Lang & Comm 1

Question 1

define communication

Answer 1

“when one organism (transmitter) encodes information into a signal which passes to another organism (receiver) which decodes the signal and is capable of responding appropriately.”

Question 2

define verbal communication

Answer 2

spoken or written transmission of a message

Question 3

define non-verbal communication and give 3 examples (Hint: BEG)

Answer 3

non-linguistic aspects of communication
body language
emotions
gestures

Question 4

give 3 examples of non-verbal communication inside of language

Answer 4

tone
rhythm
stress

Question 5

define language

Answer 5

structured system of symbols and rules by which these symbols are combined.

Question 6

give three things language can do as a system (Hint: CEL)

Answer 6

• communicate thought and feeling
• express an unlimited number of emotions with a limited number of words and rules
• let people go beyond the ‘here and now’

Question 7

what rate do languages die out at?

Answer 7

every 1 to 2 weeks

Question 8

explain this:

Answer 8

not all communication constitutes as language, but language is a system inside of communication.

Question 9

Who tried to distinguish language from communication

Answer 9

Hocket, 1960’s

Question 10

How many design features did Hocket have and what do they mean?

Answer 10

16, means that a communication system needs them all to be a ‘language’

Question 11

interchangeability

Answer 11

whatever one person says another can too (male and female)

Question 12

flaw of Hocket’s design features

Answer 12

only focuses on speech: no sign language for example

Question 13

specialisation

Answer 13

speech is specialised just for communication

Question 14

semanticity (important for humans)

Answer 14

words are symbols/signs that express meaning

Question 15

arbitrariness + examples (important for humans)

Answer 15

no intrinsic relation between MOST words and their meaning: ‘whale’ = small word and huge organism, but ‘microorganism’ = large word and tiny organism

Question 16

displacement (important for humans)

Answer 16

can talk hypothetically: not tied to the ‘here and now’

Question 17

What are 7 of the design features that are more specific to humans? (Hint: PPRAISD)

Answer 17

Productivity/generativity
Prevarication
Reflexiveness
Arbitrariness
Interchangeability
Semanticity
Displacement

Question 18

Prevarication (important for humans)

Answer 18

we can lie with language

Question 19

Productivity/generativity (important for humans)

Answer 19

finite collection of words and sound allows for infinite number of messages to be newly generated

Question 20

Reflexiveness (important for humans)

Answer 20

we can use language to talk about language

Question 21

Interchangeability (important for humans)

Answer 21

males can say the same thing females can say

Question 22

explain this

Answer 22

Bouba/kiki effect - SOUND SYMBOLISM questions arbitrariness.
Toddlers show same bias, ASD pps showed reduced bias.

Question 23

what is the genetic overlap between apes and humans?

Answer 23

95-98.5%

Question 24

what is an ape’s IQ?

Answer 24

similar to the average 3 year old child’s

Question 25

what are the similarities between apes and humans

Answer 25

similar brain assymetries eg enlarged Broca's area

Question 26

what are the differences between apes and humans and what was the solution in research

Answer 26

different articulatory apparatus, teach them to communicate with sign language and artificial lexigrams

Question 27

Describe one case study of chimps learning language

Answer 27

Nim Chimpsky (Terrace 1979) learned 125 ASL signs and made a few short combinations, but never spontaneously.

Question 28

what are the differences in training between chimps and kids?

Answer 28

chimps need huge amounts of explicit training children require none

Question 29

what are differences in spontaneous production between chimps and kids?

Answer 29

chimps rarely signed spontaneously children show lots of spontaneous production

Question 30

what are differences in syntax between chimps and kids?

Answer 30

chimps show little evidence of syntax kids show clear syntactic structure

Question 31

what are the differences in questioning between chimps and kids?

Answer 31

chimps ask no questions and no displacement kids ask lots and go beyond here and now

Question 32

what are the differences in repetition between chimps and kids?

Answer 32

chimps - very repetitive kids - less imitation

Question 33

what are the differences in creativity between chimps and kids?

Answer 33

chimps' outputs were mainly non-creative kids were very creative with speech

Question 34

list the 6 comparisons between chimps and kids (tssqrc)

Answer 34

- training - spontaneous production - syntax - questioning - repetition - creativity

Question 35

structure of language in order

Answer 35

pragmatics semantic syntax morphology phonology phonetics

Question 36

what is phonetics?

Answer 36

study and classification of speech sounds in language

Question 37

what are the 3 A's in phonetics?

Answer 37

Articulatory (how speech sounds are produced) Auditory (how speech sounds are perceived) Acoustic (the physical properties of sound)

Question 38

what is phonology concerned with?

Answer 38

the way speech sounds form a system in a given language

Question 39

define phones

Answer 39

physical characteristics of a phoneme

Question 40

define phoneme

Answer 40

speech sounds in a language that distinguish words from one another (sip and zip - so s and z are different phonemes)

Question 41

aphasia

Answer 41

difficulty with language or speech, usually caused by damage to left side of brain

Question 42

lexeme

Answer 42

basic lexical unit of language of one word or several words – play, plays, playing

Question 43

pragmatics (LES)

Answer 43

language in context explores relations between language and their users. study of the use of natural language in communication

Question 44

give examples of minimal pairs

Answer 44

bat/pat and lot/rot

Question 45

allophone

Answer 45

phonetic variation of one phoneme (the /l/ in love and wool)

Question 46

sound symbolism

Answer 46

sounds of language that mimic non-linguistic phenomena (growl and bark)

Question 47

what is the FoxP2 gene?

Answer 47

first gene relevant for human ability to develop language

Question 48

what does the FoxP2 gene do?

Answer 48

Give instructions for conception of protein forkhead box P2

Question 49

what protein is FoxP2 gene responsible for making and what is its purpose?

Answer 49

forkhead box P2, essential for speech and language development

Question 50

what is the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis?

Answer 50

language shapes our thoughts

Question 51

what is the weak version of the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis?

Answer 51

linguistic relativism: people of different languages perceive the world differently

Question 52

what is the strong version of the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis?

Answer 52

linguistic determinism: thoughts are limited and determined by language

Question 53

what does circularity mean in terms of language and thinking?

Answer 53

someone speaks differently - they must think differently - why think this? - because they speak differently!

Question 54

who conducted research into linguistic relativity

Answer 54

Boroditsky et al 2002

Question 55

what did Boroditsky et al. 2002 research?

Answer 55

linguistic relativity in gender: Spanish speakers said 'el puente' was jagged, strong, dangerous & sturdy German speakers said 'Die Brücke' was beautiful, elegant, slender & fragile

Question 56

weakness of linguistic determinism

Answer 56

language doesn't constrain thought as thought comes first

Question 57

what is mentalese

Answer 57

hypothetical non-verbal language where ideas are represented in the mind

Question 58

what does mentalese defy

Answer 58

linguistic relativism: mentalese is universal thus we don't all see the world differently due to our languages