Reviews research concerning language acquisition in infants, particularly the acquisition of syntax. Topics of discussion include the problem of language acquisition, theories of language acquisition, and the progression from competing hypotheses to mutually reinforcing theories. (RJC)

Studied 150 Italian children aged five to eight years to determine whether a significant relation existed between referential communication and comparison performance. Results indicated that the ability to compare in noncommunicative tasks was significantly related to communication effectiveness in referential tasks. (RJC)

Discussed is how strange words frequently reveal their meanings through contextual use, similarity to known vocabulary, by their sounds, or by analysis of their parts. Twelve words from the discipline of biology are analyzed using analysis of their parts. (KR)

The authors comment on Drash and Tudor's operant theory of autism. Concerns with the theory's face validity and empirical support are presented, along with concerns about four aspects of the theory.

We tested the effects of an intensive tact instruction procedure on numbers of tacts emitted in non-instructional settings (NIS) using a multiple probe design across 3 participants (3- and 4-year old boys with autism). The dependent variable was tacts emitted in NIS before/after the mastery of sets of 5 different stimuli. The non-instructional…

The acquisition of Spanish as a first language was investigated in a study of eight Puerto Rican children ranging in age from 17-39 months. The speech of the four children studied in Puerto Rico was analyzed in detail and compared with that of the four children taped in Boston. The children's speech was taped in natural situations and analyzed in…

The present study demonstrated that complex "here-and-now" affective verbalizations, basic to most experiential or therapeutic groups, could be reliably induced in a group by simple reinforcement techniques. Further, reinforcement produced levels of performance equivalent to that induced by therapists. (Author)

Research was conducted to compare evidence of implicit processing in children and adults. Implicit processing was defined as inductive cognitive activities which enable people to abstract complex knowledge from the environment. The knowledge acquired is tacit; it guides subjects' behavior in various situations without the subjects necessarily…

There are problems in interpreting the naming behavior of children. Children may misname a word because the word is absent from their vocabulary, because it is not yet firmly established, or because of a word retrieval or lexical assessing problem. Preliminary results are reported of an experimental technique designed to account for these…

A study compared learning disabled (LD) adolescents with oral expressive problems to non-learning-disabled (NLD) adolescents on a formal operations task, with emphasis on a comparison between non-verbal performance and verbal explanations of the task. This paper reports part of the study, a comparison of two high school freshman subjects. The task…

This article reports on a study to determine the role of intonation in language acquisition. Related studies are mentioned. Research methods for the study are outlined and two case studies are reviewed. Conclusions show that adult-child interaction influences not only the child's use of intonation but also his acquisition of syntax. (Text is in…

The assumed connection between ease of language learning and age has been investigated in recent years by researchers from a wide range of disciplines. With the exception of the findings of research that authentic accents are more easily acquired by children, studies seem to indicate that efficiency in language learning increases with maturation.…

Types and amount of private speech (aloud talking which is not addressed to another person) were assessed during the free play of 16 hyperactive and 16 non-hyperactive boys (6-10 years old). Verbalizations were coded into nine categories which denoted the boys' level of use of verbal control of their own behavior. Differences in amount and type of…

RESEARCH PROJECTS IN PROGRESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN'S CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR ARE OUTLINED IN THIS REPORT. EACH PROJECT DESCRIPTION INCLUDES A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PURPOSES, SCOPE, AND DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH, AS WELL AS AN ACCOUNT OF THE WORK ACTUALLY UNDERWAY. THE NAMES OF THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS ARE ALSO…