Language, thought, communication Flashcards
Sensorimotor stage (language)
babies are learning what their bodies can do, and this includes making
vocal sounds. Babies begin to copy the sounds that they hear others making
Preoperational stage (language)
Children are able to voice their internal thoughts but there is limited use of language for communicating with other people.
concrete operational stage (language)
Language has developed a lot, but it is only used to talk about actual, concrete things
formal operational stage (language)
language can be used to talk about abstract, theoretical ideas.
piaget language theory
Thoughts comes BEFORE language
Piaget’s language theory EXTENDED
- children develop language by matching the correct words to their existing knowledge of the world. The child’s understanding of the concept comes first and then they learn how to express their understanding of it - hence his theory is that language depends on thought
- believed cognitive development leads to the growth of language, and this means that we can only use language at a level that matches our cognitive development
- children develop language in stages
Evaluation of Piaget’s Language theory
A: Practical applicaiton, shows a child isn’t a mini adult, helps teachers and parents understand that a child cannot do something they are not reader for.
A: valid, children show udnerstanding of the words they use as their talk is not at random (e.g. a baby may say mommy sock to show the sock is owned by their mum. shows language is used when schemas are there)
D: hard to get evidence for as a 1 y/o cant tell you what theyre thinking
D: opposing theory, sapir whorf believes language comes before thought
Sapir whorf theory
Language comes first
- words influence our thoughts, memories and eprceptions
strong version of sapir whorf
Language DETERMINES thought
- no word for a thought, object or idea then you are unable to think about it
weak version of sapir whorf
Language INFLUENCES thought
- you can imagine something with no words for it
- if the words we have for a concept/idea are limited, our ability to notice/recall the idea will be limited
evidence for Sapir Whorf theory - bridges
In german bridge is fem, in spanish it is masc. German ppl describe bridges as beautiful, elegant and slender which are feminine adjectives. Spanish ppl describe bridges as long, strong and dangerous which are masculine adjectives. So language does influence thought.
Evidence for Sapir Whorf - colours
Himba culture only has 5 colour catergories. Western culture has 11 colour catergories. Himba people can distinguish between certain colours better than western peple like green because of difference in language. But they can’t distinguish between blue and green.
Evaluation for Sapir Whorf
D: issue of billingualism highlights the limitions of the Strong version as people who speka more than one language fluently do not necessarily think differently per language
D: idea that inuit have many words for snow has been disputed plus it is also argued that there is more than one word for snow in english, which makes the hypothesis lack validitity
A: external validity, different cultures percieve a bridge differently because of the differently gendered language, so language does influence thought
4 types of animal communication
- Visual: color or display
- Auditory: sound to warn about danger
- Chemical: scent and taste danger or mating
- Tactile: to show comfort or dominance
4 funcitons of Animal communication
- Survival
- Reproduction
- Territory
- Food
Example of how animal’s survival function
- Vervet monkeys use SOUNDS to warn of danger, e.g. snake.
- signals increase the survival of members of the signaller’s species
Example of animal’s reproduction function
- peacocks use displays/visuals; they stretch their feathers like an umbrella to attract females
- mating displays communicate genetic fitness through brightly coloured and plentiful feathers
Example of animal’s territory function
- animals mark territory through spreading scents
- rhinos produce 20-30 piles of dung to communicate that the area is occupied
- evolutionary value as it takes less energy than fighting
Example of animal’s food function
- animals use signals to show location of food
- ants leave a pheromone trail to communicate the loation of a food source
How humans communicate differently from animals
- plan ahead and dicuss future events
- creativity
- single versus multiple channels
Displacement
the capability of language to communicate about things that are not immediately present
Plan ahead and dicuss future events // differences
- humans can use their language to plan ahead and dicuss future events (displacement)
- animals comm tends to focus on things that are physically present in the environment, such as food sources or predators
- therefore, displacement is not part of animal communication in the same way as it is a part of human communication
creativity // differences
- animal comm involves a closed system as the gestures, sounds and movements only refer to very specific events
- human language is an open system as words can be combined in an infinite number of ways
- means that human comm has endless potential
single vs multiple channels // differences
- human language can be expressed using a whole range of different channels such as spoken written or sing language and all the different types of social media
- not a feature of animal communication which tends to use single channels such as pheromones
