language Flashcards
describe what happens in the different stages of piaget’s theory of language and thought
sensorimotor - babies only copy sounds e.g. ga ga
pre-operational - egocentric, use language to voice internal thoughts e.g. ‘food’ or ‘hungry’
concrete operational - language ability improved a lot, can still only talk about concrete things e.g. school or football
formal operational - language can be used to talk about abstract + theoretical things e.g. ghosts or God
according to piaget, what leads to the growth of language?
matching correct words to existing knowledge that the person has, the understanding comes first, then the language
evaluate piagets theory of language and thought
+ early lang is not random, ‘Mummy-sock’ demonstrates understanding of the relationship between the two before formulating full sentences, only start to use language after having some understanding
- there is an opposing theory, the Sapir-Whorf states language comes before thought as words are needed before being able to be thought about, reduces validity of the theory
- piagets theory has been criticised because of the way he collected his data, he used his own children and small samples which were unrepresentative of the wider population, he was the only one observing so personal bias could have affected conclusions, must be cautious when generalising his findings to others
what is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
it is not possible to think about something you do not have the words for, so different cultures will have different ways of thinking and understanding things
what are the three things language leads to according to Sapir-Whorf
1) helps us see and understand things in certain ways
2) it causes certain ways of thinking to become easier and more likely
3) leads to memory bias and increase/decrease the ability to recall certain information
where did the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis get their evidence from
studying indigenous people and comparing their languages with english
according to sapir-whorf, how does the language we speak affect our view of the world
it leads us to focus on certain ways of seeing and understanding things, as well as causing some new ways of thinking to be more likely and easier e.g recent meanings for words affecting how you use them
evaluate the sapir-whorf hypothesis
+ it explains the link between language and intelligence as children from poorer backgrounds speak restricted code, which negatively affects their ability to think, middle class backgrounds speak elaborated code, which shows there is a link between language and intelligence, so language influences thought
- it does not consider why there are cultural differences in language, Inuit language has lots of words for snow as it reflects the environment, suggesting the language develops because of our perception of the environment, so thoughts come before lang which supports Piaget
- evidence could be exaggerated, in Inuit lang there are only two words for snow, english has slush, sleet etc. so challenges whether lange determines thought as differences may not be that great
what is the two pieces of evidence to support the sapir-whorf hypothesis
- variation in recognition of the colour blue
- variation in recall of events
explain the variation of the recognition of the colour blue
hypothesis - the language we speak leads us to focus on seeing certain things and makes certain ways of thinking more likely than others
the tarahumara tribe have only one word for blue and green and they perceive smaller differences between shades of blues and greens than english speakers
russian speakers have more words for lighter and darker blues, and are quicker to recognise differences between two shades of blue when one was perceived as darker and the other lighter
explain the variation in recall of events
hypothesis - the language we speak affects our ability to recall certain information
when spanish and english speakers were asked to describe intended and accidental actions, all participants identified the person when the action was intended, but when the action was accidental, english speakers identified the person more often than spanish speakers, both speakers recalled people involved in intended actions, but english speakers had much better recall of who was involved in accidental actions
outline Von Frisch’s bee study
aim: investigate how bees communicate the location of a food source to each other
method: two stations of sugar water placed at different locations, and a hive with glass sides used to observe the bees’ behaviour when they return, when bees visited a station, they were marked with that colour to make them identifiable and their movements recorded back at the hive
results: different movements occurred depending on how far food source was from the hive, round dance when food was less than 100m and a waggle dance when food was more than 100m, number of turns made in 15sec waggle communicates distance of food source
conclusion: bees use a variety of different movements to communicate the distance and direction of food sources
evaluate Von Frisch’s bee study
+ other researchers have consistently found similar findings when replicating the study, which increases the validity of results
- Von Frisch overlooked the importance of sound, other researchers found that when the dance was done in silence other bees did not go looking for food, but did when sounds are used, so visual cues are only part of communication
+ the bees reacted the same way when sugar water was placed on flowers instead, which increases the validity of the results
give three examples of animal vocalisation
birds - singing
insects - chirping
big cats - growling
name similar animal and human non-verbal communication
facial expressions - emotion
posture - postural echo and adopting each other’s posture
touch - bonding and reassurance
name and give examples of the four limited functions of animal communication
survival - the ability to continue ones life e.g. the Vervet monkeys using different calls to alert others when a specific predator is present, when the same call was played there was the same response
reproduction - producing offspring e.g. male peacocks make loud noises and open feathers to attract a mate, bright and colourful feathers represent good health
territory - marking an area e.g. cheetahs marking an area with urine discourages other animals from invading and reduces fighting for a territory, which uses lots of energy and is a risk to survival
food - drawing attention to food sources e.g. bees doing a dance to show the distance and direction of a food source
name and define the two features of human communication
productivity - the ability to create unlimited numbers of different messages which allows language to be used creatively, human communication is open while animal is closed, Koko the gorilla was taught 2000 signs
displacement - the ability to discuss things that aren’t present, events in the future, and things that dont exist e.g. ghosts or God, while animals only communicate about the present e.g. food or predators
describe productivity in animals
animals have planning behaviour e.g squirrels, which store nuts for winter, this is likely to be instinctive and innate rather than communicated
Koko the gorilla can use language productively and can create new signs when she doesn’t know and existing one, like the signs for ‘finger’ and ‘bracelet’ to form a ring
evaluate the design features of language
+ research has found, like with Koko, shows that animals can use language productively, since she can understand and communicate with humans
- there are ethical issues about keeping animals in captivity and conducting research on them, as they are being trained to behave in ways that aren’t natural
identify the different types of non-verbal communication
- eye contact
- body language
- speech with no words
define eye contact
when two people look at each other’s eyes during conversation
