests that a genetic predisposition allows for this complex skill to develop. But language must also have learned components.
--> After all, the native language you learn to speak depends on where u live & the environmental interactions provided by ur parents.
MY NOTE: Social Learning theory of language development= nurture & Innate Mechanism Theory= nature
46
Social Learning Theory
- According to social learning theory, children learn language through a combo of imitation & instrumental conditioning.
- Think of when a baby is babbling & accidentally says "mama" --> the mother likely
responds excitedly with praise, smiles, & attention, thereby providing reinforcement for the desired behaviour
- This is the 1st step through a long process by which parents provide explicit models of language
47
Evidence for Social Learning Theory
- Support for social learning theory comes from children who have not been exposed to language throughout their childhood.
--> Ex, case of Genie, a young girl who was removed from an abusive situation at age 13.
- In childhood, she had been locked in a small room & had virtually no interactions with people.--> When she was rescued, she had virtually no language skills.
--> Not only that, but for the rest of her life, Genie struggled
immensely to fully learn & develop language.
- Such cases indicate that without exposure to adequate sources of language, children will fail to develop these skills.
48
Evidence against Social Learning Theory
- opponents of this view claim that children’s language development is far too rapid
& complex to be driven by imitation & reinforcement alone.
- young children make interesting language errors
that would never be heard in adult speech, including overextensions & underextensions.
49
Overextensions
- occur when children apply a rule too broadly, & can occur at the level of meaning or syntax
- Ex, if child learns that pet is called a doggie, he may start to use the word doggie to label any four-legged animal, creating an error at the level of meaning
- Ex, child may add the suffix ed when saying that she played with her friend yesterday, but may overextend it to other verbs, saying she runned instead of the past tense ran. --> This type of overextension, where a child makes a
syntactical error by applying a grammatical rule too broadly= an overregularization. --> ex, “The boy runned home” & “My foots is growing fast”. --> children r in process of learning the rules of the language, but have yet to master the exceptions to the rules.
- overextensions in production persist longer than overextensions in comprehension --> This means that a little boy who uses the word car for a bus, a truck, & a wagon can point to the correct items if asked.
--> This pattern is consistent with the pattern of expressive vocab developing later than receptive vocab.
50
Underextensions
occur when children apply a rule to a specific object only.
--> Ex, a child may use the word "doggie" to refer only to her specific pet dog and no others, or the word "duck" to refer to her specific toy duck but not a real one.
51
Telegraphic speech
- Begins between 18-24 months.
- Infants use short phrases that contain only the most crucial information they are trying to communicate, much like those that would be used if you were sending someone a telegram
-->Ex, a child might request more to drink by saying ‘more juice’ or ask for his teddy bear by saying ‘where teddy’
- As they enter the naming explosion, children r able to use more & more telegraphic expressions to communicate their questions & demands.
52
Are bilingual children smarter?
- 20th-century research claimed bilingual children were less intelligent than monolinguals, often based on IQ tests. --> However, this research, was restricted by limited measures of intelligence & confounds in research, including failure to incorporate for key variables like socio-economic status & whether tests were in the language bilingual children were more familiar with
- modern findings explored a variety of factors such as intelligence, metalinguistic awareness, school achievement, & cognition across bilingual & monolingual children, & have come to find that bilingualism tends to have no effects at all (for intelligence) or positive effects (for all other factors).
- Further work showed a # of specific enhanced non-verbal cognitive abilities in bilingual children such as selective attention, inhibition of distracters, task switching, working memory & abstract & symbolic representations , abilities honed by the use of 2 separate linguistic systems.
- findings also suggest that bilingual children do in fact perform worse for factors like language processing & proficiency. --> Bialystok (2010) says its due to underdeveloped vocab; bilinguals have a smaller vocabulary for each language than native, monolingual speakers of each language.
53
BILINGUAL VS MONOLINGUAL: memory
- may be reasoned that increased overall vocabulary from knowing 2 languages may allow for an increased # of memory traces; both languages may be used as associations for memory retrieval.
- found significant advantages in both episodic (recollection of personal experiences with their specific time & place) & semantic memory (a mental encyclopedia of general factual knowledge, concepts, & meanings) in bilingual compared to monolingual children.
