Simon Showed Grammatical Mastery for the Rules of American Sign

question 166

Multiple Choice

Simon showed grammatical mastery for the rules of American Sign Language, even though his teachers (his parents and their friends) did not. This lends support for the idea that

• A) there is no sensitive period for learning language.
• B) ASL cannot be taught to children after the age of 9.
• C) the tendency to acquire language is inborn.
• D) a child can learn grammatically incorrect ASL, even if the parents model correct usage.

Recognize the historical and cultural context of child development.

Differentiate between concepts of growth and development.

Comprehend the motives for studying child development.

Identify key figures and their contributions to child development theories.

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Definitions:

Encoding Failure

A situation where information does not enter the brain's long-term memory and hence cannot be recalled later.

Implicit Memory

Implicit memory refers to the unconscious retention of information, which influences behavior without conscious recollection.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

A hypothesis that describes the decrease in ability of the brain to retain memory over time, where memories are lost exponentially with time.

Implicit Memory

A type of long-term memory that enables us to perform tasks without conscious awareness of these previous experiences.