PS251 - Language and Thought

What did John B. Watson (1924) claim about thought?

Thinking was sub-vocal speech (essentially “inner talking”. Argued that eliminating speech would eliminate thought

How did B.F Skinner view thought?

• Saw thought as a form of internal behaviour.

• Language and thought were the same process

Curare experiment (Smith et al., 1947)

• Healthy volunteer injected with curare (paralytic that prevents muscle movement and speech)

• Despite paralysis, participant could perceive, remember and respond mentally to questions

What did the Curare experiment show?

• Thought can occur without speech

• Refutes Watson’s claim that subvocal speech is required for thinking

Who was Brother John and what did his case show?

• Monk with epilepsy (Lecours & Joanette, 1980)

• During language he lost language and inner speech but retained memory, reasoning and problem-solving, showing that thought can exist without language

Williams syndrome

Neurodevelopmental disorder with intellectual disability but relatively fluent and grammatically correct language, showing that language ability can exist without high-level cognitive ability

What does Christopher (Autism) show about language and thought?

• Christopher, an autistic savant (Smith & Tsimpli, 1995) had limited general intelligence but could speak 13 languages fluently

• Evidence that language and thought can function independently

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

• Idea that language and thought are linked

• The language you speak affects how you perceive and think about the world

Who developed Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

• First suggested by Franz Boas

• Edward Sapir + Benjamin Lee Whorf developed it further in early 20th century

Two versions of Sapir-Whorf

• Linguistic determinism: language determines thought

• Linguistic relativity: language influences thought

What does linguistic determinism claim?

Language we speak determines how we perceive and categories the world (Whorf, 1945)

“Eskimo words for snow” example

• Often cited to support determinism

• Claim that arctic languages have many words for snow, allowing speakers to perceive finer distinctions than English speakers

Is Eskimo example true?

• No, Martin (1986) + Pullum (1989) show only two basic snow words (qanik = snow in air; aput = snow on ground)

• No evidence they perceive snow differently

What evidence challenges linguistic determinism

• Dani people in Papa New Guinea (Heider, 1972) have only two colour words (mola = light/warm; mili = dark/cool)

• But still perceive and remember colours like English speakers

• Shows universality of perception

What does linguistic relativity propose?

• Language influences but does not determine thought

• Different languages may shape how people process or categorise information

What did Bloom (1984) find about counterfactual reasoning?

• Chinese speakers found what-if reasoning more difficult than English speakers because Chinese syntax does not easily express counterfactuals

• Suggests language structure affects reasoning

What do studies on Pirahã language show?

• No exact number words, only terms for few, more and many

• Speakers struggle to recall exact quantities (Gordon, 2004)

• Shows that lack of linguistic terms limits numerical precision

What did Winawer et al. (2007) find out colour perception in Russian speakers?

• Two words for shades of blue (siniy = dark, goluboy = light)

• Russian speakers faster and more accurate than English speakers at distinguishing them

• Evidence for linguistic relativity

What did Emmorey (2002) find about sign language users?

• Fluent signers outperform non-signers on mental rotation and face perception tasks

• Shows that spatial structure in sign language enhances visual-spatial cognition

How does sign language influence visual motion perception?

• Deaf signers perceive motion along curved paths consistent with sign-language gestures

• Non-signers see straight-line motion

• Suggests language experience alters perception