Native listeners

Becoming a native listener is the necessary precursor to becoming a native speaker. Babies in the first year of life undertake a remarkable amount of work; by the time they begin to speak, they have perceptually mastered the phonological repertoire and phoneme co-occurrence probabilities of the native language, and they can locate familiar word-forms in novel continuous-speech contexts. The skills acquired at this early stage form a necessary part of adult listening. However, the same native listening skills also underlie problems in listening to a late-acquired non-native language, accounting for why in such a case listening (an innate ability) is sometimes paradoxically more difficult than, for instance, reading (a learned ability).

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Acquisition of Nonadjacent Phonological Dependencies in the Native Language During the First Year of Life

Infancy ◽

10.1111/j.1532-7078.2011.00104.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 17 (5) ◽

pp. 498-524 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez ◽

Thierry Nazzi

Keyword(s):

Native Language ◽

First Year ◽

First Year Of Life

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Speech Perception in Infancy

The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology, Vol. 1 ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199958450.013.0031 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 908-925 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Janet F. Werker ◽

Judit Gervain

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Empirical Evidence ◽

Native Language ◽

Newborn Infants ◽

First Year ◽

Learning Mechanisms ◽

Environmental Input ◽

Perceptual Abilities ◽

First Year Of Life ◽

Different Levels

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.).

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Native-language sensitivities: evolution in the first year of life

Trends in Cognitive Sciences ◽

10.1016/j.tics.2006.04.009 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 239-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

N SEBASTIANGALLES

Keyword(s):

Native Language ◽

First Year ◽

First Year Of Life

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The Influence of Apolipoprotein E Polymorphism on Plasma Concentrations of Apolipoprotein B and A-I During the First Year of Life

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.93.2.296 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 93 (2) ◽

pp. 296-302

Author(s):

Wolfgang Herrmann ◽

Sigrid Hanf ◽

Jürgen Reißner ◽

Hans Kaffarnik ◽

Sabine Motzny ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Stage ◽

Plasma Concentrations ◽

Serum Levels ◽

High Density Lipoproteins ◽

First Year ◽

Apo E ◽

Apolipoprotein E Polymorphism ◽

First Year Of Life ◽

Apoe Phenotype

Apolipoprotein (apo)E polymorphism has been shown to be associated with different serum levels of cholesterol, apoB, and apoE. In clarifying the degree of influence of the apoE isoforms, investigations in an early stage of life are useful. The aim of the study was to investigate the plasma levels of apoB and apoA-I as structural proteins of low and high density lipoproteins, in relation to apoE phenotypes during the first year of life. Conclusions about the relationship between apoE phenotype and the development of the lipoprotein patterns can be drawn. The concentrations of apoB and apoA-I in capillary plasma as well as the apoE phenotype were estimated in 199 newborns (7 days old) and in follow-up investigations of a subgroup of 45 at 1, 4, 12, 24, and 52 weeks. The phenotype frequencies were as follows: 70% apoE 3/3, 16% apoE 3/4, 10% apoE 2/3, 2.5% apoE 2/2, and 1.5% apoE 4/2. The plasma concentrations of apoB and apoA-I in the newborns (7 days old) averaged 55% of the adult value and increased toward the end of the first year of life up to approximately 85%. The course of the plasma concentrations of apoB and apoA-I in relation to the apoE phenotype showed that, beginning at 24 weeks, the apoB levels were significantly lower for the phenotype E 2/2 and in tendency also for the phenotype E 2/3 in comparison with E 3/3. At the end of the first year of life, the apoB levels in infants with apoE phenotype 2/2 increased only by 50% and yielded 0.59 g/L. But the apoB levels of infants with other apoE phenotypes (apoE 2/3, 3/3, 4/2, 4/3) increased during the same period related to their phenotype between 78% ad 90% (absolute 0.71 to 0.91 g/L). In contrast, apoA-I concentrations were independent of the apoE phenotype. It is concluded that already in infancy apoE polymorphism influences the metabolism of apoB- and apoE-containing lipoproteins.

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What Infants Know and What They have to Learn about Language

European Review ◽

10.1017/s1062798708000392 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 429-444 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jacques Mehler ◽

Marina Nespor ◽

Marcela Peña

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary History ◽

Native Language ◽

Artificial Grammar ◽

First Year ◽

Natural Languages ◽

Memory Functions ◽

Distributional Properties ◽

History Of ◽

First Year Of Life ◽

Gain Access

The study of language acquisition during the first year of life is reviewed. We identified three areas that have contributed to our understanding of how the infant copes with linguistic signals to attain the most basic properties of its native language. Distributional properties present in the incoming utterances may allow infants to extract word candidates in the speech stream as shown in the impoverished conditions of artificial grammar studies. This procedure is important because it would work well for most natural languages. We also highlight another important mechanism that allows infants to induce structure from very scarce data. In fact, humans tend to project structural conjectures after being presented with only a few utterances. Finally, we illustrate constraints on processing that derive from perceptual and memory functions that arose much earlier during the evolutionary history of the species. We conclude that all of these machanisms are important for the infants to gain access to its native language.

