Language Flashcards
(21 cards)
Factors of language
Speech production/symbolic or representational symbols
Semantics (word meaning)
Syntax (word order)
Pragmatics (social appropriateness) (can include things such as intonation, volume)
Phoneme
Unit of sound
ex: mm, bb, rr
one symbol representing 1 sound
ex: Wider
4 phonemes
w, i, d, r
Morpheme
Unit of sound with meaning
phonemes together that create meaning
ex: Wider
2 morphemes
Wide- width
ER- more
age at which children lose capacity to differentiate discrete/nuanced phonemes in languages?
12 months
Age at which people lose plasticity with language?
12 y/o (puberty)
auditory perception in language in children
- Reading and language are “overlearned skills” – hardest to unlearn, extinction
- It takes a human being for babies to take their information (don’t get it the same from TV or technology)
how is color coded in brain?
Linguistically
- Color blind individuals discriminate reds and greens based on other correlates and can separate them into categories, even though the color is perceived the same
- why stroop effect can be hard
Language and spatial information
Left v right – cardinal directions
Left right is egocentric – it is in relation to ourselves or others
Animals navigating out-navigate humans, possibly because of our lost sense of spatial awareness due to our linguistic coding
Child language development (order)
children learn language through ACTOR-OBJECT-RECEIVER.
The boy gave a ball to the girl
The girl was given a ball by the boy
(2nd sentence doesnt compute as synonymous)
Stages of observations of child language acquisition
- Eye contact; gaze
- Nursing behaviors (correct distance away from parent to make eye contact/see face)
- Awareness of environment, feelings states (e.g., hunger)
- Cooing/Crying (Babies learn they can impact their environment)
- Gestures
- Sound as impacting change - causality
- Babbling/Echolalia/Noises (ex: ninny, lalalalala, baobab. children do this because it is an enjoyable experience)
- Motherese/Baby talk (tone, volume, scoops, EYE contact and widening— healthy way to help children learn. speak to kids in this way to strengthen networks of meaning/emotions. it is a way of simplifying language)
- Intentionality (phenomena of caregivers taking innocuous sounds made by the baby, and we think they are making those sounds intentionally)
- Responding as if intelligible
- Copying/Mimicry – consonants, intonation, word patterns/sound patterns
——-Most common consonants M, P, B, D, G, K, T
(bilabial consonants most common for babies)
——-Least common consonants L, R - Overuse of rules – sleeped, eated; mices
Language development theory- VYGOTSKY
Nature
Zone of Proximal Development: readiness to learn, and aided through social interactions
Scaffolding: teachers help children bridge gap to new knowledge
Child learns via fantasy play, explanation, mirroring
Language development theory- CHOMSKY
Nature
Universal Grammar
Language Acquisition Device: basic set of language skills innate/present at birth
Learn through imitation
Language development theory- BRUNER
Nature
Language Acquisition Support System –pragmatics– children do have an innate ability to learn and acquire language, but require the social interaction w/ same language users to excel in their learning.
Language development theory- NATURE
Vygotsky, Chomsky, Bruner
Language development theory- Skinner
Nurture
Operant Conditioning: language is a behavior– children are reinforced for words they use, and by associating words with meaning.
pos rein- word gets reward- milk, child gets milk
neg rein-removing something
punishment- told wrong word?
Language development theory- Piaget
similar to skinner, says language is taught. when they have reached a neural readiness, they can learn very quickly
4 stages of learning
Sensory motor stage – uses sense, classifies objects (indexes), literal and
concrete vocabulary
Pre-operation Stage – egocentric, language skills develop
Concrete Operational – logical thinking
Formal operations – abstract reasoning (puberty)
Automaticity
Weighted networks- gets stronger through the kindling effect
As you do a behavior more it becomes more automatic so you can focus on other things and do other things at the same time
Ex: we learn language implicity and then it becomes an automatic process.
**Every time you have an experience/take in stimulus (ex: look at mom while breatfeeding), you start to recognize mom in a certain way. The more that happens, the more entrenched/trained that specific pathway becomes.
Saccades
eye movements move back/forth
help us determine where words start/end/spaces
Fixations
Periods of fixation and movement but we only really process info during fixation
word recognition
- Shape of word
- End letters are often most important (possibly to let us know when the word goes to the next word)
- We skip over about 1/3 of all words in sentences
- evidence for parallel processing
Perceptual span
how much can u perceive in a window
Wider range= faster readers
Smaller range= Less skilled readers, reading disorders, older people
