Re: sensitive period in language acquisition?

Hi Brent,
I agree in general with all you have said. The only thing I'd like to comment is
the statement that people have no instincts but "a fear of heights, and quick
sounds". In my opinion we have inherited almost all the instincts which mammals
have. How do men behave in the presence of a pretty girl (no matter what are
their age, marriage status and probability to establish romantic relations)?
What does a man feel when suddenly know that this child is his (even if
absolutely no additional care is needed)? Is there a big difference between
hierarchy in a group of baboons and of prisoners (I mean Russian jails)? The
number of examples can be multiplied.

However you are absolutely right saying that the role of such "inborn templates"
in human is much less than in animals. They are usually suppressed by mighty
complex of conditioned reflexes and consciousness. I think that as we us the
term "instincts" to describe the aggregate of behavioral unconditioned reflexes
we may us term "culture" to describe the aggregate of behavioral conditioned
reflexes in human societies. Language is an element of it.

Alexander

----- Original Message -----
From: Brent Lords <brentlords@...>
To: <cybalist@eGroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2000 7:46 AM
Subject: [cybalist] Re: sensitive period in language acquisition?


gerry reinhart-waller <walu-@...> wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/cybalist/?start=879
> Marc:
> Some believe the fetus in utero already becomes accustomed to its
> mother's sounds. Since about 3 months of age there are "dialogs"
between
> mother & child. But the first "words" appear at ca.1 year. This may be
> called language already. What do you mean by template? Of course we
> have brains that easily learn language (or better: speech -- chimps
can
> perhaps learn some sort of ASL but not to speak).
>
> By template I mean a predesign or a map that assists the infant in
> learning his/her native tongue. I don't know how to scientifically
> prove this notion, but I do know that a native born speaker learns his
> native language with facility while a child age 1 or so would
experience
> some difficulty in learning the same language as a second language.
My
> question is why does this occur.
> Gerry
> --
> : Re: sensitive period in language acquisition?

Gerry Writes:

By template I mean a predesign or a map that assists the infant in
learning his/her native tongue. I don't know how to scientifically
prove this notion, but I do know that a native born speaker learns his
native language with facility while a child age 1 or so would
experience some difficulty in learning the same language as a second
language. My question is why does this occur. Gerry
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Hi Gerry:
Its been 25 years since I got a BA degree in Pysch, or even done any
reading in the field, but I believe the basics haven't changed that
much in the physiology of learning theorey. One of the distinctions
between humans and other animals is the almost total lack of behavorial
templates in humans. Behaviorial templates in animals are called
instincts, and beyond a fear of heights, and quick sounds we are
without them.

The human brain is very much like a new computer, just waiting to be
programmed. But the big difference between humans and computers is
that are memories don't get erased. What a memory is, is not fully
understood. But we are pretty certain that it involves the development
of neural junctions called synapses. This development involves the
transmission of neural conductors that actually change the nature of
the synapse - in a very real sense the brain, by thinking, experiencing
etc -is altered. The more a neural pathway is used (the same synapses
is used) the more conducive that pathway becomes (the faster it will
transmit). In a sense we literally become predisposed to thinking in
certain ways. (There were a few other theories floating around about
field theories and gestalt netways some 25 years ago - but none of them
suggested anything like a inbuilt-template.) When we just start out,
almost nothing is programmed - beyond certain capabilities to recognise
certain visual stimuli (movement, edges, possibly circles etc) that
have to do with how receptors and inhibitor neurons interact with the
synapses. There are no inherent neural templates related to learning
specific languages. An infant learns fast because there is nothing in
the way. Us seniors can have a harder time at learning such things as
language - because our behavior as become so ingrained and most of us
don't go to the trouble to challenge it (burn in new neural pathways).

Think about it. You have been here in the USA for a long time. Ever
hear of anyone saying that babies born of English descended ancestry
have a much easier time of learning English than someone who is born of
Greek, or French, etc. (Children born to recent immigrants can have
somewhat greater difficulty in learning English, but that is invariably
tied into use of a non-English language at home and that is usually
offset by the childs mastery of another language). Infants/children
simply learn easier, because of the developmental stage they are in.

I have simplified Learning theory a little bit here - left out gobs of
information about how the brain processes change with age etc and the
field is actually quite interesting, it was just starting to merge with
AI when I stopped trying to keep up. You may find more information and
better information about your question if you look there.

Best Regards Brent



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