This document discusses various mechanisms of early learning in humans, including statistical learning, learning by imitation, and explanatory/causal learning. It notes that infants are capable of statistical learning by tracking conditional probabilities between events. Infants can also learn through imitation, observing and replicating the behaviors of others. Additionally, infants engage in explanatory learning, making causal inferences and analogies to understand new phenomena based on prior knowledge. The document examines debates around nature vs nurture in language acquisition and suggests neural commitment helps explain how infants successfully learn the phonemes of their native language during a critical period in early development.
1) Social learning mechanisms like statistical learning, implicit learning, learning by imitation, and learning by analogy allow humans to learn complex behaviors from each other.
2) Imitation and social interaction are important for learning, as statistical learning alone is not sufficient for tasks like language acquisition. Infants learn best from live, social interactions rather than isolated media exposure.
3) Understanding others' intentions through mind reading abilities like imitation may be crucial for social learning mechanisms like observational learning to function effectively.
Theoretical Approaches to First Language AcquisitionBibi Halima
This document discusses different theories of first language acquisition. It provides an overview of the behaviorist and mentalist schools of thought. The behaviorist view, proposed by theorists like Skinner, is that language is learned through imitation, reinforcement, and habit formation in response to environmental stimuli. The mentalist view, proposed by Chomsky, argues that language acquisition is based on innate, language-specific capabilities rather than environmental conditioning. The document also discusses criticisms of each theory and debates around the role of nature versus nurture in language development.
The document summarizes the behaviorist theory of language learning in 3 key points:
1) Behaviorist theory views language learning as a process of habit formation through stimulus-response associations, where learners' utterances are reinforced or punished through rewards and corrections.
2) Critics argue that behaviorist theory cannot fully explain the complexity of language learning, creativity, and individual differences between learners.
3) While behaviorism has limitations, it established foundations for language exercises and teaching methods and influenced applied linguistics.
This document discusses several contributions of the mind-brain-behavioral sciences to education. It summarizes research on different types of learning like associative learning, statistical learning, imitation, and cultural transmission. Several studies are cited that explore learning mechanisms in humans from a young age, the importance of social interaction and imitation in language learning, and evidence that humans have evolved abilities for teaching and cultural transmission of knowledge. Potential constraints and timing of learning processes in the brain are also mentioned.
The theories of language acquisition include Chomsky's theory that children are born with an innate language acquisition device, Crystal's theory that acquisition occurs in 5 stages from babbling to expressing opinions, the functional theory that language has experiential and participative meanings, and the interactionist theory that both biological and social factors influence development through interaction. Behaviorism views acquisition as dependent on imitation and reinforcement while the structural view analyzes language as a system of phonological, grammatical, and lexical elements.
The Nature of Language Learning TheoriesDr Shamim Ali
The document discusses several key concepts related to theories in second language acquisition (SLA). It begins by explaining observations that theories need to account for, such as input being necessary but not sufficient for SLA. It also discusses that SLA occurs incidentally through exposure to language and that learners acquire unconscious knowledge beyond what is present in the input. The document also notes that learners' output develops in predictable stages and that SLA outcomes can vary between learners and linguistic subsystems. Key terms like phenomenon, construct, and theory are defined as they relate to researching and explaining SLA.
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that children progress through four distinct stages - sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The author proposes a preschool classroom design based on Piaget's theory, with activities targeting physical, cognitive, social/emotional, and language development. The classroom layout aims to allow fluid transition between open learning areas. Example activities include counting exercises to develop motor and number skills, storytelling and drawing to practice recall and order, show-and-tell to foster social skills, and object naming to support language acquisition. The author argues this design aligns with Piaget's view of cognitive development in the preoperational stage.
This document discusses several theories and concepts related to second language acquisition and models of instruction. It covers behaviourism, constructivism, language acquisition, mastery learning, schema theory, and concludes with a discussion of research on second language acquisition in classroom settings. The key findings are that children acquire language through both innate capacities and environmental influences, and that traditional grammar and vocabulary focused instruction is less effective for proficiency than communicative approaches that provide opportunities for meaningful use of the target language.
1) Social learning mechanisms like statistical learning, implicit learning, learning by imitation, and learning by analogy allow humans to learn complex behaviors from each other.
2) Imitation and social interaction are important for learning, as statistical learning alone is not sufficient for tasks like language acquisition. Infants learn best from live, social interactions rather than isolated media exposure.
3) Understanding others' intentions through mind reading abilities like imitation may be crucial for social learning mechanisms like observational learning to function effectively.
Theoretical Approaches to First Language AcquisitionBibi Halima
This document discusses different theories of first language acquisition. It provides an overview of the behaviorist and mentalist schools of thought. The behaviorist view, proposed by theorists like Skinner, is that language is learned through imitation, reinforcement, and habit formation in response to environmental stimuli. The mentalist view, proposed by Chomsky, argues that language acquisition is based on innate, language-specific capabilities rather than environmental conditioning. The document also discusses criticisms of each theory and debates around the role of nature versus nurture in language development.
The document summarizes the behaviorist theory of language learning in 3 key points:
1) Behaviorist theory views language learning as a process of habit formation through stimulus-response associations, where learners' utterances are reinforced or punished through rewards and corrections.
2) Critics argue that behaviorist theory cannot fully explain the complexity of language learning, creativity, and individual differences between learners.
3) While behaviorism has limitations, it established foundations for language exercises and teaching methods and influenced applied linguistics.
This document discusses several contributions of the mind-brain-behavioral sciences to education. It summarizes research on different types of learning like associative learning, statistical learning, imitation, and cultural transmission. Several studies are cited that explore learning mechanisms in humans from a young age, the importance of social interaction and imitation in language learning, and evidence that humans have evolved abilities for teaching and cultural transmission of knowledge. Potential constraints and timing of learning processes in the brain are also mentioned.
The theories of language acquisition include Chomsky's theory that children are born with an innate language acquisition device, Crystal's theory that acquisition occurs in 5 stages from babbling to expressing opinions, the functional theory that language has experiential and participative meanings, and the interactionist theory that both biological and social factors influence development through interaction. Behaviorism views acquisition as dependent on imitation and reinforcement while the structural view analyzes language as a system of phonological, grammatical, and lexical elements.
The Nature of Language Learning TheoriesDr Shamim Ali
The document discusses several key concepts related to theories in second language acquisition (SLA). It begins by explaining observations that theories need to account for, such as input being necessary but not sufficient for SLA. It also discusses that SLA occurs incidentally through exposure to language and that learners acquire unconscious knowledge beyond what is present in the input. The document also notes that learners' output develops in predictable stages and that SLA outcomes can vary between learners and linguistic subsystems. Key terms like phenomenon, construct, and theory are defined as they relate to researching and explaining SLA.
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that children progress through four distinct stages - sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The author proposes a preschool classroom design based on Piaget's theory, with activities targeting physical, cognitive, social/emotional, and language development. The classroom layout aims to allow fluid transition between open learning areas. Example activities include counting exercises to develop motor and number skills, storytelling and drawing to practice recall and order, show-and-tell to foster social skills, and object naming to support language acquisition. The author argues this design aligns with Piaget's view of cognitive development in the preoperational stage.
This document discusses several theories and concepts related to second language acquisition and models of instruction. It covers behaviourism, constructivism, language acquisition, mastery learning, schema theory, and concludes with a discussion of research on second language acquisition in classroom settings. The key findings are that children acquire language through both innate capacities and environmental influences, and that traditional grammar and vocabulary focused instruction is less effective for proficiency than communicative approaches that provide opportunities for meaningful use of the target language.
The document discusses the behaviorist theory of language acquisition. It explains that according to behaviorism, children learn language through imitation, reinforcement, and practice. When children imitate sounds and words they hear, they are praised or given affection as positive reinforcement, which conditions them to repeat those sounds and words. However, the behaviorist theory has been criticized for not accounting for factors like learning abstract words or novel language not modeled by caregivers. The document also outlines four main stages of language acquisition according to behaviorism: the babbling stage, one-word stage, two-word stage, and telegraphic stage.
The document outlines 12 principles of natural learning based on research from multiple disciplines including neuroscience, psychology, and education. The principles describe how the body, brain, and mind work together in the learning process. They indicate that learning is enhanced when it engages the physiology, is social and meaningful, involves pattern-finding and emotions, and considers individual differences. The principles provide a framework for educators to optimize learning by taking a holistic view of the learner.
This document discusses theories of language acquisition in children. It describes the nature vs nurture debate around whether language is innate or learned. It outlines cognitivist views that language learning conditions are the same as other learning. Jean Piaget's theory is that language development is controlled by cognitive development through environmental interaction. Piaget proposed four universal stages of cognitive and linguistic development in children from sensorimotor to formal operational thinking.
This document discusses the theory of schemas and how it applies to understanding the development and learning of a child named Upsy Daisy. It describes Piaget's theory of cognitive development in stages and defines schemas as patterns of behavior that develop through experience. The document outlines observations of Upsy Daisy's play that indicate schemas around containing and enveloping objects. It proposes next steps for planning activities to further develop Upsy Daisy's language and thinking through engaging with these schemas.
The social interactionalist theory Bruner presentationJess Roebuck
Jerome Bruner proposed three modes of cognitive representation that develop sequentially in children: enactive (action-based), iconic (image-based), and symbolic (language-based). He believed that as children mature, their thinking becomes more complex as they progress through these three modes. Bruner's research found that children begin to regularly use symbolic representation, such as language, around ages 6-7 to mentally manipulate and transform visual information. His theory was supported by experiments showing that shielding visual cues encouraged symbolic thinking abilities earlier than if images were visible. However, some like Noam Chomsky criticized the theory, arguing that language development depends more on innate abilities than environmental influences.
This document discusses a study that examined the effects of modern and Sanskrit schooling on the development of metacognition and spatial skills in students. The study tested 36 students from Sanskrit schools and 36 from western schools in India on spatial tasks and a metacognition inventory. It found significant differences between the groups, so it also tested the teachers with a metacognition inventory. Metacognition refers to knowledge about one's own cognitive processes and regulation of cognition. Schooling and cultural contexts can influence metacognitive development through social interactions and instructional styles. There are challenges to accurately measuring metacognition across cultures.
Conterargument new microsoft office power point presentationDulpin Ginaetria
The document discusses counterarguments against behaviorist theory of language learning. It argues that behaviorist theory's basic strategies of imitation and reinforcement do not fully explain language acquisition in children, as children vary in how much they imitate and parents only correct simple structures. It also argues that behaviorist learning processes may obstruct natural language production and delay the threshold level needed for creativity. Overall, the document asserts that behaviorist theory is an oversimplification and does not consider social influences, individual differences, or the complexity of real language learning.
The document provides an overview of neuroscience concepts related to learning. It defines neuroscience and describes the central nervous system and autonomic nervous system. It discusses neural organization including neurons, glial cells, and synapses. It describes various brain structures such as the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, thalamus, and their functions. It covers brain research methods, localization of functions in the left and right hemispheres, and factors that influence learning such as genetics, environment, and critical periods of development.
The document discusses recent issues in second language acquisition (SLA). There are currently two major approaches to SLA: the cognitive/psycholinguistic approach and the sociocultural approach. The cognitive approach focuses on internal mental processes, while the sociocultural approach emphasizes social and cultural influences. Several alternative approaches have also been developed from sociocultural theory, including neo-Vygotskian, complexity theory, sociocognitive, and identity approaches. Scholars hold differing views on whether multiple approaches can co-exist or if one is superior.
1. Early learning mechanisms in humans include statistical learning, learning by imitation, explanatory learning, and learning by analogy.
2. Statistical learning allows humans to implicitly learn patterns and make predictions from frequent exposure to instances, even early in development.
3. Learning by imitation is present in human infants as young as 9 months and allows them to learn behaviors by observing others, though this ability is weaker for learning from 2D video versus live 3D demonstrations.
This document summarizes several theories of language learning, including:
- Edward Anthony's definitions of approach, method, and technique in language teaching.
- Humanist theory which focuses on human dignity and observational learning.
- Behaviorist theory which emphasizes reinforcement and punishment in language acquisition.
- Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar which posits an innate language acquisition device.
- Cognitive theories which see language learning as involving mental schemata and organization.
- Krashen's Monitor Theory distinguishing between acquisition and learning.
