** Low Priority ** Well, you could've misread it as "Barbies finding early vice through sign language." I guess we're all lucky. d
David K. Hogberg, PhD Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Albion College, Albion MI 49224 [EMAIL PROTECTED] home phone: 517/629-4834 >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/31/06 2:44 PM >>> Well, when I first saw the article on Yahoo news, I misread the headline as "Barbies finding early voice through sign language." Now that scared the hell out of me. --- Jean-Marc Perreault <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I know this cannot be used as hard core evidence. > But we have used sign > language with our daughter, and she has been using > signs since she was about > 10 months. Mostly, basic signs that signify more > than just the word itself; > for example, the "more" sign meaning I want more, or > "milk" meaning I want > to drink milk. It's not like she was using the full > spectrum, but basic > signs for basic needs. Heck, she even signed that > her diaper needed a > change. Sure beats crying!!! > > Many parents around us with babies of the same age > have also used sign > language. For many, although not for all, it appears > to have been helpful. > Certain babies just don't seem to have taken much > interest. This could be > due to a lack of consistency on the part of the > parents, or simply a lack of > interest. > > Now, with regards to this paragraph of the Yahoo > article: > > "Books, flashcards, videos and classes hail the > benefits of teaching babies > as young as 6 months old to sign with their parents, > promising improved IQ, > accelerated speech development and less frustration > for everyone during the > "terrible twos."" > > I'm not sure about such claims... But for the > communicating part, it sure > worked for us. > > > Cheers! > > JM > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mike Palij [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2006 5:38 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Cc: Mike Palij > Subject: [tips] Re: Babies finding early voice > through sign language - > Yahoo! News > > On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 21:31:07 -0400, "Christopher D. > Green" wrote: > > The latest installment in the psycho-BS dept. > > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060727/lf_nm/life_babysign_dc > > I may be a little dense but could you please be more > specific > about the "psycho-BS" aspects of the article? > Though one > could find fault with the Yahoo article, I thought > it was pretty > well established that infants exposed to American > Sign Language > (ASL) were were able to produce signs at an earlier > age > (roughly at 8 months but some can do so earlier) > than spoken > words (which appear around 12 months) > . > I believe Prinz and Prinz (1979) showed this in a > case study > and subsequent work, such as that by Bonvillian, > Orlanskay, > and Novack (1983), replicated the result with > larger samples > of children. After the Freudian Iceberg discussion > I am loathe > to use a secondary source as support but I'd like to > point to > the David Carroll's "Psychology of Language" (4th > Ed), Chap 10, > pp267-270 which compares the similarities and > differences in > the acquisition of sign and spoken language and the > research that > he references there. Quoting Carroll: "the primary > difference is > that infants acquire their first signs 2 to 3 months > earlier than > infants typically acquire their first words". > > Perhaps some parents find it useful to have a > clearer idea of > what their 8-11 month old is trying to communicate, > even if it > is in sign? > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Prinz, P.M. & Prinz, E.A. (1979) Simultaneous > acquisition of > ASL and spoken English (in a hearing child of a deaf > mother > and a hearing father): Phase 1: Early Lexical > development. > _Sign Lanugage Studies, 25,_ 283-296. > > Bonvillian, J.D., Orlansky, M.D., & Novack, L.L. > (1983). > Developmental milestones: Sign language acquisition > and > motor development. _Child Development, 54,_ > 1435-1445. > > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription go to: > http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=engl > ish > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription go to: > http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english > > Notices at the bottom of this e-mail do not reflect the opinions of the sender. I do not "yahoo" that I am aware of. --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
