The period during development in which an organism can be permanently altered by a particular experience or treatment

Sensitive period

The case of Genie is a significant study on the impact of extreme environmental deprivation. Discovered at age 13 after a decade of severe isolation, Genie was unable to speak or stand. Following her rescue, her abilities improved, and she managed to acquire an impressive vocabulary in a relatively short time. However, she never mastered the grammatical aspects of language. This specific difficulty with grammar, despite her vocabulary growth, is often cited as evidence for the critical period for language acquisition, suggesting that the opportunity to learn fundamental language structure may be lost if missed in early childhood.

The Case of Genie: A Study in Language Deprivation

Analyze the following scenario and explain the most likely reason for the difference in language proficiency between the two individuals, based on developmental principles.

Comparing Language Learning Outcomes

There appears to be a critical period for language acquisition early in life. During this period, the proficiency at acquiring language is maximal; generally, as people age, the ease with which they acquire and master new languages diminishes.

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Language acquisition is the process of learning a language, a key area of study in cognitive development. Research indicates that the sequence in which children learn language structures is remarkably consistent across different individuals and cultures, suggesting a universal pattern in this developmental process.

Language Acquisition

Given the remarkable complexity of language, mastering it might seem to be an arduous task, particularly for adults trying to learn a second language. However, young children are able to master language very quickly and with relative ease.

Ease of Language Acquisition in Childhood

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

a communication disorder that interferes with the development of language skills in children who have no hearing loss or intellectual disabilities. SLI can affect a child's speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

References for SLI in Preterm Born Children

B. F. Skinner proposed a behaviorist approach to language learning, asserting that language is learned through reinforcement.

Skinner's Theory of Language Acquisition

Noam Chomsky criticized the behaviorist approach to language learning, asserting instead that the mechanisms underlying language acquisition are biologically determined.

Chomsky's Theory of Language Acquisition

Critical Period for Language Acquisition

The process of learning a language starts remarkably early, with evidence suggesting it begins even before birth. Newborn infants already exhibit a preference for their mother's voice and can distinguish between the language their mother speaks and other languages. This indicates that foundational aspects of language acquisition are established in the prenatal or immediate postnatal period.

Early Onset of Language Learning

After the first few months of life, infants enter the babbling stage. This phase is characterized by the production of repeated single syllables, which gradually become more varied as time passes. These early vocalizations are not considered attempts to communicate, as babies are just as likely to babble when they are alone as when they are accompanied by caregivers.

Babbling Stage

Following their first word, typically spoken between 12 and 18 months of age, children enter the one-word stage. During this period, their spoken communication consists of single-word utterances, even though their comprehension includes a larger number of words. This early vocabulary is primarily composed of nouns that refer to familiar objects or events.

One-Word Stage of Language Development

Overgeneralization is a process in language acquisition where a child applies a grammatical rule to cases where it does not apply, particularly to irregular words that are exceptions to the rule. This type of error is significant because it provides clear evidence that the child is actively learning and internalizing the grammatical rules of their language, even if they have not yet mastered the exceptions.

Overgeneralization in Language Acquisition

Cooing is one of the earliest stages of vocal development in infants, typically beginning almost immediately after birth. It involves producing single-syllable sounds that combine a consonant and a vowel, such as 'coo' or 'ba'. Notably, the tonal quality of an infant's cooing can reflect the specific language of their caregivers, indicating very early, pre-babbling exposure to linguistic patterns.

Cooing Stage

Infants use gestures to communicate long before they can speak. These early gestures, such as shaking their head for 'no' or waving 'bye-bye', demonstrate emerging cognitive and communicative abilities. Furthermore, research suggests that the use and development of gestures in infancy can predict the timeline and course of subsequent language development.

Early Communicative Gestures in Infancy

Children's language abilities expand significantly between the ages of two and seven. A two-year-old typically uses 50 to 200 words, which grows to a vocabulary of up to 1,000 words and the ability to speak in sentences by age three. By age five, a child can understand around 6,000 words, speak 2,000, define words, question their meanings, rhyme, and name the days of the week. At seven years old, children generally speak fluently and begin to use slang and clichés.

Vocabulary Growth and Language Skills in Early Childhood

The modern understanding of language acquisition integrates both nativist and behaviorist perspectives. This interactionist view posits that language development arises from the interplay between a child's innate biological predispositions (nature) and the linguistic interactions and feedback they receive from their environment (nurture). Essentially, researchers now believe that both inborn capacity and environmental learning are crucial for acquiring language.

Interactionist View of Language Acquisition

A developmental psychologist observes that children from vastly different cultural and linguistic backgrounds (e.g., urban Japan, rural Peru, and suburban Canada) all begin to babble, use single words, and then combine words into simple sentences at roughly the same ages. This cross-cultural consistency, despite significant differences in their environments and the specific languages they are exposed to, provides the strongest support for which of the following perspectives on language acquisition?

Humans appear to be born with a biological predisposition to acquire a language. Evidence supporting this includes the observation that the use of language develops in the absence of formal instruction and follows a very similar pattern in children from vastly different cultures and backgrounds.

Biological Predisposition for Language Acquisition

Consider the two scenarios below. Analyze the most likely psychological reason for the significant difference in language learning outcomes between the child and the parent, and explain the principle that this difference illustrates.

Analyze the following scenario and explain the most likely psychological reason for the different language learning outcomes observed in the family members.

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