Language Flashcards
What is language?
Arbitrary symbols
Generative grammar - word order and thought patterns
How does animal communication differ from language?
- able to communicate information about their own emotional state
- able to communicate some information about the worlds eg. alarm calls (not arbitrary)
- NO evidence of emergent properties (getting more complex/better over time)
What is generative grammar?
Finite number of elements can be rearranged with properties distinct from their elements. Discrete combinational system
What is language composition similar to?
Genetic code - 4 nucleotides rearranged to make infinite number of genes
What is Chomsky’s view on language?
Not a cultural invention - an instinct, but one which is incompatible with Darwinian evolution
What is Pinker’s view on language?
An instinct, compatible with Darwinian evolution but still irrevocable separating humans from all other animals
Who invented the idea that language in an instinct?
Noam Chomsky
What is the evidence that language is an instinct?
Develops spontaneously without formal instruction
Children turn pidgin into creole
Children invent own generative grammar without imitation
Deaf children invent own sign language
All human languages have the same deep structure not the same formal grammar
No tribe ever discovered without language
Distinct from the ability to process information or behave intelligently
Identifiable part of human brain (lower frontal lobe in LH)
Wililams syndrome and Alzheimers - poor cognitive ability but good speech
Give examples of conditions where cognitive ability is affected but speech is not
WIlliams syndrome, Alzheimers
What is Orwell’s view (1984) on language?
Thoughts predetermined by the language available
Different languages cause different thoughts
Which culture doesn’t have the word we?
Cherokee - different words for me and her, group in room, whole population etc.
What evidence opposes the alternative view?
Thoughts are already there - babies have cognitive representation but no language
Adults claim to think in images (Einstein)
Some disciplines eg. particle physics can only be described using a taught language (maths)
How does psychotherapy work?
Allows rhetoric constraints to be put on abstract ideas and thoughts
What is the purpose of language?
Translating thoughts into communication - not perfect, thoughts and percepts are richer as several concepts surround an individual word
What is “the code”?
Deep biological structure common to all languages - sentences are not just learned sequences
What are the different aspects of the code?
Head phrase - whole sentence is about this
Noun phrase eg. the happy boy
Verb phrase eg. eats icecream
A bar eg. will - can be added anywhere to complexify meaning
What are the two types of words in language?
Content and function
Content words easy to add new ones/alter
Function words difficult to alter/add new words
Up to why age can language deprived children develop speech?
6 years
How is learning facilitated?
Adults emphasise grammar over word complexity eg. what did he eat? he ate his dinner
Why can apes not talk?
Anatomy of vocal tract
Who suggested apes could be taught sign language?
Yerkes
Who taught Washoe ASL?
Gardner 1960s
- within ten years she had aquired over 100 signs (mostly requests)
What were the apes taught to use symbols supposed to be revealing evidence of?
Grammar
What is the likely explanation of symbol and signing in primates?
S-R Association and chaining, operant training and reinforcement - not creative
What is the Clever Hans effect?
Interpreting subtle signals form trainer/owner/experimenter interpreted as knowledge
Who studied Nim Chimpsky?
Herbert Terrace 1973
- Imitated word order used by experimenters
What did Sherman and Austin study?
Use and understanding of words rather than whether apes have a language or use of grammar
- arbitrary symbols (still operant conditioning?)
- impressive feat of naming object before giving it to experimenter
Which chimp did Savage-Rumbaugh study?
Kanzi
Mother was keyboard trained, he was not but picked up knowledge of symbols as a child would ?
- majority of multi-words were spontaneous not imitated
- combinations indicate meaning that individual words lack
- Rules should generalise
- Order important
- Some creativity
What was Pinker’s view on Kanzi?
Abilities are only just above those of conspecifics
