Chamberlain 2012

AP Psychology—Unit 6 Thinking, Language, Testing &

Intelligence

LanguageThe main questions of psycholinguistics:

1. Is there a critical period?

2. Is there a typical progression of how and when language develops?

3. Are there any universal rules to language acquisition and grammar?

4. Is language ability innate or completely learned?

5. What is the relationship between language and thought?

6. Can non-human animals “communicate” with humans?

Language--Is there a critical period?

1. Genie case study showed “yes” and “no” Genie was able to learn basic nouns and adjectives BUT

not able to assemble or read a sentence begging the question: had she surpassed the critical period for developing the rules of language OR was she born retarded?

2. Chomsky would argue “yes”— language is best/easiest acquired when the “switches”

are on during childhood learning a second language becomes more difficult

as we age o precipitous drop in ease of acquisition after age 7

Language--Is there a critical period?3. Other evidence supporting critical period

theory:A. Learn a second language as an adult you will speak

with accent; learn it as a child, you will sound more like native speaker of the language

B. Accuracy on grammar test of “second language” drops if second language was learned after age 8 (answer to question 9 from your workbook)

9. Identify what was done in the following experiment to help discern whether or not there is a critical period for language development: Johnson & Newport (1991) (p. 418)

Language--Is there a critical period?3. Other evidence supporting critical

period theory:C. Different brain areas used when thinking in

first and second language if second language learned after childhood (same brain areas used if 2 languages learned at same time!)

C. Studies of deaf children cochlear implants before age 2 vs. after

age 4 learning to sign after age 9 (after deaf

childhood) leads to less proficiency in signing, less right hem. brain activity

learning sign language early correlates with more fluency in sign and English and higher scores on intelligence tests and academic achievement!

Language--Is there a typical progression of how and when language develops?

how do we know they are receptive to language?

why is it called universal babbling?

why is it called household tongue babbling?

What is the significant milestone now?

how rapidly learning language?

What is the significant milestone now? What is most

common mistake at this age?

Language--Are there any universal rules to language acquisition and grammar?

All babies born with ability to pronounce and distinguish between all phonemes

All cultures’ languages seem to have grammar rules, semantics and syntax

Language acquisition seems to follow same timeline across cultures

Skinner (behaviorists) says learned

Parents reward proper language development, punish improper

Is language learned or innate? Chomsky says

innate: language

acquisition device (AKA nativist theory of language acquisition) built into DNA

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) : An alternative approach to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky emphasizes need for peer and parental interaction to push cognitive growth to next level

Piaget emphasized independent discovery

Vygotsky also emphasized the role of language in helping a child push through the zone!

What is the relationship between language and thought?

A. Vygotsky and Language1.(infancy-toddlerhood) language for communication

1.(age 3 and up) language for thought—language becomes internalized as thought and “inner speech”

•allows children to plan activities and strategies and therefore aid their development and intellectual adaptation

B. Whorf: linguistic relativity hypothesis• language shapes (and can limit!)

thoughtexample: Klingon’s are a very militaristic

culture. When Worf began having feelings for Troi, he had trouble expressing them because his language did not have the same kinds of words that her empathic culture does!

What is the relationship between language and thought?

A person’s self-image can be shaped by the language he is using to describe himself.

•Some languages have a lot of values and concepts associated with self-esteem and individuality because that is what those cultures value

•Other cultures, and therefore their languages, focus more on weaknesses of an individual and importance of the collective/group

Can non-human animals “communicate” with humans? Can they problem solve?

