Psychology 1320 Syllabus

Psychology 1320 Syllabus

Psychology 1320 (CN 24578): Language Development

Spring 2018 (2184)

MW 3:00-4:15 inCL 149

Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Ganger

Office Location: 3405 Sennott Square

Office Hours: Wednesdays 10:30-11:45 a.m. & by appointment (but watch CourseWeb for changes)

Email:

Office Phone: 412-624-3064

Physical Mailbox: 3rd Floor Sennott Square (Psychology Main Office—give to receptionist)

Course Description

What does mastering a language look like and how do human children do it so quickly? What happens if children are deprived of language early in life--can they learn it later? Why are humans the only species with language? Does language influence the way we think? We will examine the biological and social foundations of language development in the context of these questions. Along the way we will learn about the typical course of language development and individual differences.

Course Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you (the student) will be able to describe the typical course of language development in English and recognize whether a child is on track with respect to this timeline. You will know some optimal ways to support a child’s first language development.You will also be conversant in the biological and social foundations of language as well as the effects of early language deprivation and late language learning.

Required Texts and Readings

Hoff, E. (2014). Language Development, 5th Edition. Wadsworth/Cengage. (Available in bookstore or as e-book on publisher’s website.)

Additional readings are noted on the schedule as required, recommended, or background and will be available on Courseweb as needed.

Required readings: Readings listed with no italics or comments are required. They should be read before class unless Dr. Ganger indicates otherwise in class. Either way, required readings will be covered on exams.

Recommended readings: Recommended readings are strongly recommended for exam preparation but not required for class.

Background readings: Background readings are entirely optional and are provided as sources for exploring the topic in greater depth.

Assessments and Deadlines

• Daily assessments: Attendance is not explicitly required, but there will be a quiz, exercise, or short assignment due in almost every class meeting. These count toward a daily assessment grade.
• Exams: There will be three in-class exams. There is no final exam.
• Papers: Students will explore the critical period in language development by writing three papers, each building on the last.
• Paper deadlines: Each student is permitted five late days total (a “grace period”) with no penalty. Once the five late days are used up, late papers will be penalized 10 percentage points for each day late, including weekends.

Assigned Points

Item / Points
Three exams @50 pts each / 150
Three papers @50 pts each / 150
Daily assessments (20 mtgs @3pts each) / 60
Total / 360

Expected grading scale

97-100% A+

93-96% A (expect 25-30% of class in A range)

90-92% A-

87-89% B+

83-86% B (expect 40-60% of class in B range)

80-82% B-

etc. (expect 10-25% of class lower than B-)

59% and below: F

POLICIES

G Grades

The G grade represents incomplete coursework. A G may be given, upon request, if a student is unable to complete some coursework due to exceptional circumstances and cannot make up that work during the same term. A G grade may be granted if the student has taken at least two exams, completed at least two papers, and is in good standing in the course (earning at least a C-). The G grade allows up to two additional terms to complete course work.

Academic Integrity

Students in this course will be expected to comply with theUniversity of Pittsburgh's Policy on Academic Integrity.Any student suspected of violating this obligation for any reason during the semester will be required to participate in the procedural process, initiated at the instructor level, as outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. For exams, violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to, using or accessing unauthorized materials or assistance during exams. For papers, violations include any form of plagiarism, including,but not limited to, reproducing any part of a published or unpublished work, yours or others’, as part of your paper without proper citation.

Disabilities

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor andDisability Resources and Services(DRS), 140 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890,,or (412) 228-5347 for P3 ASL users, as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course. Students are encouraged to speak with Dr. Ganger about additional disabilities and potential accommodations could be tailored to this course.

Lecture Slides

Slides will be available to students on Courseweb as soon as possible after each class meeting.

Recording Lectures

Dr. Ganger’s permission is required for audio and video recording. Once made, recordings are for the personal use of the student and other students enrolled in the course. Videos may not be distributed to others outside the course in any fashion without permission. Dr. Ganger will attempt to record lectures when feasible and make them available through Panopto.

SCHEDULE

Unit 1. Learningthe Sounds of Speech

Date / Topics and Exams / Assigned Readings and Paper Deadlines
M Jan 8 / Course introduction / Hoff, Chapter 1: 3-7; 9-10; 16-18; Chapter 2: 31-35; 40-58
W Jan 10 / Equipotentiality / Hoff, Chapter 3: pp. 80-86
M Jan15 / NO CLASSES MLK, Jr. Day
W Jan 17 / Tuning / Hoff, Chapter 3: 87-89; Chapter 9: pp. 265-267; Maye, Werker, & Gerken, 2002
M Jan 22 / Critical period effects / Hoff, Chapter 2: 49-50; 37-40; Chapter 11: 330-338; Peterson et al., 2010; (Back- ground: Sharma et al,, 2009; Dorman & Wilson, 2004,to 439, Figs 5-6)
W Jan 24 / The critical period; Paper 1 preparation / Werker & Tees, 2005 (Background: Werker & Hensch, 2015)
M Jan 29 / Speech sounds; Early speech production / Hoff, Chapter 4: 109-116; 116-123
W Jan 31 / Spillover/review
M Feb 5 / Exam 1

