AP Psych Unit 5 Lesson Part 1

UNIT 5: Cognitive Psychology

PART I: Cognition

Psychology of Language... Part 1

Its basic parts, acquisition of... early stages...

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Learning Targets

• 36-1 Describe the structural components of a language.

• 36-2 Discuss how we acquire language, and explain the concept of universal grammar.

• 36-3 Discuss the milestones in language development, and identify the critical period for acquiring language.

language

our spoken,

written,

or signed words
and the ways we
combine them to

communicate

meaning

Language transmits knowledge and

allows for mind-to-mind

communication.

Open Ended

Take a moment and wonder what it would be like to be incapable of communicating with others around you... Family, peers, teachers, coworkers, etc... How would that make you feel? What emotions would be present and why? Would you be able to 'function' in your space? Explain please.

What are the structural components

of language?

phoneme~

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

morpheme~

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning;
may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

grammar~

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to

communicate with and understand others

phoneme

Linguists surveying

nearly 500 languages

have identified 869

different phonemes in
human speech, but no

language uses all of

them (Holt, 2002;
Maddieson, 1984).

To say bat, English
speakers utter the

phonemes
b, a, and t.

3 phonemes!

To say that:
th, a and t

Also 3 phonemes!

Phonemes are sounds,

not letters and not the same

as syllables.

morpheme

Most morphemes

combine two or
more phonemes.
Some are words,
while others are
parts of words.

examples of
morphemes

Every word in a

language contains

one or more
morphemes.

The

word “readers,” for example,

contains three (3) morphemes:

“read,” (1)

“er” (2)

(signaling that we

mean “one who reads”),

and “s” (3)

(signaling that we mean not one,

but multiple readers).

grammar

Rules for word
order and word
meaning help us

to understand

language.

Two components
of grammar are
semantics and

syntax.

Semantics is about selecting
the correct word to convey the

meaning you intend.

Syntax is about putting the
words into the correct order

according to grammatical

standards of your language.

Noam Chomsky on grammar

"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”

Noam Chomsky, a linguist, used this sentence to
illustrate correct syntax (the nouns, adjectives and
verbs are all in their proper place grammatically) but
poor semantics (the choice of words do not convey
the appropriate meaning…what is a ‘green idea’ and

how can it be ‘colorless’?)

Multiple Choice

What is the smallest form of language that can carry meaning?

• Phoneme

• Morpheme

• Babbling

• Grammar

Match

Match the following concepts with the example that best fits

• Separating the word fish into the 3 sounds

  of (f - i - sh)... Each sound is a ___________

• Fox is an example of a ________... Its a small unit (many times smallest) that holds a meaning...

• Foxes contains to examples of __________

  1) Fox and 2) es

• Wondering why the sky is blue should never stop us from enjoying its beauty.. This phrase is correct in its ___________

• When the girls came at me with a question... 'Do we have a beef?' I was confused because of the __________ of beef...

Phoneme

Morpheme

Morphemes

Syntax

Semantics

• Phoneme

• Morpheme

• Morphemes

• Syntax

• Semantics

Open Ended

In this, offer your own example of Phoneme (by taking a word and breaking it down into its various parts) / An example of Morpheme(S)...

How do we acquire language and what is

universal grammar?

Linguist Noam Chomsky has argued that language is

nature’s gift—an unlearned human trait, separate

from other parts of human cognition

He theorized that a built-in predisposition

to learn grammar rules, which he called universal

grammar, helps explain why preschoolers

pick up language so readily and use grammar so well.

3. What Would You Answer?

According to Noam Chomsky, language acquisition

occurs most especially because of

A. exposure to language in early childhood.
B. instruction in grammar.
C. reinforcement for babbling and other early verbal

behaviors.

D. imitation and drill.
E. linguistic determinism.

Open Ended

According to Chomsky... Language acquisition occurs most especially because of which of the following... A) Exposure to language in early childhood... B) Instruction in Grammar... C) Reinforcement for babbling and other early Verbal behaviors... D) Imitation and drill... E) Linguistic Determinism... Explain your answer in a sentence or two...

