Language

Language

a system of communication using signs, sounds, or gestures with agreed-upon meaning

Hockett’s Design Features of Language

1. Arbitrariness

2. Displacement

3. Productivity/Generativity

4. Duality of Patterning

5. Culutral Transmission

6. Prevarication

Honeybee Waggle Dance

figure-eight communication method used by honey bees to inform hive mates about the direction and distance of food sources

• example of displacement

Songbird Learning

learn their vocalizations by imitatation

Key Stages

1. Sensory phase: young birds listen to a tutor and memorize the song

2. Sensorioto phase: they practice a variable, babbling-like song

3. Crystallization: song becomes stable and steretyped in adulthood

Linguistic Determination

Language determines thought — you cannot think what you cannot say

• largely discredit: prelingusitc infants, animals, and global aphasia patients all demonstrate rich cognition without langauge

Linguistic Relativity

Language influences though — having words for something makes it easier to perceive, remember, and reason about

Thought without Language

What is lost

• Language production

• Language comprehension

• Reaing and writing

• Verbal working memory

What is retained

• Facial recognition

• Spatial navigation

• Non-verbal problem solving

• Emotional response

• Musical appreciation

Aphasia

Dysfunctions of Language; can affect production, comprehension, repetition, reading or writing — in different combinationsBroc

Broca’s Aphasica

• Damage to left inferior frontal gyrus

• Core deficit: Impaired speech production; slow, effortful, non-fluent speech

• Comprehension relatively preserved, especially for simple sentences; difficulty with complex grammar

Wernicke’s Aphasia

• Damage to the left superior temporal lob

• Impaired langauge comprehension

• Fluent speech that lacks meaning

Dorsal Stream

Supports auditory-motor integration

Ventral Stream

maps sound to meaning(comprehension)

Corpus Callosum

Largest white matter structure in the brain

Enables communcation between hemispheres

• Sensory information (combining visual fields)

• Motor coordination (using both hands together)

• Cognitive processes (language + visual/spatial integration)