Communication Development in Infancy

automatic and socially-situated

language acquisition is…

listening, responsiveness (eye contact, laughing, smiling), turn-taking, joint attention, teleological (goal-oriented) behavior, and pointing/showing/grabbing

what are some ways in which children communicate without talking?

information-based and socially-situated

communication is ______ and ______

information-based

involves exchanging of some informational content

socially-situated

necessarily based on a social relationship and a social context

child-directed speech

caregivers (in most cultures) adjust the way they talk to infants in keeping with the infant’s developmental stage

exaggerated pitch, simplified syntax, and repetition of words that the baby uses

what does child-directed speech consist of?

elinor ochs

this author went to western samoa and recorded 6 children from 6 different households who were between 19 and 35 months at the onset of the study

low activity and minimal involvement

what are the two components to high status?

low activity

the person of higher rank is expected to exert very little physical energy and to remain stationary

minimal involvement

no display of awareness of or interest in the activities of lower status persons immediately around them

by not giving much attention, talk a very light amount, and to not use child-directed speech

how does a high status person relate to a child?

expansions

one of the most striking characteristics of somoan caregiver language is the absence of what?

no

is CDS/baby talk a universal feature of human societies?

speech production as a newborn

head turns to voice; prefers native language; prefers mother voice'; discriminates many sounds used in speech

speech production as a 1-2 mo

smiles when spoken to

speech production as a 4-6 mo

shows recognition of own name and first words

speech production as a 6-8 mo

able to segment words from fluent speech

speech production as an 8-10 mo

begins to lose the ability to discriminate non-native sounds; starts responding to own name and familiar routines; shows clear recognition of first words

not intentional

earliest conveyances of information by the infant to the mother are intention or not intentional?

crying when hungry, eyes wide when startled/scared, and yawning when tired

what are examples of non-intentional communication?

intentional

communication that ‘A meant something by x’ is roughly equivalent to “A uttered x with the intention of inducing a belief by means of the recognition of this intention

the child is aware of the link between a specific behavior and an intended effect that signal has on the caregiver

communication temptation task

the child might be presented with an attractive toy inside a tightly covered plastic container. An infant who is not yet communicating intentionally might band the container and fuss or cry in frustration, while another preverbal infant might hand the container to an adult, make eye contact, point to the toy and/or vocalize, and persist in such behaviors that seem to be directed toward the adult

gestures

the use of non-verbal signs to symbolically represent objects, events, desires, and conditions in order to communicate with those around them