Slide 1PerceptionPerceptionPerception and AffordancesMore on babies and Perceptual SelectionInformation ProcessingInformation Processing in InfantsMemoryPatricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babiesLanguage: What Develops in the First 1-2 Years?Language Learning (1-2 years)Cultural Difference in Language UseLanguage Leaning: Mastering two languagesTheories of Language Learning: Theory 1Theories of Language Learning: Theory 2Theories of Language Learning: Theory 3Which Perspective is Correct?Slide 18Developmental PsychologyPsy 307 Fall 2015Infant Information ProcessingSara Dowd, B.A.Clinical Psychology Doctoral StudentTexas A&M UniversityPerceptionFirst step of information processing is perceptionPerception can be defined through 3 steps:1) Stimulation (senses)2) Organization (“making sense” of all the pieces of stimuli processed in step 1)3) Interpretation (higher levels of thinking- what does it mean? Implications?) How might this picture be perceived differently by different people? At what stage of perception would these differences arise?“We don’t simply see, we look” (Gibson, 1988).PerceptionPerception (in general or each of the specific steps) is not necessarily automaticYour occipital lobe might process the stimulus but you might not allocate the attention necessary to analyze what your brain has processed on a higher level.Perceptual Selectivity: Process by which individuals select from amongst the various stimuli vying for their attentionCan be conscious: For example, as a result of jadednessOr unconscious: For example, the cocktail party effectPerception and AffordancesThe environment affords opportunities for perception and interaction, which are offered by a person, place, or object within that environment. These are appropriately called: affordancesPerceptual Selection of which affordance will be fully perceived and/or acted upon is related to 4 factors:Sensory awarenessImmediate motivationCurrent development (for example, age)Past experience (more generally, culture)Infant example of Perceptual Selection: Visual CliffShort Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6cqNhHrMJAWhich stimuli do the babies in the video select and act upon? Which do they ignore? At what stage of perception does this particular perceptual selection take place?More on babies and Perceptual SelectionAll babies are attracted to two kinds of affordances in particular:1) Things that moveAKA: Dynamic perception: A focus on movement and change2) PeoplePeople Preference: The universal principle of infant perception; tied to evolution“Mother” dependencyInformation ProcessingInformation processing theoryInvolves incremental details and step-by-step description of the mechanisms of thoughtAdds insight to understanding of cognition at every ageModeled on computer functioning: Environment inputs data, transformed by our senses, analyzed by our cognitions, stored/”saved” (memory), and can be retrieved and transformed using “mental programs”More simply:Information Processing in InfantsInfant deviance from Information Processing paradigm:According to classical development theory, infants do not store memories in their first year (Freud/childhood amnesia)However, Developmentalists now agree that very young infants CAN remember if the following conditions are met:1) Experimental conditions are similar to real life2) Motivation is high3) Special measure aid memory retrievalIn summary, although infant memory is fragile it can be activated with reminders, repetition, and retrieval cuesCan you “prove” Freud wrong? What is your earliest memory?MemoryTo clarify:Infants can process information and store conclusionsInfants can also remember specific events and patternsEarly researchers may have overlooked these memory abilities due to a failure to differentiate between:Implicit memoriesExamples: Priming, procedural (repetition-induced “motor memories”), conditioningExplicit memories Examples: Episodic and semantic (explicit learning)Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babiesTed Talk (14 minutes):If we have time, watch in class. If not, you should watch on your own http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2XBIkHW954Language: What Developsin the First 1-2 Years?Listening:Before birth: Language learning via brain organization and hearing; may be innateNewborn: Preference for speech sounds and mother’s language; gradual selective listeningAround 6 months: Ability to distinguish sounds and gestures in own languageResponding:Babbling: Involves repetition of certain syllables, such as ba-ba-ba, that begins when babies are between 6 and 9 months old. Begins to sound like native language around 12 months.Is experience-expectant- how so?Gesturing: All infants gesture. Concepts with gesture expressed sooner than via speech.Pointing emerges in human babies around 10 monthsLanguage Learning (1-2 years)First words: Gradual beginingsAbout 1 year: Speak a few words6-15 months: Understand 10 times more words than produced12 months: Begin to use holophrasis and recognize vocalization from universal to language-specificExamples of holophrasis?Naming explosionOnce spoken vocabulary reaches about 50 words, it builds quickly at a rate of 50 to 100 words per month.21-month-olds say twice as many words as 18-month-oldCultural Difference in Language UseCultural and family variation exists in child-directed speechInfants seek the best available language teachersMusic and its tempo, a common language-learning tool, is culture=specificCultural difference in language use: Infants differ in use of various parts of speechRatio of nouns to verbs and adjectives varies.Young children are sensitive to the sounds of words (accents, for instance)Grammar: Includes all the devices by which words communicate meaningBecomes obvious in holophrasis between 18 and 24 monthsCorrelates with size of vocabulary (Syntax related to semantics)In syntax vs. semantics there is a debate in the extant literature surrounding the idea that perhaps syntactical learning is implicit. What do you think? If you buy it, is this only true for babies or for adults as well? What about semantics?Language Leaning: Mastering two languagesQuantity of speech in both languages the child hears is crucial Children implicitly