Theories of PSYCHOLINGUISTICS, Language acquisition, Noam Chomsky, Jean Piaget, F. B. Skinner, Innateness theory, Behaviorist theory, Cognitive theory.
Cognitive Development The last two decades .docxpickersgillkayne
The document discusses cognitive development in infants and young children. It describes how infants possess sophisticated cognitive skills from a very early age, including the ability to solve problems, understand cause and effect, imitate others, develop number sense, engage in symbolic play, and learn through exploration. It also explains that cognitive development is supported by social interactions, cultural context, memory, attention skills, and understanding routines like personal care. Parents and caregivers play a key role in providing a context that promotes infants' cognitive learning and development.
Cognitive Development
“The last two decades of infancy research have seen dramatic changes in the
way developmental psychologists char
acterize the earliest stages of cognitive
development. The infant, once regarded
as an organism driven mainly by sim
ple sensorimotor schemes, is now seen
as possessing sophisticated cognitive
skills and even sophisticated concepts
that guide knowledge acquisition”
(Madole and Oakes 1999, 263).
“What we see in the crib is the great
est mind that has ever existed, the
most powerful learning machine in
the universe” (Gopnik, Meltzoff, and
Kuhl 1999, 1).
The term cognitive development
refers to the process of growth and
change in intellectual/mental abilities
such as thinking, reasoning and
understanding. It includes the acquisi
tion and consolidation of knowledge.
Infants draw on social-emotional,
language, motor, and perceptual
experiences and abilities for cognitive
development. They are attuned to
relationships between features of
objects, actions, and the physical
environment. But they are particularly
attuned to people. Parents, family
members, friends, teachers, and care
givers play a vital role in supporting
the cognitive development of infants by
providing the healthy interpersonal or
social-emotional context in which
cognitive development unfolds. Caring,
responsive adults provide the base
from which infants can fully engage in
behaviors and interactions that pro
mote learning. Such adults also serve
as a prime source of imitation.
Cultural context is important to
young children’s cognitive develop
ment. There is substantial variation
in how intelligence is defined within
different cultures (Sternberg and
Grigorenko 2004). As a result, dif
ferent aspects of cognitive function
ing or cognitive performance may be
more highly valued in some cultural
contexts than in others. For example,
whereas processing speed is an aspect
of intelligence that is highly valued
within the predominant Western con
ceptualizations of intelligence, “Ugan
dan villagers associate intelligence
with adjectives such as slow, careful,
and active” (Rogoff and Chavajay 1995,
865.). Aspects of intelligence that have
to do with social competence appear to
be seen as more important than speed
��
C
O
G
N
IT
IV
E
D
E
V
E
L
O
P
M
E
N
T
60
in some non-Western cultural contexts
(Sternberg and Grigorenko 2004). Cer
tainly, it is crucial for early childhood
professionals to recognize the role that
cultural context plays in defining and
setting the stage for children’s healthy
cognitive functioning.
Research has identified a broad
range of cognitive competencies and
described the remarkable progres
sion of cognitive development during
the early childhood years. Experts in
the field describe infants as active,
motivated, and engaged learners who
possess an impressive range of cogni
tive competencies (National Research
Council and Institute of ...
The document summarizes theories of first language acquisition. It discusses the imitation/behaviorist theory proposed by Skinner, which views language learning as habit formation through reinforcement. It also discusses the innateness/nativist theory of Chomsky, which posits that humans are born with an innate language acquisition device. The document further examines cognitive, input, and connectionist theories and their varying perspectives on how the environment and mental faculties influence language learning.
Piaget's theory of language development describes four stages through which children progress as their logical thinking and reasoning skills develop:
1) Sensory-motor stage (birth to 2 years) where language is physical through imitation.
2) Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years) where language develops rapidly but thinking is egocentric.
3) Concrete operational stage (7 to 12 years) where language becomes logical and socialized through questions and commands.
4) Formal operational stage (12 years+) where abstract language allows discussion of complex concepts.
Mentalist and Behaviorist Theory of SLAWenlie Jean
Mentalist and behaviorist theories provide different perspectives on language acquisition. Behaviorists such as Skinner view it as operant conditioning through stimulus-response and reinforcement learning, while mentalists like Chomsky believe humans are born with an innate language acquisition device that allows them to unconsciously deduce and apply the rules of grammar. Both nature and nurture likely influence the process, with innate capacities developing based on environmental exposure and interactions.
Respond in a paragraph following the established guidelines. T.docxmadlynplamondon
***** Respond in a paragraph following the established guidelines. The answer must be of a substantial nature and with quotes present in the textbook. Agree or disagree is not appropriate. ***** Only use this book and specific pages. Represent the quotes (author, year, and page) when reflecting the content in your paragraph.
Source of reference: textbook Chapter 4, PAGES 39, 40
Textbook: Teaching Students with Language and
Communication Disabilities, S.J. Kuder, 5th Edition.2018.Pearson.
Peer 1
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION MODELS 1
Language Acquisition Models
Hellen D. Forchue
January 17, 2020
Language Acquisition Models 2
From the seventies, there is a radical change concerning the context and orientation in the study of children's language. Therefore, this study was emphasized in the development of the child's spontaneous speech. The question was how children acquired their first language. From this question came some theories, of which their respective creators presented their views. Theories of acquisition and development of language. The Behavioral Model, the Nativist or Syntactic Model, the Semantic-Cognitive Model, the Social Interactionist Model, the Information Processing Model, and the Emergentist Model.
Skinner's behavioral approach tells us that: “the child is seen as a relatively passive recipient of external influences-from parents, siblings, and others” (p.46). In other words, Skinner's behavioral approach takes an empiricist position, which considers that language development comes solely and exclusively from external and internal experience and stimuli. According to his theory, the infant learns by answers that are verbal and intraverbal, in a secondary way. On the positive aspects of behaviorism is the way of speaking to the child, what was first called the Babytalk. Also, treatment programs for children with speech disorders or speech therapy. Studies are analyzed globally verbal, in other words, (conversation). The criticized part of the theory implies the misuse of the order of the acquired words, the explanation of novel productions, and the grammatical errors produced for adults (p. 47). According to the textbook, the theory still has some value, such as parents and other important roles. Also, it has been a successful tool in developing intervention approaches to improve the language skills of many people with significant language disorders (p. 47).
The Nativist or Syntactic Model: Noam (1965; 1968) and others developed the nativist/syntactic theory of language acquisition in response to the behavioral theory of language acquisition (p. 48). Chomsky's position is mentalistic, according to which language
Language Acquisition Models 3
is conceived from innate structures; that is why his theory is known as "generative grammar." According to Chomsky, the innatism of language is congenital and genetic in the individual, therefore, it is what he calls LAD (Language Acquisition Device). Chomsky's point of.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who was born in 1896 and died in 1980. He is known for his work studying cognitive development in children. Piaget identified four main stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. He believed that children construct an understanding of the world through experiences interacting with objects and adapting their mental models of how the world works. Piaget made many contributions to the field through his observations of children and publications documenting language development, moral development, and intellectual growth through different stages.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who was born in 1896 and died in 1980. He is known for his work studying cognitive development in children. Piaget identified four main stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. He believed that children construct an understanding of the world through experiences interacting with objects and adapting their mental models of how the world works. Piaget made many contributions to the field through his observations of children and publications documenting language development, moral development, and intellectual growth through different stages.
The document discusses the behaviorist theory of language acquisition. It explains that according to behaviorism, children learn language through imitation, reinforcement, and practice. When children imitate sounds and words they hear, they are praised or given affection as positive reinforcement, which conditions them to repeat those sounds and words. However, the behaviorist theory has been criticized for not accounting for factors like learning abstract words or novel language not modeled by caregivers. The document also outlines four main stages of language acquisition according to behaviorism: the babbling stage, one-word stage, two-word stage, and telegraphic stage.
The document outlines 12 principles of natural learning based on research from multiple disciplines including neuroscience, psychology, and education. The principles describe how the body, brain, and mind work together in the learning process. They indicate that learning is enhanced when it engages the physiology, is social and meaningful, involves pattern-finding and emotions, and considers individual differences. The principles provide a framework for educators to optimize learning by taking a holistic view of the learner.
This document discusses theories of language acquisition in children. It describes the nature vs nurture debate around whether language is innate or learned. It outlines cognitivist views that language learning conditions are the same as other learning. Jean Piaget's theory is that language development is controlled by cognitive development through environmental interaction. Piaget proposed four universal stages of cognitive and linguistic development in children from sensorimotor to formal operational thinking.
This document discusses the theory of schemas and how it applies to understanding the development and learning of a child named Upsy Daisy. It describes Piaget's theory of cognitive development in stages and defines schemas as patterns of behavior that develop through experience. The document outlines observations of Upsy Daisy's play that indicate schemas around containing and enveloping objects. It proposes next steps for planning activities to further develop Upsy Daisy's language and thinking through engaging with these schemas.
The social interactionalist theory Bruner presentationJess Roebuck
Jerome Bruner proposed three modes of cognitive representation that develop sequentially in children: enactive (action-based), iconic (image-based), and symbolic (language-based). He believed that as children mature, their thinking becomes more complex as they progress through these three modes. Bruner's research found that children begin to regularly use symbolic representation, such as language, around ages 6-7 to mentally manipulate and transform visual information. His theory was supported by experiments showing that shielding visual cues encouraged symbolic thinking abilities earlier than if images were visible. However, some like Noam Chomsky criticized the theory, arguing that language development depends more on innate abilities than environmental influences.
This document discusses a study that examined the effects of modern and Sanskrit schooling on the development of metacognition and spatial skills in students. The study tested 36 students from Sanskrit schools and 36 from western schools in India on spatial tasks and a metacognition inventory. It found significant differences between the groups, so it also tested the teachers with a metacognition inventory. Metacognition refers to knowledge about one's own cognitive processes and regulation of cognition. Schooling and cultural contexts can influence metacognitive development through social interactions and instructional styles. There are challenges to accurately measuring metacognition across cultures.
Conterargument new microsoft office power point presentationDulpin Ginaetria
The document discusses counterarguments against behaviorist theory of language learning. It argues that behaviorist theory's basic strategies of imitation and reinforcement do not fully explain language acquisition in children, as children vary in how much they imitate and parents only correct simple structures. It also argues that behaviorist learning processes may obstruct natural language production and delay the threshold level needed for creativity. Overall, the document asserts that behaviorist theory is an oversimplification and does not consider social influences, individual differences, or the complexity of real language learning.
The document provides an overview of neuroscience concepts related to learning. It defines neuroscience and describes the central nervous system and autonomic nervous system. It discusses neural organization including neurons, glial cells, and synapses. It describes various brain structures such as the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, thalamus, and their functions. It covers brain research methods, localization of functions in the left and right hemispheres, and factors that influence learning such as genetics, environment, and critical periods of development.
The document discusses recent issues in second language acquisition (SLA). There are currently two major approaches to SLA: the cognitive/psycholinguistic approach and the sociocultural approach. The cognitive approach focuses on internal mental processes, while the sociocultural approach emphasizes social and cultural influences. Several alternative approaches have also been developed from sociocultural theory, including neo-Vygotskian, complexity theory, sociocognitive, and identity approaches. Scholars hold differing views on whether multiple approaches can co-exist or if one is superior.
1. Early learning mechanisms in humans include statistical learning, learning by imitation, explanatory learning, and learning by analogy.
2. Statistical learning allows humans to implicitly learn patterns and make predictions from frequent exposure to instances, even early in development.
3. Learning by imitation is present in human infants as young as 9 months and allows them to learn behaviors by observing others, though this ability is weaker for learning from 2D video versus live 3D demonstrations.
This document summarizes several theories of language learning, including:
- Edward Anthony's definitions of approach, method, and technique in language teaching.
- Humanist theory which focuses on human dignity and observational learning.
- Behaviorist theory which emphasizes reinforcement and punishment in language acquisition.
- Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar which posits an innate language acquisition device.
- Cognitive theories which see language learning as involving mental schemata and organization.
- Krashen's Monitor Theory distinguishing between acquisition and learning.
Theories of PSYCHOLINGUISTICS, Language acquisition, Noam Chomsky, Jean Piaget, F. B. Skinner, Innateness theory, Behaviorist theory, Cognitive theory.
