Child as a Linguist

Question 1

What research paper studies childrens ability to map words onto novel objects

Answer 1

Preissler & Carey (2005)

Question 2

When is the Preissler & Carey paper from

Answer 2

2005

Question 3

What is the hypothesis of the Preissler & Carey paper?

Answer 3

If speaker intent (social cues) are crucial, then being impaired in using social cues should impair word-mapping

Question 4

What task was presented in the Preissler & Carey (2005) paper?

Answer 4

Mapping novel words to unnamed items (in referential ambiguity)

Question 5

What was the conclusion from the Preissler & Carey (2005) experiment?

Answer 5

That word mapping is not soley based on speaker intention

Question 5

What children were used in the Preissler & Carey (2005) experiments?

Answer 5

20 autistic children between 5-9 yo and 20 typically developing children around 2 yo

Question 5

How many experiments were there in the Preissler & Carey (2005) paper?

Answer 5

2:
1st: checking that autistic children dont use speakers intent (gaze)

2nd: Presenting either drawings or objects

Question 6

What theory does Tomasello advocate for in the Tomasello (2000) paper

Answer 6

The social-pragmatic theory

Question 7

Which is more important according to Tomasello (2000):

Intentional Communication or word mapping?

Answer 7

Intentional communication

Question 7

What is the social-pragmatic theory?

Answer 7

Words / language is learned by inferring intention in social contexts

Question 7

What is joint attention

Answer 7

Shared attention, where those involved are aware that they share attention towards the same thing

Question 8

What is garden variety learning theory?

Answer 8

Theory that refers to general learning mechanisms, like association, reinforcement, and imitation, to explain language acquisition without invoking specialized, innate language mechanisms –> making it domain general

Question 9

What is constraints theory

Answer 9

Theory that refers to language acquisition as guided through innate constraints such as language-specific biases and principles to make it easier to map word w. object

Question 10

What is Tomasellos view on garden variety learning theory?

Answer 10

He critics it: doesn’t address language in itself, argues that language is not just labels (word = object), but symbols and inherently social (used to manipulate attention), hence relying on social cognition - which the theory doesn’t take into account

Question 11

What is language according to Tomasello?

Answer 11

Language = Linguistic Symbols

Used to direct / share (=manipulate) attention

Question 12

What is Tomasellos critique of the constraints theory?

Answer 12

Only works w. nouns

And language is rarely presented to children as pointing and saying a word - but used socially

Question 13

What assumptions do children use in language acquisition?

Answer 13

1. Whole-object assumption
   - assuming ie pointing and saying a word means the word refers to that entire thing
2. Taxonomic assumption
   - assuming the word can be extended to objects in the same category (ie pointing at a cat means all cats are referred to as cat)
3. Assumption of mutual exclusivity
   - an object has one name

Question 14

Is language domain general or domain specific according to Tomasello?

Answer 14

Domain general - as it relies on general social cognitive abilities

Question 15

What allows for language in humans? Compared to the cognitive abilities in other animals

Answer 15

Metacognition - we can re-represent our knowledge, which allows us to reflect/analyse what we know

Question 16

What is the piagetian view on language?

Answer 16

• No innate language structure / mechanism
• Syntax / semantics are a result of sensorimotor intelligence

Question 17

How is language developed according to Piaget?

Answer 17

As sensorimotor action schemes become more coordinated + internalized, we can develop symbolic representations (which is language)

Question 18

What evidence counters Piagets theory of language acquisition?

Answer 18

Mental retardation (hindering in the Piagetian stages) is not necessarily accompanied by language impairments

Certain mistakes are observed in young childrens speech

Question 19

What is the nativist view of language acquisition?

Answer 19

Humans are born with innate attention biases (pitch, vowel duration etc)

Language is modular / domain specific –> relatively modularized through learning

Language has matural constraints (need to be able to segment speech, analyze words and map words onto object)

Question 20

Name some characteristics of language infants are sensitive to

Answer 20

relative pitch, absolute pitch (m / f), word boundaries, rhythmic aspects, vowel duration, intonation

Question 21

Are language assumptions domain specific or domain general?

Answer 21

Domain specific - part of a nativist view

Question 22

What kinds of error do young children make in language?

Answer 22

At a certain age, children make late-occuring errors (they overgeneralize) ie. plural forms ("foots" not "feet") or past tense ("goed" not "went")

Question 23

Why do children make late-occuring errors? (According to the RR model)

Answer 23

According to the RR model, these mistakes arise due to moving from an implicit level knowledge (procedural) to the first explicit level. Children discover a common feature of language, and make it a rule. They cannot provide a metalinguistic explanation as to why, in this phase.