Language and Infant Development Lectures
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Questions and Answers

What aspect of language allows for the combination of small units to convey meaning?

  • Prosody
  • Syntax
  • Semantics (correct)
  • Phonology

At what age can infants typically discriminate between all sounds, including those from foreign languages?

  • 3-4 months
  • 7-8 months
  • 1-2 months (correct)
  • 5-6 months

What do infants prefer to listen to shortly after birth?

  • Sounds of foreign languages
  • Their mother's voice (correct)
  • Music played in the womb
  • Neutral environmental sounds

Which of the following statements about phonemes is correct?

<p>Phonemes are perceptually distinct units of sound. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What happens to an infant's ability to distinguish sounds from a nontarget language between 7-11 months?

<p>It systematically declines. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes languages in terms of prosody?

<p>Patterns of stress and intonation (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What change occurs in a child's babbling during their first year of life?

<p>They narrow down to producing sounds from their target language. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How are infants trained in habituation/familiarization studies?

<p>By measuring their preferences after initial exposure. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do nativist approaches emphasize regarding children's early multiword utterances?

<p>They are similar to adult language. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one characteristic of continuity accounts in explaining language development?

<p>They suggest that knowledge is limited from the outset. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

At which age do children typically reach the Lexical Stage of development?

<p>20 months (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What change occurs during the Functional Stage of development?

<p>Auxiliary verbs and inflections begin to be used. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a potential problem with identifying points in development within maturational models?

<p>It is difficult to determine when grammatical aspects come 'on-line'. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of utterances primarily consist of content words at the Lexical Stage?

<p>Telegraphic speech (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which statement aligns with the theoretical advantages of the maturational models?

<p>They explain the lack of fully grammatical early utterances. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an aspect that maturation accounts aim to explain in children's language development?

<p>Why children’s language changes and develops over time. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What characterizes primary intersubjectivity in early socialization?

<p>Interactions are primarily dyadic and unintentional. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of communication is primarily used by infants during early socialization?

<p>Pre-linguistic communication, including crying. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

At what age do infants start to show more sophisticated interactions indicating secondary intersubjectivity?

<p>Around 9 months. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the preference for faces in newborns suggest?

<p>A strong motivation to engage with social cues. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the limit of imitation observed in infants during primary intersubjectivity?

<p>Understanding others’ intentions. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does mutual eye gaze affect infants' ability to follow gaze to an object?

<p>It is crucial for coordinating attention to an object. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In which type of experimental setting did researchers observe emotional coordination among infants?

<p>Still Face Experiment. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What becomes a characteristic of social interactions during secondary intersubjectivity?

<p>Interaction patterns that become intentional. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of preference studies in infants?

<p>Determining what infants want to listen to or look at. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are phonemes in the context of language development?

<p>Perceptually distinct units of sound that differentiate words. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does infants' ability to discriminate between sounds change from 7-11 months?

<p>They improve more in distinguishing sounds from their target language. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which characteristic of the foetal auditory system is mentioned?

<p>It is fully functioning and sensitive to prosodic patterns. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do infants demonstrate regarding their mother's voice shortly after birth?

<p>They prefer their own mother's voice over others. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What kind of sounds do children initially produce during babbling?

<p>A wide range of sounds across various languages. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What ability do newborns have regarding the discrimination of languages?

<p>They can distinguish languages with different prosody but not similar ones. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What happens to infants' sound discrimination abilities after the first few months of life?

<p>They can only distinguish sounds in their own language. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What characterizes interactions during primary intersubjectivity?

<p>Includes a dyadic approach without perspective-taking. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the imitation abilities of infants in the first few months of life?

<p>They show limited forms of imitation without understanding intentions. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

At what stage do infants begin to point and engage in joint attention with caregivers?

<p>Around 9 months as part of secondary intersubjectivity. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of communication during primary intersubjectivity?

<p>Face-to-face interactions and dyadic engagement. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which behavior illustrates the preference for face-like stimuli in newborns?

<p>They prefer to engage with facelike patterns rather than inanimate objects. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What role does mutual eye gaze play in infant interactions?

<p>It enables infants to follow gaze to a shared object. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a defining feature of secondary intersubjectivity?

<p>Infants begin to coordinate emotional responses with another person. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a key outcome of early socialization in infants regarding emotional engagement?

