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Hereditary factors in language acquisition

Hereditary factors in language acquisition Kathryn Norcross Black, Ph.D. Purdue University The question, "Are there hereditary influences in language acquisition?" is one specific example of a group of questions that has been referred to as the heredity-environment question, or the nature-nurture issue. Although such questions occupied a significant position in the early history of child development study, the mainstream of early psychology in this country, dominated by behaviorism, largely ignored them. Learning theories assumed that behavior could be understood and controlled in terms of the environment. Such an orientation fitted in well with a social-political world view that persons were "created equal." Additionally, for a young and growing science it may have seemed more important to establish general principles than to consider apparent exceptions. More recently, however, both society and the sciences have given increasing attention to individual differences and, perhaps then necessarily, to biological influences upon behavior and development. As a result, not only do we now have the widely recognized subfield of behavior genetics, but other behavioral scientists now feel free to make use of explanatory mechanisms involving heredity. This paper will consider the extent to which this has been done, and seems necessary, in the area of language acquisition. I shall http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Annals of Dyslexia Springer Journals

Hereditary factors in language acquisition

Black, Kathryn Norcross
Annals of Dyslexia , Volume 30 (1): 7 – Jan 1, 1980
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References (11)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
1980 The Orton Society, Inc
ISSN
0736-9387
eISSN
1934-7243
DOI
10.1007/BF02653713
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Kathryn Norcross Black, Ph.D. Purdue University The question, "Are there hereditary influences in language acquisition?" is one specific example of a group of questions that has been referred to as the heredity-environment question, or the nature-nurture issue. Although such questions occupied a significant position in the early history of child development study, the mainstream of early psychology in this country, dominated by behaviorism, largely ignored them. Learning theories assumed that behavior could be understood and controlled in terms of the environment. Such an orientation fitted in well with a social-political world view that persons were "created equal." Additionally, for a young and growing science it may have seemed more important to establish general principles than to consider apparent exceptions. More recently, however, both society and the sciences have given increasing attention to individual differences and, perhaps then necessarily, to biological influences upon behavior and development. As a result, not only do we now have the widely recognized subfield of behavior genetics, but other behavioral scientists now feel free to make use of explanatory mechanisms involving heredity. This paper will consider the extent to which this has been done, and seems necessary, in the area of language acquisition. I shall

Journal

Annals of Dyslexia – Springer Journals

Published: Jan 1, 1980

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