10>language & cognition Flashcards
Language & cognition is about…>
how language acquisition shapes & affects general cognition
How does langugae acquisition shape & affect general cognition> 2 main parts>
- linguistic relativity (how a specific lang affects)
- bilingualism (how multiple langs affects)
what are the ‘general cognition’ areas that linguistic relativity (specific lang) affects>
- colour perception
- spatial perception
- theory of mind
what are the ‘general cognition’ areas that bilingualism (multiple langs) affects>
- word learning
- cognitive control (switching & inhibition)
- Theory of mind
How does linguistic relativity affect colour perception?>
the ‘terminology’ of specific langs can affect our perception of colour
ways of testing colour perception>
- colour perception tests:
- shown a colour chip
- removed colour chip
- asked to find colour just seen out of selection
Linguistic relativity & colour perception> study> (eng and himba)> 1st test
- colour chip test on 3;0 & 4;0 year olds learning english & himba
- first looked at children who have not acquired colour terminology yet
- asked to find colour & assessed on knowledge of lang terminology
Linguistic relativity & colour perception> study> (eng and himba)> 1st test> results>
- task performance as the SAME
- havent yet acquired colour terminology
- any errors would be based on perceptual distance (<perceptually similar colours)
Linguistic relativity & colour perception> study> (eng and himba)> 2nd test>
- colour chip test on 3;0 & 4;0 year olds learning eng & himba who HAVE acquired colour terminology
- asked to find colour & assessed on knowledge of lang terminology
Linguistic relativity & colour perception> study> (eng and himba)> 2nd test> results>
- english speaking kids who have learnt blue and green made less errors than Himba kids
- for himba speaking kids (where blue & green are same) they made errors between the colours
3 ways of talking about spatial relation: (frames of reference)
- relative
- intrinsic
- absolute
relative spatial perception=
egocentric perspective
- use terminology like ‘right’ & ‘left’ (from self)
(e.g. “the pig is to the right of the cow”)
intrinsic spatial perception=
describing from perspective of one of the objects
(e.g. “the pig is in front of the cow”)
absolute spatial perception=
use of east/west/north/south (or towards the mountains; towards where the sun comes up)
(e.g. “the pig is east of the cow”)
spatial terms & cognition> study on pigs/cows/sheep
- had an array with cow, sheep and pig
- had a school in between
- showed array to kids
- moved kids to other side of school
- asked children to rearrange the animals in the same array
spatial terms & cognition> study on pigs/cows/sheep> results>
- in egocentric kids–>array of animal from L>R & cow towards L & at back with sheep at R
- in object centrered–>array with sheep at front facing them, pig in middle & cow at back (getting further away/forward)
- in geocentric–>array with back of cow infront of them, then back of pig, then back of sheep (getting further away/forward)