Quiz 9 infancy

Distinguish between language and communication. How are they the same and how are they different from each other? 

Language- a formal system of communication, or a process by which we share information with others, that is structured and comprises grammar and vocabulary 

Communication- the process by which we share information with others  

Language is a form of communication.  

Newborns communicate even though they do not realize they are communicating when they are crying to get a need met. 

Explain how proto-conversations, gaze following, and pointing are communicative.

Proto conversations: back-and-forth interactions (like “talking” before words) an early form of social exchange characterized by vocalizations by infants and speech by a caregiver 

Gaze following: Infants looks where another person looks, shared attention 

Pointing: directs attention to objects shows intention to communicate 

All show infants are actively engaging socially before speaking because they are wanting to talk to others and engage in a conversation even if they do not have language yet. Want to communicate with others but do not have the language to do so yet. 

List the components of a formal language, and give an example of each. 

Phonemes- smallest sound unit 

Example: /b/, /a/, /t/ in “bat” 

Morphemes – smallest meaning units  

Example: “dogs” = dog + s 

Syntax- rules of combining words 

Example: “The dog runs” vs. “Dog the runs” 

Pragmatics- social use of language 

Example: speaking differently to a teacher vs. a friend 

What is meant by a critical period for language development? 

A biological based window when language is easiest to learn 

Early childhood is the most sensitive time to learn a language before perceptual narrowing. Able to understand all the different phonemes. 

Without exposure, language development is much harder later 

 

Learning language, particularly a first language, has been argued to have a critical period. Specifically, ‌learning a language is much easier at younger ages than older ages, and it may be impossible to learn a first language during adolescence or adulthood. 

Can infants acquire more than one language? Explain why or why not

Yes. Infants can easily become bilingual 

Their brains are flexible and can separate language systems 

Early exposure actually strengthens language skills 

 

Newborn infants from bilingual families discriminate between two languages that differ from each other in their rhythms , similar to newborn infants from monolingual families. Infants and young children who are regularly exposed to two languages acquire words in both of their languages. 

What is the language acquisition device, and what is universal grammar? 

Language acquisition device – Innate brain systems for learning language an instinctive mental capacity that is argued to allow for the acquisition of language with minimal input 

 

Universal grammar – a set of structures or rules that govern all world languages  

all languages share underlying rules 

Suggest humans are biologically prepared for language. 

Which theories of language development emphasize innate grammar? Which ones instead emphasize experience with language? 

Innate grammar-

Nativist theory (Chomsky) built-in grammar system 

Experience-

Behaviorist

Connectionism

Statistical learning

Social interactions

What is meant by domain-specific versus domain-general learning? Which theories argue for domain-specific processes for language acquisition, and which argue for domain-specific processes in language acquisition? 

DOMAIN-SPECIFIC-

Nativist theory (Chomsky) built-in grammar system 

DOMAIN-GENERAL-

Behaviorist

Connectionism

Statistical learning

Social interactions

Communication

The process by which we share information with others  

Connectionism

a theory of cognitive development that proposes that children use general-purpose learning mechanisms to quickly learn all aspects of cognition and language from the input they receive 

expressive language

the ability to produce words in a language 

gaze following

the ability to align one’s gaze with another person’s  

Generative

the feature of language that makes it possible to combine words in an infinite number of ways to express an equally infinite number of ideas 

home signs

system of gestures that deaf children develop to communicate when exposed to only spoken language 

Infant-directed speech (IDS)

a type of speech used to address infants that is simpler and more variable in its pitch than speech directed to adults 

interactionist views

theories that recognize that development reflects both biological and innate influences as well as experience  

Intersubjectivity

the understanding that thoughts and feelings are shared with other people. 

joint engagement 

coordinating attention so both the caregiver and child are attending to the same object at the same time. Coordinating attention to the same object at the same time.

Language

a formal system of communication, or a process by which we share information with others, that is structured and comprises grammar and vocabulary 

language acquisition device

an instinctive mental capacity that is argued to allow for the acquisition of language with minimal input 

looking-while-listening

a procedure used to test infants’ language comprehension that uses infants looking at images on a screen while hearing speech 

Morphemes

the smallest unit of a word that denotes meaning 

non-reduplicated babbling

also known as variegated babbling, a type of babbling that includes a combination of two or more constant-vowel combination (e.g. “mabu”) 

Overextensions

a type of error children produce when they apply words to a broader array of referents than the meaning of the word (using the word dog to refer to horses)

Phonemes

the most basic units of a language that convey meaning; in spoken languages, phonemes are the individual sounds  

poverty of the stimulus

Chomsky's argument that the language children heat is insufficient for learning 

Pragmatics

understanding when and how to use language, as well as appreciating the intent of a speaker’s words 

Proto-conversation

an early form of social exchange characterized by vocalizations by infants and speech by a caregiver 

receptive language

understanding and recognizing language

reduplicated babbling

lso known as canonical babbling, a type of babbling that includes true syllables in the infants’ vocal productions; a single consonant-vowel combination is repeated in this types of babbling (mamama or gagagag)

Statistical Learning

theory that proposes that infants are sensitive to regularities in their environment that reflect that structure and that they use this information to acquire language 

Syntax

the rules of how the categories of words, such as nouns and verbs, combine to create sentences 

Underextensions

an expressive language error in which children apply a word too narrowly 

universal grammar

a set of structures or rules that govern all world languages  

word segmentation

the ability to parse words from a continuous stream of fluent speech 

• Why is communication distinct from language? What are the components of language? 

Communication is broader because there are many different ways to communicate with others and language is a form/ a way to communicate 

In what way do children contribute to their acquisition of language? In what ways might the environment (i.e., experience with language) contribute to their acquisition of language? 

Children contribute to their acquisition of language through joint attention because they want to join together with an adult to learn more about the world around them. The language that you hear is what language you will learn.  

Pointing, gaze following, babbling.  

 

Enviornmental contributes: 

Infant-directed speech is based on if the family uses it ot not 

Social interaction how much or how little  

Exposure to language  

What is prosody, speech perception, word segmentation, and receptive language? 

Prosody- Rhythm and tone of speech. The rhyming and intonation of a language 

Speech perception – The ability to hear differences in sounds  

Word segmentation – the ability to parse words from a continuous stream of fluent speech (analyze the words in a sentence). 

Receptive language – recognizing and understanding language  

One infant often points to objects to direct attention. Another infant does not try to communicate with their gaze or point. Which infant is more likely to begin to understand and say words earlier in development? Explain your answer. 

The infant who points and follows gaze is more likely to begin understanding and saying words earlier in development because they are using joint attention which allows them to know how important it is to communicate. 

 

Word learning happens in joint attention.  

Compare how infants learn to perceive and produce speech sounds. 

Infants can perceive and understand/recognize language much earlier than they can produce their own speech sounds and start talking on their own.  

Experience shapes language development in many ways. Describe one way that caregivers can shape their infants’ language development in their interactions. 

Use infant-directed speech to help infants learn words.  

Use high vocabulary to increase infant vocabulary.  

Which activity is better suited for helping infants learn new words, reading a book or playing with an electronic toy that plays a recording of the new word? Why? 

Reading a book  

• Encourages triadic interactions which lead to more language learning.  

• Provides richer language exposure 

• Supports joint attention 

• Describe some of the ways that infants learn to link words to their referents. 

Joint attention 

Repetition 

Context clues 

Caregiver labeling objects