Psych Ch. 9 – Language and Communication – Flashcards

a system that relates sounds (or gestures) to meaning

refers to the sounds of a language

denotes the study of words and their meaning changes with time (ex: gay used to mean joyous and now refers to homosexuals)

refers to rules that specify how words are combined to form sentences (ex: noun followed by a verb --> dog barks) different syntax for emails vs text messages

refers to the communicative functions of language and the rules that lead to effective communication practical rules for the purpose of communications (ex: difference in communication when giving a speech than when sending a text message)

There are 200 different sounds used in all known spoken languages; the English language uses 45 of them. Infants can hear all 200 until they

unique sounds that can be joined to create words (include consonants and vowels)

adults speak slowly and with exaggerated changes in pitch and loudness, which helps infants perceive the sounds that are fundamental to their language

a device that picks up speech sounds and converts them to electrical impulses that stimulate nerve cells in the ear; used to enhance language in children who are deaf

2 month old infants start to produce vowel-like sounds, such as "oooooo" or "ahhhhh"

speech-like sound that has no meaning, such as "dah" or "bah" that consist of a consonant and a vowel. Occurs at 5-6 months

When adults speak, the mouth opens somewhat wider on the right side than the left side, reflecting the left hemisphere's control of language and muscle movements on the body's right side. Infants do the same when they babble, but not when making other non-babbling sounds.

pattern of rising or falling pitch; infants around 8-9 months babbling sounds more like real speech because they stress some syllables and vary the pitch of their speech

Around their first birthday, babies will begin to say their first spoken words and use gestures to communicate (ex: waving "bye-bye") boys lag behind girls

children at 18 months learn new words - particularly names of objects - much more rapidly than before; children learn 10+ new words each week

children's ability to connect new words to their meanings so rapidly that they cannot be considering all possible meanings for the new word

promotes word learning, particularly when infants and toddlers participate actively, directing their parents' attention (ex: when a child points at a banana, the parent says "Banana, that's a banana")

1. If an unfamiliar word is heard in the presence of objects that already have names and objects that don't, the word refers to one of the objects that doesn't have a name 2. A name refers to a whole object, not its parts or its relation to other objects. (ex: if someone points to a stuffed dinosaur and calls it a dinosaur, the child will conclude that dinosaur refers to the entire dinosaur, not just its ears or nose) 3. If an object already has a name and another name is presented, the new name denotes a subcategory of the original name. (dinosaur --> T-rex) 4. Given many similar category members, a word applied consistently to only one of them is a proper noun. (ex: if a child sees that one stuffed dinosaur is always called "Dino," the child will conclude that its name is Dino)

when children hear unfamiliar words embedded in sentences containing words they already know, the overall sentence structure can be helpful clues. (ex: "The man is juggling the bats" --> kids will infer that juggling refers to the man's actions because they already know the actor (man) and the object (bats))

as children's thinking becomes more sophisticated and, in particular, as they start to have goals and intentions, language becomes a means to express those goals and to achieve them

once toddlers realized that a name applies to objects that have the same shape, but not to objects of the same color or made of the same material, they were able to learn new words faster (ex: kids are shown a tennis ball and associate the word "ball" with it. When they encounter new balls, they can conclude that balls are round)

defining a word too narrowly (ex: using car to refer only to the family car)

defining a word too broadly (ex: using car to refer to buses and trucks or dogs to refer to all four-legged animals)

18 month olds vocabulary should range from 25 to 250 words

the ability to remember speech sounds briefly is a good predictor of a larger vocabulary; associating meaning with an unfamiliar sequence of speech sounds

The child's language environment; children have larger vocabularies when they are exposed to a lot of high-quality language, especially when their parent's speech is rich in different words and is grammatically sophisticated

when someone isn't talked to a lot or doesn't get encouraged to learn new words

children's vocabularies that consist mainly of words that name objects, persons, or actions intellectual tool: a means of learning and talking about objects

children's vocabularies include some names but also many social phrases that are used like a single word, such as "go away," "what'd you want?" and "I want it" social tool: a way of enhancing interactions with others

- Larger total vocabulary, although it may seem that they are behind compared to children who only know one language since bilingual kids might know 25 total words, but only 13 in English. - Better understanding of symbolic nature of words, they understand that if society agreed, dog could mean cat and cat could mean dog - Better able to inhibit inappropriate responses since they must think of what language to respond in before they speak. Applies to language, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally.

