Lecture 3: Language & Cognition

Piaget, Language, Cognition, Knowledge origins, Reason, Logic

Cognitive psychology

language, development, reasoning

What is language (broad & specific?

broad: chess, sex, cooking, computer

specific: english, dutch, french, ASL

Darwin view on language

everyone has tendency to speak (children babble), but no instinctive tendency to bake/write

every “normal” human has language

Is there a single area for language?

No. Broca’s, arcuate, etc.

What do all languages share

can create/understand sentences never heard before bc of rules

Fundamentals of language (3)

1. Syntax
2. Morphology
3. Phonology

Syntax (infinite use of finite media)

Combinatorial system: take diff parts and put together

most phrases are unique, but can still understand ideas bc of syntax

Recursion (syntax)

one rule of syntax feeding into self

ie if sentence= subjects+verb+object, could add another sentence for infinity

Morphology (study of words) (define morpheme)

arbitrary sign (dog doesnt look or sound like a dog)

morpheme: smallest meaningful unit of language (ie cat, difficult)

can combine them (ie cats, difficulty)

Phonology (basic sounds and signs)

different for each language

speakers of language can hear segments in language, but others cant if dont know

Ambiguous sentences

different rules to interpret same string of words (ie “let him have it”)

Chomsky’s opinions on language

language grows in a person (born with), not JUST learning

1. Respond to structure not meaning. T or F?
2. Some cultures don’t have obsessive speaking to kids. T or F?

1. F. respond to meaning
2. T. Western thing

Language development timetable (birth - 4months)

preference for melody of own language

prefer native language heard in womb

sensitive to all phenomes (sounds)

ability to distinguish languages (lost as grow up)

Language development timetable (\~7 months)

babbling (verbally or with hands \[ASL\])

Language development timetable (\~12 months)

first words (basic, 1 word at time)

first words will reflect environments theyre raised in

Language development timetable (\~18 months)

learn words faster, 2 word sentences

Language development timetable (past puberty)

capacity for language starts to fade

outside “critical period” for learning

Language processing (in-class experiment)

R2D2 voice: dont understand at first, but when told what is said, can hear the sentence

Associations

relationships between different parts of experience

brains = association machines

Associtations and rules ______. Lots of language is just ________.

coexist

memorization

Can you teach language to animals? Yes or no?

Yes, but not as well as children

What was discovered when placed kid or dog in a room with familiar objects except one and presented with a foreign word?

Will deduce that word never heard before = object never seen before

Shows that learning language apparatus = not unique to humans

Difference between language learning in kids and dogs

kids have abstract relationships of things (theres a sock, no sock, want sock), but dogs dont (sock = fetch sock only)

Infants & syntax (do babies understand syntax)

when given sentences where had to use syntax to make sense of it, babies looked longer at video matching with sentences heard

= not just repeating, but understanding

(wug → wugs)

Skinner says operant conditioning is how brain takes input and understands phonology/morphology/syntax. Why is this a bad idea? (3)

1. If language is learned through same machinery as other cognitive processes, then should have isolated impairments (genetic disorders that only affect language while other learning is intact)
2. reinforcement & punishment arent necessary (Amazonian mothers dont talk much, but children still learn language)
3. children dont learn behaviours, but rules to understand sentences (wug → wugs)

Chomsky’s opinion on language (and problem)

Nativist perspective: genetically determined structure

problem: dont create language, learn from environment

Theory of mind

able to understand others’ perspective/ see through their eyes

Egocentrism

cant see others’ perspective

cant put yourself in their shoes

Mechanisms of language acquisition (5)

1. Babies use statistics of language to hear the separate gaps in words (certain sounds are always followed by another = one word, but if it is only occasionally = not a word)
2. Visual and verbal association (look at where speaker is looking using social cues/theory of mind)
3. Syntax cues help to learn (ie when shown 3 pictures \[object, substance, and action\], when asked if there was sibbing, pointed to action, etc.)
4. some are psychologically natural
5. basic level of categorization= know that some words are categories (ie cat) of something, not a subtype (ie grey, tabby cat)

Is there thought without language? (3)

Yes, animals go through mazes, babies reason before they speak


1. adults do thinking without language (plan things before they do/communicate)
2. language is ambiguous, but thoughts are not
3. if there wasnt thought without language, we wouldnt be able to learn language in the first place