- handling 2 languages & the diff sets of rules that go with each, individuals r better able to organize info, keeping them separate when necessary & ensuring that cross-over does not occur across the languages.
- Also, there is increased flexibility: individuals r able to automatically select or access both languages depending on which 1 is currently in demand.
- tho bilingual children don't outperform monolingual children in all respects, there r definitely notable advantages across a # of cognitive abilities
54
Innate Mechanism Theory
- An innate mechanism, present only in humans, that helps language develop
rapidly according to universal rules
- alternative to Social Learning Theory
- Noam Chomsky argued that language develops rapidly due to an innate mechanism= called a Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
- said that although various languages may rely on variations of grammatical rules, all languages follow certain fundamental, underlying rules
--> said humans have innate mechanisms that allow them to understand & use these universal grammar rules, which allow language skills to develop rapidly.
55
Evidence for Innate Mechanism Theory
- comes from work with congenitally deaf children whose parents have decided to teach their children lip-
reading instead of sign language
- Despite the fact that these deaf children haven't been
exposed to sign language, children in the United States & China have been observed to spontaneously use signs as a form of communication --> without any formal training, they sign in a consistent
manner that follows grammatical rules.
- Most striking is that the grammar rules for this
spontaneous signing, do not necessarily match those of their parents' native language. --> suggests that these children were not using a learned grammar, but one which was innate & automatic.
- Neurological data also supports this theory --> Very young infants show neurophysiological responses to the first language they r exposed to, & prefer listening to speech rather than non-speech sounds --> suggests that infants’ brains r pre-
wired to adapt to the sounds & their associated meanings present in the environment.
- Second, universal language milestones occur in a consistent pattern @ certain ages.
56
Evidence against Innate Mechanism Theory
- Ex, there is evidence that infant monkeys & chinchillas also show very specific neurolophysiological responses to some aspects of language.
--> This finding doesn't necessarily refute the possibility that humans r hard-wired for language development, but it does call into question whether language is indeed a uniquely human quality & whether other animals have similar responses to language, & if so, why such skills r underdeveloped.
57
1 major point pertaining to the discussion of social learning theory & innate mechanism
theory is that lack of support for 1 theory can be taken as ________________________________ ____________
support for the opposing theory.
- In the case of Genie, innate mechanism theory would predict that even in her extreme circumstances, language would naturally develop. --> cuz this didn't
happen, this case study shows the importance of socialization when it comes to learning
language, & so it supports social learning theory
- Language errors like overextensions & overregularizations support innate mechanism theory
cuz these unique errors would not be predicted by social learning theory. --> The errors children make r likely not reinforced, & in most cases children r not imitating these errors from the adults in their lives. --> cuz we see that socialization has no influence on this aspect of developing language, we say that innate mechanism theory better explains these spontaneous & novel language errors
58
Sign Language
- Deaf individuals use sign languages due to limits in oral communication.
- Similar to oral languages, people from diff cultures use diff sign languages.
--> Their structure & syntax don't necessarily mimic the oral languages spoken in their culture of use.
--> sign language can also have diff dialects that r used in diff regions, similar to the way that people in diff regions of the UK speak diff dialects of English.
- Besides several officially taught sign languages, sign languages can develop spontaneously, as shown by Lenguaje de Signos Nicaragüense (LSN) (Pinker, 1994).-->until late 1970’s, deaf children in Nicaragua had been isolated in their home communities --> this changed when the gov brought them to centralized school systems & tried to teach them to lip read & use speech.--> Despite failure of the gov's program, Nicaraguan deaf children created a basic sign system on their own, which over time evolved into a fully complex, symbolic language.
59
Sign languages meet the defining characteristics of language. Elaborate
- they r productive & rule-governed, & they consist of symbolic, arbitrary associations.
--> like oral languages, the symbolic & arbitrary associations between meaning & symbol allow diff sign languages to use diff signs for the same meaning.
--> While there r instances of onomatopoeia (symbols reflecting their meaning) in sign languages, the vast majority of signs r more a representation than a simple ‘copy’ of the physical item.
