What did Janet Werker discover?
Werker’s work has also discovered a link between specific in utero experiences and language perception. That research has centered on the role that maternal depression during pregnancy can play in the timing of an infant’s language development.
What is an infant’s speech perception ability and how does it relate to language development?
1. Newborns have sophisticated speech perception abilities. Tey prefer language over complex speech analogs, discriminate rhythmically different languages, prefer to listen to their native language, detect word boundaries, and discriminate most phonemes of the world’s languages.
How infant speech perception changes over the first year of life?
During the first year of life, infants become better at discriminating the speech contrasts of their native language but do not show the same improvement for nonnative contrasts (42). This phenomenon is called perceptual attunement or speech specialization.
Why do infants lose the ability to be universal listeners?
First, infants stop being `universal listeners’ for phoneme distinctions by the end of the first year of life. Second, it appears that the role of experience is to `maintain’ those perceptual senstivities that are already evident in the young infant.
What is the magnet effect?
The perceptual magnet effect is one of the earliest known language-specific phenomena arising in infant speech development. The effect is characterized by a warping of perceptual space near phonemic category centers. Previous explanations have been formulated within the theoretical framework of cognitive psychology.
Is an example of a milestone in language development?
Make gurgling sounds when playing with you or left alone. Babble and make a variety of sounds. Use his or her voice to express pleasure and displeasure. Move his or her eyes in the direction of sounds.
What skills must a child possess in order to use decontextualized language?
What skills must a child possess in order to use decontextualized language? In order to communicate using decontextualized language a child must possess very precise syntax and vocabulary.
Can a newborn’s brain discriminate speech sounds?
Data revealed that newborns tracked changes in voice pitch reliably and no differently than adults, but exhibited weaker signatures of formant structure encoding, particularly at higher formant frequency ranges.
What does it mean about infants language abilities when we say that infants are initially citizens of the world?
Kuhl’s research showed that in the first six months of life infants are “citizens of the world,” meaning they: recognize sound changes no matter what the language.
How do infants learn language?
Babies learn by experiencing (and listening to) the world around them, so the more language they are exposed to the better. Additionally, you can put words to their actions. Talk to them as you would in conversation, pausing for them to respond, then you can say back what you think they might say.