Psych 301 9 10 3 Development II How does language develop Grammatical rules Grammar A system of rules characterizing the structure of a given language Phonology The rules that combine sounds that make up words and sentences Morphology The rules for combining sounds into meaningful units Syntax Rules for combining words into phrases and phrases into sentences Pragmatics The way people use language to get what they want and to influence others Discourse The systematic ways by which people engage in conversations Language development Stages of language are uniform across individuals Distinguishing speech sounds prior to the beginning of using language Young infants can distinguish phonemes from all languages After several months primarily distinguish sounds of their own language Babbling During the first few months children make a variety of sounds Babbling becomes increasingly similar to the native language through the first year Babbling appears to be controlled by the left hemisphere like speech Deaf children of deaf parents make gestures analogous to babbling Words and sentences First real words appear around age 1 Earliest kinds of words Performatives hello or bye bye True words referential Most first words identify objects Others are action words go or sit and other several other types About 18 months children start to put words together Telegraphic speech Overlapping rules of grammar Children start to make mistakes at ages 3 to 5 that they previously spoke correctly Overgeneralizations Errors from applying rules to exceptions Evidence of systematic learning Universal grammar Theory of linguist Noam Chomsky Assumes certain aspects of language esp grammar are genetically controlled and related to brain structure Regularity of languages across world More logically possible languages than real ones Poverty of the stimulus Normal conversation often agrammatical Children don t receive or respond to grammatical feedback Language acquisition device LAD Speeds language learning narrows possible grammars Parameter setting Social context influences language Russian psychologist Vygotsky emphasized social and cultural influences on language Symbols and psychological tools like writing art create culture Culture dictates what people need to learn and what skills they must develop Sensitive period for learning language Not as rigid as a critical period Most true bilinguals and multilinguals learn their languages prior to age 12 Pidgin languages hybrid arising in mixed cultures Creole languages true language created by children based on parents pidgin regularities in grammatical structure Deaf children acquire sign languages in sequences similar to hearing children How does cognition change after childhood Adolescent thought Thought changes in adolescence may be due to brain changes Synaptic growth in frontal lobes Increasing myelination Basic qualities of adolescent thought Thinking about possibilities Thinking ahead Thinking through hypotheses Thinking about thought Thinking beyond conventional limits Aging cognition and memory Only about 5 of aging population has senile dementia caused by Alzheimer s disease Stroke or neurological problems Short term memory is more affected by aging than long term memory Processing speed declines with age Fluid intelligence declines with age Crystallized intelligence increases with age
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