Language

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What is fast mapping?

Fast mapping is the ability to figure out the meaning of words quickly. You don’t necessarily need extensive exposure to be able to do fast mapping, but it does require knowledge of intentions of others (much harder for autistic children). Children can do this at 9-10 months old but some even say earlier.

What is the naming/word no explosion/spurt? When does it occur?

The naming explosion is the increase of words from 10-20 to over 100 in about two months. It occurs at about 18 mos, then it jumps to 10,000 words by first grade, and 60,000 by age 17.

What is the language acquisition device?

It is a hypothetical module of the human brain proposed by Chomsky. It is an instinctive mental capacity that allows infants to acquire and produce language. It is part of the nativist theory that says that humans are born with the innate ability to acquire language.

What is the difference between infant phonemic competence and adult phonemic competence?

The difference is that infants perceive phonemes categorically, and they have the ability to perceive all language phoneme contrasts, but then lose all but the ones in their language (obviously adults can’t do this because babies lose is at age one).

What is the “Gavagai” problem? (The Quinian scandal of induction?)

The problem is if something is named a certain thing (rabbit being called Gavagai), how do we correct the meaning so that not every furry thing is called a Gavagai? Quine says that we make the correct induction about the word’s meaning eventually, and not everything becomes a Gavagai.

What is the evidence that children form categories when they hear new words? (Waxman & Booth, 2003)

By 14 mos they extend nouns on the basis of category-based commonalities, and not property based ones. When asked to give the “blicket” and choose between the right animal with the wrong color, versus the wrong category right color, they chose the right category. But when asked to give the “blickish one” (which is asking about an adjective), they chose either one. This means that nouns are restricted to categories, but adjectives can be based on categories or commonalities.

Do children tend to categorize words as referring to whole objects or parts?

They categorize words as referring to whole objects.

What is mutual exclusivity in language development?

Each label has only one label. This allows for indirect word learning, so if a child hears a new label in the presence of a familiar and novel object, they will map it on to the new object.

What is the critical period? (versus a sensitive period?)

The critical period ends at puberty and relates to lateralization and suggestion that the brain is plastic forever but not after puberty. Also, second language acquisition is much harder for adults. Perhaps there is a sensitive period where language acquisition is important but not totally critical (there is evidence that deaf children and wild children can learn).