Unit 2

language development

• simple learning (behaviorist, skinner)

• nativist theory (chomsky)

• general cognitive mechanisms

• social interaction and feedback; infant-directed/child-directed speech

phonology

smallest units of sound

morphology

smallest unit of meaning

semnatics

meaning of words/sentences

syntax

grammar

pragmantics

practical and social use of language

learning theory of language development

children learn this just like they learn anything else- reinforcement, imitation, observation, etc.

nativist theory

• noam chomsky

• kids are born with an innate ability to learn language

• language acquisition device, universal grammar, able to extract rules out of the speech input they receive

pidgins and creoles

some of the best evidence for this comes from the changes in language when people who don’t share a language must communicate

pidgin

combination of languages with limited or reduced grammar/syntax

creole

fully grammatical language that emerges from a pidgin by virtue of children being exposed to it

general cognitive mechanisms- language

• the same cognitive tools used to learn other complex skills

• pattern detection, categorical speech perception, statistical learning

speech stream

• infants can pick out regularities- which sounds usually occur in consistent places in utterances

• sounds become ‘candidates’ for words and unique units

• sequences of sounds and syllables

social-cultural theories; language

• learned through interactions with the social environment

• adults may speak differently to children, provide different sorts of feedback, etc

cooing

2 months; vowel sounds

babbling

6 months; CV syllables, even deaf babies babble

word comprehension

8-12 months; language

first word production

around 12 months; language

vocabulary explosion

around 18 months; language

multiple word utterances

18-24 months; language

first words

typical words for common objects, object properties, social words; fewer action words, very few function words

underextensions

using a word more narrowly than is appropriate (more common earlier)

overextensions

applying a word too broadly (more common later)

vocabulary burst

• rapid increase in size of productive speech- 18 months

• some do this, not all

first word combinations

• usually simple combinations of words children already know

• telegraphic speech

• usually express common meanings such as possession, negation, recurrence

individual differences

can vary widely but usually catch up around 2.5-3 years

specific language impariment

language delay in the absence of other developmental delays

non-spoken (gestural) language

• ASL or any equivalent

• advantage for motor skills

multilingual development

• children exposed to multiple languages can learn them simultaneously

• no delays in one v. multiple

• some language mixing occurs

bilingual advantage

• thought to confer cognitive advantages for children

• effect might be very small

infant social and emotional development

• temperament

• stability of temperament

• effortful control

• attachment and attachment theory

temperament

• stable, constitutionally based individual differences in the quality and intensity of emotional reactions - valence

• broadened to include emotion, attention, and action

thomas and chess 9 dimensions

1. activity level

2. rhythmicity (regularity of function)

3. distractibility

4. approach/withdrawal (response to novelty)

5. adaptibility

6. attention span

7. intensity of emotional reaction

8. quality of mood

9. threshold of responsiveness

three clusters of temperament

• easy (40%)

• difficult (15%)

• slow-to-warm-up (15%)

easy temperament cluster

• 40%

• hi rhythmicity, positive affect, adaptable

difficult temperament cluster

• 15%

• irregular, negative and intensive affect, dislikes new experiences

slow-to-warm-up

• 15%

• less active, less intense reactions, moderately negative affect, slow response to novelty

major issue with C&T

• treats emotional valence as a single dimension

• positive and negative emotionality may be independent dimensions

• rothbart and bates (1998)

rothbart’s 5 dimension

1. distress; fearful and irritable

2. attention span and persistence

3. activity level

4. positive affect

5. rhythmicity

fearful distress

distress/withdrawal in new situations

irritable distress

fussiness/anger/frustration

clusters of children

• inhibited, shy (20%)

• uninhibited, sociable (40%)

• fall at opposite extremes of positive affect and fearful distress

is temperament stable?

• stable, constitutionally based individual differences

• some dimensions of both temperament conceptualizations show moderate stability into middle childhood and beyond

why does temperament change?

