Language, Thought and Communication

Question 1

Describe von Frisch’s aim for his 1967 Bee Study:

Answer 1

To describe the dances performed by bees and explain how these dances enabled bees to communicate

Question 2

Describe von Frisch’s method (Bee study, 1967)

Answer 2

He put food sources close to the hive as well as far away. If a bee visited a food source, he would mark it with paint. He then observed their behaviour at the hive.

Question 3

Describe von Frisch’s findings:

Answer 3

Worker honey bees tell other bees where the pollen is by displaying one of two dances.
Round dances – for food less than 100 metres away, the bees moves around in a circle.
Waggle dances – for food more than 100 metres away, the bee moves around in a figure of 8 shape. It waggles on the ‘straight’ section. The slower the dance, the further away the pollen is.
After watching a dancing bee, 60% of the bees watching went to find the food sources

Question 4

Evaluate von Frisch’s Bee Study, 1967

Answer 4

+ Made an important contribution to science

• Missed aspects of their communication: sound
• Bees don’t always respond to the waggle dance
• There may be other factors that affect if the bees respond to the dances or not that von Frisch overlooked.

Question 5

What are the four reasons why animals communicate?

Answer 5

1. Territory
2. Food
3. Survival
4. Reproduction

Question 6

What can humans do that animals can’t?

Answer 6

1. Plan ahead and discuss future events
2. Creativity
3. Single vs multiple channels

Question 7

What are the functions of eye contact (3)

Answer 7

1. Conversation flow (it gives the other person feedback about how interested you are in the conversation)
2. Signalling attraction (evolutionary behaviour: Our level of eye contact might increase when we are talking to someone we like)
3. Expressing emotion (shows intensity)

Question 8

Evaluate the functions of eye contact

Answer 8

+ Real-world application: helps explain how people with autism struggle with eye contact and find it difficult to read emotions because people with autism might not use eye contact when interacting

• Research into eye contact often uses rating scales to make judgements. Asking someone to rate attractiveness isn’t an accurate measurement as everyone sees attractiveness differently
• Research into eye contact makes generalisations about how we use it in everyday life based on research. This is a weakness because not everyone uses eye contact in the same way as there are individual differences

Question 9

What is body language?

Answer 9

The way in which attitudes and feelings are communicated to others through unspoken movements and gestures

Question 10

Describe Open & Closed posture

Answer 10

Posture is the way someone positions their body during social interaction. An open posture is relaxed and shows approval or acceptance whereas a closed posture shows rejection or disagreement.

Question 11

Describe Postural Echo

Answer 11

Postural echo is when you copy or ‘mirror’ someone’s body position whilst talking to them.

Question 12

Describe the use of touch in non-verbal communication

Answer 12

1. Flirt
2. Express friendship
3. Show dominance

Question 13

Evaluate research into body language

Answer 13

• Research into body language is often conducted without the participant’s consent. This is a weakness as it breaks many ethical guidelines such as informed consent or the right to withdraw.
• Research into body language makes generalisations about how we use it in everyday life. This is a weakness because not everyone uses body language in the same way as there are individual differences. Someone might like being touched whereas others don’t

Question 14

Define personal space

Answer 14

An invisible ‘bubble’ that surrounds each individual. The size of the bubble depends on gender, culture and status differences. If our bubble is invaded, we can feel uncomfortable

Question 15

Outline the gender differences surrounding personal space:

Answer 15

• Men prefer a large distance when interacting with other men while women prefer a shorter distance when interacting with other women.
• Men prefer to sit opposite while women prefer to sit side by side.

Question 16

Outline the status differences surrounding personal space

Answer 16

People who have an equal/similar status stand closer than people who have a different status.

Question 17

Outline the cultural differences surrounding personal space

Answer 17

English people prefer a personal space of 1- 1.5m whereas Arab people prefer to be closer.

Question 18

Evaluate research surrounding personal space

Answer 18

+ Real-world application: interacting with people from different cultures effectively

• PS can be affected by many different factors all at the same time.
• Unrepresentative samples: you can’t generalise an entire culture based on one sample

Question 19

Describe Darwin’s theory of evolution:

Answer 19

The theory that animals have adapted to their environment over millions of years. These adaptations increase the chances of survival and are therefore passed on to the next generation

Question 20

Define serviceable habits

Answer 20

Traits that would have been adaptive to our animal ancestors because they promote survival

Question 21

Describe the theory of natural selection

Answer 21

Genes that improve an animal’s chance of survival are passed on to the next generation so genes that lead to successful reproduction will be selected

Question 22

Evaluate Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory

Answer 22

+ Darwin’s theory is supported by research into facial expressions. Surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness and sadness are recognised in every culture
+ Darwin’s theory is supported by research on newborn babies. Babies do not need to learn facial expressions or eye contact when interacting. This is a strength because it suggests NVC is present at birth and therefore in our biology
- Darwin’s theory doesn’t explain cultural differences. Some parts of non-verbal communication aren’t universal, such as personal space rules.

Question 23

Define verbal communication

Answer 23

The use of words to pass information between people, including speaking, reading and writing.

Question 24

Define non-verbal communication

Answer 24

Methods of passing information between people that excludes verbal communication. E.g, body language, tone and facial expressions

Question 25

Describe evidence proving NVC is innate: (2)

Answer 25

• Sensory deprived children have been found to show the same facial expressions as children who can hear/see
• Babies are born with social releasers such as smiling

Question 26

Describe evidence proving that NVC is learned:

Answer 26

• There are contact and non-contact cultures, who prefer different amounts of personal space
• Different gestures mean different things depending on the country

Question 27

Describe Yuki’s aim (2007):

Answer 27

To find out if there is a difference in how emoticons are understood by people in the East (Japan) and the West (America).

Question 28

Describe Yuki’s method (2007):

Answer 28

95 students from Japan and 118 students from America – an independent groups design.

Six emoticons were shown with different combinations of eyes and mouths (sad, happy or neutral).

Participants rated them for happiness using a 9-point scale

Question 29

What were Yuki’s results?

Answer 29

Japanese gave higher ratings to faces with happy eyes than the Americans, even when the mouth was sad.

Americans gave higher ratings when mouths were happy even when the eyes were sad

This suggests that cultural groups interpret facial expressions differently which may be due to cultural norms and expectations.

Question 30

Evaluate Yuki’s study

Answer 30

• May not represent human facial expressions.
• The study only investigated two types of emotion (happy and sad). The study does not give us insight into how the full range of emotional expressions are interpreted by people of different cultures.
• Rating scales may not be the best method of measurement. Emotions are complex. Rating scales are too simple