Behavioralist and Syntactic Theories of Language Development

Behavioralist Theory

Language development through operant conditioning, with reinforcement and modeling from the environment, proposed by B.F. Skinner. (Language learning child is passive and the environment is active)

Operant Conditioning

Learning language through reinforcement of behaviors, conditioned by stimuli and responses, such as rewards for speaking or imitating.

Mand

A verbal behavior where an individual specifies what they want or need, often in the form of a request or command

Intraverbal

Verbal responses without one-to-one correspondence, often in response to 'wh-' questions or social small talk and rituals.
(when you have a little chat with someone, saying things that relate to what they said, but not necessarily repeating exactly what they said.)

Tact

Labeling behavior, such as naming objects

Limitations of the Behavioralist theory

Difficulties in explaining how children learn grammar rules when parents don't correct every mistake (Noam Chomsky), and how children create new sentences instead of just repeating what they've heard.

Universal Grammar

- Innate linguistic knowledge in humans.
- Includes universal language rules.
- Facilitates language acquisition.
- Part of the Language Faculty.
- Guides language learning.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

- Theoretical concept proposed by Noam Chomsky.
- Part of the Language Faculty.
- Innate mechanism for language learning.
- Helps children acquire language.
- Contains Universal Grammar rules.

Phrase Structure Rules

- Establish basic sentence structure.
- Apply regardless of language.
- Dictate arrangement of sentence components.
- Example: "Sentence = Noun Phrase + Verb Phrase."
- Universal and innate.
PRODUCING SENTENCES

Transformational Rules

- Modify basic structure.
- Language-specific.
- Allow for variations in grammar.
- Vary across languages therefore NOT universal (it is in language faculty)

Deep Structure

Area of the brain responsible for the comprehension of sentences.
UNDERSTANDING SENTENCES

Surface Structure

The way concepts are expressed in language
- preserves the underlying meaning encoded in the deep structure.
- Specific words, grammar, and order used.

Object Permanence

The knowledge that an object continues to exist even when it is out of sight, a cognitive precursor to linguistic milestones.

Means-End Behavior

Knowledge of ways to achieve a goal, transitioning from random to goal-directed behaviors, a cognitive precursor to linguistic milestones.

Symbolic Play

The ability to use one thing to represent another during play, demonstrating underlying cognitive concepts and a precursor to linguistic development.

Example of Operant Conditioning

When a child receives praise and a treat for saying "please" when requesting a toy, it reinforces the behavior of using polite language

Successive approximations

Gradually shaping behavior closer to a desired outcome by reinforcing small steps in the right direction ( A part of operative conditioning)

How are successive approximations used in operant conditioning?

They involve reinforcing small steps in the right direction to gradually shape behavior closer to a desired outcome

Example of Successive approximations

A child wants a BANANA, he can say nana at 1 year old, but at two years old mom stops reinforcing nana and only gives the kid a banana if he says babana.

3 Different Speech Behaviors

Mand, Intraverbal, Tact

Example of a Mand

"Stop Hitting Me" = the mand is stopping getting hit

"May i have a cookie" AND "give me a cookie" had the same mand

2 Types and examples of Intraverbals

Ritual- "How are you today?"
- Intraverbal- "Good, and you"
Non-Ritual - "What is something you bake?"
- Intraverbal - "Cookies"

Tact vs Mand

Different from mand as it does not involve requesting.

Tact: "I see some cookie" vs Mand: "i want some cookies"

Contributions of Behavioral Theory

Crucial role of ENVIORNMENTAL factors in language development and introduces useful concepts like mands and intraverbals, which have proven helpful in language training.

Explain how a child might learn the word ball using behavioral theory

- Child sees a ball and points at it, showing interest.
- Parent says "ball" and gives the child the ball as reinforcement.
- Child begins to associate the word "ball" with the object.
- Through repeated reinforcement, child learns to say "ball" when seeing or wanting the object.
- Imitation also plays a role; child may attempt to say "ball" after hearing it from the parent, reinforcing the word's association with the object.
- Over time, with continued reinforcement and practice, child's use of the word "ball" becomes more accurate and consistent.

Syntactic Theory

- Proposed by Noam Chomsky.
- Emphasizes syntax (sentence structure) in language.
- Suggests humans have INNATE universal syntactic rules.
- Children learn language by applying rules.
- Focuses on deep structure (meaning) and surface structure (expression).

Language faculty

- Area of the brain dedicated to language.
- Contains Universal Grammar and LAD
- Assists in language processing and comprehension.

Transformational rules VS Surface structure

Transformational rules modify the underlying structure of a sentence to create different grammatical forms
- EX: "The cat chased the mouse" -> "The mouse was chased by the cat"

Surface structure refers to the actual form or expression of a sentence, including specific words, word order, and grammatical features.
- "The cat chased the mouse," the surface structure includes the specific words "cat," "chased," and "mouse," as well as their respective order in the sentence.

Limitations of Syntactic Model

- Emphasized syntax but downplayed other aspects like phonology and semantics.
- Not ideal for explaining how children learn their first words.
- Downplayed the importance of ENVIORNMENT and early social and cognitive factors in learning language. (assumes everyone has same cognition and social experiences)

Contributions of Syntactic Model

- Revealed universal syntactic rules in all languages.
- Stressed innate cognitive mechanisms in language learning.

3 Cognitive Precursors

Object Permanence, Means-End Behavior, Symbolic Play

How might child might learn the word ball using syntactic model

• Child observes a ball and hears the word “ball” from caregivers.

• Universal Grammar guides the child’s understanding of basic sentence structure.

• Deep structure represents the underlying meaning of the word “ball” as an object.

• Surface structure provides the specific linguistic form of the word “ball.”

• Transformational rules enable the child to apply grammatical structures to new words.

• Through exposure to language, the child internalizes the word “ball” within the syntactic framework.

• Repetition and reinforcement solidify the association between the word and the object.

• Over time, the child develops fluency in using the word “ball” within various sentence structures.

Phrase structure vs transformational rules vs deep structure vs surface structure

phrase structure rules determine how words are organized, transformational rules modify these structures, deep structure represents the meaning, and surface structure is the actual form of the sentence.