Cross-language speech perception: Evidence for perceptual reorganization during the first year of life

2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet F Werker ◽  
Richard C Tees
Author(s):  
Janet F. Werker ◽  
Judit Gervain

We discuss the development of speech perception and its contribution to the acquisition of the native language(s) during the first year of life, reviewing recent empirical evidence as well as current theoretical debates. We situate the discussion in an epigenetic framework in an attempt to transcend the traditional nature/nurture controversy. As we illustrate, some perceptual and learning mechanisms are best described as experience-expectant processes, embedded in our biology and awaiting minimal environmental input, while others are experience-dependent, emerging as a function of sufficient exposure and learning. We argue for a cascading model of development, whereby the initial biases guide learning and constrain the influence of the environmental input. To illustrate this, we first review the perceptual abilities of newborn infants, then discuss how these broad-based abilities are attuned to the native language at different levels (phonology, syntax, lexicon etc.).


2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1254-1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bobby A. Tajudeen ◽  
Susan B. Waltzman ◽  
Daniel Jethanamest ◽  
Mario A. Svirsky

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 37-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Kyle Danielson ◽  
Alison G. Bruderer ◽  
Padmapriya Kandhadai ◽  
Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson ◽  
Janet F. Werker

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Maggie-Lee Huckabee

Abstract Research exists that evaluates the mechanics of swallowing respiratory coordination in healthy children and adults as well and individuals with swallowing impairment. The research program summarized in this article represents a systematic examination of swallowing respiratory coordination across the lifespan as a means of behaviorally investigating mechanisms of cortical modulation. Using time-locked recordings of submental surface electromyography, nasal airflow, and thyroid acoustics, three conditions of swallowing were evaluated in 20 adults in a single session and 10 infants in 10 sessions across the first year of life. The three swallowing conditions were selected to represent a continuum of volitional through nonvolitional swallowing control on the basis of a decreasing level of cortical activation. Our primary finding is that, across the lifespan, brainstem control strongly dictates the duration of swallowing apnea and is heavily involved in organizing the integration of swallowing and respiration, even in very early infancy. However, there is evidence that cortical modulation increases across the first 12 months of life to approximate more adult-like patterns of behavior. This modulation influences primarily conditions of volitional swallowing; sleep and naïve swallows appear to not be easily adapted by cortical regulation. Thus, it is attention, not arousal that engages cortical mechanisms.


2001 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. A209-A209
Author(s):  
G RIEZZO ◽  
R CASTELLANA ◽  
T DEBELLIS ◽  
F LAFORGIA ◽  
F INDRIO ◽  
...  

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