Language, thought and communication Flashcards
Piaget’s theory: language and thought
We learn through developing schemas (mental structures)
Schemas definition
a schema describes a pattern of behaviour or thought that organizes categories of information and the relationships among them.
Language depends on thought - Piaget’s theory
Thought and understanding first. Language develops after.
Young children - Piaget’s theory
Can have language without understanding but will not be able to use it effectively.
The development of language stages/ages
Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years) - children start to speak, Pre-operational stage (2-7 years) - Talk about things not present.
Logical thinking stage/age
Concrete operational stage (7-11 years) - Children develop own ideas.
Challenging Piaget’s theory of language and thought evaluation
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis challenges Piaget’s theory suggesting that sometimes language comes first.
Schemas weakness
They can’t be scientifically measured.
Piaget’s theory supporting evidence
The order of children’s two-word phrases shows understanding.
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Not possible to think about something that you have no words for.
Thinking depends on language
Language comes first, thought afterwards.
Strong version: language determines thought
if there are no words for an object or idea then you can’t think about it.
weak version: language influences thinking
words help to “mould” the world. You can still imagine things with no words for them.
The Sapir -Whorf hypothesis evaluation - differences are exaggerated
Inuit culture may only have two words for snow, now twenty seven, while the english has four (Pellum)
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis evaluation - thoughts come before language
If there is lots of snow then this changes how we perceive the environment.
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis evaluation - restricted and elaborated code.
Working-class children use restricted language which affects their ability to think, explaining lower intelligence (Bernstein).
variation of recall of events - Native Americans: The Hopi
Hopi don’t distinguish the past, present or future from one another. The affects the way they think about time.
Variation of recall of events - Language effects the recall of events
Memory effected by the labels given (Carmichael et al.)
Variation of recall of events evaluation - limited sample
Only one individual studied from the hopi
Variation of recall of events evaluation - Ambiguous materials
Carmichael’s study not reflective on everyday life because of less ambiguity.
Variation in recognition of colours - Native Americans: The Zuni
Zuni people only have one world for shades of orange and yellow, and in a research study had difficulty distinguishing them (Brown and Lenneberg)
Variation in recognition of colours - language affects recall of colour
Berinmo people had difficulty recalling colours as they only have five words for colour.
Variation in recognition of colours evaluation - difficulties with cross-cultural understanding
Participants from other cultures may misunderstand the task or fail to communicate their answers correctly.
Variation in recognition of colours evaluation - opposite results
Dani people had no problem matching colour despite only having two words for colour (Rosch and Oliver)
eye contact definition
when two people look at each other’s eyes at the same time.
eye contact - regulating flow of conversation
participants looked away when about to speak and gave prolonged gaze when finishing (Kendon).
eye contact - expressing emotions
People who use eye contact are judged as more attractive (Conway et al.).
eye contact - signalling attraction
Participants judged emotion as more intense if faces looking straight at them (Adams and Kleck)
eye contact evaluation - real life application
people with autism find eye contact difficult, so we should all be more understanding of people who don’t use this form.
eye contact evaluation - use of rating scales
Rating ‘attractiveness’ can lack objectivity
eye contact evaluation - artificial studies
Studies of eye contact involve artificial tasks which lack validity.
Body language definition
communication through unspoken movements and gestures.
Body language - open and closed posture
Closed = arms and/or legs crossed, shows disagreement
Open = uncrossed legs and/or arms, shows acceptance
McGinley et al.: Arguments given by a person with open posture led to a greater opinion change than closed posture.