Cognitive Development The last two decades .docxpickersgillkayne
The document discusses cognitive development in infants and young children. It describes how infants possess sophisticated cognitive skills from a very early age, including the ability to solve problems, understand cause and effect, imitate others, develop number sense, engage in symbolic play, and learn through exploration. It also explains that cognitive development is supported by social interactions, cultural context, memory, attention skills, and understanding routines like personal care. Parents and caregivers play a key role in providing a context that promotes infants' cognitive learning and development.
Cognitive Development
“The last two decades of infancy research have seen dramatic changes in the
way developmental psychologists char
acterize the earliest stages of cognitive
development. The infant, once regarded
as an organism driven mainly by sim
ple sensorimotor schemes, is now seen
as possessing sophisticated cognitive
skills and even sophisticated concepts
that guide knowledge acquisition”
(Madole and Oakes 1999, 263).
“What we see in the crib is the great
est mind that has ever existed, the
most powerful learning machine in
the universe” (Gopnik, Meltzoff, and
Kuhl 1999, 1).
The term cognitive development
refers to the process of growth and
change in intellectual/mental abilities
such as thinking, reasoning and
understanding. It includes the acquisi
tion and consolidation of knowledge.
Infants draw on social-emotional,
language, motor, and perceptual
experiences and abilities for cognitive
development. They are attuned to
relationships between features of
objects, actions, and the physical
environment. But they are particularly
attuned to people. Parents, family
members, friends, teachers, and care
givers play a vital role in supporting
the cognitive development of infants by
providing the healthy interpersonal or
social-emotional context in which
cognitive development unfolds. Caring,
responsive adults provide the base
from which infants can fully engage in
behaviors and interactions that pro
mote learning. Such adults also serve
as a prime source of imitation.
Cultural context is important to
young children’s cognitive develop
ment. There is substantial variation
in how intelligence is defined within
different cultures (Sternberg and
Grigorenko 2004). As a result, dif
ferent aspects of cognitive function
ing or cognitive performance may be
more highly valued in some cultural
contexts than in others. For example,
whereas processing speed is an aspect
of intelligence that is highly valued
within the predominant Western con
ceptualizations of intelligence, “Ugan
dan villagers associate intelligence
with adjectives such as slow, careful,
and active” (Rogoff and Chavajay 1995,
865.). Aspects of intelligence that have
to do with social competence appear to
be seen as more important than speed
��
C
O
G
N
IT
IV
E
D
E
V
E
L
O
P
M
E
N
T
60
in some non-Western cultural contexts
(Sternberg and Grigorenko 2004). Cer
tainly, it is crucial for early childhood
professionals to recognize the role that
cultural context plays in defining and
setting the stage for children’s healthy
cognitive functioning.
Research has identified a broad
range of cognitive competencies and
described the remarkable progres
sion of cognitive development during
the early childhood years. Experts in
the field describe infants as active,
motivated, and engaged learners who
possess an impressive range of cogni
tive competencies (National Research
Council and Institute of ...
The document summarizes theories of first language acquisition. It discusses the imitation/behaviorist theory proposed by Skinner, which views language learning as habit formation through reinforcement. It also discusses the innateness/nativist theory of Chomsky, which posits that humans are born with an innate language acquisition device. The document further examines cognitive, input, and connectionist theories and their varying perspectives on how the environment and mental faculties influence language learning.
Piaget's theory of language development describes four stages through which children progress as their logical thinking and reasoning skills develop:
1) Sensory-motor stage (birth to 2 years) where language is physical through imitation.
2) Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years) where language develops rapidly but thinking is egocentric.
3) Concrete operational stage (7 to 12 years) where language becomes logical and socialized through questions and commands.
4) Formal operational stage (12 years+) where abstract language allows discussion of complex concepts.
Mentalist and Behaviorist Theory of SLAWenlie Jean
Mentalist and behaviorist theories provide different perspectives on language acquisition. Behaviorists such as Skinner view it as operant conditioning through stimulus-response and reinforcement learning, while mentalists like Chomsky believe humans are born with an innate language acquisition device that allows them to unconsciously deduce and apply the rules of grammar. Both nature and nurture likely influence the process, with innate capacities developing based on environmental exposure and interactions.
Respond in a paragraph following the established guidelines. T.docxmadlynplamondon
***** Respond in a paragraph following the established guidelines. The answer must be of a substantial nature and with quotes present in the textbook. Agree or disagree is not appropriate. ***** Only use this book and specific pages. Represent the quotes (author, year, and page) when reflecting the content in your paragraph.
Source of reference: textbook Chapter 4, PAGES 39, 40
Textbook: Teaching Students with Language and
Communication Disabilities, S.J. Kuder, 5th Edition.2018.Pearson.
Peer 1
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION MODELS 1
Language Acquisition Models
Hellen D. Forchue
January 17, 2020
Language Acquisition Models 2
From the seventies, there is a radical change concerning the context and orientation in the study of children's language. Therefore, this study was emphasized in the development of the child's spontaneous speech. The question was how children acquired their first language. From this question came some theories, of which their respective creators presented their views. Theories of acquisition and development of language. The Behavioral Model, the Nativist or Syntactic Model, the Semantic-Cognitive Model, the Social Interactionist Model, the Information Processing Model, and the Emergentist Model.
Skinner's behavioral approach tells us that: “the child is seen as a relatively passive recipient of external influences-from parents, siblings, and others” (p.46). In other words, Skinner's behavioral approach takes an empiricist position, which considers that language development comes solely and exclusively from external and internal experience and stimuli. According to his theory, the infant learns by answers that are verbal and intraverbal, in a secondary way. On the positive aspects of behaviorism is the way of speaking to the child, what was first called the Babytalk. Also, treatment programs for children with speech disorders or speech therapy. Studies are analyzed globally verbal, in other words, (conversation). The criticized part of the theory implies the misuse of the order of the acquired words, the explanation of novel productions, and the grammatical errors produced for adults (p. 47). According to the textbook, the theory still has some value, such as parents and other important roles. Also, it has been a successful tool in developing intervention approaches to improve the language skills of many people with significant language disorders (p. 47).
The Nativist or Syntactic Model: Noam (1965; 1968) and others developed the nativist/syntactic theory of language acquisition in response to the behavioral theory of language acquisition (p. 48). Chomsky's position is mentalistic, according to which language
Language Acquisition Models 3
is conceived from innate structures; that is why his theory is known as "generative grammar." According to Chomsky, the innatism of language is congenital and genetic in the individual, therefore, it is what he calls LAD (Language Acquisition Device). Chomsky's point of.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who was born in 1896 and died in 1980. He is known for his work studying cognitive development in children. Piaget identified four main stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. He believed that children construct an understanding of the world through experiences interacting with objects and adapting their mental models of how the world works. Piaget made many contributions to the field through his observations of children and publications documenting language development, moral development, and intellectual growth through different stages.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who was born in 1896 and died in 1980. He is known for his work studying cognitive development in children. Piaget identified four main stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. He believed that children construct an understanding of the world through experiences interacting with objects and adapting their mental models of how the world works. Piaget made many contributions to the field through his observations of children and publications documenting language development, moral development, and intellectual growth through different stages.
The document discusses several theories of language acquisition:
1) Behaviourism - children imitate language and are reinforced for correct utterances
2) Innateness - children are born with innate language mechanisms that allow them to learn language rules
3) Cognitive - language develops alongside general cognitive/intellectual development
4) Interactionist - language is learned through interaction between children and caregivers.
While each theory provides some insights, no single theory fully explains the complex process of language acquisition.
This document discusses several theories of language acquisition:
1. Behaviorism (Bloomfield, Skinner, Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike): Language is learned through conditioning and reinforcement from the environment. Behaviorists view language learning as habit formation through imitation and reinforcement.
2. Nativism (Chomsky, Lenneberg): Humans are born with an innate language acquisition device that allows them to rapidly and effortlessly acquire language according to a universal grammar. The environment plays a limited role.
3. Cognitivism (Piaget): Language is acquired through cognitive development in stages as children form mental representations (schemas) of the world and adapt them through assimilation and accommodation of new
The document discusses several theories of language acquisition:
- Behaviorism posits that language is learned through reinforcement but fails to explain innate language structures.
- Chomsky argued language has an innate "language acquisition device" based on limited language input children receive. However, it neglects the social context of language.
- Cognitive theories link language development to cognitive development but cannot fully explain syntax.
- Input/interactionist theories emphasize the importance of language interactions with caregivers, though children still progress through similar stages across cultures. Overall, the theories provide partial rather than complete explanations of language acquisition.
Children acquire their first language through a complex interplay of innate and environmental factors. While children are biologically predisposed to learn language, they must also be exposed to meaningful input from caregivers for acquisition to occur. Children progress from understanding more than they can produce to eventually mastering the systematic rules of their native language through imitation, practice, and discourse-based interactions from an early age.
Chap. 5 theories of literacy developmentTele Caster
1. The document discusses several theories of literacy development including Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development, Maturation Theory, Holdaway's Theory of Literacy Development, Stage Models of Reading, Emergent Literacy Theory, and Family Literacy Theory.
2. These theories explain the stages and processes through which children's literacy abilities emerge and develop from infancy through adulthood.
3. The theories aim to help educators understand how children's thinking and literacy skills change over time so they can best support literacy development.
theories of literacy and language development.pptxayeshayounas46
The document discusses several theories of literacy development:
- Maturation theory sees development as determined by biological factors like age. Emergent literacy theory views literacy as developing from birth through exposure to print.
- Constructive and schema theories hold that learning is an active process where people construct knowledge based on prior learning and experiences.
- Cognitive development theory proposes stages of thinking from concrete to abstract.
- Family literacy theory emphasizes the role of family involvement in children's literacy and achievement.
This document summarizes a presentation on student-centered literacy and the Daily 5 framework. It discusses:
1. Constructivist learning theory and theorists like Dewey, Montessori, Piaget, and Vygotsky who emphasize interactive, experiential learning.
2. The Daily 5 framework which includes Read to Self, Read to Others, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing, and Work on Words. Research supporting each component is presented.
3. Potential barriers to implementing Daily 5 and strategies for overcoming barriers through group discussion. Participants set goals to apply Daily 5 practices in their own classrooms.
This document discusses several theories and concepts related to second language acquisition and models of instruction. It covers behaviourism, constructivism, language acquisition, mastery learning, schema theory, and conclusions about second language acquisition research in classroom settings. The key findings are that children acquire language through both innate capacities and environmental influences, mastery learning aims to help all students learn through appropriate conditions, and research shows traditional grammar/vocabulary focused instruction is less effective than communicative approaches.
This document discusses neuroethics and its relationship to educational issues. It begins by defining neuroethics and cognitive neuroscience. It then examines various ethics issues related to neuroscience research and its applications, including impacts on individuals and society. It discusses how the scientific understanding of the brain can influence views of humanity. It also explores the neuroscience of moral decision making and how an understanding of brain mechanisms can inform views of living. The document traces the history of neuroethics back to the 2000s and conferences/publications that helped establish the field. It analyzes challenges of communicating neuroscience research to the public and proposes ways to enhance communication. Many neuroethical issues are also relevant for education and cognitive science due to the study of
1) A study from 1993 found that listening to Mozart's music led to temporary improved spatial reasoning skills in adults, but this effect was not replicated by other researchers.
2) A more recent 2010 study found higher effects from studies conducted by the original researchers compared to other groups, indicating potential bias. There is little evidence left that Mozart's music specifically enhances performance.
3) A politician proposed funding to make music available to young children to help brain development, citing the Mozart effect research. However, the Mozart effect has not been reliably shown.
This document discusses the potential for a marriage between cognitive science and education but also identifies risks and challenges. It outlines common interests in learning and teaching that could form the basis for collaboration. However, it also lists 10 "slippery slopes" such as getting the science wrong or overstating what can be directly applied. It raises questions about how to produce and disseminate knowledge in a usable way. Translational research models from evidence-based medicine and medicine are discussed as possible approaches but challenges in education are also noted, such as more spurious evidence and lack of infrastructure for classification and training.
