the acquisition of our first language part 1

Question 1

what is the initial debate around language 1950s

Answer 1

nativist vs behaviourism

Question 2

who proposed the theory of behaviorism

Answer 2

skinner 1956

Question 3

what does the behaviourism theory believe

Answer 3

-when born we know nothing
-blank slate (tabula rasa)
-all language is learnt not innate
-learning based on principles of operant cond

Question 4

how does the behaviourist theory claim language is learnt

Answer 4

imitation
feedback on success (reinforcement)
practice
habit formation (word learnt)

Question 5

who drove the nativist theory

Answer 5

chomsky 1958

Question 6

what is the central belief of the nativist theory

Answer 6

imitation plays a part but does not give full account of language learning
-all humans with normal capacities dev language and learn to follow its complex rules
-language is universal and dev is similar across cultures
-languages are unique but the same (all have tenses, verbs, nouns, words, sounds, rules, norms etc)
-language learning is innate

Question 7

what are chomskys oppositions to skinners key principles of language learning

Answer 7

-argument against imitation:
–children are exposed to so much incorrect language, if learning solely based on imitation then children would learn lang incorrectly but this is not the case
–potential number of word combinations is huge (unlimited), sentences cannot be acquired through imitation alone

-argument against feedback/reinforcement:
–children are not systematically corrected
–children often reinforced on utterances that are incorrect e.g by laughing or hugging child even when wrong

Question 8

what aspect of naturism is a major criticism to the learning mechanism

Answer 8

babies know things about language despite being exposed to such limited language

Question 9

what is chomskys LAD

Answer 9

language acquisition device
-programs childrens brains to analyse the language they hear and figure out its rules

Question 10

just because infants appear to have knowledge about certain aspects of language it doesnt mean…

Answer 10

its not due to experience/ been learnt
-this is because of technology advancements suggesting learning takes place before birth

Question 11

what does MEG stand for

Answer 11

magnetoencephalography

Question 12

what does an MEG do

Answer 12

-looks at brain activity and blood flow of a foetus by magnetic fields

Question 13

draganova et al 2007 study using MEG

Answer 13

-mismatch neg response (MMN) elicited to auditory stim is indicator of sound discrimination in adults
-recordings of foetuses started at 28 weeks GA, then 2 weeks after birth
-2 tone bursts presented: one standard (500Hz), one deviant (750 Hz)

-found discriminative brain response to tone frequency change detected at 28 weeks old GA
-ability of foetus to detect changes in sounds is a prerequisite to normal dev of cog function `

Question 14

what does GA stand for

Answer 14

gestational age

Question 15

what is another piece of technology looking at foetuses and language

Answer 15

the heart monitoring device

Question 16

kisilevsky et al 2009 study using the heart monitoring device

Answer 16

-foetal language abilities observed in 104 foetuses at 33-41 weeks GA
-foetuses familiarised with tape recording of their mother or a female stranger reading the same passage
-subsequently presented with a novel speaker or novel lang

-novelty response to mothers voice and novel foreign lang detected by changes to HR
-evidences foetal attention, memory, learning of voices/lang etc

Question 17

what do these studies into technological advancements of observing foetuses show

Answer 17

-newborn speech/lang abilities have origins before birth
-neural networks sensitive to properties of mother’s voice are being formed

Question 18

why does evidence of foetuses question chomksys LAD

Answer 18

as we have been learning lang since before we were born

Question 19

who researched infant phonetic discrimination

Answer 19

Eimas et al 1971

Question 20

how did eimas et al 1971 study infant phonetic discrimination

Answer 20

-HAS high amplitude sucking technique
-computer measures frequency and amplitude of the sucks on a pacifier
-sound presented everytime a high amplitude suck occurred so babies quickly learnt their sucking controls the sounds
-baby will suck more when they hear sounds they like (sucking increased when interested)
-babies lose interest when sound has repeatedly been played (habituation = less sucking)

Question 21

findings of eimas et al HAS study

Answer 21

-showed for the first time young infants could discriminate and categorise speech sounds like adults, even the diff between /p/ and /b/

Question 22

what 3 dimensions do language sounds differ in

Answer 22

place of articulation
manner of articulation
voicing

Question 23

what is the only difference between /p/ and /b/

Answer 23

eimas et al 1971
-the vibration of the vocal fold

Question 24

what is the vocal fold

Answer 24

-near top of larynx
-loosely attached flaps that vibrate as air passes through
-vibrations produce sound waves shaped into diff speech sounds by the rest of the vocal tract

Question 25

what is the voice onset time (VOT)

Answer 25

-time that passes between the release of a stop consonant and the vibration of the vocal fold
-VOT for /b/ is vibration of 60ms or less

Question 26

what do experiments with chinchillas, primates and birds show

Answer 26

Kuhl and miller
-these animals can also discriminate phonetically

Question 27

why dont we discriminate all sound differences

Answer 27

-our auditory system (characteristics shared w other species) is not a perfect channel to transmit sound
-sound waves arrive distorted to brain from the ear and NS
-this distortion prevents perception of some diff in the sound wave

Question 28

what are babies known as at 6 months of age and why

Answer 28

citizens of the world
-at this age babies can discriminate sounds from nay language
-babies have the ability to learn any lang
-at 6 months + babies lose this ability if not exposed to these other languages

Question 29

what research shows babies are citizens of the world at 6 months

Answer 29

-head turn study
-babies can distinguish between 2 types of /d/, one english and one hindi
-adults cannot hear the difference but a baby 6 months old turns their head when they hear a different /d/

Question 30

foreign lang exposure study

Answer 30

-cond 1:live exposure to mandarin, cond 2: tv exposure to mandarin, cond 3: auditory exposure
-english infants age 10-12 months have lost the ability to contrast between phonemes
-american infants exposed to live mandarin age 10-12 months perform as well as controls in discrimination task
-american infants 10-12 months exposed by tv/auditory show poor discrimination performance

-we hold onto ability to discriminate phonemes when we have been exposed (live) to the lang