Speech and Language Development

There are three main theories for language acquisition:

Nativist, behaviorist, and interactionist

What are the main ideas of the nativist theory?

We are born with the ability to learn a language, language is innate, language is universal, and all languages have rules.

Who is the main theorist for the nativist theory?

Noam Chomsky

Nativists believe we ____ language

Have

The nativist theory stresses which part of nature vs nurture?

Nature

What are the main ideas of the behaviorist theory?

We learn language through our environment, and it is an observable behavior that we DO. Children learn through imitation, reinforcement, and successive approximations.

Imitation:

Reinforcement:

Successive approximations:

Imitation: copying others (think mirror neurons)

Reinforcement: getting rewarded/praised

Successive approximations: learning through small steps and being reinforced until target goal is achieved

Reinforcement:

Punishment:

Reinforcement: a response that will likely increase the behavior

Punishment: a response that will likely decrease the behavior

Behaviorists believe language is something we ___

Do

What does the behaviorist theory stress is most important?

The environment

Who is the main theorist for the behaviorist theory?

B.F. Skinner

Give an example on how the environment might shape a child learning language

If a child is surrounded by an environment where they are consistently exposed to language, they will do well. (ex. a mother narrating everything she is doing to her child while in the grocery store) if a child is surrounded only by directional language (go. get your shoes on. move now.) then they will struggle when it comes to more complex language.

What is the main idea of the interactionist theory?

That both biology AND the environment are needed (both nature and nurture) Children have the biological abilities for learning a language but they need interactions with people.

The interactionist theory states that children MUST be a what?

Active participant in their environment

The interactionist perspective says that language develops in what way through a child and an adult?

Back and forth interactions (conversation-like)

Plasticity

The brain’s ability to change and adapt as we learn

Mirror neurons

Help us imitate and recognize actions of others

Give an example of mirror neurons working in real life

Babies watch other people, and so with the help of these mirror neurons, they can learn things like how to move their mouths, non-verbal communication, and other actions just by watching others

Age of Acquisition effect

States that words learned earlier are generally retrieved faster

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

An idea proposed by Nativist Noam Chomsky that suggested humans are born with a built-in ability in the brain to acquire language, and he called this the language acquisition device (LAD)

Noam Chomsky also argued the idea of Transformational-Generative grammar, which suggests…

That humans know a limited number of language rules, but those rules allow us to create an unlimited number of sentences (innate ability)

In Transformational-Generative Grammar, Noam Chomsky described two main levels of sentence structure. What are they?

Deep structure and surface structure

Deep structure

The meaning or basic idea of a sentence, represents what the speaker means

Surface structure

The actual words and word order used in a sentence

Give an example of deep vs surface structure

Deep structure: “John ate the cake” (John is doing the eating, and the cake was what was eaten”

Surface structure: “John ate the cake” vs. “The cake was eaten by John” (the meaning still stays the same (deep structure) but the sentence was changed from active to passive because of word order (surface structure)

What are Skinner’s 5 verbal operants?

Echoic, tact, mand, intraverbal, autoclitic.

Echoic verbal operant and an example

A child repeating what someone says

Adult: “Cat”
Child: “Cat”

Tact verbal operant and example

A child naming or describing something they see

Child sees a dog

Child: “That’s a dog!”

Mand verbal operant and an example of it

A child demanding or requesting something

Child sees a cookie

Child: “Cookie!”

Intraverbal verbal operant and example

A child responding to another person’s communication

Adult: “What’s your name?”

Child: “Grace”

Autoclitic verbal operant and example

Using language to make a comment (gives more information about something you are saying) For example, “I think it might rain”. I think tells us they are uncertain. There will definitely be a test tomorrow”. “Definitely tells us that there will for sure be a test. These words or phrases tell the listener more about what you are saying.

What is an operant

A behavior that is influenced by its response

Shaping

Gradually teaching a behavior through small steps known as successive approximations

Example of shaping through successive approximations

Giving a dog a treat each time it gets a little closer to the target behavior

How would an SLP approach assessment for the nativist theory?

An SLP could watch a child naturally interact with someone to determine what language rules the child seems to understand and how they naturally use language

What are the five components of language?

Phonology, morphology, syntax (form)

Semantics (content)

Pragmatics (use)

Phonology

The rules for the sound system in a language (rules for where and how we make certain sounds)

Morphology

The rules for the smallest unit of meaning in a language (the smallest meaningful parts of words are called morphemes) Morphology basically asks, what pieces make up this word, and what does each piece mean?

“Cats” has two morphemes; break it apart

“Cat” = free morpheme

“-s” = bound morpheme

Syntax

The rules for sentence structure that allows us to organize sentences. (to have a grammatically correct sentence, we have to put the words in the correct order)

Semantics

The rules for the meaning of words used in a language (client’s vocabulary)

Example of how syntax determines semantics (how sentence structure determines its meaning)

“The dog chased the cat” vs “The cat chased the dog”

Both sentences include the same words, but the structure of how those words are organized completely changes the whole meaning of the sentence

Pragmatics

The rules for using language in social contexts (knowing the difference between talking to a friend vs professor, knowing social cues in a conversation, etc.)

