Chapter 5. Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development INTRODUCTION Chapter 5 explores the processes by which cognition and language develop during e...
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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 5 explores the processes by which cognition and language develop during early childhood. Cognitive and language abilities are the most distinctive features of human beings; without them, we would be without culture. The chapter concentrates on the following topics: •

Cognitive development. Individual differences in mental representation throughout infancy are shown to be developmentally continuous across childhood and even into adulthood.



Piaget’s sensorimotor period. Piaget explains the child’s primary task of integrating motor and perceptual systems in order to begin the process of objectifying the world.



Learning. Learning is defined and its importance for how we make sense of the world around us is discussed.



The function of language and thought. The functional importance of language is discussed, with the emphasis on the role of language in facilitating communication as well as thought.



The relation of language to thought. This is examined in accordance with two opposing viewpoints: language as the mere container of thought and language as the determinant of thought.



Theories of language development. Learning and interactionist theories are examined. These theories state that language is acquired through learning processes, as well as the opposing innateness theory, which views human beings as biologically “prewired” for language usage. Chomsky’s nativist theory, whereby the basic structure of language is biologically programmed, is presented in detail.



Language development. The importance of early nonverbal behaviors, prelanguage, language production, and language reception in the communication process is discussed. The sequence of language development in children is examined, beginning with such early vocalizations as cooing and babbling, progressing into holophrastic speech, two-word utterances, and telegraphic speech.

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing Chapter 5, you should be able to: 1.

List the three main criteria used to define learning. • • •

2.

Summarize the findings from Sameroff’s study of neonates’ sucking techniques and their capacity to learn.

3.

List and describe the three main characteristics of Piaget’s sensorimotor period as they relate to cognitive development during the first two years of life. •





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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

4.

Summarize the research on maternal depression and failure to thrive in infants.

5.

Identify and explain Bruner’s three modes of cognitive representation. • • •

6.

Explain how the following two components can be used to predict cognitive competence in childhood.

decrement of attention

recovery of attention

7.

Summarize the research on employing early intervention strategies with infants who are developmentally delayed, and discuss the positive and negative impacts of these findings.

8.

State the two vital contributions that language makes to the human condition, and explain the functional importance of each. • •

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

9.

Discuss the idea that “thought shapes language.”

10.

Explain the “language shapes thought” position.

11.

Define and explain the benefits of each of the following concepts related to speech development.

caretaker speech

motherese/parentese in language development

interactional nature of caretaker speech

12.

Discuss Chomsky’s theory of language development, specifically defining the following terms.

language acquisition device (LAD)

surface structure

deep structure

transformational grammar

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

13.

Discuss why twin studies are important to research on dyslexia and autism.

14.

Discuss the following elements in the communication process, and note at what age these occur.

body language/kinesics

gazing

pointing

paralanguage

language production

language reception

15.

Describe the following features of early language development. crying cooing and babbling receptive vocabulary expressive vocabulary holophrastic speech overextension two-word utterances telegraphic speech second-language acquisition

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

WEB SITES

The following Web sites deal with some of the major concepts and issues presented in Chapter 5. Additional resources can be found at the text’s Web site at http://www.mhhe.com/crandell8. Autistic Society http://www.autisticsociety.org/index.php Society for Research in Child Development http://www.srcd.org/cd.html Infant Learning Lab at University of Wisconsin, Madison http://www.waisman.wisc.edu/infantlearning/infantlang.html Jean Piaget Society http://www.piaget.org/links.html Normal Speech Development http://members.tripod.com/Caroline_Bowen/acquisition.html National Institute for Deafness & Other Communication Disorders http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/ International Society of Infant Studies http://www.isisweb.org/

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

SELF-TESTS

Matching Match the key terms with their definitions: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

autism babbling caretaker speech cognition communication conceptualization dyslexia expressive vocabulary

i. j. k. l. m.

failure to thrive holophrase kinesics language language acquisition device (LAD) n. language reception o. learning

p. q. r. s. t. u. v. w.

motherese/parentese object permanence overextension paralanguage phonemes receptive vocabulary sensorimotor telegraphic speech

1. ____ a simplified, redundant, and highly grammatical sort of language anticipating a verbal response