Teaching critical thinking involves defining what it is, how to teach it, and why it is important. There is no consensus on a definition of critical thinking, how best to teach it, or whether it can be taught. Approaches include stand-alone courses focusing on general skills versus integrated approaches within specific subjects. While critical thinking is widely believed to be important, there is skepticism around whether it can truly be taught and evaluations of critical thinking programs have had mixed results.
Digital technologies are increasingly used in education both formally and informally. While technologies may engage students as "digital natives," simply using technologies does not guarantee effective learning. Meaningful learning requires understanding principles rather than just practicing skills. Studies show skills can transfer between similar tasks, but not always to novel tasks without principles. Technologies offer potential to simulate real-world problem solving, but more research is needed to identify how and why specific technologies may improve learning outcomes.
The document discusses research on the impact and effectiveness of teachers. It summarizes several key studies:
1) Studies show that high-quality teachers can have long-term positive impacts on students' outcomes beyond test scores, such as earnings and college attendance. However, precisely evaluating a teacher's impact is difficult.
2) A Tennessee study found that students assigned to more experienced teachers had higher earnings, and those in smaller classes were more likely to attend college.
3) A larger study linking teacher value-added scores to student outcomes as adults found students assigned higher-VA teachers were more likely to attend college, earn more, live in better neighborhoods, and less likely to become pregnant as teens.
4
The document discusses several concepts related to obstacles in learning science:
1. Children enter formal science education with intuitive "folk theories" about the physical and natural world developed from everyday experiences that can conflict with scientific explanations and be difficult to change.
2. These naive intuitions both help children learn by providing initial frameworks but also act as an obstacle if they contradict scientific facts. Overcoming these preconceptions requires conceptual change in how ideas are understood.
3. The process of conceptual change that replaces preconceptions with scientific concepts is debated, with differing views on whether change involves replacing whole theories versus more incremental adjustments to knowledge. Understanding conceptual change is important for improving science teaching.
Learning involves lasting changes in the functional architecture of the brain through experience. It occurs through different mechanisms at various stages of life. Early learning mechanisms in infants and young children include statistical learning, causal learning, imitation, and learning through social interactions. Babies are born with core knowledge and learning mechanisms that allow them to acquire cultural skills and knowledge from a very early age through observation, experimentation, and implicit learning processes. Learning is both an individual and social process supported by evolved capacities for language, cooperation, and culture that enabled the human capacity for cumulative cultural evolution.
This document discusses the emergence of cognitive studies and its application to education as a new interdisciplinary field. It provides a brief history of related initiatives dating back to the 1990s from various organizations studying topics like neuroscience and education, the science of learning, and learning sciences. The disciplines involved include biology, cognitive science, education, neuroscience, psychology, and technology. The goals are to better understand cognitive and social processes involved in learning and teaching to improve learning outcomes and design better learning environments. While the new insights from these fields may transform education, William James cautioned in 1899 that teaching remains an art, and sciences do not directly generate teaching methods, requiring inventive minds to apply findings creatively.
Critical thinking can be defined in various ways from different perspectives. From a philosophical perspective, it involves skills like reflection, reasoning, and making judgments based on evidence. From a cognitive perspective, it refers to the thinking processes used by experts in different domains. There is no consensus on how to define or teach critical thinking. Research suggests it may not be a general skill that can be transferred, but rather is intertwined with domain-specific knowledge. Deliberate practice of critical thinking skills through activities like argument mapping may be needed to improve students' abilities.
The document discusses number processing and calculation from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. It proposes that cultural practices like reading and arithmetic may have developed by "recycling" pre-existing neural circuits in the brain. In particular, regions in the parietal cortex that evolved to process quantities and perform spatial transformations may have been adapted for numerical tasks. Evidence for this comes from studies finding that the same parietal regions are consistently activated during tasks involving numbers across individuals and cultures.
1. The document discusses issues around evaluating the cognitive and educational impacts of technologies. It emphasizes the need for rigorous empirical testing and evidence-based approaches rather than pseudoscience.
2. Fair testing requires considering alternative explanations, ensuring experimental and control groups are equivalent, using active controls, and not overinterpreting results. Transfer of skills from one context to another is difficult to achieve.
3. Some studies show potential cognitive benefits of techniques like brain training games and video games for skills like visuospatial attention, while others find limited evidence of broader real-world impacts. Generalization of skills is challenging.
The document discusses cognitive resistance to learning science and the difficult acquisition of scientific concepts. It covers how children develop intuitive theories about the world from a young age that sometimes clash with scientific explanations, making conceptual change challenging. While babies observe and experiment with the world like scientists, developing abstract causal systems, their thinking differs from professional science. Science requires skills that must be taught, as scientific reasoning does not come naturally to the human mind due to our evolutionary history in small social groups. Overall, the document examines the origins of scientific thinking in childhood and challenges to learning science posed by natural intuitive theories developed from a young age.
1. EP2.
Social learning
Elena Pasquinelli
Educa4on, cogni4on, cerveau
Cogmaster 2010‐2011
2. Transmission of generic knowledge
• “There is … a unique way to acquire generic • Induc4on problem: Humans are capable of
knowledge from a single instance of transmiTng/extrac4ng general knowledge
informa4on intake, namely, when it is from par4cular instances.
transmiEed through human communica4on. • When such instances are repe44ve and
• Moreover, the transmission of such generic frequent, sta$s$cal mechanisms* are
knowledge is not restricted to linguis4c invoked.
communica4on. • When this is not the case (single instance) we
• … you acquire kind‐generalizable knowledge need a further mechanisms for explaining
from a single manifesta4on. induc4on.
• In such cases, the observer does not need to • Such a mechanisms is hypothesized to rely
rely on sta4s4cal procedures to extract the on human‐human communica4on
relevant informa4on to be generalized as this • Verbal and not verbal (demonstra4on)
is selec4vely transmiEed to her by the
communica4ve demonstra4on.
• Such a short‐cut to generic knowledge
acquisi4on relies heavily on the
communica4ve coopera4on and epistemic
benevolence of the communica4ve
partner.” (Gergely & Csibra, p. 3)
4. Learning = modifica4on of behavior as a
consequence of experience
• “the modifica$on of behavior in the light of • Learning is a common func4on to
experience. Even simple organisms such as
Aplysia learn according to this defini4on. In different animal species
fact, a number of different kinds of learning
have been iden4fied in work with animals. • Different forms of learning:
These include habitua$on, associa$ve – Habitua4on, associa4on,
learning, social learning (e.g. by emula4ng
others), and “insight” learning, where imita4on, explana4on‐analogy
solu4ons to problems come “in a flash”.
Habitua4on and associa4ve learning in
infants have already been discussed. In
cogni)ve psychology, learning is usually
measured in terms of what has been
remembered as a result of learning, either
via measures of recogni)on, or via
measures of recall. We will examine learning
by imita$on, learning by analogy, and
explana$on‐based learning here, none of
which are found in animals (apart perhaps
from excep4onal animals such as language‐
reared chimps). Explana4on‐based learning is
a form of causal learning. Causal learning is
extremely important in cogni4ve
development, and is found in animals in
some forms…” (Goswami, 2008, p. 61‐62)
5. Early learning mechanisms
• “The assump4on will be one of common learning mechanisms, namely
• sta4s4cal learning,
• learning by imita4on,
• explana4on‐based or causal learning
• and learning by analogy.
• Using these simple learning mechanisms, the brain appears to build up complex representa4ons
about how the world is.” (Goswami, 2008, p. 52)
• “At least three types of learning also appear to be func4oning from very early in development. One
is associa$ve learning. Babies appear to be able to make connec4ons between events that are
reliably associated, even while in the womb.
• Once outside the womb, they appear to be able to track sta$s$cal dependencies in the world, such
as condi4onal probabili4es between visual events or between sounds. This turns out to be a very
powerful learning mechanism.”
• “The second type of learning that appears to be available early is learning by imita$on. This may be
par4cularly important for the development of social cogni4on.”
• “Finally, infants appear to be able to connect causes and effects by using “explana$on based”
learning. … The causal inferences made by infants provide an extremely powerful mechanism for
learning about the world. Infants are not simply detec4ng causal regulari4es but appear to be
construc4ng causal explana4ons for new phenomena on the basis of their prior knowledge. One
mechanism they use is learning by analogy” (Goswami, 2008, p. 3‐4)
6. Sta4s4cal learning
• « When we make inferences that are not • Sta4s4cal learning is involved in the processing of
necessarily deduc4vely valid (when we go beyond interrela4ons between features and the
the informa4on given) we are reasoning induc4vely. differen4a4on of prototypes
… For example, when children learn about the • Experiments of Rosch, 1978; Younger & Cohen,
category « birds », they may learn about one or two 1983; Younger, 1985; Kirkham et al., 2002
exemplars (e.g. the robins and sparrows in their
back garden). However, they are happy to generalize • Kirkham, et al., 2002: a visual habitua4on task is
proper4es like « lives in a nest » to other birds... based on simple colored geometric shapes (blue
» (Goswami, 2008, p. xvii) cross, yellow circle, green triangle) presented as a
con4nuous stream in a par4cular order; each infant
• “Younger’s cartoon‐animal experiments saw a stream of 6 shapes with tree pairings;
demonstrated that infants could code the following habitua4on the infants saw 6 test displays,
correla4onal structure between the different half of which comprised the familiar sequence and
features being manipulated by the experimenters. half new sequences with different transi4onal
This suggests a form of sta4s4cal probabili4es. All groups looked significantly longer
learning.” (Goswami, 2008, p. 18) to the new sequences.
• “Using the regulari4es in input to learn which
features co‐occur together.” (Goswami, 2008, p. 18)
• “… infants have an impressive ability to keep track of
the sta4s4cal structure of the input”
• “This experiment with geometrical shapes suggests
that infants are able to learn about environmental
structure at a fairly abstract level.
• The ability to track condi4onal probabili4es provides
a very powerful domain‐general learning
mechanism for extrac4ng structure from the
physical world of objects. ” (Goswami, 2008, p. 19)
7. Language acquisi4on
• Language acquisi4on has provoked a debate • “Humans’ capacity for speech and language provoked classic debates on nature
on nature (Chomsky) vs nurture (Skinner) versus nurture by strong proponents of na4vism (Chomsky, 1959) and learning
• Cri4cal periods in language learning differ in (Skinner, 1957).
the three aspects of language: phone4cs • Language learning is a deep puzzle that our theories and machines struggle to solve
(before 12 months), syntax (18‐36), lexicon but children accomplish with ease. How do infants discover the sounds and words
(forever) used in their par4cular language(s) when the most sophis4cated computers cannot?
• Why are children beEer than adults? What is it about the human mind that allows a young child, merely one year old, to
• Kuhl, 2004: neural commitment understand the words that induce meaning in our collec4ve minds, and to begin to
use those words to convey their innermost thoughts and desires? A child’s budding
– Once perceptual systems are commiEed ability to express a thought through words is a breath‐taking feat of the human
they filter new informa4on mind.
– Commitment is done between 6 and 12
months (for phone4cs): before, children • Studies indicate, for example, that the cri4cal period for phone4c learning occurs
dis4nguish all the phone4c units of all prior to the end of the first year, whereas syntac4c learning flourishes between 18
languages and 36 months of age. Vocabulary development ‘‘explodes’’ at 18 months of age, but
does not appear to be as restricted by age as other aspects of language learning—
one can learn new vocabulary items at any age.
• How can children succeed in a difficult task as
iden4fying and grouping the more or less 40 • Work in my laboratory led me to advance the concept of neural commitment, the
phonemes that compose their language? In idea that neural circuitry and overall architecture develops early in infancy to detect
the middle of a great variability of speech? the phone4c and prosodic paEerns of speech (Kuhl, 2004; Zhang et al., 2005, 2009).
This architecture is designed to maximize the efficiency of processing for the
• Implicit learning processes commit the brain language(s) experienced by the infant. Once established, the neural architecture
to the proper4es of na4ve language speech arising from French or Tagalog, for example, impedes learning of new paEerns that
do not conform
• Infants’ ability to learn which phone4c units are relevant in the language(s) they are
exposed to, while decreasing or inhibi4ng their aEen4on to the phone4c units that
do not dis4nguish words in their language, is the necessary step required to begin
the path toward language.
