Re the previous lecture z z Sorry about keeping you late Andrew Meltzoff was the name I was trying to remember Meltzoff s discovery that newborns will stick out their tongues to imitate adults demonstrated a connection between self and other from the moment of birth We re a role model for babies from the moment they look up at us and begin to sculpt their own activities according to what they see in the culture around them Meltzoff says 1 2 12 2009 2 2 12 2009 And so what does IP research reveal z Correlate moderately well with later measures of intelligence More efficient information processing during the 6 months following birth is related to higher intelligence scores between 2 and 12 years of age and other measures of cognitive competence What characterizes a fast baby 2 12 2009 Relationship between information processing efficiency and cognitive abilities 3 2 12 2009 4 5 2 12 2009 6 Assessing the IP Approach PROS z z 2 12 2009 Often uses more precise measures of cognitive ability Critical in providing information about infant cognition CONS z Precision makes it more difficult to get overall sense of cognitive development 1 Associations between Media Viewing and Language Development in Children Under Age 2 Years Frederick J Zimmerman Dimitri A Christakis Andrew N Meltzoff Volume 151 Issue 4 Pages 364 368 October 2007 From Research to Practice Taking the Einstein Out of Baby Einstein z Kaiser Family Foundation Report z Marketing of educational media for infants far outpaces research on its effectiveness Correlational studies Company reluctance to test claims 7 2 12 2009 2 12 2009 The study s authors Drs Frederick Zimmerman Dimitri Christakis and Andrew Meltzoff concluded that among infants aged 8 to 16 months exposure to baby DVDs videos such as Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby was strongly associated with lower scores on a standard language development test This result was specific to baby oriented educational videos and did not hold for other types of media and was not related to shared parental viewing Among toddlers aged 17 to 24 months the study found no significant effects either negative or positive for any of the forms of media that were viewed Daily reading and storytelling however were found to be associated with somewhat higher language scores especially for toddlers They said it s possible heavy watching of the videos hurt children s language development but also proposed other possibilities that some parents of children with poor language skills expose them to more videos or that some parents leave their children watching the videos by themselves 8 Beyond or creating Teletubbies What does the research reveal z Effect on language learning Infants do not learn language from rote repetition social interaction and context are needed THE ROOTS OF LANGUAGE 9 2 12 2009 2 12 2009 10 Another Look Comprehension Precedes Production From Sounds to Symbols Fundamentals of Language z z z z z 2 12 2009 Phonetics Phonology Syntax Semantics Comprehension and production 11 2 12 2009 12 2 z Early Sounds and Communication Prelinguistic Communication See what I say Babbling Infants with hearing impairments z Universal Repetition of sounds z 13 2 12 2009 Baby Sign z Progression from Simple to Complex can function as words for infants opening up another channel of communication with those around them In 1996 this research culminated in a book for parents by Linda Acredolo Susan Goodwyn entitled Baby Signs How to Talk With Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk 15 First Words z 14 2 12 2009 What comes after ba ba ba ba Symbolic gestures or Baby Signs as they are known more colloquially 2 12 2009 Babble with hands instead of voices Gestural and verbal babbling activate same neural centers z Exposure to speech sounds of particular language initially do not influence babbling At 6 months babbling reflects of language of culture Distinguishable from other language babbling z Combinations of sounds and gestures used to communicate 16 2 12 2009 First Sentences Increase at rapid rate z 10 to 14 months first word 15 months 10 words 18 months one word stage ends 16 to 24 months language explosion equally 50 to 400 words z z z First sentences created around 8 to 12 months after first words Indicate understanding of labels and relationships between these Often observations rather than demands Use order similar to adult speech with missing words Telegraphic speech 2 12 2009 17 2 12 2009 18 3 Telegraphic Speech Revealed Other Early Language Characteristics z z 19 2 12 2009 z 20 2 12 2009 Counter Arguments to Learning Theory Approach Origins of Language Development z Underextensions Overextensions Learning Theory Approaches Language as a Learned Skill z Does not adequately explain how children readily learn rules of language Language acquisition follows the basic laws of reinforcement and conditioning Through the process of shaping language becomes more and more similar to adult speech z Does not account for how children move beyond specific heard utterances to produce novel phrases sentences and constructions z Does not explain how young children can apply linguistic rules to nonsense words 21 2 12 2009 Origins of Language Development 22 2 12 2009 Assessing Chomsky s Approach Nativist Approaches Language as an Innate Skill PRO z Specific gene related to speech production identified Language processing in infant brain structures similar to those in adult speech processing z Genetically determined innate mechanism that directs the development of language z z Children are born with innate capacity to use language which emerges more or less automatically due to maturation CON z Chomsky s universal grammar and LAD z 2 12 2009 23 2 12 2009 Uniqueness of speech countered by primate researchers Even with genetic priming language use still requires significant social experience to be used effectively 24 4 Origins of Language Development Interactionist Approaches Language as a Social Device Chapter 2 Infancy Module 2 3 Social and Personality Development in Infancy Specific course of language development is determined by the language to which children are exposed and reinforcement they receive for using language in particular ways Social factors are key to development z z 26 2 12 2009 25 2 12 2009 Looking Ahead z z z z z z Do infants experience emotions What sort of mental lives do infants have What is attachment in infancy and how does it affect a person s future social competence What roles do other people play
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