Language and thought

Question 1

What are the 4 possibilities of language and thought relationship?

Answer 1

1) language and thought are independent (Chomsky - innate)
2) thoughts drive language (Piaget)
3) language drive thought (Whorf)
4) thought and language are interdependent (Vygotsky T & L becomes interdependent at year 2-3)

Question 2

What’s the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

Answer 2

• Form of language determines structure of thought process.

Evidence: Think the determination of blue for English vs tribe - ie do people with restricted colour vocabulary have restricted conceptualisation of colour?

Question 3

What are focal colours?

Answer 3

General colour terms (ie red is red!) - easier to learn names for focal vs non-focal colours

Question 4

What is meant by categorical perception of colour?

Answer 4

Colours from same category discriminated less easily (ie green turqui blue)

Question 5

What are the different views on categorisation?

Answer 5

Universalist: perceptual categories (universal) –> linguistic categories

Linguistic relativist: linguistic categories –> perceptual categories

Evidence for both!