PSYCO105 Lecture : Jan 20 Language And Thought Continued.docx

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCO105
• Professor: Jennifer Passey

Document Summary

Grammatical rules are aspects of the human mind that link spoken sentences ultimately to the mind"s system for representing meanings. Universal grammar: innate properties of the human mind. Lad: entire set of innate mental mechanisms that enable a child to acquire language quickly and efficiently (includes basis for cognitive biases) Lad functions more effectively during the first 10 years of childhood. Genie: most thoroughly studied language-deprived hearing person. Learning within the critical period is much less crucial for second-language learning than for first-language learning. Adults simplify their speech in ways that might help the children learn words and some aspects of grammar. Adults treat infants early vocalizations as if they were verbal statements. Rate of language acquisition correlates positively with: extent of mother"s verbal responsiveness, degree to which the mother uses motherese, total amount of time that the mother speaks to her child. Chimpanzees and bonobos are highly gregarious and have complex systems of nonverbal communication.