How does language reflect thought? (4)

Reflects culture/thought


1. We see things as whole (dont have a word for the top half of a rabbit because we dont look at it that way)
2. time and space are connected in our brains bc we use the same words (ie “__in__ the cupboard” (space), “__in__ a few hours” (time))
3. sex is forbidden/shameful bc taboo words are related to sex


1. same with religion
4. Time is akin to money (ie “i spent all my day working on this”)

Pragmatics

saying things without actually saying them. for example:

person A: what do you think about his work?

person B: well I hear he has a great personality

What is the correlation between language development and theory of mind

increase with age

communication helps us understand more about the minds of others

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

language doesnt just convey thought, but shapes, ideas, etc.

* formal vs informal (vous vs tu)
* in russian, have two words for blue = able to distinguish quicker and colours may be remembered more accurately (verbal memory)

Why do we think language is instinctual? (3)

1. different areas of the brain dedicated to language (ie broca, wernicke’s)
2. specific genes implicated in language disorders
3. larynx evolved for communication to express speech (dropped in throat = increased risk of choking)

Empiricism (behaviourist) (Mill, Hume, Locke)

everything we know is learned/a product of our environment

nurture

Nativism (Chomsky)

substantial amount is hardwired into the brain

nature

Constructivism (Piaget)

Children are not passive recipients of the environment (little scientists)

Schemas

frameworks that help to organize knowledge, help kids interact with environment

2 types of schemas

1. Assimilation: existing information/schema and extend it to a different context
2. Accommodation: change the schema, modify the skill/action

Children-as-scientist theory

start a life with intuitive theories of the world that develop over time

kids develop/prove theories by interacting/doing experiments, etc.

ex. if an object did something impossible (ie block went through a wall), when given the object, kids play in ways that correspond to the weirdness (ie bang it on hard surfaces)

some dont like nature/nurture dichotomy, believe that

no learning (nurture) without initial machinery (nature)

ie time sense and circadian rhythyms

Caspi: how much is fate sealed

experiment with 3yr olds, categorized into 3:


1. undercontrolled: impulsive, restless, emotionally unstable
2. inhibited: slow to warm, fearful, easily upset by strangers
3. well-adjusted: just right, capable of self control, relatively confident and calm

when surveyed later, those who were

undercontrolled = prone to alcohol abuse, employment issues

inhibited = more depressed

well-adjusted = less likely to suffer from above

2 possible explanations for caspi

1. stayed in same state: genetically or environmentally
2. tend to fall into groups that best fit our personalities

Piaget believed development of the species is __________________ development of the individual

reflected/repeated in

Sensorimotor stage (Piaget)

* birth - 2yr
* baby is purely sensory: perceives/manipulates, but doesnt reason
* before 6 months, act as if objects removed from sight don’t exist
* no sense of time
* no differentiation b/w self and others
* no object permanence
* object permanence once children move through environment bc visual experience = only 2D

Preoperational stage (Piaget)

* 2yr - 7yr
* symbolic thought
* can think, differentiate self from others, rudimentary understanding of time, object permanence, but limitations:
* egocentrism: cant/see understand world from other’s perspective (ex 3 mountains test)
* conservation: don’t recognize certain properties of world are conserved (ex don’t have more candies by spreading them out)
* cant distinguish appearance from reality (ex switching cat out for a dog by putting a mask on the cat)

Concrete operational stage (Piaget)

* 7yr - 11yr
* sophisticated, but difficulty with abstract/hypothetical thinking

Formal operational stage (Piaget)

* 11yr onwards
* full cognitive maturity
* may not reach & may not use in every aspect of life

Piaget: scientific evaluation

* claims are falsifiable

Limitations of Piaget’s theories (3)

1. Theoretical: not clear how to make certain theories real (ie assimilation, accomodation)
2. Methodological: based on own interactions, but kids have problems articulating/explaining


1. sensitive to: task demands/experimenter demands
3. Interpretation: sometimes too quickly attribute kids’ behaviour to cognitive immaturity when may have another explanation (ie children may be joking with the darth vader mask question)

Task demands/experimenter demands

giving the answer they think is right/what they think others want to hear instead of what they really think

Ways to study babies (2)

1. law of effect (ex pacifier’s and mom’s voice)
2. habituation: get used to things so stare longer if surprised/not what expected

Disproving Piaget (2)

* young kids have object permanence (block & trapdoor experiment)
* simple math (Mickey: 1+1 = 3 confusion)

Morality of babies

* babies imitate emotions of others
* cooperative/social: will like the puppets that help others

Symbol system might be essential for reasoning about specific high numbers. T or F?

