Douglas E. Sperry

Bio: Douglas E. Sperry is an academic researcher from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. The author has contributed to research in topics: Perspective (graphical) & Psychology. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 3 publications receiving 186 citations.

Reexamining the Verbal Environments of Children From Different Socioeconomic Backgrounds

Abstract: Amid growing controversy about the oft-cited "30-million-word gap," this investigation uses language data from five American communities across the socioeconomic spectrum to test, for the first time, Hart and Risley's (1995) claim that poor children hear 30 million fewer words than their middle-class counterparts during the early years of life. The five studies combined ethnographic fieldwork with longitudinal home observations of 42 children (18-48 months) interacting with family members in everyday life contexts. Results do not support Hart and Risley's claim, reveal substantial variation in vocabulary environments within each socioeconomic stratum, and suggest that definitions of verbal environments that exclude multiple caregivers and bystander talk disproportionately underestimate the number of words to which low-income children are exposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language Does Matter: But There is More to Language Than Vocabulary and Directed Speech

Abstract: In response to Golinkoff, Hoff, Rowe, Tamis-LeMonda, and Hirsh-Pasek's (2018) commentary, we clarify our goals, outline points of agreement and disagreement between our respective positions, and address the inadvertently harmful consequences of the word gap claim. We maintain that our study constitutes a serious empirical challenge to the word gap. Our findings do not support Hart and Risley's claim under their definition of the verbal environment; when more expansive definitions were applied, the word gap disappeared. The word gap argument focuses attention on supposed deficiencies of low-income and minority families, risks defining their children out of the educational game at the very outset of their schooling, and compromises efforts to restructure curricula that recognize the verbal strengths of all learners.

Hazardous intersections: Crossing disciplinary lines in developmental psychology:

Abstract: This article extends Lemieux’s concern for the interdisciplinary tension between philosophy and sociology to the intradisciplinary tension within psychology between approaches to the study of child...

Editorial: The role of experience in children's language development: A cultural perspective

Abstract: COPYRIGHT © 2022 Sperry, Shimpi, Colunga, Song and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Editorial: The role of experience in children’s language development: A cultural perspective

Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies

Abstract: ONE of the most remarkable examples of sudden and rapid development of a new scientific method and a new and extensive body of scientific fact is to be seen in the growth of the study of animal psychology during the last ten or a dozen years. As in the case of the general science of psychology, the change came with the introduction of experiment as the fundamental method of investigation, but the transition was accentuated by a craving for objectivity of results, which focussed the attention upon the objective performance or behaviour of the animal under examination, not only to the detriment, but even, in the case of many observers, to the complete neglect of speculation as to its psychical life. If the new psychology claimed to be a psychology without a soul, the new animal psychology threatened, and still threatens, to become an animal psychology without consciousness. Many investigators have indeed openly declared for this ideal-not denying the presence of consciousness, but regarding it as of no importance or value in an explanatory scientific system. Nevertheless signs are not wanting in the most recent work of a healthy reaction from this extreme view, based as much upon observed fact as upon a priori speculation. Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies. By E. L. Thorndike. Pp. viii + 297. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1911.) Price 7s. net.

Language Matters: Denying the Existence of the 30-Million-Word Gap Has Serious Consequences

Abstract: Sperry, Sperry, and Miller (2018) aim to debunk what is called the 30-million-word gap by claiming that children from lower income households hear more speech than Hart and Risley () reported. We address why the 30-million-word gap should not be abandoned, and the importance of retaining focus on the vital ingredient to language learning-quality speech directed to children rather than overheard speech, the focus of Sperry et al.'s argument. Three issues are addressed: Whether there is a language gap; the characteristics of speech that promote language development; and the importance of language in school achievement. There are serious risks to claims that low-income children, on average, hear sufficient, high-quality language relative to peers from higher income homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language socialization

Abstract: This symposium issue focuses on the use of simulations and games to promote language socialization. Laurie Schick’s opening article is based on language socialization theory and includes a discussion of concepts developed in frame analysis. She considers simulations to be powerful socialization tools and discusses the implications for using role-plays and simulations in pedagogical contexts. In her exploration of the advantages of incorporating Internet chat into an international composition class, Emily Hull discusses the pedagogical implications of combining this technology with the BULLYING simulation that appears in this issue. Tânia Saliés and Priscila Starosky explore how the use of games led to the language development of a deaf Brazilian boy. In their cognitive-functional approach, they analyze the results of gaming encounters in terms of the development of the child’s communicative competence. Seongwon Yun examines how bilingual Korean children’s role-play leads to the internalization of social identities and how their metacommunication about play lead to the acquisition of cultural and linguistic knowledge. Mary Theresa Seig discusses the use of a cross-cultural simulation as an effective tool in a training program at a living history museum. She demonstrates how a simulation helped interpreters at the museum to communicate more effectively with visitors. This symposium issue concludes with my BULLYING simulation. Although we have used it in graduate courses in International Composition, one participant suggested (see reference in Schick’s article, this issue) that the BULLYING simulation could be an appropriate exercise for a group of public school teachers participating in an orientation program.

Deaf children need language, not (just) speech:

Abstract: Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children need to master at least one language (spoken or signed) to reach their full potential. Providing access to a natural sign language supports this goal. Despit...