Early language acquisition

Children’s language development moves from

simplicity to complexity. Infants start without
language (in fantis means “not speaking”).

Yet by 4 months of age, babies can recognize

differences in speech sounds.

(Stager & Werker, 1997)

How does receptive
language develop?

In one study, babies preferred looking at a face that
matches a sound—an ah coming from wide open lips

and an ee from a mouth with corners pulled back.

(Kuhl & Meltzoff, 1982)

Recognizing such differences marks the beginning of
the development of babies’ receptive language, their
ability to understand what is said to and about them.

babbling

stage

Beginning around 4
months, the stage of

speech development in

which an infant

spontaneously utters

various sounds

(phonemes) is at first

unrelated to the

household language.

Long after the

beginnings of receptive

language, babies’

productive language—
their ability to produce

words—matures.

one-word

stage

the stage in

speech development,
from about age 1 to 2,

during which a child

speaks mostly in

single words

Around their first birthday,

most children enter the one-

word stage. They have

already

learned that sounds carry
meanings and now begin to
use sounds—usually only
one barely recognizable

syllable, such as ma or da—

to communicate meaning.

two-word

stage

At about 18 months,
children’s learning of

language explodes from
about a word per week

to a word per day.

By their second

birthday, most have

entered the two-word

stage.

A 2-year-old’s speech

contains mostly nouns and

verbs (“Want juice”).

Their speech follows rules
of syntax, arranging words

in a sensible order.

English-speaking children
typically place adjectives

before nouns—white house

rather than house white.

Spanish reverses this order,

as in casa blanca.

telegraphic speech

The two-word stage
produces sentences in

which a child speaks like a

telegram—

“go car”

—using mostly

nouns and verbs so it is

referred to as

telegraphic speech.

4. What Would You Answer?

Eighteen-month-old Becca is in the telegraphic

speech phase. Which of the following best

represents something she might say?

A. “Mama”
B. “Yogurt please”
C. “Katie fall”
D. “The dog is fuzzy”
E. “I love you mommy”

Open Ended

Offer your answer to the prior slide here... 'Which phrase is Bella most likely to say?' Why did you select the phrase that you did?

What is the critical period of

language development?

Childhood seems to represent a critical (or “sensitive”)

period for mastering certain aspects of language

before the language-learning window slowly closes.

(Hernandez & Li, 2007; Lenneberg, 1967)

Later-than-usual exposure—at age 2 or 3—unleashes

the idle language capacity of a child’s brain,

producing a rush of language. But by about age 7,

those who have not been exposed to either a spoken

or a signed language lose their ability to

master any language.

Can we learn a new language as adults?

Ten years after coming to the

United States, Asian immigrants
took an English grammar test.
Although there is no sharply

defined critical period for
second language learning,

those who arrived before age 8
understood American English

grammar as well as native
speakers did. Those who

arrived later did not.

(Data from Johnson & Newport, 1991.)

Do you speak a second language?

Consider a language you began to learn after

learning your first language (if you later learned to

speak a second language at home, if you are

learning a second language at school, or if you just

picked up some words or phrases from a new

language while traveling).

How did your learning this other language differ from

learning your first language?

Does speaking it feel different?

Open Ended

Offer your own experiences... When you began learning a new language, how old were you? Did your age impact your learning of it? HOW? What role does syntax, semantics, context... your age and length of time learning of your primary language... What roles did they play in your learning of the language?

How can visualization improve grades?

Two groups of introductory psychology students

facing a midterm exam one week later.

(Taylor et al., 1998)

The first group spent five minutes each day

visualizing themselves scanning the posted grade list,

seeing their A, beaming with joy, and feeling

proud. This daily outcome simulation had little effect,

adding only 2 points to their exam score average.

The second group spent five minutes each day

visualizing themselves effectively studying—reading

the textbook, going over notes, eliminating

distractions, declining an offer to go out.