60
Similarities between developing sign language & oral language
- Sign-learning toddlers confuse referents like “you” & “me” just like spoken-language learners even though the ASL equivalent is just pointing @ the person (point @ ur chest for me & point @ the person for you)
- more intriguing is fact that the signing children were able to point accurately @ a younger age, but as they developed an understanding of language, their pointing diminished & then re-emerged in this error-prone fashion.
-->This developmental trajectory indicates that the children were using the signs as much more than a direct point; they were using them as symbols representing meaning & assigning that meaning correctly was a learning process
--> ALL THIS SO FAR WAS FROM study by Ann Petitto from UOFT
- Oral babbling emerges around 7 months, even in deaf children. --> After that they seem to need oral input to continue oral language development.
- Nonetheless, there is evidence of babbling in sign language= manual babbling --> @ the same time hearing infants exhibit oral babbling, deaf infants (or hearing infants who r being taught only sign language) make systematic & rhythmic motions that seem to be precursors for more advanced or complex signing.
- Sign & oral languages share similar developmental stages, brain activation areas, & have similar underlying structures.
--> These parallels indicate that tho the physical methods of communicating languages may differ due to developmental limitations, language ability is an partially inherent human capacity, independent of the medium (speech or sign).
61
Interactionist Theories of Language Development
- explanations that rely solely on nature or nurture on language development have been found to be insufficient. - This outcome has led to the proposal of interactionist theories of language development that argue for a combined role of nature & nurture.
- recognize that children r biologically prepared for language, but also require extensive experience with language in the environment for adequate development.
- According to interactionist view, children play an active role in acquiring language by formulating, testing, & evaluating hypotheses about the rules of language. --> It's this active role, paired with brain maturation that eventually leads to language mastery
- Thus, Interactionist theories integrate 3 influences on language development: biological maturation of the brain, social interaction, & cognitive preparedness
62
The Waggle Dance
- Honeybees are social insects
- when a forager is successful in finding a source of food, it
returns to the hive, & performs a waggle dance to communicate the location of the food to the other bees.
- the waggle dance is a form of communication with a single purpose & little flexibility
- waggle dance has 2 phases: the waggle phase & the return phase
- Waggle Phase:
- bees move forward with direction of line indicating direction of food source.
- food source directly in line with the sun is indicated by a waggle in a straight upward direction, with waggles at an angle indicating the angle away from the line of the sun that the bees should follow to find the food.
- the distance of the waggle
communicates the distance of the food source from the hive.
- Return Phase:
- After each waggle, the bee returns to its starting position in a loop either to the left or to the right, forming a sort of figure-8 pattern.
- Each waggle dance can consist of as many as 100 repetitions.
63
Bird Song
- Bird use highly complex
songs for mate attraction & competition.
64
The diffs between animal & human communication r best understood in experiments where...
...researchers have tried to teach non-human animals to use human language.
- Early experiments relied on the use of instrumental conditioning techniques.
65
Washoe
- was a chimp raised by scientists and taught how to communicate using American Sign Language
- a team of outside observers, including some congenitally deaf humans, rated Washoe’s use of ASL
- Washoe did learn to use signs to communicate simple requests, & could combine them to communicate more complex requests
- However, many suggested that the impressive demos fall short of language cuz she did not communicate using any systematic grammar.
- Essentially, Regular=No, Arbitrary=Yes, Productive=Yes
66
Sarah
- was taught to use
plastic symbols to communicate demands
- learned to use many diff symbols, evidence of a large vocab, & was even able to answer simple
questions. --> had developed the ability to use complex symbols to communicate
- However, Sarah hadn't learned to combine them in novel combinations, 1 of the criteria of true language use
- Essentially, Regular=Yes, Arbitrary=Yes, Productive=No
67
Kanzi
- was taught to communicate using a set of geometric figures known as lexigrams arranged
on a keyboard
- What made the Kanzi experiment somewhat diff from previous attempts, is that his trainers didn't use instrumental conditioning techniques to teach the language --> they utilized complete immersion in the language, hoping that Kanzi would learn the language by observation
- Kanzi used all the lexigrams correctly, often combining them to communicate without
any reward or prompting
- seemed able to communicate requests & respond to demands, as well as understand some requests that he had never previously seen.