11. ____ the process by which people transmit information, ideas, attitudes, and emotions to one another

2. ____ a structured system of sound patterns (words and sentences) that have socially standardized meanings

12. ____ the stress, pitch, and volume of vocalizations by which we communicate expressive meaning

3. ____ an inborn mechanism that takes all of the sounds, words, and sentences that an infant hears and then produces a grammar that is consistent with this data

13. ____ when infants come to view a thing as having a reality of its own that extends beyond their immediate perception of it 14. ____ words that can be used correctly in speech

4. ____ grouping perceptions into classes or categories on the basis of certain similarities

15. ____ words that can be understood

5. ____ a simple, high-pitched language used with preverbal infants

16. ____ a neurological disorder characterized by deficits in communication and social interaction

6. ____ sequences of alternating vowels and consonants that resemble one-syllable utterances

17. ____ process of knowing, including perception, memory, and reasoning

7. ____ short, precise words in two-word or three-word combinations

18. ____ learning disability affecting reading, spelling, writing or speaking

8. ____ single words that convey different meanings depending on the context in which they are used

19. ____ babies exhibiting symptoms such as lack of growth, listlessness, and problems sleeping and eating

9. ____ the coordination of motor activities with sensory inputs

20. ____ another term for body language 21. ____ the quality of receiving messages

10. ____ the overgeneralization of a word beyond its core sense

22. ____ a permanent change in behavior or capability

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

23. ____ the smallest unit of language Multiple Choice Circle the letter of the response that best completes or answers each of the following statements and questions. Factual Questions 1. The study of cognition includes all of the following, except a. perception b. problem solving c. recall d. reactive reasoning 2. Learning involves a relatively permanent change in a capability or behavior that results from a. observation b. modeling c. experience d. conditioning 3. Arnold Sameroff conducted a study in which he was able to teach neonates to use one method of sucking (either expressive or suction) in preference to another. The learning was achieved through a. imitation b. observation c. punishment d. reinforcement 4. The developmental psychologist who contributed a great deal to our understanding of how children think, reason, and problem solve in developmental cognitive stages is a. Sigmund Freud b. Jean Piaget c. Noam Chomsky d. B. F. Skinner 5. The realization that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight constitutes a. symbolic representation b. cognition c. object permanence d. object identity 6. According to Piaget, the infant comes to integrate the motor and perceptual systems during which period? a. motoperceptive b. preoperational c. sensorimotor d. somatosensory

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

7. Which of the following is(are) characteristic of Piaget’s description of the early sensorimotor period? a. infants cannot internally represent the world b. infants cannot see that objects exist independently c. infants cannot coordinate grasping with visual cues d. all of these 8. According to Jerome Bruner, what type of cognitive representation appears first in young children? a. ikonic b. enactive c. symbolic d. perceptual 9. Jerome Bruner indicates that children use mental images or pictures for representing the world. He refers to these as a. symbols b. enactive images c. ikonic images d. sign images 10. Which of the following has not been shown to be a consequence of maternal depression? a. intense mood swings b. an inability to discipline effectively c. a reduced capacity for nurturing d. the tendency for the child to exhibit a negative self-concept 11. Which of the following statements regarding the prediction of intelligence from cognitive performance in infancy is the most accurate? a. Modern psychologists believe that there is no continuity between early and later capabilities. b. Decrement and recovery of attention seem most indicative of intelligence in youngsters. c. Youngsters who tire more easily when looking at one object are less efficient processors of information. d. Youngsters who prefer familiar stimuli over novel stimuli are more efficient processors of information. 12. In this chapter, language is defined as a. a structured system of sound patterns that have socially standardized meanings b. a set of rules for joining words to form phrases and sentences c. the process by which people transmit information d. a system of categories used to organize perceptual input 13. The process of transmitting information, ideas, attitudes, and emotions to one another is termed a. conceptualization b. language c. communication d. reception

