Chapter 9 Thinking and Language. Thinking Language Language and thinking intricately intertwine....
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Transcript of Chapter 9 Thinking and Language. Thinking Language Language and thinking intricately intertwine....
Chapter 9 Thinking and Language
Thinking & LanguageLanguage and thinking intricately intertwine.
Rubber Ball/ Almay
ThinkingThinking, or cognition, refers to a process
that involves knowing, understanding, remembering, and communicating.
LanguageLanguage, our spoken, written, or gestured work, is the way we communicate meaning
to ourselves and others.
Language transmits culture.
M. & E. Bernheim
/ Woodfin Cam
p & Associates
Language (cont).Human language is semantic or
meaningfulSpoken language is based on universal
sound units called phonemesMorphemes are the smallest units of
meaning in a language (simple words, or word parts)
Grammar language rules Syntax rules for arranging words in grammatical
phrasesSemantics assigning meaning to morphemes
Structure of Language ExamplesPhonemes
Basic sounds (ph, t) Morphemes
smallest meaning unit (words, prefixes)
Morphemes are combinations of phonemes (red, hot, calm or suffix/prefix…-ed (meaning past) or pre- (before))
Language DevelopmentChildren learn their
native languages much before learning
to add 2+2.We learn, on average (after age 1), 3,500
words a year, amassing 60,000
words by the time we graduate from high
school.
Time Life Pictures/ Getty Im
ages
When do we learn language?
Babbling Stage: Beginning at 4
months, the infant spontaneously utters various sounds, like ah-goo. Babbling is
not imitation of adult speech.
When do we learn language?One-Word Stage: Beginning at or around his first birthday, a child starts to speak one word at a time and is able to make family members understand him. The word doggy may mean look at the dog out there.
When do we learn language?Two-Word Stage: Before the 2nd year, a child starts to speak in two-word sentences. This form of speech is called telegraphic speech because the child speaks like a telegram: “Go car,” means I would like to go for a ride in the car.
When do we learn language?Longer phrases: After telegraphic speech, children begin uttering longer phrases (Mommy get ball) with syntactical sense, and by early elementary school they are employing humor.
You never starve in the desert because of all the sand-which-is there.
When do we learn language?
Language Acquisition Clip 1
Explaining Language Development1. Operant Learning: Skinner (1957, 1985)
believed that language development may be explained on the basis of learning principles such as association, imitation, and reinforcement.
Explaining Language Development2. Inborn Universal Grammar: Chomsky (1959,
1987) opposed Skinner’s ideas and suggested that the rate of language acquisition is so fast that it cannot be explained through learning principles, and thus most of it is inborn.
The Innate Capacity for LanguageNoam Chomsky
Sentences have surface structures and deep structures.
To transform surface structures into deep ones, children must apply rules of grammar (syntax).
Because no one teaches us syntax as toddlers, the brain must contain an innate mental module.
Children are born with universal grammar.
Skinner v. Chomsky Worksheet
Explaining Language Development Childhood is a critical period for fully
developing certain aspects of language. Children never exposed to any language (spoken or signed) by about age 7 gradually lose their ability to master any language.
Genie Clip
Genie 2
Girl in the Window Article
Genes, Brain, & LanguageGenes design the mechanisms for a
language, and experience modifies the brain.
Mich
ael N
ewm
an/ P
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Edi
t, In
c.
Eye
of S
cienc
e/ P
hoto
Res
earc
hers
, Inc
.
Davi
d Hu
me
Kenn
erly
/ Get
ty Im
ages
Critical PeriodLearning new languages gets harder with age.
Cognitive PsychologistsThinking involves a number of mental
activities, which are listed below. Cognitive psychologists study these in great detail.
1. Concepts2. Problem solving3. Decision making4. Judgment
formation
ConceptsThe mental grouping of similar objects, events,
ideas, or people. There are a variety of chairs but their common features define the concept of a
chair.
Nacirema article
Culture and Cognition All known cultures use categories to form concepts
Culture has an effect onWhat information is included in a category
How categories are shaped by experience
Category HierarchiesWe organize concepts into category hierarchies.
Courtesy of Christine Brune
Development of ConceptsWe form some concepts with definitions. For example, a triangle has three sides. Mostly, we form concepts with mental
images or typical examples (prototypes). For example, a robin is a prototype of a
bird, but a penguin is not.
Triangle (definition) Bird (mental image)
Daniel J. Cox/ Getty Images
J. Messerschm
idt/ The Picture Cube
Language Influences ThinkingLinguistic Determinism: Whorf (1956) suggested that language determines the way we think. For example, he noted that the Hopi people do not have the past tense for verbs. Therefore, the Hopi cannot think readily about the past.
Do animals have a language?
Animal Thinking & Language
Honey bees communicate by dancing. The dancemoves clearly indicate the direction of the nectar.
Do Animals Think?Common cognitive skills
in humans and apes include the following:
1. Concept Formation
2. Insight3. Problem Solving4. Culture
African grey parrot assorts redblocks from green balls.
William
Munoz
InsightChimpanzees show insightful behavior
when solving problems.
Sultan uses sticks to get food.
Problem Solving
Apes are, much like us, shaped by reinforcement when solving
problems.
Chimpanzee fishing for ants.
Courtesy of Jennifer Byrne, c/o Richard Byrne, Departm
ent of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland
Animal CultureAnimals display customs and culture that are
learned and transmitted over generations.
Dolphins using sponges asforging tools.
Chimpanzee mother using andteaching a young how to use
a stone hammer.
Copyright Amanda K Coakes
Michael Nichols/ National Geographic Society
Do Animals Exhibit Language?
There is no doubt that animals
communicate.
Vervet monkeys, whales and even
honey bees communicate with members of their species and other
species. Rico (collie) has a200-word vocabulary
Copyright Baus/ Kreslowski