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UConn SLHS 2204 - Exam 1 Study Guide

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SLHS 2204 1st EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 0-6Exam 1: Monday, February 16, 2015Format: 40 Multiple-Choice QuestionsSee HuskyCT for class slides, readings, lecture videos from the snow day, and otherinformation!Lecture 0 (January 21, 2015): Class IntroductionI. Language Developmenta. The old view: Sequential. A continuum of phases leading into one anotherb. The current view: Parallel. Concurrent development in several areas, that build on one another simultaneously.II.Neurolinguistic Development Phasesa. Sensory (1): contextual, affective; infant orients to human faces and learns caregiver’s voiceb. Social (2): affective; social; baby learns utterances through social cognition (right brain)c. Grammar (3): analytical; computational; previously acquired forms are broken into syllables and segments; decomposing syllables enforces grammatical rules (left brain)d. Discourse (4): integrative; elaborative; extensive word learningIII. The Triangle of LanguageLecture 1 (January 26, 2015)I. When does language acquisition begin?a. Previously believed to begin at the onset of intelligible language production, around 12 monthsb. Now known to be much earlier, around 20 weeks after conceptioni. At this point, hearing system of fetus is sufficient to process sounds that filter through amniotic fluidii. From 6 months gestation on, fetus spends time processing linguistic sounds—familiarity with mother’s voice and her native language(s) are extremely important at this pointcreates an experience of language before birth so newborn is prepared to pay attention to speech and mother’s voicec. Acquisition research used to focus on:i. Language productionii. Nonverbal communicative behavioriii. Production of recognizable wordsiv. Vocalizations before 12-15 months were considered to contribute little to acquisition researchd. Psycholinguistics was created to mesh psychological and linguistic aspects of cognitive developmenti. Developmental psycholinguistics in particular addresses how language aspects are acquired by childrenII. How is language acquired?a. Or, the “Nature vs. Nurture” debate—are humans prewired for language or is it Perception ProductionGrammarS O C I A LS O C I A Lall learned by experience?i. Most theories use both ideas to some degree; the debate today is between which is more dominant (nature interacts with nurture to what degree?)Nature/Domain-specific Nurture/Domain-generalOver-arching ideas (the general argument)Innate: we are the only species to have developed grammatical languages; something must be specific to human biology to accomplish this, and input only serves to trigger the prewired knowledgeInput: no child is born already knowing a language; experience is essential to acquire a specific native language, and there is no pre-existing mechanism that is specific to languageTheorists at the furthest ends of the spectrumNoam Chomsky: the infant brain has prewired linguistic structures (termed Universal Grammar); input alone does not provide sufficient correct examples to build the necessary structures (a child would draw many erroneous conclusions from daily language); there are brain mechanisms dedicated to language alone, unrelated to general cognition (domain-specific language areas); Universal grammar is only triggered by inputB. F. Skinner: infant brain is tabula rasa (blank slate) on which experience imprints its structureJean Piaget: language acquisition falls on the generalmechanisms that a child uses to learn all other concepts (general cognition); language is not unique, and needs cognition as a foundation; general learning mechanisms are applied to linguistic development (domain-general)A theory somewhere in the middleSocial/Interaction Approach: from mother-infant to entire social environment, conversational and social conventions help children become sensitive to dialogue rules; assumes enough day-to-day linguistic input to discoverthe native tongue b. The approach taken in this course: (coined by Annette Karmiloff-Smith) language is special, but not prewired; evolution (because humans are secondary altricals) gives humans long postnatal brain development to allow input to shape brain structure; learning mechanisms in the brain are domain-relevantthe mechanisms start out domain-general, but become progressively more domain-specific through environmental interaction. This is known as theNarrowing/Specialization Approach, in which brain area specialization functions much like stem cell specialization; as the areas receive linguistic input they become more attuned to process language, and when the brain is fully developed at around 24-25 years, very specific linguistic areas have arisen where the infant brain has no specific language areasLecture 2 (January 28, 2015)I. Gestationa. Birth normally occurs between 37-42 weeks, with 40 weeks being the average; babies are considered premature if born before 37 weeksb. Premies are now able to be saved around 24 weeks; youngest recorded premature infant saved at 22 weeksi. Premies hear different sounds than full-term babies still in utero due to the machines keeping them aliveII.Brain Developmenta. Around 21-23 days into gestation (Carnegie Stage 10) the neural tube develops, which is the very beginning of the Central Nervous System (CNS)b. About 30 days (Stage 12), the most primitive structures (that regulate survival at the lowest level hierarchy) of the brain begin to formi. Prosencephalon/Forebrainii. Mesencephalon/Midbrainiii. Rhombencephalon/Hindbrainiv. There is no spinal cord or brain stem visible yetc. About 39 days (Stage 16), more brain/spinal cord differentiation occursi. Prosencephalon divides into telencephalon and diencephalonii. Mesencephalon growsiii. Rhombencephalon divides into metencephalon and myelencephalon d. About 56 days (Stage 23), telencephalon/cerebrum expands dramatically, other structures further differentiatei. Telencephalon/cerebrum grows, becomes basal ganglia and cortexii. Diencephalon differentiates into thalamus, subthalamus, hypothalamus, and epithalamus (structures at the upper end of the brainstem)iii. Mesencephalon/midbrainiv. Metencephalon becomes pons and cerebellumv. Myelencephalon becomes medulla oblongata (connects the brain to the spinal cord)e. How does brain development relate to language development?i. It’s very hard to measure, due to the extreme plasticity of the brain in the early stages of developmentii. Early language problems are not


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UConn SLHS 2204 - Exam 1 Study Guide

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