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

14. Proponents of the view that thought shapes language claim that a. language precedes thought b. thought is not possible without language c. language shapes thought d. thought takes place independently of language 15. Proponents of the view that language is the determinant of thought claim that a. language impedes thought b. thought is not possible without language c. language shapes thought d. thought takes place independently of language 16. Children approach the task of “word learning” equipped with preexisting ________ that limit the number of possible meanings for a new noun. a. cognitive biases b. conceptualizations c. language biases d. symbols 17. A psychologist who accepted the view that language determined thought would tend to emphasize the importance of a. paralanguage b. ikonic representation c. caretaker speech d. conceptualization 18. Interactionist theory is to ________ as innateness theory is to ________. a. nurture; nature b. learning; environment c. nature; nurture d. biological endowment; environment 19. In ________, parents systematically modify the language that they employ with adults when addressing young children. a. motherese b. caretaker speech c. conceptualization d. phonology 20. When a caretaker uses words such as “choo-choo” to signify a train, she is using a. caretaker speech b. baby talk c. motherese d. interactional speech 21. Nativists, such as Noam Chomsky, contend that the primary factor influencing language acquisition is a. the child’s environment b. the interaction between the child and his or her caretaker c. learning processes d. the child’s biological endowment

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

22. Which of the following is a nativist criticism of learning theory views of language acquisition? a. Children’s speech is not a mechanical playback of adult speech. b. Caretakers spontaneously develop a unique language system for communicating with children. c. Children understand only about one-half of the words spoken to them in motherese. d. The specialized anatomy of the vocal tract makes language possible. 23. Noam Chomsky pointed out that the world’s languages have basic similarities in their composition, and he termed these similarities a. transformational grammar b. deep structure c. surface structure d. caretaker speech 24. Most psychologists agree that there is a ________ for language acquisition, but they disagree over the importance of ________. a. biological basis; parental input b. cultural basis; genetic factors c. cultural basis; biological factors d. biological basis; cognitive factors 25. The stress, pitch, and volume of words by which we communicate expressive meaning are referred to as a. language production b. kinesics c. paralanguage d. telegraphic speech 26. The best time to learn a new language is a. early in life b. when one enters kindergarten c. during middle school d. in college 27. Which of the following is in the correct sequence for language development? a. crying, babbling, cooing, holophrases b. crying, cooing, babbling, holophrases c. gurgling, babbling, cooing, holophrases d. making bubbles with saliva, crying, cooing, babbling 28. When a child uses the same single word to convey different meanings, depending on the context she is in, the child is using a. holophrastic speech b. transformational grammar c. symbolic syntax d. deep structures

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

Conceptual Questions 1. Claire, a 6-month-old child, smiles and grows excited when she gazes at the teddy bear in her crib. However, when her mother accidentally covers the bear with a blanket, the child seems to forget about it and begins to play with something else. According to Piaget, the child is demonstrating ____________ concerning the teddy bear. a. thought without cognition b. a learning disability c. lack of object permanence d. mental representation 2. An infant sees a ball under a chair; but when he crawls over to the side of the chair, the ball is not there. The infant is soon distracted by another toy. Psychologists who have revised Piaget’s insights would say that this infant a. knew the ball still existed b. did not attribute permanence to objects c. had difficulty coordinating searching capabilities d. did not possess cognitive representation 3. A little girl hears the word “dog” and pictures her own dog Spot. She is using a. object permanence b. ikonic representation c. enactive representation d. symbolic representation 4. Eighteen-month-old Joey is not talking, and most of the time he is unresponsive. During a visit, the grandparents witness the lack of communication and see Joey’s inability to socialize with them. They are concerned Joey might have a. agoraphobia b. drug addiction c. autism d. anxiety attacks 5. Bridget’s baby quickly becomes drowsy and inattentive when she rocks her or lays her down on the floor to watch television. However, the baby quickly becomes reanimated when an interesting sight or sound occurs in the room. We might reasonably predict that Bridget’s baby will a. become impulsive and hyperactive b. become cognitively competent c. not differ substantially from other children during preschool years d. not display categorical perception 6. Monique is very concerned about how her behavior as a parent will affect her baby’s intellectual development. Research suggests that Monique can best influence her infant’s competence by doing all of the following, except a. provide the baby with immediate positive feedback b. provide a nonrestrictive environment c. teach math to her baby during the first year of life d. develop a secure parent-infant attachment

