Transcript Slide 1
Language Language Development • At birth—infants can distinguish all contrasting sounds in human language • 6 months—can only distinguish those sounds in language being spoken around them • 4-6 months—begin to babble speech sounds 2 Language Milestones 3 Theories of Language Development • Behaviorist explanations – learn to talk through reinforcement, shaping, and extinction – limits: (1) parents don’t spend much time teaching grammar, (2) children generate more grammatical sentences than they hear, (3) errors children make do not duplicate what they hear 4 7.1 Theories of Language Development • Nativist explanations – – language acquisition device (LAD) “wired” to learn grammar “Talkin’ babies” – Sci Amer, segment 18 (nature-nurture influences in language acquisition; babbling) “Born to talk” – Sci Amer, segment 2 (Grammar acquisition as a function of brain/environment interaction) 5 Theories of Language Development • Interactionist explanations –how does innate, biological capacity for language combine with environmental experience? • parents tailor verbal interactions with children in ways that simplify language acquisition • deaf children NOT taught sign language often develop own system of hand signals 6 Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience activates them as it modifies the brain Environment -spoken language heard provides input to Genes Brain -design Mechanisms for understanding and Behavior – Mastery of native producing language language 7 Theories of Language Development • Neurological specialization – – Broca’s area (involved in language production) Wernicke’s area (involved in language comprehension) “Language centers in the brain” – Psych DVD Segment 16 (A look at brain surgery that tries to spare language) 8 Animal language • Can other species learn human language? • Washoe taught sign language – learned 160 words; could construct simple sentences • Primates can learn signs for concepts they understand (not abstract) • Current language research (Great Ape Trust) – video – http://www.greatapetrust.org/ 9