Task 6 - From "ba..da" to good

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

sounds of a language

-/ui/, /r/–/sch/, /sr/

Question 2

Semantics

Answer 2

meaning of words and sentences

- Dog, running, under, over

Question 3

Basic components of language

Answer 3

• phonology
• semantics
• syntax
• pragmatics

Question 4

Syntax

Answer 4

Grammatical rules that dictate how words can be combined

–> eat kitty vs kitty eat

Question 5

Pragmatics

Answer 5

Rules for using language effectively within a social context

–> questions, parents, adults, children

Question 6

Phoneme

Answer 6

smallest sound unit that changes the meaning of word

• Hat vs Cat
• minimal acoustic differences between phonemes

Question 7

Behaviorist Perspective: “nurture” - Skinner

Answer 7

• operant conditioning
  – Parents selectively reinforce sounds that are most like words–Gradual shaping: “successive approximations”
• imitation
  – reinforcement and generalization
  —> passive role of child
  But:
  Parents do not only reinforce correct speech•Similar sequence of language development in different cultures

Question 8

Nativist Perspective: “nature” – Chomsky

Answer 8

• language acquisition device
• • Innate system, specific to the human brain–Contains universal rules of grammar
• -> Active role of child
• -> evidence
  1. language learning in monkeys
  2. invention of new language system - Nicaraguan sign language

Question 9

Language and the brain

Answer 9

network for speech processing: left hemisphere

Question 10

Language development in children with Williams Syndrome

Answer 10

• rare genetic disorder
• mentally impaired
• much better language skills (better vocabulary)

Question 11

Language acquisition device

Answer 11

• innate system, specific to the human brain
• contains universal rules of grammar

BUT:

• No evidence for universal rules of grammar
• Acquisition of grammar is continuous and gradual
• Role of pragmatics and cognitive skills?

Question 12

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Answer 12

• brain development, perceptual learning and plasticity

- ‘Bootstrapping’

Question 13

Bootstrapping

Answer 13

using existing knowledge to facilitate the acquisition of new abilities

Question 14

Measuring behavioral responses

Answer 14

1. listening preference: looking times
2. Preferential looking: head-turning
3. Non-nutritive pacifier response
4. Direct testing of e.g. word knowledge

Question 15

Measuring brain activity

Answer 15

1. time course of brain activity (EEG)

2. localisation of brain activity (fMRI)

Question 16

Development of speech perception

Answer 16

1. Initial perceptual biases in infants
2. perceptual changes due to experience
3. word learning

Question 17

Prenatal Development

Answer 17

• mother’s voice (her body tissue and bones are good conductors of sound)
• story reading by mother prior to birth
• rhyme learning

Question 18

Initial perceptual biases in infants

Answer 18

• 0-6 months: infants discriminate phonemes of all languages

- 0-4 months: infants show categorical perception

Question 19

Initial perceptual biases in infants

Answer 19

• categorical perception turned out
• • not to be specific to humans
• • not to be specific speech

thus: some early perceptual biases may be mediated by general auditory mechanisms

Question 20

Perceptual changes due to experience

Answer 20

• learning the phonemes of your native language (0-12 months)
• recognition of relevant speech units (6-24 months)

Question 21

Acquisition of native phonemes

Answer 21

• 0-6 months discrimination of a wide range of native and nonnative phonemes
• 6-12 months selective perception of native phonemes

Question 22

Segmentation problem

Answer 22

no clear physical borders between phonemes, words or sentences

Question 23

Difficulties about speech perception

Answer 23

• segmentation problem

- variability problem

Question 24

Variability problem

Answer 24

• within and between speakers
• • e.g. slow vs fast, or female vs male
• coarticulation between speech sounds

Question 25

Speech segmentation

Answer 25

- around 7 months: successful segmentation of words from fluent speech - around 24 months: adult-level speed and accuracy of word recognition in fluent speech

Question 26

Segmentation cues

Answer 26

1. prosody, intonation 2. stress pattern of words 3. statistical regularities of syllable co-occurence 4. phonotactic contraints 5. allophonic cues (6. association with meaning)

Question 27

Habituation-dishabituation paradigm

Answer 27

1. familiarisation period 2. test period, presentation of - familiarised items new items measurement of --> average looking times, headturning - typical development experiment, e.g. visual object recognition - - longer looking times for novel items - -> more interesting, not habituated - speech perception experiments are special case - - longer looking times for familiar items within a sentence context - -> more likely to convey relevant information

Question 28

Infant's segmentation of fluent speech

Answer 28

- measuring average listening times 1. familiarisation period: listening to words 2. tested on passages that either included or didn't include these words

Question 29

Stress pattern of words

Answer 29

- 6-9 months: infants become sensitive to predominant stress-pattern of words

Question 30

Phonotactic constraints

Answer 30

- restrictions on possible combinations of sounds - 6 months - equal listening to speech containing possible or impossible sound sequences - 9 months - preference for words with possible sound combinations

Question 31

1. prosody, intonation

Answer 31

newborns

Question 32

2. stress pattern of words

Answer 32

6 - 9 months

Question 33

3. statistical regularities of syllable co-occurence

Answer 33

7 - 8 months

Question 34

4. phonotactic contraints

Answer 34

9 months

Question 35

5. allophonic cues

Answer 35

10.5 months

Question 36

6. association with meaning

Answer 36

continues at 24 months

Question 37

Word learning

Answer 37

–12 to 18 months first 50 words | –1.5 to 3 yrs vocabulary spurt –3 yrs on: continued development & automatisation