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

7. Nathan, a 4-year-old, has been raised by overly ambitious parents who have pushed their son to gain academically oriented skills. We reasonably infer that Nathan a. may grow to dislike learning as a result of the pressures to learn b. will be more apt to undertake highly skilled activities c. will develop a higher intellect d. may benefit more from a structured preschool program 8. Mary is 8 months old and can picture her bottle, even though she doesn’t yet know the word for it. Which theorist would accept this view of language and thought? a. Freud b. Piaget c. Vygotsky d. Mead 9. Joel has brought home a new dog for his family and wants to teach his young son how to call the dog. According to research on children’s ability to conceptualize new words, Joel’s son would most quickly learn which term? a. canine b. collie c. animal d. dog 10. Roseanne said to her baby “Hey, Anna! Anna! Where’s the doggie? Where’s the doggie? See. On the steps. See, over there on the steps!” This kind of language, where the focus is on the location of an object, is representative of which form of parental speech? a. baby talk b. caretaker speech c. caregiver speech d. motherese 11. Nancy is a depressed mother and primary caretaker for her new baby. She speaks to her infant very little and uses unexaggerated intonation. She is slow to respond to her child’s early attempts at vocalization. We can reasonably infer that Nancy’s child a. will acquire language in much the same manner as the child of a healthy, happy mother b. will suffer a delay in language acquisition c. will have an overdeveloped language acquisition device d. will remain unaffected by her mother’s depression 12. In speaking to her 8-month-old baby, a mother uses shorter words, more pointing, more repetition, more exclamations (e.g., “gee,” “gosh”), and more diminutives (e.g., “bunny” vs. “rabbit”) than when talking to her 5-year-old. This simplified speech a. is intended to develop the child’s language acquisition capabilities b. improves the child’s object permanence ability c. attributes conceptual ability to the baby and by doing so facilitates language acquisition d. is pleasing to the parent but has no effect on the child because children this age have only productive speech

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

13. Which statement in regard to language acquisition is most consistent with the nativist viewpoint? a. Language is acquired directly through learning processes. b. Experience dictates the development of language. c. Humans are biologically “preprogrammed” for language usage. d. Learning and biology interact to determine language. 14. Your child uses word constructions such as “all gone sticky” and “gooder.” This type of language supports the a. learning theory position b. Piagetian position c. nativist position d. linguistic relativity position 15. Jessica observed that her baby was able to alter the stress, pitch, and volume of his vocalizations when angry. Jessica was witnessing her son’s ability to use which form of communication? a. metalanguage b. paralanguage c. language reception d. telegraphic speech 16. Keiko, a 6-month-old, has just begun to make her first babbling sounds. According to what is known about the development of babbling sounds in babies, which sound is Keiko least likely to utter first? a. a nasal such as n or m b. a single-stop consonant d, t, or b c. vowel sounds such as “eh” d. a consonant such as l, r, f, or v 17. Tony, who has normal hearing, lives with deaf parents who communicate by sign language. Tony suffers severe asthma and is confined to his home where no English is spoken. By the time he is 4 years old, Tony will a. probably not speak English b. not understand English or sign language c. have learned English through daily television exposure d. be fluent in sign language and English 18. A child says the word “mama” when she wants to be fed. The child also uses the word “mama” to communicate that she wants to be let out of her crib. The child’s use of the word “mama” could be described as a(n) a. overgeneralization b. body language c. transformational rule d. holophrase 19. Sara, a toddler, uses sentences such as “go store” and “more cookie.” This child is probably using a. general syntax rules b. telegraphic speech c. compound speech d. functional speech

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

Essay Questions 1. It has been said that “Language is what makes us human.” What tasks does language permit us to do that other animals cannot do, and how do these tasks contribute to our development?

2. Compare and contrast the idea of thought shaping language with that of language as determinant of thought, using the information you have on children’s language acquisition.

3. Observe two children and an adult with child, each having a conversation. Discuss similarities and differences in these conversations, and the implications of these differences for children.

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Chapter 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development

ANSWERS FOR SELF-TESTS

Matching 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

p l m f c b w j

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

v r e s q h u a

17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

d g i k n o t

21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

d a b a c a b a

15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

b d a d b

Multiple Choice Factual 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

d c d b c c d b c b

11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

b a c d c a d a b b

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

b d d b c c c

Conceptual 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

c c b c b c a

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