How would an SLP approach assessment from a behaviorist perspective?

An SLP would observe how a child and caregiver interact (what does the child do, and how does the caregiver respond? Teach the caregiver how to use behaviorist techniques such as reinforcement in a child’s natural environment)

True or false: Behaviorism can only apply to language

FALSE—we can reinforce a child for making the correct speech sounds as well as using language

Before children fully develop language, they need important skills such as…

Imitation, joint attention, and turn-taking

Imitation

Copying someone

Joint attention

Two people are paying attention to the same thing

Turn taking

Taking turns communicating

Parentese and its qualities

Parentese is the way adults tend to talk naturally to babies. It is usually slower, higher, and more exaggerated. Found to be universal across all languages

What are the three interactionist sub-views?

Semantic view, cognitive view, and social interactionist

Social interactionist view says what?

Both biological and environmental factors will influence acquisition

Communication

Exchanging messages to share ideas, feelings, and information

For communication to occur, what two things must happen?

Someone must generate and send the message, and then another person must receive and understand it

What is an example of where communication has not occurred because someone did not receive the message?

Sending someone a text message but they have not read it yet

What is an example of when communication has not occurred because someone does not understand the message?

Someone coming up to me and talking to me in Russian (I received the message but am unable to understand Russian)

Verbal vs non-verbal communication

Verbal communication is communication with words, and non-verbal communication is communication without words

What are the three ways we can verbally communicate

Spoken words, written words, and signed words

What are some examples of non-verbal communication?

Facial expressions, body language, gestures, eye contact, silence

Which do we use more in communication: verbal or non-verbal?

Non-verbal

What percentages make up our communication?

Non-verbal:

Verbal:

The words we speak:

Non-verbal: 70%

Verbal: 20%

The words we speak: 10%

Language is…

A learned system of arbitrary symbols that are established and follow a rule governed structure for communication  

Expressive language

Generating and then sending a message

Receptive language

Receiving and understanding a message

Which comes first, expressive or receptive language?

Expressive

Define speech

The physiological process that is used to orally express language (speech is the tool/medium for how we deliver a message)

In order to produce speech, what three components are needed?

Articulation, voice, and fluency

Articulation

When the placement of the articulator (tongue, teeth, lips) is used to create a specific phoneme

Define voice

The quality of sound produced

Define fluency

The continuous, smooth production of speech

If someone is not fluent, what might they be diagnosed with?

A stutter

Suprasegmental

The features that go beyond the actual sounds we produce (tone, inflection, stress, pitch)

Inflection

The change in your voice’s pitch to emphasize words or to show meaning

Give an example of inflection

“I went to the store” vs “I went to the store?” The rise in pitch at the end of the second indicates a question, which completely changes the meaning of the sentence.

Stress

The extra emphasis to a specific syllable in a word or a specific word in a sentence, which can completely change the meaning

Give an example of stress in both a word and a phrase

Word: “COFfee”

Sentence: “You bought a red car?

Pre-linguistic vocalizations

making sound without the language (babies making sounds that have no meaning)

Echolalia

Occurs when speech is repeated but lacks meaning

Echolalia is very typical in children between the ages of what?

18-24 months

After 18-24 months, if echolalia still persists, what do we start to have concerns about?

Autism

Describe the sequence in which the speech chain occurs

1) Speaker has a thought and generates a message

2) The message is transferred to language form

3) Neural impulses are sent to the speech mechanisms for movement

4) Movement of the speech mechanism disturbs the air with sound waves

5) Sound waves are received by the listener’s hearing mechanism

6) The listener transforms acoustic patterns into the neural equivalent of the speaker’s message

The nervous system is made of what two parts?

Central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

The CNS is made of what two parts

Brain and spinal cord

The brain and spinal cord are protected and encased by which structures?

The brain is protected by the skull, and the spine is protected by the vertabrae

The brain has four main structures, what are they?

Brain stem, cerebellum, left hemisphere, right hemisphere

What does the brain stem do, and what does it connect the brain to?

It is responsible for life-sustaining processes and connects the brain to the spinal cord

What is the cerebellum involved in?

Balance and coordination

What is the left hemisphere responsible for?

Language (contains Wernicke and Broca’s areas)

Wernicke’s area is responsible for what?

Language comprehension

Broca’s area is responsible for what?

Speech production

What is the right hemisphere of the brain responsible for?

Processing emotions, attention, etc.

The peripheral nervous system’s function is what?

To relay sensory information between the brain, body, and external stimuli

What are the four systems required to produce speech?

Respiratory, phonatory, resonatory, and articulatory

What is the biological function of the respiratory system?

To exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out of the body

What is the speech function of the respiratory system?

It is the powerhouse of speech; all the sounds in the English language are pulmonic, meaning the sound comes from the lungs

Respiration definition

The movement of air into and out of the lungs allowing for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide

Inspiration/inhalation

Drawing air into our lungs

Expiration/exhalation

Breathing the air out

What do we call the breathing while we are at rest and not talking?

Quiet breathing

While we are quiet breathing, what is the ratio of inhalation vs exhalation?

50/50