<p>Infants learn to coordinate emotional responses with caregivers. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a key characteristic of the Lexical Stage of language development?

<p>Utterances consist mainly of content words. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

During which stage of language development do children begin to use auxiliary verbs and determiners?

<p>Functional Stage (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do continuity accounts propose regarding children's grammatical knowledge?

<p>Children's grammatical rules are limited by performance constraints. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What evidence supports the idea of similar language learning trajectories among different groups of children?

<p>Typically developing children and those with sensory impairments show comparable stages of language acquisition. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one theoretical advantage of maturational models in explaining language development?

<p>They account for gradual development over time. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What challenge do researchers face regarding the maturational aspects of grammatical development?

<p>Identifying the exact points in development when certain grammatical elements emerge. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do nativist approaches view children's multiword utterances in comparison to adult language?

<p>They emphasize their similarities to adult language. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of utterance is characterized by phrases like 'I don't need that' and 'Will you help me?'?

<p>Functional utterances (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of prosody in language development?

<p>Prosody helps infants distinguish between languages and aids in understanding the emotional context of speech.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do infants initially respond to phonemes from different languages?

<p>Infants can initially discriminate between all phonemes, regardless of whether they belong to their native language or a foreign language.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What changes occur in an infant's babbling as they approach their first year?

<p>Infants shift from producing a wide range of sounds to predominantly producing sounds that are part of their target language.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Describe what infants demonstrate regarding their mother's voice shortly after birth.

<p>Infants show a preference for their mother's voice over others, indicating an early attachment and recognition of familiar sounds.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What role do habituation and familiarization studies play in understanding infant language preferences?

<p>These studies help determine which auditory stimuli infants prefer and can reveal their innate biases towards certain sounds.</p> Signup and view all the answers

In what way does the ability to discriminate phonemes change as infants develop?

<p>Infants initially can discriminate all phonemes but gradually lose the ability to distinguish sounds from non-target languages.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are infants able to do at 1-2 months concerning sound discrimination?

<p>At this age, infants can discriminate between all sounds, including those from foreign languages.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do infants utilize stress and intonation patterns in language?

<p>Infants use stress and intonation patterns to parse speech and understand meanings, as these cues provide critical information about language structure.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What marks the transition from the Lexical Stage to the Functional Stage in language development?

<p>The transition is marked by the maturation of a child's innate grammar, which enables the use of more complex grammatical components like auxiliary verbs and determiners.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do maturational models address the development of children's grammar over time?

<p>Maturational models propose that aspects of universal grammar mature according to a biologically-determined timescale, allowing for gradual development in children's language.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What evidence supports the theory that children develop language at different stages rather than having innate knowledge?

<p>Research has shown that children's language changes over time, suggesting they do not start with a complete innate understanding of grammar.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Provide an example of a lexical utterance from children and explain its significance.

<p>An example is 'Mummy doing?', which illustrates a child's use of primarily content words without grammatical completeness.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one theoretical challenge faced by maturational models in language development?

<p>A challenge is identifying the precise points in development when maturing grammatical aspects come 'on-line'.</p> Signup and view all the answers

In what way do maturational models align with empirical data related to language learning?

<p>Maturational models allow for gradual development over time, making them more compatible with observed patterns in children's language acquisition.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes functional utterances from lexical utterances in children's language development?

<p>Functional utterances are characterized by using auxiliary verbs and grammatical structures for more complex expressions, while lexical utterances consist mainly of content words.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why do maturational models promote the idea of innate knowledge being developed over time?

<p>They argue that while children possess innate grammatical templates, these templates undergo maturation and refinement through interaction and experience.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What characterizes secondary intersubjectivity in infants?

<p>Secondary intersubjectivity is characterized by older infants engaging in more sophisticated interactions, such as pointing, turn-taking, and shared attention.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do infants demonstrate their preference for faces from birth?

<p>Infants prefer to look at stimuli that are face-like, indicating an innate attraction towards faces.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of communication interactions do infants engage in during primary intersubjectivity?

<p>Infants engage in dyadic interactions that involve attention to faces, eye contact, and imitation of sounds and gestures.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What role does mutual eye gaze play in an infant's ability to follow someone else's gaze?

