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W9 - Language Flashcards

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1
Q

What are some ways in which languages differ from one another?

A

Languages differ in sound structure, prosody (melody & rhythm), vocabulary, and grammar.

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2
Q

What is an example of grammatical number differences across languages?

A

Polish has “kot” (1 cat), “koty” (2 cats), “kotów” (5+ cats); English has “cat” and “cats”; French has “chat” and “chats”.

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3
Q

What is the central question in the study of language and cognition?

A

Whether differences in how languages represent experience influence how people think.

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4
Q

What are the two options regarding the relationship between language and thought?

A

Option 1: Language merely expresses thoughts. Option 2: Language structures thoughts differently.

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5
Q

Who proposed the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis?

A

Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf.

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6
Q

What does the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis suggest?

A

That the structure of a language influences perception and cognition, affecting how people categorize and interpret the world.

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7
Q

According to Sapir-Whorf, do speakers of different languages perceive the world the same?

A

No, they perceive the world differently due to language structure.

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8
Q

What is an example supporting linguistic relativity involving the word “blue”?

A

Russian speakers have distinct words for “light blue” (голубой) and “dark blue” (синий), and distinguish between them faster than English speakers (Winawer et al., 2007).

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9
Q

Were Sapir and Whorf’s claims originally based on experiments - empirical research?

A

No, their claims were theoretical and not based on systematic experimental work.

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10
Q

What have later experimental studies concluded about linguistic relativity?

A

Language influences how people process information but does not determine thought.

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11
Q

Does speaking differently mean people think differently?

A

No, speaking differently does not necessarily mean people think differently.

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12
Q

When does language learning begin?

A

In utero (before birth).

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13
Q

Can infants recognize their native language at birth?

A

Yes, they can recognize their mother tongue from birth.

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14
Q

What language-related skills do infants develop in the first year?

A

They learn sound structure, start identifying grammatical patterns, and begin to link signals to meaning.

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15
Q

Can infants understand words before they can speak?

A

Yes, they can recognize some words before they are able to produce them.

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16
Q

What is categorization definition?

A

The ability to group objects based on shared features and functions.

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17
Q

Can categorization occur without language?

A

Yes, but language enhances the expression, communication, and facilitates learning and teaching of categories.

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18
Q

What did Waxman & Markow (1995) and related studies examine?

A

Whether words help infants categorize objects.

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19
Q

How were infants tested in Waxman & Markow-style studies?

A

They were shown animals and heard either words, non-specific linguistic input, or tones.

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20
Q

What did researchers find in the word vs. tone conditions?

A

Infants were equally attentive in all conditions but categorized more effectively with words.

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21
Q

What do category labels do for infants?

A

Words act as invitations to form categories.

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22
Q

At what age do infants begin linking words and categories effectively?

A

Around 12 months - on the threshold of producing language, established principled link

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23
Q

What did Ferry et al. (2010) study?

A

Whether 3–4 month-old infants use language to form categories.

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24
Q

What were the main findings from Ferry et al. (2010)?

A

3-month-olds preferred familiar categories; 4-month-olds preferred novelty, showing they formed categories.

