PSYC 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Language Development, Behaviorism, Validity
12 Dec 2015
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Document Summary
Complexity of human language differs from other animal signalling systems in 3 ways: Within the first 6 months of life, they lose this ability, and, like their parents, can only distinguish among the contrasting sounds in the language they hear being spoken around them. fast mapping: the fact that children can map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure. telegraphic speech: speech that is devoid of function morphemes and consists mostly of content words. Theories of language development: behaviorist, nativist, and interactionist. According to b. f. skinner"s behaviorist explanation of language learning, we learn to talk in the same way we learn any other skill: through reinforcement, shaping, extinction, and the other basic principles of operant conditioning. Vocalizations that are not reinforced gradually diminished however when an infant makes a sound similar to da-da it is likely to be received with praise and attention.