- However, Kanzi's grammar was still limited, no understanding of nouns, verbs, or plurals.
- Similar to the previous exs, he also displayed a limited ability to create novel combos of words to express new ideas that he had not been directly taught.
--> while Kanzi may represent 1 of the most successful attempts to teach language to an animal, his understanding was still significantly limited.
- Essentially, Regular=No, Arbitrary=Yes, Productive=Yes
68
Note how all the animal exs we just covered r argued to fall short of true language cuz of
__________________. Elaborate
limited flexibility
- That is, skeptics argue that true language requires the ability to combine words or meaning-rich behaviours to express many new ideas—something that bees, birds, &
chimpanzees don’t seem to do as well as us.
69
Cognitive neuroscience of swearing
- Taboo words activate
brain areas associated
with negative emotion:
Right hemisphere
- Basal Ganglia (bigger ring looking thing)= responsible for swearing production --> people with Tourettes swear more cuz this part of the brain is overstimulated
- Amygdala (more left ear piece looking thing)= hearing people swear
70
List the 6 types of swearing
1) Supernatural
2) Body effluvia & organs
3) Disease, death, & sickness
4) Sexuality
5) Family/heritage
6) Hate speech
71
Type of swearing says a lot about a culture. Explain
- language depicts culture
--> shows what a culture values the most --> cuz that's the type of swearing that'll hurt the most
--> Ex, French= almost exclusively religious, arabic= family
72
SWEARING: The Supernatural
-Ex, damn, hell, For Pete’s sake
- more potent in religious societies, evokes emotions
of awe & fear
73
SWEARING: Body effluvia & organs
- Ex, Sh*t, piss, a**hole, snot,
bloody
- effluvia r major vectors of
disease
- evokes emotions of disgust
74
SWEARING: Disease, death, &
sickness
- Ex, “a pox on you”, “a plague
‘o both your houses”
- Evokes emotions of dread
- Ex, "I hope you get COVID" --> certain types of swearing come in & out of fashion depending on wha is happening @ the moment or is important @ the time
75
SWEARING: Sexuality
- Ex, F**k, screw, d*ck
- But: y should thoughts about sex trigger negative
emotions?
--> Exploitation, illegitimacy, incest, jealousy, cuckoldry,
desertion, abuse
76
SWEARING: Family/Heritage
- Ex, “You’re mama’s so...”, “son of dog”,
- General insults against family members. --> Evokes feelings of shame or hurt pride.
77
SWEARING: Hate Speech
- Racist, homophobic, sexist
slurs
--> Words that denounce
someone as bad or “other”
cuz they belong to a diff group
78
Euphemism:
- We have to talk about this for a while for a specific purpose, but let’s avoid
thinking about how awful it is.
--> Ex, a euphemism for sh*t would be feces
79
Dysphemism:
- I want you to think about just how awful this is.
--> Ex, saying F**k instead of Copulate
80
Emphatic swearing
-Ex, This is really, really f**king brilliant
-Ex, He thinks he’s a f**king chef
- We do this for attention
- We do this for emphasis
81
Cathartic Swearing
Rage-circuit theory:
– Mammals: when suddenly
injured or confined, emit
sudden angry noise to
startle attacker
– Humans: also triggers
language system—
aggressive words with
negative affect
--> Swearing when u stub ur toe acc makes u feel less pain for less time
82
SLIDES: Conclusions (4 POINTS)
The study of how humans use words reveals:
1. All species communicate but language is special.
2. Slang can add a level of complexity to generational communication
3. Swear words r fundamentally diff than regular words
4. Humans r guided by emotions
Psych 1X03
flashcards
Decks in class (13)
# Cards
-
Research methods 1107
-
Textbook: Intro: foundations of psych11
-
Classical Conditioning82
-
Instumental conditioning69
-
Problem Solving & Intelligence65
-
Language82
-
Categories & Concepts57
-
Science of learning22
-
chapter 7 textbook: Attention0
-
Attention!73
-
Influence of others oney158
-
Forming Impressions (HEHE)69
-
Memoryyyyyyyyyyyyy106