Chimps and gorillas have been taught to use communication boards with icons for words and sign language to communicate

How do we know whether they are just mimicking rewarded and modeled behavior or really expressing spontaneous, independent thought? Kanzi demonstrating receptive languageKanzi demonstrates iconic languageWashoe expresses empathy (start at 3:40)

Koko grieves for All Ball Alex the parrot

Do animals use trial and error strategies? YES! And many show self-recognition which is

usually associated with the development of “theory of mind” The tool using raven

Language: How humans get meaning from sounds

most basic sounds including consonant blends, vowel blendse.g. bl, e, st, ooEnglish has 40

smallest unit of language that has meaning; includes prefixes, suffixes, words

the rules for the order of words within a sentence

the rules for combining morphemes to make words

the meaning of words and sentences(Chomsky calls this “deep structure”)

The study of the way (or rules for) sentences are constructed (Chomsky calls this “surface structure”)

Quick Read: The Hart-Risley 30 Million Word Gap Study – 1995 September 30, 2008

After decades of collaborating to increase child language vocabulary, Betty Hart and Todd Risley spent 2 1/2 years intensely observing the language of 42 families throughout Kansas City.  Specifically, they looked at household language use in three different settings:  1) professional families; 2) working class; 3) welfare families.  Hart and Risley gathered an enormous amount of data during the study and subsequent longitudinal follow-ups to come up with an often cited 30 million word gap between the vocabularies of welfare and professional families by age three.  This number came from the data that showed welfare children heard, on average, 616 words per hour, while children from professional families (essentially children with college educated parents) heard 2153 words per hour.  The longitudinal research in the following years demonstrated a high correlation between vocabulary size at age three and language test scores at ages nine and ten in areas of vocabulary, listening, syntax, and reading comprehension.  This study was subsequently used to fuel the fire of arguments for early childhood programs such as Head Start.

 

Quick Read: The Hart-Risley study (1995): The “30-million word gap”

Longitudinal study of language exposure for children from birth to age 3 in 3 socioeconomic cohorts: professional, working class, or poverty

Findings? Huge difference in amount of words heard on a daily basis per

hour professional families utter approx 2,100 words/hour working class families—1,200 words/hour welfare families—620 words/hour

So what?high correlation between vocabulary size at age three and

language test scores at ages nine and ten in areas of vocabulary, listening, syntax, and reading comprehension. Question: How does this relate to Whorf’s linguistic determinism theory?

Answers to workbook questions1. How many phonemes are in the English language? 40 2. Try to read the following messed up sentences. What do the messed up sentences tell you about the semantics of vowel and consonant phonemes in the English language? Consonants convey more meaning than vowels!! Wh cn’t h g wth s? y a e o i?  3. The fact that both speakers and signers of a second language (if the second language is not acquired at the same time as the first) have an “accent” when speaking that second language tells you what about phonemes and language acquisition? critical period 4. When Belinda is asked, “Where is your pencil?” by the teacher, she replies, “I ain’t got mines.” Belinda’s response indicates which of the following:Belinda’s statement is a different dialect than the teacher’s.

Answers to workbook questions8. Identify what was done in the following experiments to help discern whether or not an infant’s brain is wired for receiving language: Safran (1996), Marcus (1999), Johnson and Newport (1991) (p. 417)

a) Safran: 8-month-olds attention while listening to strings of nonsense syllables peaked when repeated syllables were heard

a) Marcus: 7-month-olds attention peaks when new “rules” for patterns of syllables are heard (attention signals discernment; patterns are beginning of understanding rules of grammar)a) e.g. ba-bum-ba ta-tee-ta is rule 1 bum-ba-ba tee-ta-ta is rule 2

c) Johnson and Newport: oops that should not have been listed in question 8 (see question 9! Hopefully David is here to point out what a bad person I am...)

Answers to workbook questions

(9-11 addressed throughout lecture)12. (from pp. 420-421) Cite the findings of the following studies that show a correlation between language fluency and other cognitive skills:a)Ozgen’s study of colors and perception of color

• our perception of subtle color differences is greater if we have different words for different hues

b)Isham & Kamin study of deaf people (1993)• children of deaf, signing parents are more fluent in signing and have

higher achievement and intelligence scoresc)Lambert’s Canadian study of bilingual advantage

• able to inhibit one language while using second language correlates with ability to focus better and filter out irrelevant information

d. Study of self-esteem of ESL students in bilingual programs vs. English-only programs

• self-esteem higher, less risk of dropping out when ESL kids experience ½ of their classes in native language and half in new language

e.Maass and Russo (2003) example of how language influences mental imagery/perception

• imagine things from left to right if that is how their native language is written; opposite in countries that read/write from right to left or up to down