• These data led to a theore4cal argument that an implicit learning process commits
the brain’s neural circuitry to the proper4es of na4ve‐language speech, and that
neural commitment has bi‐direc4onal effects – it increases learning for paEerns
(such as words) that are compa4ble with the learned phone4c structure, while
decreasing percep4on nonna4ve paEerns that do not match the learned scheme
(Kuhl, 2004). (Kuhl, 2010)
8. Sta4s4cal learning and language
• Sta4s4cal learning (Saffran, et al, 1996) • “Sta4s4cal learning is computa4onal in nature, and reflects implicit rather than
applies to the capacity to iden4fy phonemes explicit learning. It relies on the ability to automa4cally pick up and learn from the
and to the capacity of segmen4ng words sta4s4cal regulari4es that exist in the stream of sensory informa4on we process, and
– Japanese and English infants are both strongly influences both phone4c learning and early word learning.
exposed to both /r/ and /l/ sounds, but in • To illustrate, adult speakers of English and Japanese produce both English r‐ and l‐like
Japanese the sound /r/ is much more sounds, even though English speakers hear /r/ and /l/ as dis4nct and Japanese adults
frequent hear them as iden4cal. Japanese infants are therefore exposed to both /r/ and /l/
– Babies spot the transi4onal probabili4es sounds, even though they do not represent dis4nct categories in Japanese. The
between syllables presence of a par4cular sound in ambient language, therefore, does not account for
infant learning. However, distribu4onal frequency analyses of English and Japanese
show differen4al paEerns of distribu4onal frequency; in English, /r/ and /l/ occur
very frequently; in Japanese, the most frequent sound of this type is Japanese /r/
which is related to but dis4nct from both the English variants.
• studies indicate infants pick up the distribu4onal frequency paEerns in ambient
speech, whether they experience them during short‐term laboratory experiments, or
over months in natural environments, and can learn from them.
• Sta4s4cal learning also supports word learning. Unlike wriEen language, spoken
language has no reliable markers to indicate word boundaries in typical phrases. How
do infants find words? New experiments show that, before 8‐month‐old infants know
the meaning of a single word, they detect likely word candidates through sensi4vity
to the transi4onal probabili4es between adjacent syllables. In typical words, like in
the phrase, ‘‘preEy baby,’’ the transi4onal probabili4es between the two syllables
within a word, such as those between ‘‘pre’’ and ‘‘Ey,’’ and between ‘‘ba’’ and ‘‘by,’’
are higher than those between syllables that cross word boundaries, such and ‘‘Ey’’
and ‘‘ba.’’ Infants are sensi4ve to these probabili4es. When exposed to a 2 min string
of nonsense syllables, with no acous4c breaks or other cues to word boundaries, they
treat syllables that have high transi4onal probabili4es as ‘‘words’’ (Saffran et al.,
1996) ” (Kuhl, 2010)
9. Language : sta4s4cal learning is not
enough
• Sta4s4cal learning can have strong and • At 9 months of age, the age at which the ini4al universal paEern of infant percep4on
durable effects on phone4cs at 9 months of has changed to one that is more language‐specific, infants were exposed to a foreign
age, and with short‐4me exposure to language for the first 4me (Kuhl et al., 2003). Nine‐month‐old American infants
sta4s4cal regulari4es listened to 4 different na4ve speakers of Mandarin during 12 sessions scheduled over
– 9 months old children can learn to 4–5 weeks. The foreign language ‘‘tutors’’ read books and played with toys in
dis4nguish Mandarin phonemes from sessions that were unscripted. A control group was also exposed for 12 sessions but
exposure to play and interac4on with a heard only English from na4ve speakers. Ayer infants in the experimental Mandarin
Mandarin speaking tutor exposure group and the English control group completed their sessions, all were
• But is sta4s4cal learning enough? tested with a Mandarin phone4c contrast that does not occur in English. Both
– 9 months old children cannot learn to behavioral and ERP methods were used. The results indicated that infants had a
dis4nguish Mandarin phonemes from a remarkable ability to learn from the ‘‘live‐person’’ sessions – ayer exposure, they
Mandarin speaking TV‐canned / performed significantly beEer on the Mandarin contrast when compared to the
audiotaped tutor control group that heard only English. In fact, they performed equivalently to infants
• Social interac4on is required of the same age tested in Taiwan who had been listening to Mandarin for 10 months
(Kuhl et al., 2003). The study revealed that infants can learn from first‐4me natural
exposure to a foreign language at 9 months, and answered what was ini4ally the
experimental ques4on: can infants learn the sta4s4cal structure of phonemes in a
new language given first‐4me exposure at 9 months of age? If infants required a long‐
term history of listening to that language—as would be the case if infants needed to
build up sta4s4cal distribu4ons over the ini4al 9 months of life—the answer to our
ques4on would have been no.
• Would infants learn if they were exposed to the same informa4on in the absence of a
human being, say, via television or an audiotape? If sta4s4cal learning is sufficient,
the television and audio‐only condi4ons should produce learning. Infants who were
exposed to the same foreign‐language material at the same 4me and at the same
rate, but via standard television or audiotape only, showed no learning—their
performance equaled that of infants in the control group who had not been exposed
to Mandarin at all.” (Kuhl, 2010)
10. Language : sta4s4cal learning is not
enough
• Social interac4on • “social interac4on creates a vastly different learning situa4on, one in
can have an effect which addi4onal factors introduced by a social context influence
learning. Ga4ng could operate by increasing: (1) aEen4on and/ or
on learning arousal, (2) informa4on, (3) a sense of rela4onship, and/or (4) ac4va4on
of brain mechanisms linking percep4on and ac4on.
through: • Infant aEen4on, measured in the original studies, was significantly
higher in response to the live person than to either inanimate source
– Enhancement of (Kuhl et al., 2003). … AEen4on has been shown to play a role in the
sta4s4cal learning studies as well.”
aEen4on • during live exposure, tutors focused their visual gaze on pictures in the
books or on the toys as they spoke, and the infants’ gaze tended to
– Addi4onal follow the speaker’s gaze, as previously observed in social learning
studies (Baldwin, 1995; Brooks and Meltzoff, 2002). Referen4al
informa4on (gaze informa4on is present in both the live and televised condi4ons, but it is
to object) more difficult to pick up via television, and is totally absent during
audio‐only presenta4ons. … Infants who shiyed their gaze between the
– Ac4va4on of tutor’s eyes and newly introduced toys during the Spanish exposure
sessions showed a more nega4ve MMN (indica4ng greater neural
mirror systems, discrimina4on) in response to the Spanish phone4c contrast. Infants
who simply gazed at the tutor or at the toy, showing fewer gaze shiys,
and other produced less nega4ve MMN responses. The degree of infants’ social
engagement during sessions predicted both phone4c and word learning
mechanisms for —infants who were more socially engaged showed greater learning as
percep4on‐ac4on •
reflected by ERP brain measures of both phone4c and word learning.
Social interac4on may ac4vate brain mechanisms that invoke a sense of
linking in the brain rela4onship between the self and other, as well as social understanding
systems that link percep4on and ac4on “ (Kuhl, 2010)
11. Implicit learning
• “There is no doubt that many of our most fundamental abili4es, whether they • Implicit learning theories are based on the
concern language, percep4on, motor skill, or social behavior, reflect some kind of capacity of extrac4ng regulari4es, e.g. from
adapta4on to the regulari4es of the world that evolves without inten4on to learn, language:
and without a clear awareness of what we know. This ubiquitous phenomenon was • Reber, 1967, 1989: implicit learning allows
called ‘implicit learning’ (IL) by Reber 40 years ago.” the acquisi4on of complex, abstract
• Origina4ng from a different research tradi4on, the term ‘sta4s4cal learning’ (SL) knowledge without awareness and effort
was proposed 10 years ago by Saffran and collaborators to designate the ability of (extrac4on of abstract rules)
infants to discover the words embedded in a con4nuous ar4ficial language, and • Pacton & Perruchet, 2006: acquisi4on of
this field of research is now growing exponen4al. the ap4tude to correctly answering to
• There are obvious similari4es between SL and IL. As in IL, par4cipants in SL certain situa4ons, without the inten4on of
experiments are faced with structured material without being instructed to l earn. learning (no extrac4on of abstract rules;
They learn merely from exposure to posi4ve instances, without engaging in the learning of rules requires explicit
analy4cal processes or hypothesis‐tes4ng strategies.” learning)
• “Introduc4on There is no doubt that many of our most fundamental abili4es, • It does not mean one can learn without
whether they concern language, percep4on, motor skill, or social behavior, reflect aEen4on (concurrent aEen4onal tasks
some kind of adapta4on to the regulari4es of the world that evolves without lower the capacity of implicit learning)
inten4on to learn, and without a clear awareness of what we know. This • But the crucial variable is the exposi4on to
ubiquitous phenomenon was called ‘implicit learning’ (IL) by Reber 40 years ago. regulari4es in the environment
Since then, several studies have explored this form of learning with several
experimental paradigms (mainly finite‐state grammars and serial reac4on 4me
tasks; for reviews, see).
• Ten years ago, it seemed possible to contrast IL and SL on their main issues of
interest, namely syntax acquisi4on and lexicon forma4on, respec4vely. Indeed, the
to‐be‐ learned material used in ar4ficial grammar learning research is typically
governed by rules, that is by organizing principles which are independent of the
specific material used in a given instance. If par4cipants learned the rules, then
this form of learning would be out of the scope of SL studies, in which the no4on
of rules is a priori irrelevant. However, research from the past few years has made
it increasingly clear that par4cipants in ar4ficial grammar learning experiments do
not need to extract the rules to perform well, even in situa4ons involving transfer
across surface forms…” (Pacton & Perruchet, 2006, p. 1)
13. Implicit & explicit learning
• “This form of learning is unconscious and con4nues • Perruchet & Pacton, 2006: Explicit learning
throughout life.” (Goswami, 2008b, p. 5) completes implicit learning with rules
• ‘In one of the most famous early studies comparing • Perruchet & Pacton, 2006: In any case, explicit
the effects of "learning a procedure" with "learning learning raises performances in comparison with
with understanding," two groups of children implicit learning (school instruc4on demands more
prac4ced throwing darts at a target underwater than above chance performances)
(Scholckow and Judd, described in Judd, 1908; see a • Reber, 1989: introduc4on of explicit instruc4on is
conceptual replica4on by Hendrickson and expecially useful when informa4on is provided
Schroeder, 1941). before (rather than during or ayer the implicit
• One group received an explana4on of refrac4on of learning phase), maybe because it helps direc4ng
light, which causes the apparent loca4on of the aEen4on on mearningful aspects
target to be decep4ve. The other group only • Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000: Judd &
prac4ced dart throwing, without the explana4on. Scholckow 1908’s experiment confirms that explicit
Both groups did equally well on the prac4ce task, instruc4on (before training) enhances performances
which involved a target 12 inches under water. But for new situa4ons
the group that had been instructed about the
abstract principle did much beEer when they had to
transfer to a situa4on in which the target was under
only 4 inches of water. Because they understood
what they were doing, the group that had received
instruc4on about the refrac4on of light could adjust
their behavior to the new task.” (Bransford, et al.,
2000, p. 44)
14. Implicit learning of errors
• “One concern about mul4ple‐choice tests is that • If implicit learning can happen by repeated
they rou4nely expose students to wrong answers. If exposi4on (with aEen4on), then the repeated
subjects read all choices carefully ,they read three exposi4on to errors favors the learning of errors
(usually) plausible wrong answers and only one • Mul4ple choice tests enhance learning of good, and
correct answer. Even if subjects pick the correct bad, answers
answer, reading the wrong statements may make
those answers seem true later. That is, simply
repea4ng statements increases the probability that
those statements will be judged true late r(Hasher,
Goldstein,&Toppino,1977). Consistent with this
analysis, tes4ng increases later ra4ngs of the truth
of mul4ple‐choice lures, although they are s4ll rated
as less true than known facts (Toppino&Brochin,
1989;Toppino& Luipersbeck,1993). Similarly, tes4ng
increases the produc4on of mul4ple choice lures as
answers to later cued recall ques4ons, even when
students are strictly warned against guessing
(Roediger&Marsh,2005). Specifically, mul4ple‐
choice lures were used to answer 5% of ques4ons
when subjects had not been previously tested;
tes4ng increased the use of these specific wrong
answers to 12% on the later cued recall test.”