T

Two parts of the mind (Kahneman)

1. System 1: fast, automatic, effortless, quick, emotional, hot
2. System 2: slow, methodical, thoughtful, rule-governed, effort, cold

Cognitive reflection test: wrong answer is quick (System 1), but correct answer requires deliberation (System 2)

We do better with reasoning when given _______ (2) problems

realistic (ie coke & 21 vs B & 3)

simple (sniffles & headache = cold or bubonic plague?)

Rhyming bias

if a sentence rhymes, more likely to believe it

4 main biases

1. availability bias
2. base-rate neglect
3. how information is framed
4. confirmation bias

Availability bias

* if something comes to mind quickly, we infer it is more likely (ie ‘k’ as first letter or as third letter)
* tendency to overestimate likelihood of events with emotional force, ones seen in the news (ie plane crashes)

Base-rate neglect

* if estimating likelihood of a single event, should consider overall likelihood of such events happening (base rates)
* ie disease with false positive, should determine how many people actually have the disease

How info is framed

* biased to how info is presented
* decisions made depend on gains and losses (take a drug tested on 600 people that is successful 1/3 of the time)
* Positive framing: treatment saves 200 lives
* Negative framing: 400 people with die
* ex. who should be awarded custody gives same answer as who should be denied custody:
* “awarded” = people look for positive behaviours
* “denied” = people look for negative behaviours

Confirmation bias

* look for info that supports our prejudices/beliefs/opinions
* Wason rule discovery task: given series of numbers and told to guess rule. People will generally guess what they think is right instead of trying to falsify hypothesis first
* Problem with Freud & Skinner: try to prove hypothesis true instead of considering it might be false

What do failures of reasoning reveal? (2)

1. irrationality, how we mess up
2. but, also intelligence and how we learn from mistakes

Beliefs and preferences are distorted by __________________

political affiliations

Myside bias/soldier mindset

Beliefs and attitudes pervade thoughts and language

interact with/surround selves with those like us (groupthink)

constant defending of beleifs = strong formation (need to support with facts)

Rationality (definition & limitation)

* separate from goodness and from truth seeking
* properly using knowledge and logic to achieve your goals

BUT

* social animals = want to be liked and accepted so might mean sharing others’ prejudices

Collective Action problem

“tragedy of the commons”

ex best interest of farmer to keep cattle grazing, but consequence of everyone overgrazing = depletion of resources, so might as well not graze

seen with voting: impossible for single vote to make a difference, so stay home

Inborn system for reasoning (Spelke) (CSCC)

* objects are __c__ohesive
* objects are __s__olid
* objects move on __c__ontinuous paths
* objects move on __c__ontact

these principles appear before 1st bday = refute Piaget

Essentialism

* belief there is something deeper (essence) of objects different from appearance
* shows up in children while young (disprove Piaget), but not always same intuition as adults (ie pig heart transplant and kids say the human is more like a pig now)

Theory of mind in children (7)

* Babies tend to look at face shapes (not scrambled features)
* Prefer looking at faces that look at them instead of to the side
* Expect faces to move, upset if they become still
* Understand people have reasonable goals (reach for bowl and position changes, will change to reach again for bowl)
* Morality: will go towards people that help goal
* They understand others are thinking beings (try to communicate through grunting, pointing, looking, etc.)
* Able to understand other people’s opinions differ or that their opinions can change

False-belief task

can expect behaviour of another by knowing they have a false belief

BUT, 4&5 yr olds get it right, but younger kids dont

Why false-belief task fails

* success means holding 2 conflicting views of the world (double bookkeeping)
* overriding the “curse of knowledge” assumption that others have the same knowledge as you

Why do children have problems with complex tasks?

* myelin sheath not fully developed = not as efficient transfer of information
* frontal lobes take long time to develop = no impulse control (will want to say where marble really is)