PSYB32H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: American Sign Language, Second-Language Acquisition, Noam Chomsky
Document Summary
Basic progress in infancy, babies distinguish basic sounds of language, say first words, by 1-2 years of age, start to combine words, by 6 years, have thousands of words in vocabulary. 1950s researchers didn"t take young children figuring out important properties of language seriously. The behaviourist approach: children at an early age are creative with language they can create novel phrases. This creative ability is a problem for the behaviourist account. B. f. skinner: learning language through conditioning. Language is acquired through the principles of learning and conditioning, specifically operant conditioning. Parents reinforce child to produce language (operant condition: learning language through imitation. Children will use imitation to acquire complex phrases. Children combine operant conditioning and imitation to produce language development. Reinforcement and imitation have clear roles, but are seen as supporting of language development, not the fundamental cause. Noam chomsky: child"s ability to learn language uniquely human skill that is hardwired into the brain.
