Transcript Logical Reasoning:

Module 22
Language
Chapter 7, Pages 265-274
Essentials of Understanding Psychology- Sixth Edition
PSY110 Psychology
© Richard Goldman
October 31, 2006
Grammar: Language’s Language
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Phonology – Study of basic parts of speech
Phonemes:
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58 different sounds used in English
869 different sounds used world wide
Smallest language uses 15 phonemes
Largest uses 141 phonemes
Syntax – Rules of sentence structure
Semantics – The meaning of words
Language Development
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3 months – 1 year
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6 months – 8 months
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Babbling – practicing making sounds
Can differentiate and imitate all 869 phonemes
Start to specialize on sounds in their environment
Begins to lose ability identify unheard phonemes
(Makes it very difficult or impossible to acquire the
ability to “hear” (perceive) or create these sounds
later in life.)
~1 year
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Stop producing sound not being heard
Language Production
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~1 year
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~2 year
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Vocabulary of several hundred words
Telegraphic Speech - Start short sentences (Subject and predicate
without other parts of grammar)
~3 years
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Vocabulary of ~50 words
Start grouping words together
~2 ½ years
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Comprehension precedes production (They can understand some of what
you say before the can speak.)
Start with short words with b, d, m, p, & t.
Can pluralize nouns and create past tense
Many overgeneralization errors
~5 years
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Has acquired basic rules of language
Language Acquisition
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Learning-theory Approach
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Language is learned through reinforcement and
conditioning.
The more parents speak to their children the more
language they learn
Language-acquisition Device (neural system)
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Humans are born with an innate linguistic capability.
All languages share a universal grammar.