psych 6 - language

Question 1

what are the 5 defining properties of language?

Answer 1

symbolic (it represents something in real life, maps concepts e.g tree)

meaningful (words and language have meaning and are combined into sentences that have meaning)

has rules (grammar is the set of rules that govern how we combine various symbols)

generative and infinite (we can suse the building blocks and rules of language to generate an infinite number new meaningful messages)

allows for displacement (allows us to communicate events or objects from the present, past and future)

Question 2

generate examples of the 5 properties of language

Answer 2

symbolic (the COW jumped over the MOON)

meaningful (I played basketball today)

it has rules (play today basketball I ??
today i played basketball)

generative (today i played basketball then baked a cake using bill gates bank account figures, generative and infinite in the things you can say)

displacement (i played basket ball just earlier today, or i am going to play basketball)

Question 3

What are the building blocks of language?

Answer 3

phonemes (smallest units of language, these are individual sounds we can make with our vocal apparatus)

morphemes (combinations of phonemes, smallest unit of meaning in a language, eg dogS, cant be used by its self tho)

words (can be used by themselves and have meaning (smallest unit of language that can be used in isolation and be meaningful)

phrases and sentences (words are combined to create phrases, and phrases combined to create sentences, these abide by rules)

Question 4

What does it mean to say that language is hierarchically organized?

Answer 4

it is broken up from small sounds to full sentences which convey meaning.

Question 5

You should be able to generate multiple examples of the different building blocks at each level in the hierarchy

Answer 5

phonemes - saying p by pushing air out your lips

morphemes - s - (e s)

words - combination of morphemes to create a work like d o g

and sentences are combination of words.

Question 6

What are the four stages of early language development?

Answer 6

2 months - cooing

3-4 months sylables

6 months reduplicative babbling

10 months - conversational babbling

Question 7

What are some examples of typical utterances at each of these stages?

Answer 7

cooing - ooo aaa

syllables - Ga Doh

reduplicative babling - bababababababaaba omomomomomomom

conversational babbnling babaga…. bobobomo, BA!

Question 8

How does the development of speech comprehension differ from speech production?

Answer 8

language comprehension precedes language production

understand first words at about 6 months and produce first words at about 12 months

Question 9

What are the nature and nurture theories of language development?

Answer 9

Skinner theorised language is learned via imitation and reinforcement, parents shape language development by correcting errors (nurture)

Nature theory
Chomsky
humans are hard wired for language acquisition
there is a critical period for language development

Question 10

What sorts of inferences can we draw from the historical record in regard to the evolution of language in humans?

Answer 10

humans arrived first in australia 40 to 60 000 years ago this would have required a sea voyage, this would have been difficult with no language obviously.

Question 11

Compare and contrast Broca’s and Wernike’s areas

Answer 11

brocas area, left hemisphere frontal lobe, damage to this area affects language production, comprehension largely unaffected

wernikes area located in left hemisphere of temporal lobe

damage affects language comprehension cant make meaningful sentences

actual production of language still normally fluent but lacks meaning

Question 12

What are some of the other biological bases of language?

Answer 12

humans vocal structures and the size of structures, precursor to developing language.

Question 13

What are the differences between human language and communication in other animals?

Answer 13

for the most part they have relatively simple messages, unidirectional and non specific

animals communicate some of the 5 rules but not all of the properties

Question 14

What are some examples of different kinds of communication produced by non-human animals?

Answer 14

sounds

visual information

smells

Question 15

What are some examples of attempts to teach other animals to comprehend and produce language?

Answer 15

teaching chimps sign language, some chimps understood symbols and combine them in novel ways (equivalent to 2 to 3 year old)

Question 16

To what extent have researchers have been successful in teaching language to other animals

Answer 16

no clear evidence to indicate that all 5 properties of language are present so it is hard to tell whether it is really language.