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140 Endocrine Profiling in Prepubertal Stallions with Abnormal Testicular Development

Reproduction Fertility and Development ◽

10.1071/rdv30n1ab140 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 210

Author(s):

D. Scarlet ◽

J. Kuhl ◽

M. Wulf ◽

N. Ille ◽

M. Köhne ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Repeated Measures ◽

Early Stage ◽

Significant Negative Correlation ◽

Perinatal Period ◽

Testicular Volume ◽

First Year ◽

Testicular Development ◽

Testicular Morphology ◽

First Year Of Life ◽

Lh Secretion

The use of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) as a biomarker for assessment of male gonadal activity has become increasingly widespread. Aberrant AMH concentration successfully detects cryptorchids or pathologic testes in postpubertal stallions, but the ability to use AMH to identify stallions with testicular pathologies during their prepubertal life has not been analysed so far. The objectives of this work were to (1) assess AMH, testosterone, LH, and FSH dynamics in male horses with or without testicular pathologies during the first year of life; and (2) find a reliable diagnostic approach that would enable the identification of animals that will develop abnormal testes at an early stage. Warmblood colts (n = 16) born from February to May on the same stud farm were used. Blood samples for hormone determinations were collected from birth onwards every 4 weeks until the age of 1 year. At 2 years, testicular development was assessed, total testicular volume calculated. and a blood sample collected. Concentrations of AMH, testosterone, LH, and FSH were determined in all samples; AMH (AL-115, Ansh Laboratories, Webster, TX, USA) and testosterone (DE1559, Demeditec, Kiel-Wellsee, Germany) concentrations were determined by ELISA, whereas LH and FSH concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. Statistical analysis (SPSS Statistics 24; IBM/SPSS, Armonk, NY, USA) was performed by ANOVA using a general linear model for repeated measures. In 2 stallions, unilateral cryptorchism, and in other 4 stallions, subnormal total testicular volume (<mean minus SD) were diagnosed at 2 years. Concentrations of AMH, testosterone, and FSH changed over time (P < 0.001) but were similar (P > 0.05) within the first year of life irrespective of testicular morphology and location. Concentration of LH at birth was lower (P = 0.05) in stallions with abnormal testes (0.3 ± 0.2 ng mL−1) than in controls (0.6 ± 0.2 ng mL−1), but did not differ thereafter. At 2 years of age, AMH concentration was higher (P < 0.01) in stallions with abnormal testes (39.7 ± 12.7 ng mL−1) than in controls (8.0 ± 0.2 ng mL−1), but no group differences with regard to LH, FSH, and testosterone existed. There was a low but significant negative correlation between AMH and FSH (P < 0.001, r = –0.24), as well as between AMH and LH (P < 0.05, r = –0.15). Also, testosterone concentration was positively correlated with FSH (P < 0.05, r = 0.18) and LH (P < 0.05, r = 0.16) concentrations. In conclusion, AMH determination can be reliably used from 2 years onwards to identify stallions with abnormal testicular development, but it is inconclusive before puberty. We concluded that LH secretion in the perinatal period is involved in testicular development and descent in the horse.

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The Place and Role of The Father in Early Life

Romanian Journal of Psychoanalysis ◽

10.2478/rjp-2019-0018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 93-106

Author(s):

Pantelie Speranța Rodica

Keyword(s):

Empirical Research ◽

Early Life ◽

Early Stage ◽

First Year ◽

Psychoanalytic Understanding ◽

The World ◽

Psychodynamic Understanding ◽

First Year Of Life ◽

Triadic Relationship

Abstract The present paper is an attempt to create bridges of understanding between the subjective investigation in the psychoanalytic situation and the empirical research concerning a subject not enough explored in its earliest dimensions – the place and role of the father in the first year of the child’s life. As part of a more extensive empirical research on the dynamics of child development in the first year of life, the research presented in this article was built and articulated within the psychodynamic theories of development, it was conducted in the form of a standardized research and generated a series of results that are re-integrated into the psychoanalytic understanding, validating and being validated by psychoanalytic knowledge. The central point of this encounter between the psychodynamic understanding and the results of empirical research is that the father is an active presence in the development of the child from the first year of life, in a formula of internal and external triadic relationship and that one of the most important function of the father in this early stage of life is to facilitate a way for the child to build his own loving and creative relationship with the world.

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The Development of Swallowing Respiratory Coordination

Perspectives on Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders (Dysphagia) ◽

10.1044/sasd18.1.19 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 19-24

Author(s):

Maggie-Lee Huckabee

Keyword(s):

Cortical Activation ◽

First Year ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Nasal Airflow ◽

Single Session ◽

Primary Finding ◽

Patterns Of Behavior ◽

Cortical Modulation ◽

First Year Of Life ◽

Swallowing Apnea

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.

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