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25
What do these findings suggest about early language and categorization?
Infants can use language to guide category learning by 3–4 months of age and they can differenciate novel from familiar categories
26
whats the conclusion from ferry 2010?
Words help infants form categories even before they can speak.
27
How does listening to words help infants categorize?
It encourages them to look for commonalities between objects (Althaus & Plunkett, 2016).
28
What role does labeling play in categorization?
Objects with the same name are grouped together by infants.
29
When do language-cognition links begin to develop?
During the first year of life, before infants can speak.
30
By what age do infants start linking words to categories?
By 3 months of age.
31
Do non-linguistic sounds have the same effect as words on categorization?
No, only words have this effect.
32
What does labeling do for infants?
It fosters categorization—infants group objects that share the same name.
33
What did Hermer and Spelke (1994) investigate?
Whether children can integrate different spatial reference frames, including landmark information, to find hidden objects.
34
What did Hermer and Spelke find about young children's spatial integration?
Young children (2–3 years old) could not integrate landmark and geometric information; they behaved like rats in similar tasks.
35
What type of reference frame did young children rely on in Hermer and Spelke’s study?
They relied only on the geometry of the environment, not landmark information.
36
How did language help in Hermer and Spelke's spatial task?
When language highlighted relevant aspects of the space, children could integrate both landmark and geometric frames like adults.
37
What does Hermer and Spelke’s study suggest about language and spatial cognition?
Language helps integrate multiple spatial reference frames.
38
What role does language play in children's spatial cognition?
It helps them integrate different spatial reference frames.
39
What is a landmark-based (relative) reference frame?
It describes position relative to the observer, e.g., “The cat is on my right.”
40
What is an allocentric (absolute) reference frame?
It describes position using fixed directions, e.g., “The cat is north of the car.”
41
What was the method used in Levinson (1997)?
Participants memorized a row of objects and then recreated the arrangement in a different orientation.
42
What did Dutch speakers do in Levinson's study?
They used relative encoding and preserved the left-right order of the objects.
43
What did Tzeltal speakers do in Levinson’s study?
They used absolute encoding and preserved the north-south orientation of the objects.
44
What was the conclusion of Levinson (1997)?
Language influences spatial memory strategies—different languages promote different spatial frames of reference.
45
Who participated in Haun et al. (2011)?
8-year-old children from the Netherlands (relative encoding) and Namibia (absolute encoding).
46
What did Haun et al. find about spatial strategies in children?
By age 8, children had adopted spatial orientation strategies based on their native language.
47
Could Haun et al. (2011) train children to use another culture’s spatial strategy?
No, children were not easily trained to adopt the NSEW (absolute) strategy if it wasn't part of their native language.
48
How does English categorize spatial relationships?
It distinguishes between containment (e.g., 'put in') and support (e.g., 'put on').
49
How does Korean categorize spatial relationships differently from English?
It distinguishes between tight-fit (kkita) and loose-fit relations.
50
What did Sonja Choi’s study find about English-learning children and spatial distinctions?
By age 3, English-learning children lost sensitivity to the fine spatial distinctions made in Korean.
51
What is the conclusion from studies on language and spatial categorization?
Native language influences how children categorize and mentally represent space.
52
What two number systems operate independently of language?
The Analog Magnitude System and the Object Individuation System.
53
What does the Analog Magnitude System do?
It allows for approximate estimation of quantities.
54
What does the Object Individuation System do?
It enables tracking of small sets of objects (usually 1–3).
55
What evidence supports the existence of language-independent number systems?
Animals, preverbal infants, and uneducated adults can estimate and differentiate quantities without using language.
56
What aspect of number understanding depends on language?
Symbolic number representation.
57
How does language enable symbolic number representation?
It allows for precise representation, recording, and manipulation of numbers.
58
What did Miller et al. (1995) study?
The effect of number naming systems on early math learning in Mandarin vs. English.
59
How does Mandarin number naming differ from English?
Mandarin uses a regular structure (e.g., 11 = “ten-one”), while English uses irregular terms like “eleven” and “twelve”.
60
What impact do these number systems have on learning?
Regular systems like Mandarin are easier to learn, especially for larger numbers.
61
What were the tasks used to test number system hypotheses?
• Task 1: Abstract counting (counting ability and accuracy) • Task 2: Object counting • Task 3: Problem solving (e.g., Give-N task for 2, 4, 7, 12)
62
What did researchers observe about task performance?
• Task 1 (abstract counting) showed effects of number system differences. • Task 2 (object counting) and Task 3 (problem solving) showed no significant differences. • Children in both groups performed similarly from 1–10, but diverged after 10 due to number system structure.
63
Can numerical cognition occur without language?
Yes, basic number sense exists without language.
64
What does language add to numerical cognition?
It enables precise, limitless representation and manipulation of large numbers.
65
Do specific languages strongly affect early maths skills?
Not significantly—differences in number systems matter, but their long-term impact is unclear.
66
What is observed about number word learning across cultures?
Children go through similar stages of number-word knowledge regardless of language or culture.
67
What are the two big questions explored in this lecture?
1. How does the language faculty transform cognition? 2. Do specific languages influence cognition in different ways?
68
What is the answer to both major lecture questions?
Yes—language transforms cognition, and specific languages influence it to an extent.
69
What three domains of thought were explored in relation to language?
Categorization, spatial cognition, and numerical cognition.
70
How does language influence categorization?
Words foster category formation from infancy.
71
How does language influence spatial cognition?
Language supports integration of spatial frames, orientation encoding, and spatial categorization.
72
How does language influence numerical cognition?
It enables precise representation of large numbers and may affect ease of learning based on number system structure.
73
Does language determine cognition?
No, but it does influence it.
74
What role does language play in infant cognition?
It facilitates categorization even before infants can speak.
75
How is spatial cognition shaped by language?
Different languages encode spatial reference frames and spatial categories in distinct ways.
76
What aspects of numerical cognition are language-dependent?
Symbolic representation and manipulation of numbers.
77
What aspects of numerical cognition are language-independent?
Basic number sense, such as estimation and tracking small sets.
78
To what extent do children with different mother tongues think differently?
They may think differently in specific cognitive domains influenced by their language, but core cognitive capacities remain universal.
79
How does language learning in infants shape cognitive development?
It scaffolds abilities like categorization, spatial reasoning, and numerical understanding.
80
Could bilingualism or multilingualism provide cognitive advantages?
Yes—exposure to multiple language systems may enhance flexibility in cognition and metalinguistic awareness.

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