Dataset Information

Young children spontaneously recreate core properties of language in a new modality.

ABSTRACT: How the world's 6,000+ natural languages have arisen is mostly unknown. Yet, new sign languages have emerged recently among deaf people brought together in a community, offering insights into the dynamics of language evolution. However, documenting the emergence of these languages has mostly consisted of studying the end product; the process by which ad hoc signs are transformed into a structured communication system has not been directly observed. Here we show how young children create new communication systems that exhibit core features of natural languages in less than 30 min. In a controlled setting, we blocked the possibility of using spoken language. In order to communicate novel messages, including abstract concepts, dyads of children spontaneously created novel gestural signs. Over usage, these signs became increasingly arbitrary and conventionalized. When confronted with the need to communicate more complex meanings, children began to grammatically structure their gestures. Together with previous work, these results suggest that children have the basic skills necessary, not only to acquire a natural language, but also to spontaneously create a new one. The speed with which children create these structured systems has profound implications for theorizing about language evolution, a process which is generally thought to span across many generations, if not millennia.

SUBMITTER: Bohn M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6926062 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Young children spontaneously recreate core properties of language in a new modality.

Bohn Manuel M Kachel Gregor G Tomasello Michael M

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20191202 51

How the world's 6,000+ natural languages have arisen is mostly unknown. Yet, new sign languages have emerged recently among deaf people brought together in a community, offering insights into the dynamics of language evolution. However, documenting the emergence of these languages has mostly consisted of studying the end product; the process by which ad hoc signs are transformed into a structured communication system has not been directly observed. Here we show how young children create new comm ...[more]

PMID: 31792169

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Project description:Recent theories propose that domain-general deficits in prediction (i.e., the ability to anticipate upcoming information) underlie the behavioral characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). If these theories are correct, autistic children might be expected to demonstrate difficulties on linguistic tasks that rely on predictive processing. Previous research has largely focused on older autistic children and adolescents with average language and cognition. The present study used an eye-gaze task to evaluate predictive language processing among 3- to 4-year-old autistic children (n = 34) and 1.5- to 3-year-old, language-matched neurotypical (NT) children (n = 34). Children viewed images (e.g., a cake and a ball) and heard sentences with informative verbs (e.g., Eat the cake) or neutral verbs (e.g., Find the cake). Analyses of children's looking behaviors indicated that young autistic children, like their language-matched NT peers, engaged in predictive language processing. Regression results revealed a significant effect of diagnostic group, when statistically controlling for age differences. The NT group displayed larger difference scores between the informative and neutral verb conditions (in looks to target nouns) compared to the ASD group. Receptive language measures were predictive of looking behavior across time for both groups, such that children with stronger language skills were more efficient in making use of informative verbs to process upcoming information. Taken together, these results suggest that young autistic children can engage in predictive processing though further research is warranted to explore the developmental trajectory relative to NT development. LAY SUMMARY: This study found that 3- to 4-year-old autistic children and younger, language-matched neurotypical (NT) children both used verbs to predict upcoming nouns in sentences like "Eat the cake." For both autistic and NT children, those with stronger language skills were able to predict upcoming nouns more quickly.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:This study examined the language outcomes of children with mild to severe hearing loss during the preschool years. The longitudinal design was leveraged to test whether language growth trajectories were associated with degree of hearing loss and whether aided hearing influenced language growth in a systematic manner. The study also explored the influence of the timing of hearing aid fitting and extent of use on children's language growth. Finally, the study tested the hypothesis that morphosyntax may be at particular risk due to the demands it places on the processing of fine details in the linguistic input. DESIGN:The full cohort of children in this study comprised 290 children who were hard of hearing (CHH) and 112 children with normal hearing who participated in the Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss (OCHL) study between the ages of 2 and 6 years. CHH had a mean better-ear pure-tone average of 47.66 dB HL (SD = 13.35). All children received a comprehensive battery of language measures at annual intervals, including standardized tests, parent-report measures, and spontaneous and elicited language samples. Principal components analysis supported the use of a single composite language score for each of the age levels (2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 years). Measures of unaided (better-ear pure-tone average, speech intelligibility index) and aided (residualized speech intelligibility index) hearing were collected, along with parent-report measures of daily hearing aid use time. Mixed modeling procedures were applied to examine the rate of change (227 CHH; 94 children with normal hearing) in language ability over time in relation to (1) degree of hearing loss, (2) aided hearing, (3) age of hearing aid fit and duration of use, and (4) daily hearing aid use. Principal components analysis was also employed to examine factor loadings from spontaneous language samples and to test their correspondence with standardized measures. Multiple regression analysis was used to test for differential effects of hearing loss on morphosyntax and lexical development. RESULTS:Children with mild to severe hearing loss, on average, showed depressed language levels compared with peers with normal hearing who were matched on age and socioeconomic status. The degree to which CHH fell behind increased with greater severity of hearing loss. The amount of improved audibility with hearing aids was associated with differential rates of language growth; better audibility was associated with faster rates of language growth in the preschool years. Children fit early with hearing aids had better early language achievement than children fit later. However, children who were fit after 18 months of age improved in their language abilities as a function of the duration of hearing aid use. These results suggest that the language learning system remains open to experience provided by improved access to linguistic input. Performance in the domain of morphosyntax was found to be more delayed in CHH than their semantic abilities. CONCLUSION:The data obtained in this study largely support the predictions, suggesting that mild to severe hearing loss places children at risk for delays in language development. Risks are moderated by the provision of early and consistent access to well-fit hearing aids that provide optimized audibility.

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Young children spontaneously recreate core properties of language in a new modality.

Publications

Young children spontaneously recreate core properties of language in a new modality.

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