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Nativism: Noam Chomsky

This exploration of Noam Chomsky's nativism delves into the cognitive code and innate knowledge that infants possess at birth. It discusses how infants can effortlessly learn complex languages and concepts, despite a seemingly impoverished linguistic environment. With insights into the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) and Universal Grammar (UG), the text highlights the debate between Piaget and Chomsky on how children learn and develop language. Ultimately, it addresses the implications of innate modules and their role in cognitive processing, contributing to our understanding of human language and development.

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Nativism: Noam Chomsky

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  1. Nativism: Noam Chomsky

  2. Nativism • Main question: what is the cognitive code? • Infant is born with complete world knowledge • Infants count • Infants have a concept of objects • Infants have physics concepts • Infants have language

  3. Nativism • Evidence for the claim of complete world knowledge • Youngsters learn an extremely complex system (language) effortlessly • Youngsters learn an extremely complex system (language) in a short amount of time • Youngsters do not need instruction to learn their mother tongue

  4. Nativism • Do youngsters who are born deaf can learn an impoverished language at a level that is higher than the level they hear? • Youngsters develop Creole from pidgin • Infants do not hear grammar; they hear a string of words and infer the syntactic rules language (impoverishment of the stimulus) • Infants often hear ungrammatical sentences, yet they learn the grammar

  5. Nativism: Learning Paradox • Fodor’s learning paradox: one learns something only if one knows it in advance • To learn a language you have to know that language in advance • What you know is at a higher level than what you learn

  6. Nativism • In the case of language, infants are born with: • a universal grammar (UG) - a data base of grammar • language acquisition device (LAD) - hypothesis tester

  7. Nativism • If the child is born with a LAD and no UG, he doesn’t have anything to hypothesize on • If the child is born with a UG and no LAD, he cannot hypothesize about the language

  8. Nativism • The UG is the cognitive code. • Unique to humans • Universal for humans • If one can describe it, one has cracked the cognitive code.

  9. Nativism • Relations between learning and development • Only learning (deductive) • No development • Similar to classical behaviorism

  10. Nativism: Language Acquisition Device • hypothesize the grammar in the language you are exposed to • see if the hypothesis fits the grammar • if yes, continue with the hypothesis • if no, make a new hypothesis

  11. Nativism • If that is how children learn language, it is impossible, in principle, to develop to a higher level • How can you hypothesize something that is not already there? • Nativists say you cannot

  12. Nativism • As a consequence, it is best to build the most powerful system so that it is there in infancy

  13. Argument between Piaget and Chomsky • CHOMSKY’S POINT: • Chomsky: One cannot construct more powerful structures because hypothesis testing cannot take place at a level that is higher than one’s highest level e.g., conservation: a child cannot hypothesize conservation if he is at the intuitive stage

  14. Argument between Piaget and Chomsky • Chomsky: One cannot construct more powerful structures because hypothesis testing cannot take place at a level that is higher than one’s highest level • Fodor’s learning paradox e.g., conservation: a child cannot hypothesize conservation if he is at the intuitive stage

  15. Piaget Rebuttal • Piaget: I don’t have to accept hypothesis testing as the mechanism for learning • I believe children learn and develop through disequilibrium

  16. Piaget Rebuttal • I can describe learning and development in • Child development (ontogeny) • History of disciplines (Piaget & Garcia; Kuhn) • My system allows me to describe two disparate developments: ontogeny and historical development

  17. Piaget Rebuttal • You, the nativists cannot describe the development of disciplines in history in terms of innate modules within humans • Bottom line: • I can describe two developments and you can describe one • I don’t believe the description you give to language acquisition

  18. Nativism: Modularity 1. Encapsulation - it is impossible to interfere with the inner workings of a module.2. Unconscious - it is difficult or impossible to reflect on the operations of module.3. Speed - modules are very fast.4. Shallow outputs - modules provide limited output, without information about theintervening steps that led to that output.

  19. Nativism: Modularity 5. Obligatory firing - modules operate reflexively, providing predetermined outputs for predetermined inputs regardless of thecontext.6. Ontogenetic universals - modules develop in a characteristic sequence.7. Localization - modules are mediated by dedicated neural systems.

  20. Nativism: Modularity 8. Pathological universals - modules breakdown in characteristic fashion following insult to the system.9. Domain specificity - as discussed above.

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