Developmental psychologyChapter 10The development of language A communication system Human language is primarily a communication system, a means for speakers of a language to communicate with one another.This ability is not unique to the human species.But non of the communication systems of other species have been found to possess all of he characteristics found in human communication.Human language is a symbolic, rule-governed system that is both abstract and productive, characteristics that enable its speakers to produce and comprehend a wide range of utterances.It evolved from multiple abilities.A symbolic system Words and parts of words represent meanings.These symbols refer to things other than themselves. They are conventional because speakers of a language use the same word to express the same meanings. This makes communication possible.Language symbols are arbitrary, there is no necessary relation between sound and meaning.A rule-governed system Each human language is constrained by a set of rules that reflects the regularities of the language.The rule system is abstract, it goes beyond the simple association of individual words and instead involves the manipulation of abstract classes of words.Articles precede nouns.The abstract classes and rules enable a languages productivity.Language is productiveA finite number of linguistic units and a finite number of rules are capable of yielding an infinite number of grammatical utterances.Speakers may produce and...

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An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - a summary

An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - a summary

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This bundle contains a summary of the book An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition). The book is about development from fetus to elderly. Only the chapters needed in the course 'Developmental psychology' in the first year of psychology at the Uva are present.