DeCasper & Fifer Findings for
Newborns
1. Prefer the human voice over
"acoustically complex stimuli" (1176)
2. Can discriminate between speakers
3. Show a preference for their mother's voice
with limited contact (at most 12 hours)
1
DeCasper, Anthony J. and William P. Fifer. 26 February 1980. Of human bonding:
Newborns prefer their mothers' voices. Science 208: 1174-1176.
Characteristics
of Caretaker Speech
Prosody, etc.
Higher in pitch
More variable in pitch
More exaggerated in intonational contours
Slower
Smoother pitch contours
More rhythmic
More pauses
Content
More repetitions
More based in the here and now
2
Carroll, David W. 1994. Psychology of Language, second edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 250.
Gestures Showing
Communicative Intent
1. Pointing at things (Assertion or request)
2. Showing things to parent (NOT to give)
3. Giving you things
4. Reaching
5. Showing off (Repeating things that get
approval; dancing)
3
Bates, Elizabeth, et al. 1979. Cognition and communication from nine to thirteen
months: Correlational findings. In E. Bates, editor, The Convergence of Symbols:
Cognition and Communication in Infancy. New York: Academic Press.
Major Criteria for Assigning
Intentionality
1. Waiting (for adult to pay attention)
2. Persistence
3. Development of alternative plans
(flexibility)
Carroll, David W. 1994. Psychology of Language, second edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 251.
4
Gestures then Speech
"To sum up, prelinguistic children use
gestures to get the receiver's attention and
to communicate. The transition to speech
acts can then be viewed as learning how to
do with words what already has been done
without words."
5
Carroll, David W. 1994. Psychology of Language, second edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 253.
Milestones in Motor and Language
Development—Simplified - 1
Age Motor Development
months
6
Language, etc.
1
Can distinguish consonants
3 Supports head when
prone; no grasp
Smiles when talked to;
gurgles / coos (vowels)
4 Shakes rattle;
supports head
Responds to human sounds :
turns head, eyes search
5 Sits with props
interspersed with
Vowel-like cooing
more consonantal sounds
Milestones in Motor and Language
Development—Simplified - 2
Age Motor Development
months
7
Language, etc.
6 Sits; can bear weight;
reaches; grasps but no
thumb opposition
Cooing becomes
(reduplicated) babbling
(babababa)
8 Stands holding on;
grasps with thumb
Intonation patterns distinct;
can signal opposition
emphasis and emotion;
reduplication;
communicative intentions
Milestones in Motor and Language
Development—Simplified - 3
Age Motor Development
months
8
Language, etc.
10 Crawls; side-steps holding
on; bubble blowing;
pulls self up to stand
Sound play: gurgling,
seems to try to imitate;
differentiates between
sounds heard
11-12
Variegated babbling
(bigodabu)
12 Walks with help; seats self;
almost stopped mouthing
More reduplication
(mama); signs of things
some words and simple
understanding; commands:
Show me...
Milestones in Motor and Language
Development—Simplified - 4
Age Motor Development
months
Language, etc.
18 Grasp fully developed;
30-50 words; ONE-word phase;
walks; sits on chair so-so; several syllable babbling;
crawls down stairs
intricate intonation pattern;
backward; difficulty
NOT frustrated when not
building 3 cube towers
understood; understanding
progressing rapidly
24 Runs; sudden turns
not good; stand and
sits easily; walks up
and down stairs
9
Vocabulary 50+ words;
TWO-word phase; phrases
own creation; increase in
communicative behavior
Milestones in Motor and Language
Development—Simplified - 5
Age Motor Development
months
Language, etc.
30 Jumps; stands on one foot;
good hand and finger
coordination; can build 6
cube tower; tiptoes a few
steps
Fastest increase in vocabulary;
frustrated if not understood;
two (even three or five) word
utterances; intelligibility not
very good; seems to
understand everything
directed to them
36 Tiptoes 3 yards; runs
smoothly; makes turns
well; jumps 12 inches;
can ride tricycle
10
Vocabulary: 100 or so words;
80% intelligible even to
strangers; grammar roughly
like adults, though still makes
mistakes
Milestones in Motor and Language
Development—Simplified - 6
Age Motor Development
months
48 Jumps over rope; hops on
one foot; catches ball in
arms; walks line
11
Language, etc.