<p>Mutual eye gaze enhances an infant's ability to follow the gaze to an object, as it establishes a shared focus with another person.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of dyadic mimicry in the early socialization of infants?

<p>Dyadic mimicry shows that infants are motivated to engage with caregivers through imitation of facial expressions and sounds.</p> Signup and view all the answers

At what age do most infants start to show more complex social interactions indicative of secondary intersubjectivity?

<p>Infants typically start to exhibit more complex social interactions, indicative of secondary intersubjectivity, around 9 months of age.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are some key forms of pre-linguistic communication exhibited by infants during their first months?

<p>Infants exhibit pre-linguistic communication through eye contact, vocalizations, imitating sounds, and gestures.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of social interaction emerges when infants and caregivers act together with a toy during secondary intersubjectivity?

<p>During secondary intersubjectivity, triadic interactions emerge where infants, caregivers, and objects engage together.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

Phonemes

The smallest meaningful unit of sound in a language. They distinguish one word from another (e.g., pat / bat, sip / zip).

Phonology

The study of how sounds are combined to form words in a language. This involves understanding how phonemes are arranged and pronounced.

Semantics

The study of how meaning is conveyed through language. It examines the relationship between words and their meanings.

Syntax

The study of how words are combined to form sentences. It involves understanding the rules of word order and grammatical structure.

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Prosody

The pattern of stress and intonation in a language. It adds emphasis and emotion to speech.

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Native language preference

Infants prefer to listen to their native language compared to a foreign language.

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Phoneme discrimination development

Infants can discriminate between all sounds, even foreign ones, until around 7-11 months. After that, they become better at distinguishing sounds in their native language.

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Babbling development

Infants' babbling initially encompasses a wide range of sounds. Over the first year, they progressively produce only sounds present in their target language.

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Primary Intersubjectivity

Early stage of social development in which infants focus on face-to-face interactions and basic communication like eye contact and vocalizations.

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Secondary Intersubjectivity

Later stage of social development (around 9 months) where infants engage with shared attention and learn to coordinate actions with others.

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Joint Attention

The ability to coordinate emotional states with another person, allowing infants to understand and relate to others' feelings.

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Pre-Linguistic Communication

A type of communication based on gestures, sounds, and expressions, occurring before infants develop speech.

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Theory of Mind

The ability to understand that others have different perspectives and knowledge than our own.

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Turn-Taking

A communication pattern involving a back-and-forth exchange of signals, like turns in a conversation.

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Shared Attention

A type of communication where infants and caregivers focus their attention on the same object, sharing a common point of interest.

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Still-Face Experiment

An experimental method where a caregiver abruptly stops responding to an infant, creating a disruption to the child's expected social behavior.

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Nativist Approach

An approach to language acquisition that emphasizes the similarity of children's early utterances to the adult language.

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Continuity Accounts

Theories that propose that children possess grammatical rules from the very beginning, but their performance is restricted due to limitations in other cognitive abilities.

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Maturational Models

The theory that certain aspects of Universal Grammar (UG) develop and mature over time, following a biological timetable.

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Radford's Maturational Model

Radford's model proposes that children go through distinct stages of language development, starting with a lexical stage focused on content words and progressing to a functional stage where they acquire more complex grammatical elements.

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Lexical Stage

The earliest stage in Radford's model, where children's utterances primarily consist of content words like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions.

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Functional Stage

The later stage in Radford's model where children's innate grammar matures and they acquire more complex grammatical components like auxiliary verbs, determiners, and inflections.

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Lexical Utterances

Utterances produced by children in the early stages of language development that primarily focus on content words and lack complex grammatical structures.

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Functional Utterances

Utterances produced by children in the later stages of language development that exhibit more complex grammatical constructions like the use of auxiliary verbs, determiners, and inflections.

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Maturational Models of Language Development

Children's grammatical abilities develop over time due to maturing aspects of their innate language system.

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What are phonemes?

The smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another. Like the 'p' in 'pat' and the 'b' in 'bat'.

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What is phonology?

The study of how sounds are combined to form words. It's about the rules of how we put sounds together, like how we say 'cat' differently from 'act'.

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What is semantics?

The study of how language conveys meaning. It explores how words and phrases relate to the ideas and concepts they represent.

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What is syntax?

The study of how words are arranged in sentences. It's about the 'grammar' of language, the rules of word order.

