Week 11 - Language and Thought - PSY102

Psy102: Introduction to Psychology - Language and Thought

Learning Goals

• Evaluate the linguistic relativity hypothesis.

• Describe the structure of language and its basic units.

• Explain the role of shared knowledge in language comprehension (pragmatics).

• Describe the major milestones of language development.

• Evaluate whether there is such a thing as ‘non-human language’.

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

1. Weak Version:

   • The language spoken influences thought processes.

2. Strong Version (also known as linguistic determinism):

   • The language spoken determines thought processes.

Examples of Linguistic Relativity

• Weak LR Hypothesis:

  • Instances where language influences thinking have been observed.

• Strong LR Hypothesis:

  • Questions if language limits thoughts, e.g., the novel "1984" describes a scenario where language modification inhibits thought about revolution.

  • Real-world example:

  • Hopi language lacks past tense; questioning if it limits thinking about the past (contrast with English).

Language Flexibility

• Flexibility of languages implies absence of specific vocabulary does not limit perceptual or cognitive ability.

• Dani People:

  • Only two color words: mola (bright/warm) and mili (dark/cold).

  • Questions arise about color perception compared to English speakers.

• Hanunoo People:

  • 92 distinct names for rice; does language cause perceived differences or are they culturally influenced?

Language Structure and Components

Definition of Language

• Communication sounds exist (e.g., dogs barking, cats meowing, apes panting), but distinct features define human language.

Hierarchical Structure of Language

1. Phonemes

   • The smallest units of sound in a language.

   • Example: “cat” consists of phonemes “c”, “a”, and “t”.

2. Phonology

   • Rules governing how sounds combine to form words.

   • Example: some letters represent more than one sound in English.

   • Issues of representation can lead to difficulties in reading (e.g., the varied sounds of “g” in “gun” versus “giraffe”).

3. Morphemes

   • The smallest units of language that carry meaning, including complete words or parts of words (e.g., prefixes, suffixes).

4. Syntax

   • Rules for combining words into meaningful sentences.

   • Example: English requires adjectives before nouns.

5. Semantics

   • Rules governing the meaning of words and sentences.

   • Example sentence: “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”

6. Pragmatics

   • Governs effective communication that requires understanding beyond syntax and semantics.

   • Grice's (1975) Pragmatic Rules:

   1. Speak no more or less than required (quantity).

   2. Speak truthfully (quality).

   3. Be relevant (relevance).

   • Importance of context in understanding ambiguity in conversations.

Language Development Milestones

1. Cooing:

   • Begins at 3-5 weeks (e.g., vocalizations like “ooooh,” “aaaaah”).

2. Babbling:

   • Starts 4-6 months, characterized by repetitive syllables (e.g., “babababa,” “dadadada”).

   • Evolves into expressive jargon that resembles conversation.

3. First Words:

   • Occurs around 12 months.

4. Vocabulary Growth:

   • By 24 months, children typically use about 200 words and begin to form telegraphic speech (simple, informative utterances that show understanding of grammar).

Over-Generalisations

• Errors children make (e.g., using regular past tense formation on irregular verbs) demonstrate their learning process rather than mere imitation.

Language in Non-Human Species

• Humans possess generative grammar with hierarchical structure and innate language learning ability.

• Animal communication lacks the complexity seen in human language.

• Researchers have identified meaningful gestures in animals (e.g., chimpanzees), yet they are not grammatically structured nor flexible in construction like human language.

• Examples of attempts to teach language to non-humans:

  • Washoe: Learned 160 signs and demonstrated basic grammar.

  • Koko: Used plastic shapes as symbols/words.

  • Kanzi: Responded to pressing buttons mapped to words and understood complex sentences.

Categorization

1. Importance of Categorization:

   • Enables understanding of objects encountered previously.

   • Items categorized collectively by cultural agreement.

2. Defining Features vs. Family Resemblance:

   • Psychologists reject the notion of strict defining features in categories in favor of patterns of family resemblance.

   • Categories often have fuzzy boundaries; overlapping features rather than strict definitions.

3. Hierarchical Structure of Categories:

   • Superordinate (e.g., furniture), Basic-level (e.g., chair), and Subordinate categories (e.g., rocking chair).

   • Basic-level categorization considered most useful in practical communication.

Problem-Solving Strategies

1. Types of Problems:

   • Well-defined Problems: Clear starting and ending points.

   • Ill-defined Problems: Unclear starting or ending points.

2. Problem Representation:

   • Essential to understanding current and desired states, calculating the differences, and determining actions to bridge the gap.

3. Strategies:

   • Algorithms: Rigorous, step-by-step procedures guaranteeing a solution.

   • Heuristics: Cognitive shortcuts that provide faster but not guaranteed solutions.

Decision Making and Heuristics

1. The Availability Heuristic:

   • Mental shortcut whereby judgments of event probability are influenced by the ease of recalling instances.

   • Example comparisons: Shark attacks versus lawn mower accidents.

   • Both accurate and incorrect predictions arise from how readily an event can be recalled.

   • Dogs, attacking more humans than bunnies, leads to more pervasive memories, despite misleading effects from sensationalized shark attack reports.

2. Benefits of Heuristics:

   • Save time and effort in decision making.

   • E.g., growth in sale items by comparing prices in different package sizes often shows larger packages being a better buy.