Language 4.6 [HY]

Question 1

Categorical Perception

Answer 1

when a language has subtle differences in speech sounds that represent a change in meaning, children learn to distinguish those phonemes

Question 2

Morphology

Answer 2

• structure of words
• composed of multiple building blocks called morphemes

Question 3

Semantics

Answer 3

• the association of meaning with a word
• certain combinations of phonemes represent certain physical objects or events, and that words may refer to entire categories

Question 4

Syntax

Answer 4

how words are put together to form sentences

Question 5

Pragmatics

Answer 5

• Dependence of language on context and preexisting knowledge
• Affected by prosody: the rhythm, cadence, and inflection of our voices

Question 6

Timeline of Language Acquisition

Answer 6

• 9 to 12 months: babbling
• 12 to 18 months: about one word per month
• 18 to 20 months: “explosion of language” and combining words
• 2 to 3 years: longer sentences (3 words or more)
• 5 years: language rules largely mastered

Question 7

Naming explosion (18-20 months)

Answer 7

• the child quickly learns dozens of words, and uses each word
  with varying inflection and gestures to convey a desired meaning
• Overextension occurs: inappropriately apply a term to an object that bears cursory similarities to the term.

Question 8

Errors of Growth (2-3 years)

Answer 8

• a child applies a grammatical rule (often a morpheme) in a situation where it does not apply

Question 9

Nativist (biological) theory

Answer 9

advocates for the existence of some innate capacity for language

Question 10

Transformational grammar

Answer 10

focused on syntactic transformations, or changes in word order that retain the same meaning

Question 11

Language acquisition device (LAD)

Answer 11

theoretical pathway in the brain that allows infants to process and absorb language rules.

Question 12

Critical Period for Language

Answer 12

two years and puberty

Question 13

Sensitive period

Answer 13

• a time when environmental input has maximal effect on the development of an ability
• For language its before puberty

Question 14

Learning (behaviorist) theory

Answer 14

• language acquisition by operant conditioning (reinforcement)
• caregivers repeat and reinforce sounds that sound
  most like the language they speak

Question 15

Social interactionist theory

Answer 15

• language development focuses on the interplay between biological and social processes
• language acquisition is driven by the child’s desire to communicate and behave in a social manner, such as interacting with caretakers and other children
• Brain develops and groups sounds and meanings together
• as the child interacts with others, certain brain
  circuits are reinforced, while others are de-emphasized, resulting in atrophy
  of those circuits.

Question 16

Whorfian hypothesis “linguistic relativity hypothesis

Answer 16

the way we think about the world—is determined by
the content of language

Question 17

Arcuate fasciculus

Answer 17

• a bundle of axons that allows
  appropriate association between language comprehension and speech production.
• Connects Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area

Question 18

Where’s Broca’s Area?

Answer 18

the inferior frontal gyrus of the frontal lobe

Question 19

Where’s Wernicke’s area?

Answer 19

the superior temporal gyrus of the temporal lobe

Question 20

Conduction aphasia

Answer 20

• Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas are unaffected, speech production and comprehension are intact
• patient is unable to repeat something that has been said because the connection between these two regions has been lost.