Unit 2. Learning Words

Date / Topics and Exams / Assigned Readings and Paper Deadlines
W Feb 7 / Social foundations; Mapping meaning / Hoff, Chapter 2: 73-80; Chapter 5: 137-138; 153-162
M Feb 12 / First words: comprehension and production: Linking sound and meaning / Hoff, Chapter 2: 91-92; 121-123; Chapter 5: 139-144
Paper 1 due by 5:00 p.m.
W Feb 14 / Phonological processes / Hoff, Chapter 4: 124-127
M Feb 19 / Phonological processes, cont’d / Phonology assignment due
W Feb 21 / Individual differences;
Vocab spurt / Hoff, Chapter 5: 148-153; Chapter 2: 96-103;
Spurt: Hoff, Chapter 5: 144-145 (Background: Ganger & Brent, 2004)
M Feb 26 / Language and thought / Hoff, Chapter 8: 248-250; Xu, 2002: pp. 228-233; Gordon, 2004(Background: Spaepen et al., 2011)
W Feb 28 / Critical period effects in word learning/Paper 2 preparation
Spring Break Mar 5-9
M Mar 12 / Spillover/Paper 2 preparation
W Mar 14 / Exam 2

Unit 3. AcquiringGrammar

Date / Topics and Exams / Assigned Readings and Paper Deadlines
M Mar 19 / Introduction to Syntax and Learnability / Hoff: Chapter 6: 169-174; Marcus, 1993to p. 75 (Background: Hoff, Chapter 2: 100-101)
W Mar 21 / Learnability, cont’d; Start early production? / Paper 2 due by 5:00 p.m.
M Mar 26 / Early production and individual differences / Hoff, Chapter 6: 174-187
W Mar 28 / Argument structure: two proposals / Recommended: Pinker, 2007: Chap. 2, esp pp. 31-42 (Background: Hoff, Chap. 6: 193-202; Perfors et al., 2010)
M Apr 2 / Language in other animals / Hoff: Chapter 2: 58-67; Recommended: Gardner & Gardner, 1969; Seidenberg & Petitto, 1979 to p. 185 (Background: Gardner, 1978)
W Apr 4 / Critical period effects in grammar: Creolization; Preparation for Paper 3 / Hoff, Chapter 2: 32-34; 49-50;Recommended: Senghas, 2003
M Apr 9 / Critical period effects in grammar: ASL, SLA / Hoff, Chapter 2: 50-56
W Apr 11 / Critical period effects in grammar: ASL, SLA
M Apr 16 / Spillover
W Apr 18 / Exam 3
T Apr 24 / No final exam / Paper 3 due by 10:00a.m. (on Courseweb and to Psychology main office, Sennott Square)

Full Reference List:

Gardner, R.A., & Gardner, B. T. (1969).Teaching sign language to a chimpanzee. Science, 165, 664-672.

Gardner, B.T., & Gardner, R.A. (1978). Comparative psychology and language acquisition.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 309, 37-75.

Ganger, J., & Brent, M. (2004). Reexamining the vocabulary spurt. Developmental Psychology, 40, 621-642.

Gordon, P. (2004). Numerical cognition without words: Evidence from Amazonia. Science, 306, 496-499

Hoff, E. (2014). Language Development, 5th Ed. Wadsworth/Cengage: Belmont, CA.

Marcus, G. (1993). Negative evidence in language acquisition. Cognition, 46, 53-85.

Maye, J., Werker, J.F., & Gerken, L. (2002). Infant sensitivity to distributional information can affect phonetic discrimination. Cognition, 82, B101-B111.

Petersen, N.R., Pisoni, D.B., Miyamoto, R.T. (2010). Cochlear implants and spoken language processing abilities: Review and assessment of the literature. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 28, 237-250, doi: 10.3233/RNN-2010-0535

Perfors, A., Tenenbaum, J.B., &Wonnacott, E. (2010). Variability, negative evidence, and the acquisition of verb argument constructions. Journal of Child Language, 37, 607-642.

Pinker, S. (2007). The stuff of thought. Viking.

Seidenberg, M. & Petitto, L. (1979). Signing behavior in apes: a critical review. Cognition, 7, 177-215.

Senghas, A. (2003). Intergenerational influence and ontogenetic development in the emergence of spatial grammar in Nicaraguan Sign Language. Cognitive Development, 18, 511-531.

Sharma, A., Nash, A.A., & Dorman, M. (2009). Cortical development, plasticity and re-organization in children with cochlear implants. Journal of Communication Disorders, 42, 272-279. Doi:

Spaepen, E., Coppola, M., Spelke, E.S., Carey, S.E., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2011). Number without a language model. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 18, 3163-3168. doi:

Werker, J.F. & Tees, R.C. (2005). Speech perception as a window for understanding plasticity and commitment in language systems of the brain.

Werker, J.F. & Hensch, T.K. (2015). Critical period in speech perception: New directions. Annual Reviews of Psychology, 66, 173-196. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015104

Xu, F. (2002). The role of language in acquiring object kind concepts in infancy. Cognition, 85, 223-250.