GENERAL
Discuss the view that language is domain-general with reference to developmental disorders of communication.
People with learning disabilities can have problems with language. Does this provide evidence for the cognition hypothesis of language development?
Nativists, such as Pinker (1994), believe that humans have an innate predisposition for language. Is this true and why?
INPUT PROBLEMS
A child who has been reared in isolation without verbal input is discovered at the age of 7. What are the prospects for their subsequent language development?
Why are cases of temporary language deprivation of particular interest to those studying the development of language, and what do they show?
How important is early input for the development of language?
What evidence is there for a critical period of language development. What implications does this have?
You are presented with three children who have been deprived of verbal input for 3 years, 6.5 years and 14 years. Discuss how you would prioritise efforts to teach each child language. Justify your answer.
Discuss how otitis media is of interest to developmental psycholinguists.
DS
How far does research into DS support or reject the cognition hypothesis?
What can we learn about language from studies of DS individuals?
Why might there be a language delay in sufferers of DS?
With reference to data from DS individuals, how far would defend or reject a modular view of the mind (with specific focus on language)?
SLI
How do children acquire the past tense of verbs? Discuss with reference to evidence from developmental disorders.
Do Williams Syndrome and Specific Language Impairment constitute a double dissociation? Discuss the theoretical implications of your answer.
How does SLI speak to the issue of innateness of language?
Does SLI provide evidence for a domain specific or domain general problem in language?
Is there a gene for language?
WS
Does the existence of specific developmental disorders provide evidence for the modularity of mind? Is the acquisition of past tense in Williams syndrome any way support of Pinker’s Words and Rules account?
Brock (2007) has suggested researchers no longer use Williams syndrome as an example of the modularity of language? Why might he have said this?
How intact are the language abilities in Williams syndrome? What theoretical implications does this have?
Does Williams syndrome support the view that language abilities are innate?
Evaluate Williams syndrome in terms of connectionist modelling.
Does language development depend on cognitive development. Discuss with reference to Williams syndrome.
AUTISM
How central is a theory of mind impairment to the psychology of autism?
Evaluate the possible explanations for autism.
Why do individuals with autism have difficulty understanding lies, metaphors and irony?
Do autistics have a domain-specific or domain-general impairment?
Can the triad of problems in autism be explained by ‘mindblindness’?
OUTPUT PROBLEMS
What are the theoretical implications of output disorders? What can they tell us about the view that language is modular?
Evidence from studies on the effect of speech disorders on subsequent language ability indicate that speech production is modular. Discuss.
What are the theoretical implications of output disorders? What can they tell us about the view that language is modular?
Evidence from studies on the effect of speech disorders on subsequent language ability indicate that speech production is modular. Discuss.
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