• the meanings of some behaviors associated with temperamental variables may change

• measurement issues

• nature-nurture interaction

effortful control

• voluntary suppression of a dominant reactive response in favor of a more planful, adaptive response

• a newer player in the temperament world

• may be important because it involves all three fundamental underlying components of temperament; emotion, attention, action

kochanska et al- effortful control

• found at 2.5 years predicted by:

  • sustained attention at 9 months

  • parental responsiveness to child at 22 months

  • socialization behaviors at 22 months

attachment

• primary emotional relationship between child and caretaker

• develops in first year of life

• early theories relied on freudian concepts or learning theory concepts

• harlow studies

modern attachment theory

• john bowlby

• unique combination of psychodynamic, ethological, and cognitive theories

• children develop an ‘internal working model’, a set of expectations based on early caregiving experiences

pre-attachment

0-6 weeks; indiscrinimate social responsiveness

attachment-in-the-making

6 weeks-8 months; discriminate social responsiveness

clear-cut attachment

8-18 months; strong preferences for some caretakers over others, separation anxiety, stranger wariness/distress

equally

not all attachment relationships are created ____

strange situation procedure

• mary d.s. ainsworth

• series of separations and reunions with primary caretaker and stranger

  • caretaker and infant together

  • stranger enters

  • caretaker leaves

  • caretaker returns and stranger leaves

  • caretaker leaves

  • stranger enters

  • caretaker enters and stranger leaves

secure attachment

60-65%; explore freely, moderate distress on separation, joyful reunion, calms quickly

avoidant attachment

15%; good exploration, low or no distress on separation, ignore or slow response to parent on reunion

resistant attachment

10%; poor exploration (often clingy), high distress on separation. angry and/or resistant upon reunion

disorganized attachment

10%; doesn’t fit into other three attachment categories

what determines attachment quality?

• temperament and caretaking quality

• goodness-of-fit is a match between both

cross cultural differences in attachment

• cultures with communal caretaking

• culture with higher demands of independence and “toughing it out”

• cultures that rarely leave babies by themselves

does attachment matter?

• predictive validity of attachment security

• attachment security moderately predictive of developmental outcomes in childhood and adolescence

• moderately predictive of adult relationship style

secure attachment

predictive of social competence, self-esteem, cooperativeness, social status

disorganized attachment

predictive of hostility, aggression, poor peer relations

attachment variability

• cultural diversity in distribution of attachment classifications

• secure attachment not standard in all cultures

• goals of parenting and socializing differ between cultures and vary predictive value

early emotional development

• basic emotion s

• necessary for survival, present early in infancy

birth emotions

startle, disgust, distress

social smile

emotion at 4-6 weeks

2-3 months

anger, interest, surprise, sadness

6-7 months

fear emotion

early emotion recognition

• infants can do this well by 7 months in naturalistic contexts

habituation-dishabituation paradigm of emotion

recognition of basic emotions in 5 months and maybe as young as 3.5 months with limitations

infant habituation with familiar faces

dishabituation to:

• new emotion exhibited by parent

• new emotion exhibited by novel person

• old emotion exhibited by novel person

• best when going from sad to happy expressions

self-conscious emotions

• require emotional reaction to stimuli AND cognitive concept of the self

• ex: shame, jealousy, pride

self-awareness

• develops gradually over first two years

• usually assessed with mirror tasks- ex: how do babies respond to their image in mirror

self-recognition mirror tasks

• secretly change baby’s appearance

• “rouge” task- marking nose/cheek w/ makeup

  • 6 months- no reaction

  • 12 months- touch mirror image

  • 18 months- touch themselves

  • critical age for self-awareness/self-conscious emotions

self-awareness and memory

• autobiographical memories

• 18 months is youngest age for this

• most at 3-4 years

• childhood amnesia

self-recognition in animals

great apes, monkeys, dogs, cats, dolphins, pigs, elephants, pigeons

social referencing

when an infant (or child) looks at the emotional expression of a caretaker in order to gather information about a situation

• novel stimuli (stranger, new toy, new behavior)

social-referencing; 9 months

• smile = stimulus is okay

• fear/anger = stimulus is dangerous

• most helpful in ambiguous situations