Marsh, et al., 2007, p. 195)
15. Sta4s4cal learning & Extrac4on of
causal structures
• “… specific perceptual features of two objects in a “launching” event • In terms of neural sta4s4cal
(where object A impacts object B, causing it to begin to move) may vary, learning, the infant brain is
but spa4o‐temporal dynamics (and therefore causal structure, i.e., the essen4ally learning about
fact that A causes B to move) will vary less. The perceptual “illusion” of dynamic spa4o‐temporal
causality during launching and other visual events noted by MichoEe structure across sensory
(1963) is one example of how perceptual covaria4on can yield causal modali4es
structure (Scholl & Tremoulet, 2000). • The brain automa4cally generates
• Most recently, it has been demonstrated that 6‐month‐old infants who causal inferences from observed
watch geometric shapes (with eyes) that engage in self‐ini4ated mo4on events
extract causal structure that an be interpreted as “moral” causal • Causal structures can be induced
structure (“helping” versus “hindering”). For example, in one scenario, from sta4s4cal learning
the babies watched as a blue circle with eyes tried to move up a mechanisms
“hill” (piece of green apparatus), but repeatedly failed to get beyond a
half‐way “plateau”. A yellow triangle with eyes then appeared and
“pushed” the blue circle on up the hill (or a red square appeared and
pushed the blue circle back down the hill). The babies were then
allowed to reach for both the “helper” and the “hinderer”. Twelve out of
12 babies reached for the yellow triangle (the “helper”, see Hamlin,
Wynn & Bloom, 2007).
• The spa4o‐temporal structure of these objects and their “ac4ons” was
sufficient for the infants to interpret the movements as goal‐directed
ac4ons with moral content. The level of knowledge that can be
abstracted from spa4o‐temporal structure (perceptual causal
informa4on) about different en44es has in important cases been
transcended by modern physics and biology. A good example is the
medieval “impetus” theory of mo4on, which has been supplanted by
Newtonian physics (Kaiser, ProfiE & McCloskey, 1985). According to the
impetus theory of mo4on, every mo4on must have a cause. ” (Goswami,
2008b, p. 9)
16. Explana4on‐based learning
• “Explana4on‐based learning … is the core • Children use previous (domain) knowledge in order
mechanism used by infants to iden4fy new variables to construct explana4ons for new situa4ons
as they build their knowledge of the physical world. (generaliza4on)
• As infants experience more and more events, more • Iden4fy variables that are relevant for events to
elaborate representa4ons are developed in which happen in a certain way
variables that are relevant to the events’ outcomes • It is essen4ally causal learning
are iden4fied and represented, such as degree of
contact for support events. This process whereby
infants iden4fy new variables in event categories is
thought to be explana4on‐based learning.
• In the field of machine learning, explana4on‐based
learning depends on construc4ng causal
explana4ons for phenomena on the basis of specific
training examples, using prior domain knowledge.
• If infants were merely learning condi4on‐outcome
rela4ons, as in associa4ve learning, then they would
be unable to make predic4ons about novel events.
• However, infants who understand why (for example,
short covers cannot conceal tall objects should be
able to reason about height informa4on in any
covering event, even if this event is very remote in
perceptual terms form the learning events.
• The infants, like the machines, would be able to
formulate valid generaliza4ons from single
instances.” (Goswami, 2008, p. 66)
17. Learning by analogy
• “Finding correspondences between two events, situa4ons, or domains • Children learn by analogy
of knowledge and transferring knowledge from one to • This is a specifically human
another.” (Goswami, 2008, p. 52) capacity
• “In learning by analogy, “we face a situa4on, we recall a similar • It can be found in children before
situa4on, we match them up, we reason, and we learn” (Winston, language but is powered by
1980). We may decide whether a dog has a heart by thinking about language
whether people have hearts (young children use “personifica4on
analogies” to learn about biological kinds, see Inagaki & Hatano,
1988), or we may solve a mathema4cal problem about the interac4on
of forces by using an analogy to a tug‐of‐war (young children use
familiar physical systems to reason about unfamiliar ones, see Pauen,
1996). Reasoning by analogy has usually been measured in children
aged 3 years or older (see Goswami, 1992, 2001, for reviews), but can
also be demonstrated in infancy. However, so far, analogy has not
been found in the animal kingdom, sugges4ng that it is especially
important for human learning.
• Early analogies tend to depend on func4onal or causal rela4ons, but
once language is acquired analogies can be quite abstract (e.g. 3‐year‐
old children deciding how animals can evade predators by using
different forms of mimicry, see Brown, 1989). The use of analogy
depends crucially on the knowledge base. Children can only use
analogies based on familiar rela4ons, rela4ons that they have
experienced or that they understand. ” (Goswami, 2008b, p.13‐14)
18. Learning by imita4on
• “Learning by imita4on can be defined as B learns from A • Infants imitate adults’ behavior
some part of the form of a behavior… One example is • Children learn by imita4on, e.g.
learning the use of a novel tool by imita4ng the ac4ons of the use of tools
another user with that tool. Most defini4ons of imita4on
require that something new is learned, and such learning • Learning by imita4on is present
has proved remarkably difficult to dis4nguish in animals … in the human baby by the age of
(Goswami, 2008, p. 62‐63) at least 9 months (Meltzoff,
1988)
• Learning by imita4on is another cri4cal form of early
learning. Here the infant or child reproduces observed
ac4ons as a way of understanding them beEer. The
importance of reproducing observed ac4ons was core to
Piaget’s theory of the “sensory motor stage” (0 – 2 years) of
cogni4on. (Goswami, 200b8, p. 11)
• Piaget argued that inten4onal imita4on emerged at around
18 months, but it has since been shown that babies as young
as 1 hour old can imitate facial ac4ons (Meltzoff & Moore,
1983). In Meltzoff and Moore’s classic 1983 study, adults
modelled gestures like tongue protrusion and mouth
opening in a quiet environment, and the infants reproduced
these gestures. By around 9 months, babies can learn how
to manipulate novel objects such as experimenter‐built toys
by watching others manipulate them (Meltzoff, 1988).
(Goswami, 2008b, p. 11)
• Older babies can even imitate intended acts which are never
observed. Meltzoff
19. Learning by imita4on & TV
• “Meltzoff (1988) has evidence that infants of 14 moths of age can indeed learn • 14 months’ babies can learn the same
novel ac4ons from watching television.” (Goswami, 2008, p. 62‐63) ac4ons from real experimenters and from
experimenters canned in a TV video (on live)
• But they learn less than from live ac4on
(video deficit effect)
• “Empirical research conducted using a number of different experimental
paradigms has demonstrated that infants, toddlers, and preschool children learn – Maybe because the processing of 2D
less from television and 2D s4ll images than from live face‐to‐face interac4ons … s4muli is poorer than the processing of
3D s4muli
This has been termed the video deficit effect: Infants’ ability to transfer learning
from television to real life situa4ons is rela4vely poor … compared to their – Or because 2D s4muli are poorly
impressive transfer of learning from a live demonstra4on to a different understood and their rela4on to 3D real
objects is not granted
situa4on” (Zack, et al. 2009, p. 14)
– Or because of poor representa4onal
flexibility (and memory requirements)
• Is that because of 2D/3D encoding
differences? What happens with 3D models?
– An experiments conduced by Zack and
coll. would show that the limit comes
from the transfer of informa4on from
one dimension to another (live adult
demonstra4on)
– Infants do just as well imita4ng 2D/2D
than 3D/3D: 2D is not as impoverished as
to block imita4on, and 2D does not
represent a poorly understood condi4on
in comparison with 3D (but live adult
demonstra4on could help the
understanding)
– Representa4onal flexibility seems to be
the problem, thus memory would be the
key
20. Imita4on, social cogni4on & mirror
neurons
• “Social cogni4on is currently an ac4ve area of research in • Among the studies on social
developmental cogni4ve neuroscience. Interest has focussed on a cogni4on, mirror neurons have
neural system called the “mirror neuron system”, which is known to gained lot of aEen4on
be important for ac4on and imita4on. Mirror neurons were • Mirror neurons are involved in the
discovered in monkey research on the representa4on of ac4on. These representa4on of an ac4on
neurons were found to become ac4ve when the monkey performed
object‐directed ac4ons such as tearing, grasping, holding and • Mirror neurons are ac4vated when
manipula4ng. Furthermore, the same neurons became ac4ve when observing an ac4on, independently
the animal observed someone else performing these ac4ons, such as from the specific motor realiza4on of
someone else tearing paper. Mirror neurons were even ac4vated by the ac4on
the sound of an ac4on, such as the sound of paper ripping (RizzolaT • Mirror neurons are related to the
& Craighero, 2004). RizzolaT and his colleagues pointed out that an goal, and the agent
ac4on implies a goal and an agent, and therefore argued that mirror • Mirror neurons could be involved in
neurons may play an important role in understanding inten4ons. It the understanding of others’
has since been shown that mirror neurons are ac4ve during imita4on, inten4ons
and are only ac4vated by biological ac4ons (e.g., a human hand • Specula4vely, in empathy
grasping, Tai et al., 2004).
• Mirror neurons are not ac4vated by mechanical ac4ons such as a
robot hand grasping, and Meltzoff has shown that babies will imitate
ac4ons on objects made by human hands but not iden4cal ac4ons
made by mechanical hands (Meltzoff, 1995).
• It is therefore thought that the mirror neuron system may be a neural
substrate for understanding the ac4ons and internal states of others.
Interes4ngly, children with disorders of social cogni4on such as
au4sm appear to have very liEle mirror neuron ac4vity (DapreEo et
al., 2006). It is thus speculated that the mirror neuron system plays a
role in the development of empathy.” (Goswami, 2008b, p. 23)
21. Human imita4on
• Infants understand and
• Tomasello has argued that humans differ profoundly from apes in their imitate adults’ inten4ons
skills of imita4on and imita4ve learning, because the ability to learn novel • This seems to be a specifically
behaviors via imita4on depends on the ability to understand the inten4ons human learning capacity
of others. • Learning by imita4on seems
• Most of our knowledge about imita4ve learning in infants comes from the to require the understanding
pioneering work of Meltzoff … Many of his more recent experiments of others’ inten4ons
depend on the use of deferred imita4on … to see whether infants can (Tomasello, 1990)
reproduce a novel ac4on that they have observed previously even if they
are not allowed access to the cri4cal materials at the 4me of learning.”
• Older babies can even imitate intended acts which are never observed.
Meltzoff manipulated a number of novel events (e.g., inser4ng a string of
beads into a cylindrical container) so that the adult demonstrator
accidentally failed to demonstrate the event (e.g. fumbled the beads so
that they missed the opening). The observing infants took the beads and
put them into the container successfully (Meltzoff, 1995).
• Empirical studies such as these show that the infants are going beyond
what is observed and are aEribu4ng goals and inten4ons to the
demonstrator (see also Tomasello and colleagues, e.g. Carpenter, Call &
Tomasello, 2005). Understanding the goals of another person transforms
their ac4ons into purposive behaviour (Gergely et al., 2002).
22. Understanding human inten4ons
• Three levels of imita4on/understaninding
• “Ac4ng animately. An observer perceives that the actor has generated his mo4on autonomously; that is, she others’ ac4ons & reading of inten4ons)
dis4nguishes animate self‐produced ac4on from inanimate, caused mo4on. There is no understanding that – Perceiving others as actors that
the actor has a goal, and so means and ends are not dis4nguished, nor are successful and unsuccessful produce their ac4ons (6 months old
ac4ons. Although observers may learn from experience what animate actors typically do in familiar children)
situa4ons, predic4ng behavior in novel circum‐ stances is basically impossible. – Perceiving others as having goals for
their ac4ons (9 months)
• Pursuing goals. An observer perceives and understands that the actor has a goal and behaves with
persistence un4l reality matches the goal; that is, she understands that the actor recognizes the success or – Perceiving others as making plans for
reaching their goal, and choosing the
failure of his ac4ons with respect to the goal and con4nues to act in the face of failure. This understanding most ra4onal ac4on (14 months)
implies that the observer also knows that the actor sees things (e.g., objects with respect to which he has (Tomasello, et al. 2005)
goals, poten4al obstacles to goals, the results of ac4ons) and that this helps to guide ac4on and determine
sa4sfac4on with results. Understanding ac4on in this way enables observers to predict what actors will do in
at least some novel situa4ons.