Language well established;
deviations from adult norm
tend to be more in style
than in grammar
Milestones in Motor and Language
Development—Simplified
Milestones Chart based on:
Nick Cipollone, Steven Hartman Keiser & Shravan Vasishth,
editors. 1998. Language Files, seventh edition. Columbus, Ohio:
Ohio State University Press, pp. 287-289.
Cipollone et al.'s version was based on Eric H. Lenneberg. 1967.
Biological Foundations of Language. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
With additions from Carroll, David W. 1999. Psychology of
Language, third edition. Pacific Grove, California: Brooks/Cole
Publishing Company, Chapter 10: Early Language Acquisition.
12
Comparison of English and
Spanish Bilabial Stops
Voicing
VOT*
1
Prevoiced
negative
[b]
2
Voiced
zero
3
4
Voiceless Voiceless
short
longer
[p]
Spanish
besos
[besos]
'kisses'
pesos
[pesos]
'pesos' (money)
English
bases
[bes z]
paces
[p es z]
* VOT times are impressionistic; not given as precise numbers
13
Adapted from Ladefoged, Peter. 2001. Vowels and Consonants: An Introduction to
the Sounds of Languages. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, pp. 119-121.
Early Language Developmental
Stages
1. Cooing (2 months): Mostly vowels
2. Babbling (6 months)
Reduplicated babbling (6-7 months):
ba ba ba ba
Variegated babbling (11-12 months):
bi go da bu
3. First true words (12+ months)
14
Carroll, David W. 1999. Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 259.
Phonological Processes
Used by Children
15
Reduction
tore/store
baw/bottle
Coalescence
paf/pacifier
Assimilation
nance/dance
fweet/sweet
Reduplication
dada/daddy
Carroll, David W. 1999. Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 261.
Possible Explanations for
Children's Pronunciation Errors
1. Child cannot discriminate between the
sounds
2. Child cannot produce the sounds
3. Overload of information processing
capacity
16
Carroll, David W. 1999. Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, pp. 261-262.
First Words
17
Nominals:
ball, car
Proper nouns:
Mommy
Action words:
up, go
Modifiers:
dirty, pretty
Personal/social:
please, want
Function:
what, for
From K. Nelson. 1973. Sturcutre and strategy in learning to talk. Monographs of the
Society for Research in Child Development, 38 (1-2 Serial No. 149). Cited in Carroll,
David W. 1999. Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove, California:
Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 263.
Adult Input In Vocabulary
Acquisition
1. The Original Word Game
2. Basic level vocabulary
3. Ostensive definitions for whole
object
18
Carroll, David W. 1999. Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, pp. 264-265.
Cognitive Constraints in
Vocabulary Acquisition
1. Whole Object Bias
2. Taxonomic Bias
3. Mutual Exclusivity Bias
a. Each object has only one name
b. Each name refers to only one object
Carroll, David W. 1999. Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 266.
19
Brown's Early Language
Development Stages
Stage
20
MLU
I
1.75
II
2.25
III
2.75
IV
3.5
V
4.0
From Roger Brown. 1973. A First Language: The Early Stages. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press. Cited in Carroll, David W. 1999. Psychology of
Language, third edition. Pacific Grove, California: Brooks/Cole Publishing
Company, p. 270.
First Language Acquisition
Strategies
Referential Strategy
Naming objects
Vocabulary-building oriented: mostly nouns
Language is individual words (bottom-up)
Part to whole
Expressive Strategy
Social interaction
More diverse vocabulary
Language is whole sentences (top-down)
Whole to part
More likely to use 'dummy terms'
21
Carroll, David W. 1999. Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, pp. 274-276.