*These notes cover chapters 10 and 14 

What is the meaning of phonology?

Chapter 10 “Language and Education”

Components of Language 

-Children learn about 9 new words a day

1.) Phonology- sounds of language, produce sounds and hear sounds correctly 2.) Semantics- meanings of words and phrases

3.) Grammar- rules for combining elements, kids do really well compared to adults Syntax- rules for combining rules

Morphology: rules for components of words, ex: “s” doesn’t mean anything on its own until added to something.

4.) Pragmatics- social rules of communication, ex: saying “sir” or “ma’am” in a  respectful situation

Phonological development 

∙ Phones- speech sounds

What is the meaning of semantics?

∙ Phonemes- categories of speech sounds, ex: “spit” vs “pit”, the p sounds  different  

∙ Categorial speech perception- difficulty in perceiving differences between  sounds from same category, ignoring things/sounds that don’t really matter ∙ Newborns can distinguish all phonemes, use the head turning technique to  see this

∙ By one year, no longer hear differences that are not relevant in their  language

Development of sound production 

1. Crying- from birth

2. Cooing- 2 months, production of vowel sounds

3. Babbling- 6 months, start to block airflow, even babies who are deaf babble 4. First words- 12 months, consistent production of certain sounds. May not  occur until the early elementary school years. “Th” and “L” are usually hard  for children to say

What is the meaning of grammar?

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Semantic Development 

∙ Comprehension precedes production

∙ First words refer to moving objects and simple actions, ex: “uh-oh” and “bye  bye”

∙ Vocabulary spurt- rapid acceleration in word learning after learning first 50  words

∙ Errors in early words use

1. Under extension- limit word use to 1 context

2. Overextension- apply a word too broadly, ex: a child calling a cow a dog Constraints on Word Learning 

1. Whole object assumption- assume that label refers to whole object rather  than its individual properties or actions, ex: Make up a word such as “dax”  and apply it to an object then test the child.

2. Mutual exclusivity assumption- assume that each object has only one label,  so new label must refer to new object, ex: if you already know the word dog  then you see cat you assume the word “cat” is the other animal

3. Syntactic bootstrapping- use the syntax of a sentence to infer a verb’s  meaning, use whatever information available to infer the meaning of a word

Individual differences in word use 

1. Referential style- use large vocabulary of words for individual objects,  predictor for this style is having parents who label or read

2. Expressive style- reproduce whole phrases spoken by parents, ex: mimicking  parents, “Go sit down!”. Predictor for this style is having parents who give  lots of commands. If you want to learn more check out What is the meaning of marketization?

*Kids can have a mixture of both styles

Cultural differences in words use 

1. American children produce many nouns

2. Korean children and Chinese children produce more verbs

*American culture emphasizes objects (such as the name game) compared to  other cultures

Early Grammatical Development 

- First evidence of syntax typically comes from 2-word sentences (1 ½ - 2 ½  years) If you want to learn more check out Social position is based on what?

- Termed telegraphic speech: contains only content words, no function words.  Minimum words to get message across

- Words that are produced are typically produced in the correct order

Later Grammatical Development 

- Children proceed from 2 words to 3-word sentences

- Start to add morphological endings to words, ex: -ing is usually the first one  used because it is consistent throughout, -ed is not consist because “eat”  turns into “ate” not eated.

- First unequivocal evidence for morphology comes from overregularization (2  ½ to 3 ½ years), apply morphological rule too broadly

- Also add endings to made up words

Theories of Language Acquisition 

1. Learning Perspective- can explain language acquisition in terms of three  basic learning mechanisms.

a.) Operant conditioning

b.) Classical conditioning

c.) Imitation- copy behaviors

Evidence against 

I. Children produce sentences they have never heard

II. Parents reinforce sentences that are ungrammatical

2. Nativist Perspective- Biological predisposition to learn language. Language acquisition device hardwired into the brain. If you want to learn more check out How to identify relevant costs?
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Supporting evidence 

I. Learned by all people, not learned by animals

II. Brain areas that specialize in language function

III. Children impose grammar on pidgin languages (drawing vocabulary from  multiple languages or cultures) to produce creole languages

IV. Critical period for language acquisition

Ex: Genie- lived in isolation for 13 years. Researchers later attempted to teach her  English and sign language. Never mastered grammar, ex: “Like go ride yellow  school bus”

Evidence for critical period= younger Korean and Chinese immigrants to the US  exhibited better ultimate mastery of English grammar than did later immigrants.

