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PSYCH 130 > Language Development > Flashcards

Language Development Flashcards

1
Q

What is psycholinguistics?

A

the study of the structure and development of language

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2
Q

What is phonology?

A

The sound system of a language and the rules for combining these sounds to produce meaningful units of speech

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3
Q

True or False:
We perceive phonemes categorically.

A

True

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4
Q

What is the “magnet effect”?

A

When a series of phonemes is played continuously, our ear is drawn to categorical distinctions of the sound

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5
Q

What is acquired distinctiveness?

A

we become better at perceiving stimulus properties that are critical for distinguishing native language sounds

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6
Q

What is acquired similarity?

A

we become worse at perceiving properties that are not part of our native language

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7
Q

How is our brain able to understand phonemes that are not enunciated “perfectly”?

A

brain filters out sounds that don’t belong (like synaptic pruning)

why we understand accents!

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8
Q

True or False:
During the critical period, our brain takes “statistics” on languages it hears.

A

True

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9
Q

Why does acquired similarity happen?

A

our brain is not exposed to those novel stimuli from non-native languages

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10
Q

True or False:
A baby has lower plasticity to learning phonemes than adults.

A

False
Babies have higher plasticity to learning sounds; expect to receive language and can acquire any phoneme

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11
Q

What is the process of language acquisition?

A
  • high plasticity –> acquired distinctiveness
  • brain prunes away ability to perceive sound as you grow older
  • lower plasticity –> acquired similarity
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12
Q

True or False:
Japanese speakers are able to differentiate between the English /r/ and English /l/.

A

False

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13
Q

What mechanism is used to study infants’ development of categorical perception of phonemes?

A

conditioned head turn procedure

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14
Q

How did Werker’s conditioned head turn procedure work?

A

whenever a sound changes, a curtain will pull back and rabbit toy will play
* if the infant hears the sound change, their head will turn

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15
Q

True or False:
Infants can distinguish Hindi phonemes until 8-10 months.

A

False
until 10-12 months

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16
Q

What is morphology?

A

how words are formed from sounds
(i.e. stems, root words, prefixes)

i.e. grammar

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17
Q
A
18
Q

What is semantics?

A

the expressed meaning of words and sentences

19
Q

What is syntax?

A

the structure of a language; the rules specifying how words and grammatical markers are to be combined to produce meaningful sentences

20
Q

What are pragmatics?

A

principles that underlie the effective and appropriate use of language in social contexts

i.e. when to use polite forms

21
Q

True or False:
When children acquire words, production precedes comprehension.

A

False
Comprehension precedes production;
children understand what something means before they can say it

22
Q

What is the problem of “reference”?

A

children are unable to interpret exactly what a word is referring to

23
Q

What is “fast mapping”?

A

attaching meaning to words after hearing it applied to its referent after only a few times

24
Q

How was “fast mapping” displayed in the Carey & Bartlett study?

A

children were told to get the “chromium” block, “not the blue one,” and used the reference of the color blue to get something they’ve never heard before

25
Q

What are three fast mapping errors?

A
  1. overextension
  2. underextension
  3. overregularization
26
Q

What is overextension?

A

tendency to use specific words to refer to a broad class of objects

car = all moving vehicles

27
Q

What is underextension?

A

tendency to use a general word to refer to a smaller set of items

candy = one type of candy (not chocolate)

28
Q

What is overregularization?

A

tendency to overuse grammatical rules when they don’t apply

1 mouse, 2 mouses

29
Q

What is the holophrastic period?

A

infants utter one word that is meant to represent an entire sentence

“milk”

30
Q

What is the telegraphic speech period?

A

sentences that omit less meaningful parts of speech (18-24 months)

“want milk”

31
Q

What is the word learning period?

A

toddlers will experience a “naming explosion,” which grows language

32
Q

What did the “wug test” show about language acquisition?

A

children can understand and internalize rules of grammar and apply to novel words they’ve never heard

why overgeneralization happens

33
Q
A
34
Q

What is the empiricist perspective of language acquisition?

A

language is acquired through children imitating adult language and through adult reinforcement of correct language usage

35
Q

What is evidence that supports the empiricist’s theory?

A
  • imitation is important to the development of phonology and semantics
  • we talk like our parents
36
Q

What is evidence against the empiricist’s theory?

A
  • adults do not correct gramatically incorrect utterances because they know what the child means
  • stilll let children speak the way they speak without correcting them
  • eventually children learn how to speak correctly without environmental output
37
Q

What is the nativist perspective of language acquisition?

A

children will never acquire the tools needed for processing an infinite number of sentences if the language acquisition mechanism was dependent on language alone

developed by Noam Chomsky

38
Q

What is the “Language Acquisition Device”?

A

allows any child to develop an implicit understanding an infer the rules governing others’ speech and to use these rules to produce language

38
Q

What is evidence that supports the nativist theory?

A
  • only humans have shown ability to acquire knowledge of syntax without formal training
  • some evidence for critical or sensitive periods for language development
  • spontaneous creolization of pidgin language by second generation
39
Q

What is evidence against the nativist theory?

A
  • sensitive period data is shaky; people can learn a second language after puberty
  • some non-human primates are senstivie to some aspects of language
  • creolization may simply reflect a human sensitivity to rules and an ability to learn codes, rather than reflect innate knowledge
40
Q

How did Genie show support for both the nativist and empiricist theories of language acquisition?

A
  • nativist: critical period for fully developing language (not able to learn grammar, syntax, etc.)
  • empiricist: able to expand vocabulary and learn words from researchers

PSYCH 130 (15 decks)

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