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.
Body language - postural echo
Copying each others body position.
Tenner and Cartrand: Participants rated a new drink more highly when presented with postural echo.
Body language - touch
includes high fives, slapping, hand on shoulder etc.
Fisher: if librarian touched student on the hand while returning a book the librarian would be judged more positively.
Body language evaluation - real-world application
People can use body language to build good relationships
Body language evaluation - Body language studies lack control
Could be other reasons (EVs) why participants like or dislike confederates.
Body language evaluation - Body language studies are unethical
lack of informed consent for being in field experiments, lowers trust in psychologists.
Personal space definition
The distance we keep between ourselves and others
Personal space - cultural differences
Sorowkoska et al.: large cultural differences in preferred distances of personal space. Saudi Arabia larger distances than England.
May be explained by climate (warmer climate closer to strangers, farther from friends).
Personal space - gender differences
Fisher and Bryne: women feel most uncomfortable when personal space is invaded from the side, for men it is from the front.
Personal space - status differences
Zahn: people with similar status stand closer than those of unequal status.
Personal space evaluation - over simplistic
Research investigates one factor at a time and not the interaction between them
Personal space evaluation - real-life application
Useful in everyday life such as doctors using knowledge about cultural differences.
Personal space evaluation - Unrepresentative samples
experiments use samples of people who may not all genders or people within a culture.
Von Frisch’s bee study why was it so important?
changed the way scientists thought about animal communications.
Von Frisch’s bee study aim
to describe the dances of honey bees to understand their communication.
Von Frisch’s bee study method
Put food close to hive (10-20 meters) and far away (up to 300 meters)
Observed bees 6000 times over 20 years.
Von Frisch’s bee study results
Round dance: Move in circle to show pollen less than 100 meters away
Waggle dance: Figure of eight shape points direction.
60% of bees went to sources at the distance indicated by the dances
Von Frisch’s bee study conclusion
Sophisticated communication system
Von Frisch’s bee study evaluation
Scientific value - opened eye to the capabilities of animals
Sound matters too - dances performed in silence were ignored (Esch)
Extra: other factors are important - Bees don’t respond to the waggle dance if they have to fly over water (Gould).
the four functions of animal communication
reproduction, food, survival and territory.
Animals communication survival examples
vocal signals: Velvet monkeys communicate danger with an alarm call
Visual signals: rabbit lift tail, pin ears back and leap forward.
enhances survival of the individual (and group).
Animal communication reproduction examples
Peacocks stretch out their feathers like an umbrella to communicate genetic fitness.
Animal communication territory examples
Rhinos leave piles of dung to communicate territorial boundaries
Animal communication food examples
Ants leave a pheromone trail to communicate food source.
properties of human communication not present in animal communication
creativity, plan ahead and discuss future events, single versus multiple channels
plan ahead and discuss future events - human vs animal
humans can discuss things that aren’t present or haven’t happened yet (displacement)
Animals are focused on the present e.g. food and predators
Creativity - human vs animal
humans have an open system of communication and can combine many words together.
Animals have a closed system using communication for specific events.
Single versus multiple channels - humans vs animals
Human communication expressed through many channels - spoken, written, sign language and social media
Animals tend to communicate with a single channel, e.g. pheromones
Darwin and evolution - evolutionary theory of non-verbal behaviour
the theory of natural selection: Genes for behaviours that promote survival are passed to the next generation.
NVC as evolved and adaptive - evolutionary theory of non-verbal behaviour
NVC evolved in animals to express emotion.
For example, baring teeth is adaptive because it reduces death in a conflict and therefore protects the survival of the individual (and group).
comparisons of human behaviour - evolutionary theory of non-verbal behaviour
in our distant ancestors opening eyes widely was adaptive because they could see route to safety more easily.
This behaviour passed down to humans and continues to express surprise.
serviceable habits - evolutionary theory of non-verbal behaviour
Behaviours used by ancestors to promote survival.
Still used by humans but may not serve the same purpose.
Evolutionary theory of non-verbal behaviour - research into facial expressions
Ekman found six emotions in all cultures, so emotion must be innate
Evolutionary theory of non-verbal behaviour - research into newborns
Babies are born with the ability to make eye contact and smile which suggests these NVCs are innate and evolved.
Evolutionary theory of non-verbal behaviour - Cultural differences in NVC
Cultural differences in NVCs such as personal space means that the evolutionary theory cannot explain all NVC.
Evidence that NVC is innate - neonate research
If NVCs are displayed by newborn babies this suggests the behaviour is innate.
Evidence that NVC is innate - social releasers
Certain neonate behaviours (e.g. smiling) make others want to provide care, therefore they ae adaptive (Bowley).
Evidence that NVC is innate - facial expressions
Neonates display an expression of disgust when given sour tastes (citric acid), suggesting it’s innate (Rosenstien and Oster).
Evidence that NVC is innate - sensory deprived
An animal or human without sensory ability.
Thompson found that blind children show similar facial expressions to sighted children.
Evidence the NVC is learned - cross-cultural research
comparing behaviours from different cultures shows if they are learned
Evidence that NVC is learned - contact vs non-contact cultures
contact countries: Mediterranean and Latin American prefer smaller personal space.
Non-contact countries: UK and USA prefer larger personal space.
Evidence that NVC is learned - gestures
pointing index finger is offensive in Hindu culture (Black).
Evidence that NVC is learned - explaining cultural differences
Social learning theory: Observe other people in your culture and imitate e.g. learn which gestures are okay.
Yuki’s study of emoticons (what is it comparing)
comparing cultural understanding of non-verbal behaviours can show whether it is universal or learned.
Yuki’s study of emoticons - Aim
To find out if there is a difference in interpretation of emoticons in Japan and America.
Yuki’s study of emoticons - Method
Six emoticons shown with different variations of eyes and mouths (sad, happy, neutral).
Participants rated the faces in terms of the happiness the emoticons expressed (9 point scale)
Yuki’s study of emoticons - Results
Japanese: higher rating for happy eyes than Americans
Americans: higher happiness rating for when there was a happy mouth, even if the eyes were sad.
Yuki’s study of emoticons - Conclusion
Cultural differences in the way emotions is interpreted in facial expressions. Japanese may use eyes because cultural norms lead to hiding emotions but hard to control the expression from the eyes.
Yuki’s study of emoticons evaluation - artificial materials
emoticons leave out features such as wrinkles which may be important when judging emotion.
However follow up study using real faces found the same results.
Yuki’s study of emoticons evaluation - only tested one emotion
In everyday life faces express a range of emotions not just happy and sad.
Yuki’s study of emoticons evaluation - using rating scales
emotions are very complex and rating scales reduce emotion to a single score.
