Modeling, imitation training, and the acquisition of sentence phrases

Whitehurst, Grover J.; Novak, Gary

doi:10.1016/0022-0965(73)90171-9

Cited by 31 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…As a skilled listener, the child is able to detect when he or she has conformed or deviated from the experimenter's verbal behavior. Thus, with vocal behavior, children are discriminating listeners long before they become fluent speakers (Fraser et al, 1963;Mann & Baer, 1971;Gesell & Thompson, 1934;Whitehurst & Novak, 1973;Palmer, 1996). The feedback from one's own speech serves a different reinforcing function that appears to play a role in the shaping and development of verbal behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although several theories have surfaced, one widespread theory posits that imitation plays a crucial role in language acquisition (Guess, Sailor, Rutherford, & Baer, 1968;Sherman 1971;Whitehurst, 1972;Whitehurst & Novak, 1973). Positions on this contentious issue range from the assertion that imitation is required for language acquisition (Bandura & Harris, 1966) to the notion that imitation serves no function (Ervin, 1964).…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Role of Modeling and Automatic Reinforcement in the Construction of the Passive Voice

Wright

2006

Analysis Verbal Behav

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Language acquisition has been a contentious topic among linguists, psycholinguists, and behaviorists for decades. Although numerous theories of language acquisition have surfaced, none have sufficiently accounted for the subtleties of the language that children acquire. The present study attempts to explain the role of modeling and automatic reinforcement in the acquisition of the passive voice. Six children, ages 3 to 5, participated in this study. The results indicated that the children began using the passive voice only after the experimenter modeled passive sentences. Furthermore, the usage of the passive voice increased with repeated exposure to the experimenter's verbal behavior. Given that the children were not explicitly reinforced, it is proposed that their behavior was automatically reinforced for using the passive voice.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Modeling and Automatic Reinforcement in the Construction of the Passive Voice

Wright

2006

Analysis Verbal Behav

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“…For instance, subjects of experimental research on language acquisition in which some form of reinforcement has been manipulated have been of a different species (e.g., Savage-Rumbaugh & Rumbaugh, 1980), or intellectually retarded (e.g., Guess, Keogh, & Sailor, 1978), or adults (e.g., Krasner, 1965), or have been studied in constrained laboratory settings (Whitehurst & Novak, 1973), or have been exposed to variables that might be unlike those found in the everyday environment (e.g., Nelson, Carskaddon, & Bonvillian, 1973;Ribes, 1979). Experiments have been performed rarely on questions of language acquisition, and then issues of external validity have loomed large.…”

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confidence: 99%

What Is the Role of Reinforcement in Early Language Acquisition?

Whitehurst¹,

Valdez-Menchaca²

1988

Child Development

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Monolingual American and Mexican 2- and 3-year-old children were exposed to a foreign language in a naturalistic but controlled environment. Children were randomly assigned to 2 groups. 1 group was differentially reinforced throughout the study for the use of foreign vocabulary. The control group was first reinforced nondifferentially for use of the native language or the foreign language and later was switched to differential reinforcement for the foreign language. Frequencies of spontaneous foreign word production and other verbal responses were computed, and formal assessments of comprehension and production of the foreign words were conducted. Differential reinforcement resulted in accelerating frequencies of spontaneous foreign language use and better performance on both comprehension and production tests. Under nondifferential reinforcement, rates of spontaneous foreign language use were low and static. Results are interpreted as evidence that the acquisition of expressive vocabulary is a function of socially mediated reinforcement.

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“…Modelling is especially effective if used in conjunction with concrete objects as referred to by the adult speaker (Brown, 1979). The second step is the immediate imitation of the modelled construction by the child (Whitehurst and Novak, 1973). The third and final step is the reinforcement of correct child behaviour and neglect of incorrect constructions by the adult listener (Whitehurst, 1972;Garcia et al, 1973).…”

Section: Experimental Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First they dug the hole and now they're building the building'" (Cazden, 1972, p. 115f). Studies of Friedlander et al (1972) and of Whitehurst and Novak (1973) also showed that parents only seldom reinforced differentially the syntactically correct utterances of their children. Hursh and Sherman (1973) asked three parents to attempt, by any means they wished, to increase the frequency of a specific vocalization of their children.…”

Section: Reinforcementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactional conditions of syntax acquisition: A review

Strohner

Weingarten

Becker³

1982

Instr Sci

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This paper reviews how and why children's acquisition of syntactic structures is influenced by verbal communication with adults. It argues that those interactions involve cooperative problem-solving and can be interpreted within interactionist theory. It surveys several ways in which adults model a child's syntactic structure to convey the child's intended meaning. These are: expansion; extension; modelling without prior child utterance; and modelling after metalinguistic interruption of the conversation.

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Modeling, imitation training, and the acquisition of sentence phrases

Cited by 31 publications

References 10 publications

The Role of Modeling and Automatic Reinforcement in the Construction of the Passive Voice

The Role of Modeling and Automatic Reinforcement in the Construction of the Passive Voice

What Is the Role of Reinforcement in Early Language Acquisition?

Interactional conditions of syntax acquisition: A review

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