1. Pictures: young children do not realize that photos are not the actual object but simply a representation for it until they are 18 months old. Before this, infants will try to reach for the object in the picture like they would reach for the real object. 2. Scale models: realistic looking, but smaller versions of the real thing. (ex: scale model of a solar system) Experiment shows that 2.5 year old children cannot think of a scale model as an object and as a symbol, so they cannot find a toy hidden in the model, despite it being a replica of the full-size room. However, when they think of the scale model as the full-size room that was shrunk, they can find the hidden toy. 3. Maps: 4 to 5 year olds can use simple maps to find objects. This skill emerges without children having to be exposed to maps - children from isolated villages are able to use simple maps as capably as U.S. children.

consists of only words directly relevant to meaning. 18 month old children create two-word sentences. agent + action --> "Daddy eat" possessor + possession --> "my truck" action + object --> "gimme cookie"

words or endings of words (such as -ing, -ed, or -s) that make a sentence grammatical (ex: "I am kicking the ball" vs "kick ball") begins around 2 years of age

applying rules to words that are exceptions to the rule (ex: two mans vs two men, two foots vs two feet, I goed vs I went)

statements made in negative format, difficult for kids to understand these statements and to produce them (ex: "That isn't a butterfly")

Refrain from using "I think" in sentences (ex: "Jennifer THINKS that Bill took the book")

"The ball was kicked by the girl" vs. "The girl kicked the ball"

B.F. Skinner and others that claimed that all aspects of language - sounds, words, grammar, and communication - are learned through imitation and reinforcement. Flaws: we do not purely imitate, we use language to create and convey our own ideas

proposed that children are born with mechanisms that simplify the task of learning grammar (ex: processes that guide the learning of grammar are built into the child's nervous system)

children are born knowing that nouns usually refer to people or objects and that verbs are actions; they use this knowledge to infer grammatical rules

1. Specific regions of the brain are known to be involved in language processing (ex: the Broca's area, a region in the left frontal cortex, is necessary for combining words into meaningful sentences. 2. Only humans learn grammar readily. (ex: You can try to teach chimpanzees grammar, but they can only imitate language and speak in two-word sentences, such as "me eat," which is the level of an 18 month old) 3. There is a critical period for learning language, which ranges from birth to 12 years of age. If children do not acquire language, they will never truly master language later. ex: isolated children who were never exposed to language will only ever be able to speak like a 2 year old ex: people learning a second language after the critical period cannot master the grammar of the foreign language the same as they did for 1st language. 4. The development of grammar is tied to the development of vocabulary (ex: children's English vocabulary predicts the complexity of their English sentences, and their Spanish vocabulary predicts the complexity of their Spanish sentences

theorists believe that children learn grammar through powerful cognitive skills that help them rapidly detect regularities in their environments, including pattern in the speech they hear

emphasizes that children master language generally and grammar specifically in the context of social interactions. Children are eager to master grammar because it allows them to communicate their wishes and needs more effectively

1. Talk with children frequently and treat them as partners in conversation 2. Expand/rephrase a child's remarks to introduce new vocabulary or new grammatical forms, or to show correct grammar. 3. Encourage children to use more complex words 4. Listen! Adults must hear what child is saying and respond appropriately 5. Make language fun by using books, rhymes, or songs.

taking turns is encouraged before infants say their first words. Adults will have a "conversation" with a baby where the infant replies by cooing

by age 2-3, turn-taking is common in conversations and children expect a response. A lack of a response elicits children to keep repeating their remarks over and over and louder than before (ex: Stewie from Family Guy --> "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. MOM."

preschoolers begin to adjust their messages to match the listener and the context. For example, they talk to babies like an adult would, they speak more to adults, with more details, and use longer sentences, and speak to children of the same age very simply

by 3 years of age, children are more adept at continuing conversations by making remarks that relate to the topic being discussed

1. Metaphor: kids won't understand these until they are 5 years old, and can only understand if they have the adequate knowledge. (ex: a child with a sore throat will not understand if someone told them they had frog in their throat) 2.Sarcasm: kids will only understand if people emphasize their sarcasm by speaking in mocking or overly enthusiastic tones. Only adolescents and adults can understand the true meaning of a sarcastic remark from context alone.