Special Populations Flashcards
Home Sign and the resilience of language
Deaf children of hearing non-signing parents
n order to communicate early on, they often develop their own system of communication, often known as “home sign”
Studied by Goldin-Meadow et. al
These spontaneously arising unlearned languages have a form similar to other natural languages
Individual gestures correspond to words
Gestures combined with consistent word order
Noun-like gestures have a particular consistent form and verb-like gestures have a different consistent form
Different than spoken language and formalized sign language - no morphology or “complex syntax” (i.e. sentences with more than one verb)
Humans have capacity for language ‣ and will use something other than verbal - it will come out in invented, non-verbal ways if they are not exposed to language in a standardized form
But needs a community to share the language and develop it
Nicaraguan sign language
Formation of new language by kids brought together
Has syntactical properties of other conventional languages
One feature - spatial modulation (moving the location around to indicate that a different person is performing the action)
Looked at the age of exposure and how long the language had been around
In people who learned the language earlier, but at a later time in the development of the language (when these modulations had developed), the feature is used more often
If exposed after age 10, very little usage even if they were in the later group - critical period?
Critical period hypothesis
A critical period is a window of time in development in which a given skill must be acquired
Innate, biological preparedness in the brain
(Example in nature - imprinting in birds - chicks will follow the first bird that they see; this can only happen in the first few hours of life)
This closes after a period of time
Adults are constrained by what we’ve already been exposed to
Critical Period and the sounds of a language
Oyama
Recorded the English speech of 60 Italian immigrants
Rated on no foreign accent to heavily accented
The age the immigrants arrived in the US was a very good predictor of how heavily accented they were judged to be
Total time living there was not predictive of accent
Large individual differences between people
Critical Period and grammar
Johnson and Newport
‣ Asked adult Chinese and Korean immigrants to distinguish grammatical from ungrammatical sentences
If they arrived between 3 & 7, they performed at native speaker level
Between 8 & 15, did less well
Those who were 17 and over were indistinguishable from those who arrived at age 30
Argued that critical period was closed, so your ability to learn the grammar is not affected by exposure and will not get better
Birdsong and Molis replicated the study, with the same sentences, with Spanish-speaking immigrants
Saw a different pattern
Between 2 & 17, much shallower decrease
After 17, it doesn’t stop - there is no critical period, just not as good based on time spent in the country (continuous process)
Critical Period and general language learning
Hakuta et. al
Used census data collected from 2 million ‣ immigrants to the US who had been living here for at least ten years
They reported how competent they thought they were at English and what educational level they’d achieved
Proficiency goes down based on when they immigrated
No leveling out - general decrease with age (for both Chinese and Spanish speakers)
Self-report might be problematic
The dominant language switch hypothesis
Younger children are more successful in learning a second language because they switch to it as a dominant language
Chinese immigrants who arrived at a younger age performed better on English grammar tests but also performed worse on a Chinese grammar test
The “less is more” hypothesis
The adult’s better memory disadvantages them in language learning
Adults learn language by memorizing large chunks of speech
Children cannot remember chunks as well and so have to figure out the grammar of the language more quickly
Acquisition of ASL as a native language
First signs
As early as 8.5 months vs. 12 months for first spoken word
Why?
Motor development?
Larger size of manual articulation?
Ability to see and manipulate articulators?
No guessing at how that sign is made, as with the tongue
First two word combination - 1.5 years
50 word vocabulary - 1.5 yrs
Use of signing space for indicating the subject and object - 3yrs
Fingerspelling
Hand shape that represents a written letter of a spoken language
First attempt at 2yrs
4 yrs - more reliable sequences that match spelling of words
Modularity of cognition
Specific, separable, special domains/areas of the brain
Spatial reasoning
Motor skills
Language
Number
Etc.
Commonly theorized in language development (language is special to humans, and so it must be a special skill)
Non-modularity of cognition
These behaviors rely on the same underlying skills
Language involves the use of motor skills
Similarity to hula-hooping/motor skills
Plan an action, carry it out, pay attention to feedback & what is going on around you, sequences of actions - various steps with an important sequence (cannot be done in random order) Analogy, cognitive control, pattern recognition, structure building
Use skills for a variety of tasks
If language relies on exactly the same skills as other domains, what would you
expect about developmental disorders?
A child who cannot speak would have problems in other areas as well
Shouldn’t be deficient only in language
Down Syndrome
Chromosomal abnormality found in 1 out of 800 newborns
Account for 1/3 of the intellectually disabled population
Adults typically have IQ below 70
Often used as comparison group, because it is so widespread
Language development: Very few children achieve typical adult linguistic abilities Takes 12 years to get to 30 month old Canonical babbling delayed by 2 months First word at 2 years
Mental development in other areas seems to be quicker
A 6 year old typically has the mental age of a 3 year old, but their
productive speech is generally far more delayed
Language skills much more delayed than other mental development - case for modularity
Williams Syndrome
1 in 25,000 people
Intellectual disablement is about equivalent to Down’s syndrome
Language development starts later, but advances far beyond development of other mental abilities, such as numerical and spatial reasoning
Adult-like vocabulary where it’s unusual to use those words, create their own words
Give impression of engaging in a conventional way
Only shallow understanding of the words they use
Language appears to be very different, much more advanced than other cognitive skills - case for modularity
Autism
1-2 per1000 births
Seems to have a genetic basis, although the exact source is not yet clear
Environmental factors (parenting style) seem to be predictive of its appearance and severity
Children typically have deficit in social cognitive ability
Lower functioning:
Approximately 80% of autistic individuals score in intellectually disabled range on nonverbal test of intelligence
Often produce no speech
Speech that is produced is often a simple repetition of what has been said
Higher functioning:
Less severe intellectual development
Vocabulary develops slowly but takes similar course of development
Seem to acquire same basic meanings
Grammar develops slowly but takes similar course of development
Fewer questions
Pragmatic development is impaired
Do not produce early pointing gestures
Do not initiate conversation
Do not follow gaze
Have problems with indirect requests