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What is prosody?

The pattern of emphasis and tone in speech. It adds emotion and meaning to what we are saying.

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How does babbling change?

Infants' babbling initially uses a wide range of sounds, but over time it narrows down to sounds only found in their native language.

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How does phoneme discrimination develop?

Infants can initially tell the difference between all sounds, even those in foreign languages, but this ability decreases as they learn their own language.

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Nativist Approaches to Language Acquisition

Theories that explain language development by focusing on innate grammatical knowledge that is not fully present at birth but matures over time.

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What is native language preference?

Babies show a preference for their native language over a foreign language, even before they learn to speak. This suggests they are learning language from the womb.

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Imitation

The ability to imitate another person's behavior, even from birth. This demonstrates infants' innate desire to connect and learn from others.

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Preference for Faces

A preference for looking at things that resemble faces. This suggests infants are biologically predisposed to seek out social interaction.

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What is a phoneme?

The smallest unit of sound that creates differences in meaning between words.

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What is a baby's 'accent'?

The tendency for newborns to cry with an accent that reflects the prosodic patterns of their native language.

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Radford's Model

A maturational model that proposes distinct stages in language development: Lexical and Functional.

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Dyadic Mimicry

Infants' natural tendency to mimic facial expressions, sounds, and gestures. This is a key way they learn and engage with others.

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Study Notes

Lecture 1: Language Basics

  • Language is generative
  • Language consists of combined units (phonology)
  • Language conveys meaning (semantics)
  • Language follows rules for combining words (syntax)
  • English sentence structure is Subject-Verb-Object
  • Language is a social phenomenon

Lecture 1: Infant Designs

  • Infants prefer familiar stimuli
  • Habituation/familiarization studies are used to determine preference
  • Change detection studies compare infant responses to changes
  • Prosody is the pattern of stress and intonation in languages.
  • Languages have different prosodic patterns.
  • Phonemes are perceptually distinct units of sound that distinguish words.
  • Languages vary in the phonemes used.
  • The fetal auditory system is fully functional from the last trimester.

Lecture 2: Early Socialisation

  • Primary intersubjectivity: Focuses on face-to-face interactions (first months)
  • Secondary intersubjectivity: Older infants participate in more sophisticated interactions (pointing, shared attention, turn-taking)
  • Infants imitate facial expressions and sounds (early form of mimicry)
  • Infants display a preference for looking at facial patterns.

Lecture 2: Early Socialisation - Joint Attention

  • Older infants engage in more sophisticated interaction (pointing and turn-taking)
  • Caregivers and infants share experiences and interact in triadic interactions.
  • Joint attention promotes the understanding of the intentions of others by using gaze following, social referencing, and joint attention.
  • Infants learn to coordinate interactions with others.
  • Social referencing (i.e. drawing emotional cues from others)
  • Visual cliff is associated with social referencing tasks - used to determine if infants look to caregivers for clues

Lecture 3: Word Learning

  • Word learning is challenging. Simply pointing and naming is not enough.
  • Word learning difficulties include over-extension (applying a word to too many objects/actions), under-extension (applying a word to too few objects/actions).
  • Early words tend to be nouns.
  • Children show early comprehension abilities before production.
  • Infants acquire a large vocabulary
  • Children's early utterances follow adult word order due to routines and patterns
  • Children learn frequently used words early on.
  • Comprehension precedes production

Lecture 4: Early Multi-Word Speech

  • Children's early multi-word utterances are not simply imitations, nor do these follow a random pattern.
  • Social routines influence how words are combined, interpreted, and understood.
  • Routines and patterns in language are learned by children.
  • Infants use their social-cognitive skills (e.g., joint attention) to interpret the communicative intentions of others.
  • Children's early grammatical development builds on repeated interactions and routines.

Lecture 5: Nativist Approaches

  • Nativist approaches propose that children are born with an innate understanding of grammatical rules.
  • Children learn language by activating innate grammatical knowledge and modifying this knowledge in response to input.
  • Children’s understanding of the world influences their interpretation of language, which influences grammar.

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This quiz covers foundational concepts in language and infant development from Lectures 1 and 2. Topics include the generative nature of language, phonology, semantics, syntax, and early social interactions in infants. It's essential for understanding how language impacts socialization and cognitive preferences in early life.

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