CH 9 Language and Thought

language (def)

communication system using signals combined through grammar rules to convey meaning

grammar (def)

rules specifying how language can be combined to produce meaningful messages

human language is _____ (more/less) complex than other forms of communication. it differentiates from other animal species because it is used to ____ and ____

[more] [think] [conceptualize]

the orderly progression of language development depends on…

[general cognitive development] [experience with a certain language]

name 3 theories of language development

1. behaviourist explanations

2. nativist explanations

3. interactionist explanations

behaviourist explanation (founder, def/theory)

language development theory by BF Skinner

• language learned through operant conditioning → word produces response/reinforcement or punishment

• not supported

nativist explanation (def/theory)

language development theory

• language is innate, its development is an innate biological capacity

• human brain is equipped with universal grammar (processing facilitating language learning)

elaborate on why nativist explanation is supported or disputed

• language ability is slightly separated from general intelligence (single dominant gene issues)

• language is harder to learn after puberty (1-5 yrs of age vs 9 yrs)

interactionist explanation (def/theory)

language development theory

• social interactions influence language

• social experience combines with innate biological language abilities to develop language

language development is allowed because as the brain _____, ______ of specific neurological _____ takes place

[matures] [specialization] [structures]

aphasia

difficulty in producing or comprehending language

• broca’s aphasia or wernicke’s aphasia

broca’s area

language production

• broca’s aphasia

wernicke’s area

language comprehension

• grammatical speech produced, but meaningless

• wernicke’s aphasia

linguistic relativity hypothesis (def, founder)

language shapes the nature of thought (benjamin whorf)

• theory is supported (ex/ perception of colour variations show differences between languages)

is the linguistic relativity hypothesis correct?

[SLIDE TITLED “WAS WHORF “HALF RIGHT”], pls finish card

concept

mental representation grouping/categorizing shared features of stimuli/objects

conditions for concepts and categories

• necessary condition: true of the object to belong to the category

• sufficient condition: if true to the object, proves it belongs to the category

2 theories of concepts and categories

1. prototype theory

2. exemplar theory

prototype theory

theory of concepts and categories

• objects classified by comparing them to the “best”/most typical member of a cateogry

• prototype = the best/most typical member

exemplar theory

theory of concepts and categories

• category judgements made by comparing new object with all category members

• if we remember it belonging to the category, we classify it as such

category-specific deficit

neurological syndrome with inability to recognize objects belonging to certain categories

category-specific brain organization _____ (is/is not) innate

it might be - evidence suggests so

rational choice theory

decisions are made by determining likeliness of something to occur, judging outcome value, then multiplying the two