3. Interactionist Perspective- children learn language using powerful,  general purpose cognitive mechanisms (working memory) coupled with a  supportive environment

Supporting evidence 

I. Children with delays in language acquisition often show more general  cognitive deficits

II. Adults speak and respond to children in ways that promote language  acquisition

Development of Reading Ability 

Two different ways to teaching children to read

1. Phonics approach

- Teach children letter-sound correspondence rules

- Children sound out unfamiliar words

- Less effective with exception words

2. Whole language approach

- Teach children to recognize words by sight or to make guesses on the basis of context We also discuss several other topics like What are the five major vessels found in the body?

Developmental Dyslexia 

- Reading disability in the absence of other cognitive impairments - Two different types of dyslexia

1. Visual dyslexia: difficulty perceiving letter orientations and order 2. Phonological dyslexia: difficulty decomposing spoken words into sound,  may stem from congenital auditory perception deficit. Difficult to learn  letter sound correspondence rules

Chapter 14

Attachment: strong emotional tie between two people. First attachment for most  people is with a care giver

Theories of Attachment 

1.) Drive Reduction theory- mother satisfies infant’s drive for food, becomes  associated with tension relief

2.) Psychoanalytic theory- mother satisfies need for oral stimulation 3.) Ethological theory- caregiver provides contact comfort, child seeks contact  even in the absence of food. Attachment behaviors keep child close to parent

Phases of Attachment 

1.) Undiscriminating social responsiveness (birth- 2 or 3 months) - Childs actions keep adults near by

- Does not mind being left with unfamiliar adult

2.) Discriminating Social responsiveness (2-3 months to 6-7 months) - Child responds more favorably to familiar adult

- Still does not mind separation from parent

3.) True Attachment (6-7 months to 3 years)

- Separation anxiety when parent leaves

- Separation anxiety in the presence of an unfamiliar person

4.) Goal corrected partnership (3+ years)

- Child understands reasons for separation

- Can predict when parent will return

- Reduction in separation anxiety

The strange situation 

*Episodes 

1) Experimenter leaves parent and baby alone

2) Parent sits while baby plays

3) Stranger enters and talks to parent

4) Parent leaves baby alone with stranger

5) Parent returns and stranger leaves

6) Parent leaves baby all alone

7) Stranger enters  

8) Parent returns

Behaviors in Strange situation 

1. Secure attachment (60-65%), prefer parent to stranger, use as secure base 2. Avoidant attachment (15%), unresponsive to parent, no separation anxiety 3. Resistant attachment (10%), stay very close to parent, upset at separation  and angry at return

4. Disorganized attachment (5-10%), dazed facial expression when parent  returns

Effects of Lack of Attachment 

∙ Geese- no longer imprint after a critical period following birth ∙ Rhesus monkeys- no longer play with other monkeys after several months  without a mother

∙ Institutionalized human infants- cannot form a stable relationship, some are  emotionally starved, others withdrawn

Attachment and Emotional development 

- Attachment figures may communicate the appropriate emotion in a given  situation

- Babies appear to be born with a primitive form of empathy

- Social referencing: children use of parent’s emotional responses to regulate  their own emotions and behavior (starts at 8-10 months). Ex: Child pushes  something over and looks to parent for understanding.  

- Babies come to have similar emotions to those of parents in a given situation Early Emotional Development 

1. Happiness- newborns smile to touches, mother’s voice, social smile (6-10  weeks) evoked by faces

2. Anger- first sustained expressions at 3-4 months, related to development of  motor capabilities

3. Sadness- displayed as a distinct emotion at 3-4 months, typically a result of  social separation, mother leaves

4. Fear- no evidence of fear in young infants, stranger anxiety at about 6-7  months

5. Self-conscious emotions- involve injury or enhancement of self-concept Ex: embarrassment, pride, guilt. Not evident until 18 months, dependent upon  culture

Emotional Regulation 

∙ Processes involved in initiating, maintaining and altering emotional responses ∙ Minimal control in infancy

- Babies turn away from unpleasant stimuli

- Parents often have to regulate infant’s emotions

∙ Children later learn from parents how to regulate their own emotions