Language, Thought and Communication

Question 1

AO1 of Piagets Thoery that Language depends on Thought

Answer 1

• Piaget’s theory concerns how our thinking changes as we develop and refine our schemas about the world
• Children develop their language by knowing the schema first and then matching the correct word to their knowledge; language comes after thought
• A child may copy a word when they hear others use it, but unless they understand the concept, they won’t be able to actually use the word to communicate
• Children only begin to start speaking at the end of the sensorimotor stage (first year).

Question 2

Evaluation points on Piagets Theory that Language depends on thought

Answer 2

• One weakness of this theory is that schemas cannot be scientifically tested or measured. It’s difficult to know if schemas exist as we can’t measure them directly. This suggests that Piagets theory isn’t based on solid scientific evidence
• Another weakness of this theory is that the Sapir Whorf theory argues the opposite of Piagets theory. They believe that language comes before thought and that if a word for an object doesn’t exist we aren’t able to think about it. This is a weakness because there’s evidence that goes against it/disagrees with it

Question 3

AO1 of Sapir Whorf Hypothesis

Answer 3

• Sapir and Whorf said it was impossible to think about something without having the words for it. There’s an argument whether words influence our thoughts or determine our thoughts, 2 versions
• (determine) STRONG= If a language has no words for a certain idea/thought, people who speak that language will have no way of thinking about it. This is why it’s difficult to translate some words/ideas from one lang to another.
• (influence) WEAK= Language influences the way in which people think about things but it doesn’t completely determine what they think. You can still imagine something with no words for it. If the words we have for a concept or idea are limited, our ability to notice or recall that idea will be limited. The weaker version is preferred

Question 4

AO3 of Sapir Whorf Hypothesis

Answer 4

• One strength is that the hypothesis explains the link between language and intelligence. Bernstein suggested that working-class children will always fall behind in school because their use of the restricted code will have a negative effect on their ability to think. This shows that language influences a particular type of thinking (intelligence).
• Another weakness is that differences between cultures may have been exaggerated by researchers such as Boas. There are actually only two words for snow in Inuit culture and English probably has more words for different types of snow. This shows that the differences aren’t that great, and challenges the conclusion that language may determine thought.

Question 5

What are the 4 ways animals communicate?

Answer 5

Food, Territory, Reproduction, Survival

Fruits Taste Really Sweet

Question 6

Animal Communication:

Food

Answer 6

• Animals use signals to draw attention to food sources. Ants release pheromones to signal food, they leave a pheromone trail which helps the other ants find their way to the food source

Question 7

Animal Communication:

Territory

Answer 7

• Animals mark their territory using scent marking. They spread their urine, faeces and other scents to discourage other animals from invading their territory. Rhinos lay thier dung in piles to mark territory and they stomp on it to leave a trail

Question 8

Animal Communication:

Reproduction

Answer 8

• Animals use matings displays to signal to other members of the species that they want to reproduce. The male peacocks stretch out its feathers like an umbrella to reveal its colourful pattern. The brighter the feather the healtheir the peacock therefore its more likely it’ll attract a mate

Question 9

Animal Communication:

Survival

Answer 9

• Communication is needed for animals to survive. Monkeys produce specific sounds that warn other monkeys of dangers. If a monkey sees a predator, they’ll produce a sound known as alarm calls. Rabbits will pin their ears back and leap forward to warn other rabbits of any dangers.

Question 10

What human communication isn’t present in animals?

CPS

Answer 10

• Creativity
• Plan ahead and discuss future events
• Single VS Multiple Channels

Question 11

Human Communication Not Present in Animal

Creativity

Answer 11

• Human language is an open system as words can be combined together in an infinite number of ways through sentences whereas animal communication is a closed system as the gestures, sounds and movements only refer to very specific events.

Question 12

Human Communication Not Present in Animal

Plan ahead and discussing future events

Answer 12

• Humans can use language to plan ahead and discuss future events (displacement) whereas animal communication tends to focus on things that’re physically present in the environment, such as food sources or predators. Therefore displacement isn’t a part of animal communcation

Question 13

Human Communication Not Present in Animal

Single VS Multiple Channels

Answer 13

• Human language can be expressed using a whole range of different methods/channels such as spoken, written or sign language and all the different types of social media and text messages. Animal communication tends to use single channels (pheromones).

Question 14

What was the aim of Von Frisch’s study

Answer 14

His aim was to see how bees communicated with each other

Question 15

What was the method of Von Frisch’s study

Answer 15

He put food sources close to the hive (within about 10-20 metres) and one futher away from the hive (up to 300 metres). If a bee visited a food source, he would mark it with paint. He then observed their behaviour at the hive

Question 16

What was the results of Von Frisch’s study

Answer 16

• He found that worker honey bees tell other worker honey bees where the pollen is by displaying one of 2 dances;
• Round dance: If food is less that 100 metres away, the bees move around in a circle
• Waggle dance: If food is more than 100 metres away, the bee moves around in a figure of 8 shape. On the ‘straight’ section in the middle of the 8 they waggle their abdomen. The slower the dance, the further away the food source is. Von Frisch found that 60% of the bees watching went the find the food source

Question 17

What was the conclusion of Von Frisch’s study

Answer 17

Von Frisch concluded that bees have a very sophisticated form of animal communication. The bees signalling system has evolutionary value bc it helps survival

Question 18

AO3 of Von Frisch’s study

Answer 18

• One strength is that Von Frisch’s work made an important contribution to science. People knew that bees danced but had no understanding of the meaning of the movements. This shows how valuable his research was to science as its improved our understanding of how these animals communicate
• Another weakness is that bees do not always respond to the waggle dance. Gould found that bees did not use the information from the waggle dance to fly to nectar if it was placed in a boat in the middle of a lake. This shows von Frisch’s account was incomplete.

