PSYCH 133C - Language and Thought

Language Socialization

Process by which children learn culturally appropriate ways of using language

Cultural Variation in Language Use

Different cultures emphasize different communicative norms (directness, elaboration, social values)

Noun Bias

Early vocabulary patterns differ across languages due to input and cultural practices

Grammatical Marker Frequency

Frequent forms in input are acquired earlier

Culture and Narrative Style

Cultures differ in typical storytelling (succinct, elaborated, family-centered, action-focused)

Cultural Framing in Language

Language reflects values like obligation, autonomy, or politeness

Cognition Leads

View that thought is universal and language maps onto pre-existing concepts

Language Leads (Linguistic Determinism)

View that language shapes or restricts possible thoughts

Interactionist View (Language–Cognition)

Language and cognition influence each other developmentally

Linguistic Relativity

Language influences how we think, categorize, and remember (supported)

Linguistic Determinism

Strong claim that language determines thought (not supported)

Absolute Spatial Terms

Geographic-based reference frame (north/south/east/west)

Relative Spatial Terms

Speaker-centered frame (left/right/front/back)

Levinson (1997)

Found that speakers' spatial reasoning matched the reference frames encoded in their language (Absolute vs Relative)

Li & Gleitman (2002)

Showed spatial reasoning shifts with environmental cues

Grammatical Gender Effects

Gender systems bias how speakers describe objects

Gendered Language and Cognition

Grammatical gender influences stereotypes and descriptive choices

Gender-Neutral Pronoun Effects

Use of neutral pronouns predicts reduced gender bias

Classifier Languages

Languages requiring classifiers for nouns when counting

Classifier–Cognition Link

Classifier systems increase attention to perceptual features such as shape

Language and Abstract Thought

Language supports reasoning about abstract

Number Word Effects

Exact number understanding depends on learning number vocabulary

Approximate Number System (ANS)

Nonverbal system for approximate quantity judgments

Language and Object Permanence

Vocabulary like “gone” coincides with improved object permanence

Language and Means–Ends

Emerging action words align with means–ends (there & uh-oh) reasoning

Self-Recognition Vocabulary

Self words (“me,” “mine”) emerge alongside mirror self-recognition

Middle Concept Learning

Knowledge of the word “middle” predicts middle-based spatial search behavior

Cueing Effects in Spatial Search

Hearing “middle” increases the likelihood of using a geometric middle strategy

Infant Spatial Attention

Infants who know “middle” show increased looking to center regions

Cross-linguistics Similarities

Language development follows the same path regardless of language of culture

Cross-linguisitc differences

Specific features and structures of a language influence development (phonological input, noun bias, frequency of grammatical markers)

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about (language leads cognition)