Child language acquisition

• Who proposed the theory of operant conditioning?

  Skinner
• What does operant conditioning involve?

  Reinforcement, either positive or negative
• What motivates a child according to behaviorists?

  Approval and encouragement
• How does behaviorism view language acquisition?

  Similar to other human behaviors
• What type of research did Skinner conduct?

  Research on rats and pigeons
• What can impede language development according to behaviorists?

  Correcting non-standard utterances
• What aspects of language development does behaviorism help explain?

  Phonological development and lexical choices
• What is a criticism of behaviorist theories of language acquisition?

  Variation based on parental reinforcement
• Who proposed the nativist theory of language acquisition?

  Chomsky
• What does Chomsky argue about language structures?

  All languages contain similar structures
• What innate capacity do children have according to Chomsky?

  To work out language rules from exposure
• What is universal grammar?

  Common features shared by all languages
• How does Chomsky view the child's brain at birth?

  Equipped with innate knowledge for language
• What does Chomsky believe about language exposure?

  It must be combined with interaction
• Who proposed the cognitive theory of language acquisition?

  Piaget
• How are stages of language acquisition linked according to Piaget?

  They are linked with cognitive development stages
• What does Piaget suggest about language use in children?

  They use language beyond their understanding
• What does Piaget's theory help explain?

  Connections between language and cognitive ability
• What is a criticism of Piaget's theory?

  Grammar development is separate from cognition
• Who proposed the social interactionist theory of language acquisition?

  Bruner
• What is scaffolding in language acquisition?

  Caregiver interactions that modify language
• What is child-directed speech?

  Language simplified for children
• How do caregivers support language development?

  By expanding on a child's utterances
• What is modeled by parents during interactions?

  Pragmatics, such as turn-taking
• What does phonological development begin?

  Before birth in the womb
• What did Decasper and Spence find about babies?

  They suck more on dummies for familiar stories
• What did Mehler et al. discover about newborns?

  They respond more to their native language
• What happens to an unborn baby's heart rate when hearing the mother's voice?

  It slows down
• What do babies start using vocal cords for?

  To communicate needs instinctively
• What did Desmond Morris find about infant sounds?

  They are similar regardless of nationality
• What does Patricia Kuhl suggest about babies at birth?

  They are 'citizens of the world'
• What is cooing in infants?

  Using a small range of vowel sounds
• What happens during vocal play in infants?

  Sounds become more defined and strung together
• What is babbling in infants?

  Consonant-vowel combinations formed
• What is phonemic expansion?

  Increase in the number of phonemes
• What is phonemic contraction?

  Reduction to phonemes used in native language
• What are proto-words?

  Sounds that carry meaning
• What happens by 10 months in language development?

  Sounds carry more meaning and context
• What is the significance of staring intently in infants?

  To learn how to form sounds
• What is the typical timeline for vowel and consonant development?

  All vowels by 2.5 years, consonants take longer