Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY (7th Ed) Chapter 10 Thinking and Language Part 2 James A. McCubbin, PhD Clemson University Worth Publishers
Jan 03, 2016
Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY
(7th Ed)
Chapter 10
Thinking and LanguagePart 2
James A. McCubbin, PhDClemson University
Worth Publishers
Language
Language our spoken, written, or gestured
works and the way we combine them to communicate meaning
Language
Phoneme in a spoken language, the smallest
distinctive sound unit “th”
Morpheme in a language, the smallest unit that
carries meaning may be a word or a part of a word
(such as a prefix) “I”
Language
Grammar a system of rules in a language that enables
us to communicate with and understand others
Semantics the set of rules by which we derive meaning
from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language
also, the study of meaning Syntax
the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language
Language We are all born to recognize speech sounds from all
the world’s languages
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Percentage ableto discriminateHindi t’s
Hindi-speaking
adults
6-8 months
8-10months
10-12months
English-speaking
adultsInfants from English-speaking homes
Language Babbling Stage
beginning at 3 to 4 months the stage of speech development in
which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
One-Word Stage from about age 1 to 2 the stage in speech development
during which a child speaks mostly in single words
Language
Two-Word Stage beginning about age 2 the stage in speech development
during which a child speaks in mostly two-word statements
Telegraphic Speech early speech stage in which the child
speaks like a telegram-–“go car”--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting “auxiliary” words
Language
Summary of Language Development
Month(approximate)
Stage
4
10
12
24
24+
Babbles many speech sounds.
Babbling reveals households language.
One-word stage.
Two-world, telegraphic speech.
Language develops rapidly intocomplete sentences.
Language
Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience activates them as it modifies the brain
Language
New language learning gets harder with age
100
90
80
70
60
50Native 3-7 8-10 11-15 17-39
Percentage correct ongrammar test
Age at school
Skinner explains Language
Operant Conditioning Association: we associate the sight of
things with the sounds of words Imitation: copy model’s words and
syntax Reinforcements: smile and such when
we get it right
Chomsky explains language
Inborn universal grammar He says babies learn to fast for Skinner
to be right Babies understand language before
they start speaking Language acquisition device in us
activates when we experience language
Language explanations
Cognitive NeuroscientistsBelieve in statistical learning (a combination of Skinner and Chomsky)
Thinking and Language are linked
Linguistic DeterminismWhorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think
Different languages impose different concepts of reality
Language influenced Thinking
Relationship between language and culture
Gender linked (stereotypes)New words = new ways of thinkingLearning a new language is very
beneficial
Language
The interplay of thought and language
Thinking without Language
Think in imagesMentally practice skills
or proceduresVisualize overcoming
things or positive outcomes
Animal Thinking and Language
The straight-line part of the dance points in the direction of a nectar source, relative to the sun
Direction ofnectar source
Honey bees
Karl von FrischThey do communicate, but not
considered languageDance
Animal Thinking and Language
Gestured Communication
Animal Thinking and Language
Is this really language?
Do Animals Think
Show insightUse of toolsSolve problemsMost agree they are on level of 2
year old humanGarnders taught sign language to
Washoe the ChimpPatterson taught Koko the gorilla
Can Apes really talk?
Limited vocabulary and with great difficulty
To similar to classical conditioningInterchange phrases w/out realizing that
meaning has changedMany say it’s just modelingAnd that trainers are biased
Younger animals learn more/better/faster People still disagree