Biological Bases (Psych 133C), Foundations Of Language (Psych 133c), Phonological Development (Psych 133C), Lexical Development (Psych 133c), Morphology & Syntax (Psych 133C), Communicative Competence (Psych 133C), Language, Culture & Thought (Psych…

What is phonology?

The sound system of a language

What is the lexicon?

A mental dictionary of words

What is Morphology?

Rules for combining word parts to form words

What is syntax?

Rules for combining words into sentences are a core feature of human language.

What is communicative competence?

using language appropriately in social interactions (pragmatics).

Why are early language milestones important?

They show universal developmental patterns regardless of culture/input.

Why don't animals have language?

They lack syntax, generativity, and full intentional communication.

What was Nim Chimpsky 's significance?

He learned signs but never developed syntax his utterances remained short.

What is intentionality in language?

Using communication to convey messages to others.

What is reference?

Symbols stand for things (words represent real concepts).

What proves animals don't have true language?

No systematic grammar or productive rule-based combinations

Why does syntax make human language unique?

It allows infinite combinations and complex meanings

What is a pidgin?

a simplified communication system with little grammar, no native speakers

What is a creole?

A grammatically complex language created when children acquire a pidgin as a native language.

What does creolization prove?

Children add grammar themselves -> humans are biologically prepared for language.

What are home sign systems?

Gestural systems invented by deaf children without language input have rudimentary grammar.

Why is Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL) significant?

Children created a full sign with grammar even though adults did not provide one.

What do pidgin, creole, and NSL show about children?

Children naturally impose structure and grammar, a biological basis for language.

What does the nativist perspective argue?

Language is innate humans have a language acquisition device (LAD)

What is Universal Grammar?

innate blueprint of language structure found in all humans.

What is the "poverty of the stimulus argument?

Input is incomplete, yet children learn full grammar -> supports innateness.

Is language domain-specific or domain-general in nativism?

Domain-specific, a unique mental module for language.

What is the formalist view of language?

Language structure comes first, evolved for systematic rules

What does the interactionist/empiricist perspective argue?

Language is learned through general cognitive skills plus enviornment.

What are domain-general abilities?

Memory, categorization, attention, pattern recognition, speech segmentation, and statistical learning.

What is the functionalist view of language?

Language use drives language structure, people adapt to communication needs.

What evidence supports interactionism?

Differences in language input quanity/quality predict differences in development.

Why do both perspectives matter?

Language arises from biology and experience together.

What do "wild children" like Genie show?

Lack of early input damages language development, supporting both biological necessity and experience.

What does research on deaf children without sign language show?

Biological drive to create language even without a model

What is the Critical Period Hypothesis?

Language must be learned between birth and puberty for full mastery

Why is duck imprinting used as an analogy?

Both show early biologically programmed learning windows.

What changes in the human vocal tract support speech?

lowered larynx & reshaped vocal tract -> better speech, higher choking risk.

What does vocal tract evolution show?

Language was so important that humans evolved structures risky for survival.

Why is the brain central to language development?

Language originates in the brain for both sign and speech.

What does fMRI measure?

Blood-oxygen changes, high spatial resolution.

What does EEG/ERP measure?

Electrical activity, high temporal resolution, good for infants.

What does MEG measure?

Magnetic fields from brain activity, excellent temporal resolution

What is fNIRS used for?

infant-friendly brain imaging that tracks blood oxygen using infrared light

What is left hemisphere specialization?

Handles language, grammar, and practiced routines

What is right hemisphere specialization?

Visual and spatial processing, pragmatics, semantics, understanding jokes, sarcasm, and figurative language, processes novel or creative uses of language.

What is Broca's Aphasia?

Non-fluent, effortful speech with intact comprehension and grammar loss.

What is Wernicke's aphasia?

Fluent but meaningless speech, comprehension severely impaired.

What is conduction aphasia?

Damage to the Arcuate Fasciculus cannot be repeated, but can understand/produce.

Why do children recover better from brain injury?

High neuroplasticity, synaptogenesis, and pruning allow for reorganization.

What factors create individual differences in language development?

Biology, genetics, SES, gender, birth order, number of languages, and prior skills. Identical twins show more similarity -> genetic contribution, especially to syntax.

What are developmental research designs?

Studies where age is the main variable of interest in language development.

What is a longitudinal design?

Tracking the same children over time to observe developmental change.

What is a cross-sectional design?

Comparing different children of different ages at one time point

What are normative studies?

Descriptive studies that identify typical milestones and average development, without explaining how children achieve them.

What is cross-cultural research

Comparing children across different cultures and languages to find universals and cultural variations in development.