• Choosing plans. An observer perceives and under‐ stands that the actor considers ac4on plans and chooses
which of them to enact in inten4onal ac4on (and these may be more or less ra4onal depending on their fit
with perceived reality). She also understands that in ac4ng toward a goal the actor chooses which en44es in
its perceptual field to aEend to. In general, the observer understands that actors act and aEend to things for
reasons, which enables her to predict what an actor will do in a wide variety of novel situa4ons. (All
elements of Fig. 1 present.) Children’s understanding of these different aspects of inten4onal ac4on and
percep4on emerge, in this order, at different points in infancy“
• “Six‐month‐old infants perceive animate ac4on and follow gaze direc4on, which enables them to build up
experiences on the basis of which they predict people’s ac4ons in familiar contexts. By 9 months of age,
infants understand that that people have goals and persist in behaving un4l they see that their goal has
been reached (avoiding obstacles and persis4ng past accidents and failures in the process) –be‐ ing happy
when the goal is reached and disappointed if it is not. By 14 months of age, infants begin to understand full‐
fledged inten4onal ac4on –including the rudiments of the way people make ra4onal decisions in choosing
ac4on plans for accomplishing their goals in par4cular reality contexts and selec4vely aEending to goal‐
relevant aspects of the situa4on.“ (Tomasello, et al., 2005)
23. Engaging in shared inten4ons
• 3 levels of engagement in • “Human infants are extremely sensi4ve to social con4ngencies. In their face‐to‐face interac4ons
shared inten4ons: with adults, infants from just a few months of age display the ability to take turns in the sense of
– Dyadic engagement: ac4ng when the adult is more passive and being more passive when the adult is ac4ng
face to face (Trevarthen 1979). When these con4ngencies are broken –for example, in experiments in which
interac4ons and the adult’s behavior is preprogrammed (or played to the infant over delayed video) –infants
protoconversa4ons show various signs of being out of sorts (for reviews, see Gergely & Watson 1999 and Rochat &
with shared emo4ons Striano 1999). Infants’ early social interac4ons thus clearly show mutual responsiveness on the
– Tryadic engagement: behavioral level. But there is another dimension to these interac4ons that goes beyond simple
doing things together, 4ming and con4ngency. Human infants and adults interact with one another dyadically in what
but without assigning are called protoconversa4ons. These are social interac4ons in which the adult and infant look,
roles for the reaching touch, smile, and vocalize toward each other in turn‐taking sequences. But as most observers of
of the goal; sharing infants have noted, the glue that holds proto‐ conversa4ons together is not just con4ngency but
percep4on and goals
(9‐12 months) the exchange of emo4ons (Hobson 2002; Trevarthen 1979).
– Collabora4ve • At around 9 to 12 months of age, as infants are beginning to understand other persons as goal
engagement = sharing directed, they also begin to engage with them in ac4vi4es that are triadic in the sense that they
ac4on plans (12‐15 involve child, adult, and some outside en4ty to‐ ward which they both direct their ac4ons. These
months) are ac4vi4es such as giving and taking objects, rolling a ball back and forth, building a block
tower together, puTng away toys together, “pretend” games of ea4ng or drinking, “reading”
books, and poin4ng‐and‐naming games (Hay 1979; Hay & Murray 1982; Verba 1994). During
these ac4vi4es, infants’ looking becomes coordinated with that of the other person triadically
toward the relevant outside objects as well. When researchers focus on this aspect of the joint
ac4vity, it is most oyen called “joint aEen4on” (e.g., see papers in Moore & Dunham 1995) –
what we will call at this level joint percep4on.
• At around 12 to 15 months of age, infants’ triadic engagements with others undergo a At around
12 to 15 months of age, infants’ triadic engagements with others undergo a significant
qualita4ve change. In a classic longitudinal study, Bakeman and Adamson (1984) categorized
infants’ interac4ons with their mothers as involving, among other things, either “passive joint
engagement” or “coordinated joint engagement.” Passive joint engagement referred to triadic
interac4ons in general, whereas coordinated joint engagement referred to triadic interac4ons in
which the infant was much more ac4ve in the interac4on –not just following adult leads, but also
some4mes direc4ng adult behavior and aEen4on as well in a more balanced manner. The
empirical finding was that al‐ though 9‐month‐old infants engaged in much passive joint
engagement, it was not un4l 12 to 15 months of age that infants engaged in significant amounts
of coordinated joint engagement.
24. Humanness
• “We propose that the crucial difference between human cogni4on and
that of other species is the ability to par4cipate with others in • At the origin of human
collabora4ve ac4vi4es with shared goals and inten4ons: shared culture and cogni4on
inten4onality. Par4cipa4on in such ac4vi4es requires not only especially stand two capaci4es:
powerful forms of inten4on reading and cultural learning, but also a • ‐ mind reading, and in
unique mo4va4on to share psychological states with oth‐ ers and unique par4cular: the capacity of
forms of cogni4ve representa4on for doing so. The result of par4cipa4ng perceiving and
in these ac4vi4es is species‐unique forms of cultural cogni4on and understanding others’
evolu4on, enabling everything from the crea4on and use of linguis4c inten4ons
symbols to the construc4on of social norms and individual beliefs to the • ‐ a mo4va4on for
establishment of social ins4tu4ons. In support of this proposal we argue engaging in shared
and present evidence that great apes (and some children with au4sm) inten4on ac4vi4es
understand the basics of inten4onal ac4on, but they s4ll do not
par4cipate in ac4vi4es involving joint inten4ons and aEen4on (shared
inten4onality). Human children’s skills of shared inten4onality develop • So: shared inten4onality
gradually during the first 14 months of life as two ontogene4c pathways is what makes humans
intertwine: (1) the general ape line of understanding others as animate, special in the animal
goal‐directed, and inten4onal agents; and (2) a species‐unique mo4va4on reign
to share emo4ons, experience, and ac4vi4es with other persons. The • (Tomasello, 2005)
develop‐ mental outcome is children’s ability to construct dialogic
cogni4ve representa4ons, which enable them to par4cipate in earnest in
the collec4vity that is human cogni4on” (Tomasello, et al., 2005)
25. Cultural intelligence hypothesis
• Baby humans differ • “Some other ape species transmit some behaviors socially or culturally , but their
from primates on species‐ typical cogni4on does not depend on par4cipa4ng in cultural interac4ons in
social abili4es the same way as it does in humans, who must
• Humans have • (i) learn their na4ve language in social interac4ons with others,
developed special • (ii) acquire necessary subsistence skills by par4cipa4ng with experts in established
cogni4ve skills as a cultural prac4ces, and
result of the • (iii) (in many cultures) acquire skills with wriEen language and mathema4cal symbols
development of
specialized skills for through formal schooling.
absorbing • In the end, human adults will have all kinds of cogni4ve skills not possessed by other
knowledge and primates, but this outcome will be due largely to children’s early emerging,
prac4ces of their specialized skills for absorbing the accumulated skillful prac4ces and knowledge of
social group their social group (so that a child growing up outside of any human culture would
develop few dis4nc4vely human cogni4ve skills). Humans’ especially powerful skills
of social‐cultural cogni4on early in ontogeny thus serve as a kind of “bootstrap” for
the dis4nc4vely complex development of human cogni4on in general. We may call
this the cultural intelligence hypothesis”
• “However, we should note that because the children were somewhat more skillful
than the apes in the causality tasks not involving ac4ve tool manipula4on, as well as
in the tasks of social cogni4on, it is possible that what is dis4nc4vely human is not
social‐cultural cogni4on as a specialized domain, as we have hypothesized. Rather,
what may be dis4nc4ve is the ability to understand unobserved causal forces in
general, including (as a special case) the mental states of others as causes of
behavior. Even in this case, however, it is a plausible hypothesis that understanding
hidden causal forces evolved first to enable humans to understand the mental states
of other persons, and this generalized only later to the physical domain”. (Herrmann,
et al., 2007)
27. Natural pedagogy
• “… human communica4on is specifically • Development of natural pedagogy:
adapted to fulfil the funciton of transmiTng
generic knowledge between • Development of tools’ making prac4ces
individuals.” (Gergely & Csibra, p. 3) represents an evolu4ve pressure
• “A new type of communica4ve learning • Because these prac4ces cannot be learned/
system based on ostensive‐referen4al transmiEed by other, available mechanisms
demonstra4ons of knowledge … expert user of learning from imita$on/observa$on*
ac4vely guide the novice by selec4vely
manifes4ng the informa4on to be acquire • Because they represent opaque contents for
and generalized. cogni4on
• … children … are always novices with respect • Thus, humans have evolved mechanisms that
to the accumulated knowledge of their serve the pedagogical func4on of
culture. transmiTng cogni4vely opaque contents
• This is why we call the specific aspects of • These mechanisms are part of the more
human communica4on that allow and general communica4on system
facilitate the transfer of generic knowledge • They consist of demonstra4on acts:
to novices Natural Pedagogy. ” (Gergely & ostensive‐referen4al demonstra4ons
Csibra, p. 4)
28. Adults/children natural pedagogical
system
• “When children are shown an ac4on • Children observe and imitate adults
performed in a par4cular style leading to a – Children spontaneously imitate causal ac4ons
clear end state (e.g. a mouse is hopping that lead to achieve goals, and ignore other
across the table into a house), they tend to components of the global ac4on
reproduce only the end state (put the mouse – The others components of the ac4on are
into the house), oyen ignoring the manner of opaque to children’s cogni4on
ac4on (hopping). However, if the relevant – But, when the “teacher” makes it clear that
informa4on concerning the end state is these components of the ac4on are relevant,
communicated to them verbally by the actor children do pay aEen4on, and imitate
before the demonstra4on (“the mouse lives • Adults use their communica4on system to
in the house”), they reproduce the ac4on facilitate children’s learning
style more oyen. • Young children are recep4ve to adult’s
• Ostensive communica4on does not only ostensive demonstra4on before they are able
make children pay more aEen4on to the to use it for learning
demonstra4on but they also see it as a
special opportunity to acquire generalizable
knowledge.” (Gergely & Csibra, p. 5)
• Ostensive signals allow to
• “recent studies ...demonstrate this – Disambiguate the nature of the ac4on
preparadness in the form of three kinds of (communica4on, not just using the tool)
early perceptual and cogni4ve biases: – Disambiguate the target of the
communica4on (you)
29. Ostensive signals
• Preference for ostensive • 1. preferen4al aEen4on for
signals : the sources of ostensive
– Gaze contact signals
• Newborns preferen4ally look at
schema4c face‐like paEerns with
direct gaze vs averted gaze;
preference disappears when
faces are upside‐down;
preference disappears when the
typical iris/sclera paEers of eyes
is inverted
• Same neural ac4va4on for
infants and adults in response to
direct gaze and common neural
ac4va4on for two different
ostensive s4muli (direct gaze &
eye‐brow raise)
– Motherese
– Mo4onese
30. Referen4al expecta4ons
– Infants follow the gaze of interac4ng
• 2. Referen4al expecta4on
adults to iden4fy what they are looking induced by ostensive contexts
at, before they can understand language • Eight‐months olds observed
– Useful for sampling parts of someone on a computer screen
the world that others found ostensively looking at and
interes4ng, and present in gree4ng them before shiying her
other animals gaze to llok behind one of two
– Human infants followgaze barriers. Following this, an object
shiys only when these are
preceded by ostensive signals was revealed either at the
(gree4ng, gaze contact) targeted or at the other occluded
– Infants expect to find an object at the loca4on. Infants’ looking paEern
“end” of a gaze‐following in an ostensive suggested that they expected to
context find an object at the loca4on
– 13 months old Infants expect to where the person’s gaze wwas
find the named object (if its name directed at, just like older infants
is part of their vocabulary) do in similar live
– But not if the gesture and word are situa4ons.” (Gergely & Csibra, p.
emiEed by different persons 5‐8)
31. Interpreta4on bias
– Not only infants are prepared to receive ostensive–referen4al • 3. interpreta4on bias to
communica4on, but they do expect to learn something generalizable
from it (and not just a par4cular instance) = to learn about referent preferen4ally encode the
kinds
– When infants (18 months old) observe adults expressing content of ostensive‐
emo4onal valence in rela4onship to an object in a non‐
communica4ve context, they infer that person’s par4cular
preference (she does not like it). But when the same paEern
referen4al communica4on as
of valence expression is inserted in a communica4ve
context, infants aEach the expressed value to the object and
represen4ng generalizable
expect that other people will react in the same manner to
the object (it is disgus4ng for everybody) knowledge”
– Infants (9 months old) shiy their encoding paEern from
loca4on to appearance features when the situa4on shiys
from non‐communica4ve to communica4ve.
• “this is what dis4nguishes our
– They are more likely to detect change in loca4on in hypothesis in the first place
a non‐communica4ve situa4on, but detect more
oyen features change in a communica4ve situa4on
and neglect loca4on; and this happens even in
from compe4ng proposals,
situa4ons in which loca4on is important,
pragma4cally, such as hiding games
according to which human
– This bias could explain A not‐B task errors: children
stop being interested in loca4on and do not mind
communica4on originates
about the new loca4on, because the
communica4ve contexts has made them focus on evolu4onarily and
the features of the object. In fact, once
communica4ve cues are removed, the errors ontogene4cally from a basic
–
diminish.
Appearance features are beEer candidates for mo4ve to cooperate with
later use and object iden4fica4on, thus for
generaliza4on. others to achieve shared
– Communica4on has evolved not only for collabora4on‐purposes but goals.” (Gergely & Csibra, p.
also under the pressure of learning/teaching purposes
5‐9)
32. Social learning mechanisms
• “There are many types of social learning • Social learning mechanisms are common to several
mechanisms in the animal kingdom, and they all animal species
involve some form of observa4onal learning, where • Learning generalizable knowledge from social
the observa4on of an adap4ve behavior of another interac4ons seems to be specific to humans
individual makes it more likely that the observer will • Natural pedagogy seems to be universal, thus
produce the same or similar behaviors in the future.
In this sense, social learning represents transmission “natural”
of general knowledge or skills from one individual to
another.
• Non‐human animals communicate about episodic,
non‐generalizable informa4on (that applies only to
the here and now), and learn new skills by
observa4on or scaffolded individual learning, they
do not seem to use communica4on to pass on
generalizable knowledge to others.”
• “ This discrepancy between general claims about
the absence of teaching and the actual reports is
likely to reflect the enormous differences between
teaching in Western socie4es and in more
tradi4onal cultures. It is not just that Western
educa4on relies heavily on formal schooling but also
that it aims to provide verbal explana4on and
jus4fica4on for what is being taught. … however,
Natural Pedagogy … seems to be
universal.” (Gergely & Csibra, 2009, p. 12‐14)
33. • “Child development is today conceptualized
as an essen4ally social process, based on
incremental knowledge acquisi4on driven by
cultural experience and social context. We
have “social” brains.” (Goswami, 2008b, p. 1)
35. Socially distributed cogni4on
• Distributed “ If we want to explain the informa4on processing proper4es
cogni4on: of individuals, we have no choice but to aEempt to infer what
– The unit of is inside the individual’s mind. Cogni4ve scien4sts do this by
analysis of construc4ng carefully selected contexts for elici4ng behavior
cogni4ve from which they can aEribute internal states to actors.
performanc However, if we take the cockpit system as the unit of analysis,
es should
be we can look inside it and directly observe many of the
extended phenomena of interest. In par4cular, we can directly observe
beyond the the many representa4ons that are inside the cockpit system,
individual yet outside the heads of the pilots. We can do a lot of
so as to research on the cogni4ve proper4es of such a system (i.e., we
encompass
social and can give accounts of the system’s behavioral proper4es in
material terms of its internal representa4ons), without saying
interac4on anything about the processes that operate inside individual
s with tools actors (Hutchins, 1990, 1991, 1995). This suggests that rather
than trying to map the findings of cogni4ve psychological
studies of individuals directly onto the individual pilots in the
cockpit, we should map the conceptualiza4on of the
cogni4ve system onto a new unit of analysis: the cockpit as a
whole. ” (Hutchins, 1995, p. 267)
36. Socially distributed cogni4on
• Distributed • “Let us now apply the cogni4ve science frame to the cockpit as a cogni4ve
cogni4on: system. How are the speeds represented in the cockpit? How are these
– Remebember representa4ons transformed, processed, and coordinated with other
ing the speed representa4ons in the descent, approach, and landing? How does the
is the task cockpit system remember the speeds at which it is necessary to change
and result of the configura4on of the wing in order to maintain safe flight?
cogni4ve
processes • The observable representa4ons directly involved in the cockpit processes
involving the that coordinate airspeed with flap and slat seTngs are: the gross weight
pilots of the display (Figure 2), the speed card booklet (Figure l), the two airspeed
cockpit as indicator instruments with internal and external bugs (Figure 3), the
well as speed select window of the flight guidance control panel, and the speed‐
various
instruments related verbal exchanges among the members of the crew. The speed‐
related verbaliza4ons may appear in the communica4on of the values
from PNF to PF while seTng the speed bugs, in the ini4al slat extension
cross‐check, in the sub‐ sequent configura4on changes, in the cross‐check
phase of the before‐landing checklist performance, in the PNF’s approach
progress report at 500 feet AFL, and in any required speed devia4on call
outs on the final approach segment ayer the selec4on of the landing flap
seTng.
• In addi4on to the directly observable media listed earlier, we may also
assume that some sort of representa4on of the speeds has been created
in two media that are not directly observable: the memories of the two
pilots, themselves. ” (Hutchins, 1995, p. 275)
37. Distributed cogni4on
• Distributed • “We will advocate an externalism about mind, but one that is in no way
cogni4on: grounded in the debatable role of truth‐condi4ons and reference in fixing
– Performance the contents of our mental states. Rather, we advocate an “ac4ve
s typically externalism”, based on the ac4ve role of the environment in driving
described as cogni4ve processes.”
cogni4ve are
significantly
worst in • “The informa4on in OEo's notebook, for example, is a central part of his
absence of iden4ty as a cogni4ve agent. What this comes to is that OEo himself is
interac4on best regarded as an extended system, a coupling of biological organism
with tools,
others, or of and external resources.
epistemic • The informa4on in OEo's notebook, for example, is a central part of his
ac4ons that iden4ty as a cogni4ve agent. What this comes to is that OEo himself is
have no best regarded as an extended system, a coupling of biological organism
other aim and external resources.” (Clark & Chalmers, 1998)
than favoring
a beEer
knowledge of
the world
38. Social neurosciences
• Strong accent on social cogni4on, in • “Panoramic photographs of the earth from space
cogni4ve sciences and in the new reveal agricultural runoffs that stretch hundreds of
science of learning miles out to sea …From this ionospheric perspec4ve,
– Social neuroscience: importance of one could easily visualize effects that could not be
mul4level, integra4ve analysis of fully comprehended from a closer focal point. This
complex psychological phenomena simple example from space sciences illustrates a
principle that seems so obvious … but that oyen
appears incomprehensible in the psychological
sciences and neurosciences. There are phenomena
that may be explicable in terms of events at a
microlevel of analysis but that are more easily
studied and more fully comprehended by reference
to broader and mul4ple levels analysis.” (Cacioppo &
Berentson, 1992, p. 1019)
• “Cogni4ve behavioral and developmental
neuroscience, for instance, are all ac4ve areas of
research, but social neuroscience strikes some as
being an oxymoron (see ScoE, 1991). It is
not…” (Cacioppo & Berentson, 1992, p. 1020)
39. Integra4on of levels of analysis
• Social neuroscience: importance of mul4level, integra4ve • “… the brain does not exist in isola4on but rather is a fundamental but
analysis of complex psychological phenomena interac4ng component of a developing or aging individual who is a mere
actor in the larger theater of life. This theater is undeniably social,
– 1. Neurochemical events influence social processes; beginning with prenatal care, mother‐infant aEachment, and early
Social processes influence neurochemical events childhood experiences, and ending with loneliness or social support and
• Difficulty in the integra4on of neuroscience and social with familiar or societal decisions about care for the elderly. … Social
psychology levels of analysis: different scales into which brain psychology, with its panoramic focus on the effects of human associa4on
and behavior can be represented
and the impact of society on the individual, is therefore a fundamental
• The level of organiza4on of psychological phenomena vary
from molecular the organism set into a physical environment although some4mes unaknowledged complement to the
and a socio‐cultural context neurosciences.” (Cacioppo & Berentson, 1992, p. 1020)
• Neurosciences generally encompass the lower level of the
spectrum, social psychology the higher one
• Integra4on means that analyses at each level of organiza4on • “Cogni4ve behavioral and developmental neuroscience, for instance, are
can inform, refine or constrain inferences in the other levels all ac4ve areas of research, but social neuroscience strikes some as being
– 2. The study of the elements of the system can fall short an oxymoron (see ScoE, 1991). It is not…” (Cacioppo & Berentson, 1992,
of useful and comprehensive explana4ons p. 1020)
• In other sciences, the existence of different levels of
explana4on (protons/rocks) does not lead to considering • “… these fields differ in the level at which behavioral phenomena are
geology as a folk theory when compared with molecular level uni4zed, although they need not differ in terms of the behavioral
models. phenomenon under inves4ga4on. … Consequently, the conceptual units
• Dis4nc4ve levels of analysis are complementary, not
alterna4ve and dimensions of one level seldom map isomorphically into those of
– 3. A set of neural events can be a sufficient cause for another.
producing a psychological phenomenon, without being a • Thus, social psychological analyses focus on social structures and
necessary one processes that characterize func4onal aspects of neurophysiological
• E.g., lying rubustly produces certain electrodermal responses ; mechanisms, but a par4cular func4on cannot be readily characterized in
but other condi4ons can produce the same electrodermal the terminology and concepts of neurophysiology. Moreover, a given
responses
• E.g. schizophrenia is reliably associated with elevated func4on can be implemented by one or more neurophysiological
dopamine levels (elevated dopamine levels produce mechanisms whose boundaries may not be obvious, at least ini4ally, from
schizophrenia‐like symptoms) but excessive levels of anatomical considera4ons.”
dopamine are not necessarily involved in all cases of
schizophrenia • Important advances have been made and will con4nue to be made using
– However, when other neurochemical mechanisms are
iden4fied that produce schizophrenia‐like symptoms with
single levels of analysis. … there is an addi4onal benefit to be gained,
a different neurochemical basis, it is possible to part the however, from a mul4level analysis of the phenomenon … from various
psychological term “schizophrenia” in different
pathologies. structural scales or perspec4ves, ranging from the neuroscien4fic
• In the case of mul4ple determinants of a certain behavior, (“microscopic”) to the social psychological (“macroscopic”).” (Cacioppo &
studies on the sufficiency of a certain neurophysiological Berentson, 1992, p. 1021)
condi4on in causing a certain phenomenological phenomenon
are impôrtant but lack generalizing power.
40. from medicine to educa4on
• “… no single level of behavioral organiza4on is best for all psychological ques4ons.
• An example can be found in the rela4ve u4lity of specifying the sociocogni4ve versus
the neurophysiological basis of pa4ent delay following the onset of gynecologic
cancer. Women can now survive most gynecologic cancers if the disease is diagnosed
and treated early. … The form of the representa4on of pa4ent delay offered by
neuroscien4fic analyses of pa4ent delay, although perhaps contribu4ng to more
complete understanding of the phenomenon, is not op4mal for iden4fying the
determinants of pa4ent delay or for developing effec4ve interven4ons to minimize
such delay. Huge savings in resources and human suffering are there to be reaped not
through a specifica4on of the brain circuits underlying pa4ent delay, but by well‐
conceived public health campaings that iden4fy the early signs of cancer…
” (Cacioppo & Berentson, 1992, p. 1022)
• “It follows … that an exclusive focus on a reduc4onis4c (e.g. neurophysiological,
molecular, gene4c) level of analysis can mask contribu4ons of other levels of
organiza4on to mental order and disorder and thereby constrain theore4cal accounts
of psychological phenomena.”
• “Hence, without aEen4on to basic social psychological factors and processes, the
decade of the brain may yield some spectacular images and experimental effects but
rather limited answers to the problems of mental health.” (Cacioppo & Berentson,
1992, p. 1025)