What is cross-linguistic research?

Comparing children learning different languages to understand how structure and input shape acquisition.

What is a speech sample analysis?

Children's natural speech is recorded, transcribed, coded, and quantified for analysis (used to study vocabulary, grammar, MLU, parent-child patterns, etc.

What makes a speech sample "representative"?

At least 100+ child utterances collected in a natural environment.

What is CHILDES?

A large publicly accessible database of children's speech transcripts, including famous datasets (e.g., Adam, Eve, Sarah from Brown).

Why is CHILDES important?

Allows researchers worldwide to analyze real child language without collecting new data.

What is a diary study ("baby biography")?

Parents keep a detailed daily log of children's language development to track vocabulary, first words, grammar emergence, etc.

How was the MCDI developed?

Created from thousands of diary studies, compiled into a standardized checklist of children's productive vocabulary.

What is the MCDI used for?

Parents check off every word their child says -> measures productivity, vocabulary across languages.

What does the PPVT measure?

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test measures receptive vocabulary (words the child understands).

What does MLU tell us?

Higher MLU = more advanced grammar

What is computational modeling in language development?

Computer simulations that use environmental input to test predictions about how children might learn language patterns

What do case studies contribute?

Intensive examination of an individual child (e.g., Genie, Victor). Not generalizable, but highly informative for theory.

What are standardized tests in language research?

MCDI, PPVT, and MLU are used to measure vocabulary, comprehension, or grammar using consistent protocols.

How does Birth Order affect language development?

Firstborn children typically receive more one-on-one caregiver input, which can lead to earlier vocabulary development. Later-born children benefit from older sibling interaction, influencing conversation/pragmatic skills

What is intentionality in language?

What is a foundation of language?

Innate and socially driven abilities that allow infants to learn language.

What do newborns prefer to listen to?

Human speech over other sounds

Why do infants prefer speech?

Speech is socially meaningful and structured, prepared for language learning.

What faces do infants prefer?

Human faces -> especially upright face like patterns

Why is face preference important?

Supports social engagement, which is necessary for language learning.

What sounds can young infants discriminate?

All phonetic contrasts of all human languages

When do infants lose universal phoneme discrimination?

Around 10-12 months -> specialize in native language sounds

What is intention reading?

Understanding what others mean or want (social cognitive skill)

Why is intention reading important?

Allows children to map words to intended meanings.

What is gaze following?

Infants look where adults look, which occurs 9-12 months

Why is gaze following essential for language?

It helps infants learn word-object associations.

What is imitation?

Copying actions or gestures of others supports learning communicative behaviors.

What is referencing?

Infants check their caregivers' emotional reactions to guide behavior.

What is joint attention?

Infant & caregiver share focus on an object or event

Why is joint attention important?

Strong vocabulary development

What is turn-taking?

Early conversation skill -> babies take vocal turns

What is infant-directed speech (IDS)?

Higher-pitched, melodic, slower speech used with babies

Why is IDS useful?

helps with attention, learning, segmentation, and emotional bonding

Does every culture use IDS?

No but children still succeed showing flexibility

Cooper & Aslin (1990) study

Infants prefer IDS over ADS (adult-directed speech), which supports IDS as a natural attractor.

What is speech segmentation?

Finding word boundaries in continuous speech

Junge et al. (2010) study

Infants segment words by tracking statistical regularities (probabilities). Supports domain-general learning

Goldstein & Schwade (2008)

More caregiver responsiveness -> more vocalizations & faster language growth. Input quality matters.

Quality vs Quantity of input

Both matter, quality (contingent responses, meaningful interactions) especially important.

SES & the "30 Million Word Gap"

Lower SES children hear fewer words, which impacts vocabulary and readiness. (Modern nuance, quality matters more than raw counts.)

What is the WEIRD problem?

Most research uses Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic samples -> limits generalizability

DeCasper & Spence (1980's) prenatal learning study

Babies preferred stories read by their mothers before birth -> prenatal learning of sound patterns.

What does prenatal learning show?

Exposure begins before birth, infants remeber rhythm and prosody

Mapping problem (How do kids know what a word refers to?)

Infants use intentions, gaze, joint attention, and social cues

Fast Mapping

Learning a new word after minimal exposure.

Whole object assumption

Children assume a new word refers to a whole object

Mutual Exclusivity

Assume each object has one label -> helps eliminate alternatives. These are part of the word learning foundation, even if briefly referenced.)

What could Genie learn?

Individual words, labels, emotional terms (e.g., "sad", "blue"). She could communicate wants and needs.

What could Victor learn?

Basic commands ("throw key"), basic associations, some comprehension, but no grammar.