Question 19

Native Americans: The Hopi

Answer 19

• The Hopi language couldn’t distinguish between past, present and future. Rather than saying ‘I’ve left after a week’, Hopi’s would say ‘I left on the seventh day. The Hopi Indians are unable to refer to time passing in their native language and this influences the way they think about time
• One weakness is that Whorf’s research cannot be generalised due to its small sample size. For example, Whorf only studied one individual and came to this conclusion; therefore these results cannot be generalised to other people

Question 20

Language affects recall of events: Carmichael Et Al

Answer 20

• Two groups of participants were shown the pictures but each group heard different descriptions. When they were asked to draw them, the pictures drawn reflected the labels they’d heard. This suggests that language influences our memory of what has happened
• One weakness of this study is that in everyday life, we aren’t always interpreting ambiguous information. This suggests that the Carmichael et. al. study may not generalise that well to everyday life

Question 21

Native Americans: The Zuni

Answer 21

• The Zuni people have only one word for shades of yellow and orange and had difficulty recognising and recalling these colours compared to English speakers. This suggests that their difficulty distinguishing between yellow and orange could be because of the lack of words for those 2 colours in their lang.
• One weakness is that the research was with another culture; there’s an issue with interpreting the participants response. This is a weakness because the language barrier could affect how well the Zuni people communicated their understanding of colour to the researcher

Question 22

Language affects recall of colour: Roberson Et Al

Answer 22

• Berinmo people of New Guinea had difficulty recalling and distinguishing between a variety of colours as they only have 5 words for different colours in their own language
• One weakness is that researchers have found the opposite; the Dani people have only 2 words for colour but were as good as English speaking participants on a colour matching test. This suggests that their lack of colour words didn’t influence their ability to think about colour

Question 23

What does meant by the term ‘eye contact’?

Answer 23

Eye contact is when 2 people look into each other’s eyes and the same time

Question 24

What does eye contact consist of?

Answer 24

• Conversation Flow
• Signalling Attraction
• Expressing Emotion

Question 25

Eye Contact

Signalling Attraction

Answer 25

• Eye contact is used to communicate our attraction to someone. Our level of eye contact might increase when we are talking to someone we like
• Conway (2007) found that people who maintain eye contact are judged to be more attractive than people who do not. It is an evolutionary behaviour that shows a potential mate you are attracted to them.

Question 26

Eye Contact

Expressing Emotion

Answer 26

• Eye contact can be used to show others how we are feeling
• Adams and Kleck (2005) found that participants judge joy and anger most intense when there was a direct gaze. Fear and sadness were most intense when there was an averted gaze. This suggests we use eye contact in different ways to express how intense our emotions are.

Question 27

Eye Contact

Conversation Flow

Answer 27

• Eye contact makes conversations run smoothly as it gives the other person feedback about how interested you are in the conversation
• Kendon (1967) found that eye contact encourages ‘turn-taking’ in conversation. If it didn’t happen, there were awkward pauses on the conversation.

Question 28

What is body language

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Body Language

Open and Closed Posture

Answer 29

• Posture is the way someone positions their body during a social interaction.
• An open posture is relaxed and shows approval or acceptance whereas a closed posture shows rejection or disagreement
• McGinley et al. (1975) found that using an open posture when discussing view points means others are more likely to agree with you.

Question 30

Body Language

Postural Echo

Answer 30

• Postural echo is when you copy or ‘mirror’ someone’s body position whilst talking to them
• Tanner and Chartrand (2006) found that using postural echo means that others are likely to experience positive feelings towards you

Question 31

Body Language

Touch

Answer 31

• Touch can be used to express feeling or show dominance by shaking hands
• We use touch to flirt, express friendship etc
• Fisher et al (1976) found that touch can affect our attitudes towards other people

Question 32

What are the three factors affected personal space?

Answer 32

• Cultural differences
• Gender differences
• Status differences

Question 33

Personal Space

Cultural Differences

Answer 33

• There’re different cultural norms for personal space
• Sommer (1969) found that English people’s personal space is 1-1.5 metres whereas Arabs is much less

Question 34

Personal Space

Gender Differences

Answer 34

• Men prefer a larger distance when interacting with other men while women prefer a shorter distance while interacting with other women
• Men prefer to sit opposite while women prefer to sit side by side
• Fischer and Byrne (1975) found that men feel stressed if personal space is invaded from the front whereas women feel stressed when a stranger invades their personal space from the side

Question 35

Personal Space

Status Differences

Answer 35

• Status is someone’s rank/position within a society
• Example teachers have a similar status whereas a student and a head teacher have a different status
• Zahn (1991) found that people who have an equal/similar status stand closer than people who’ve a different status

Question 36

AO1 of Darwins Evolutionary Theory

Answer 36

• Some of Darwin’s key ideas are natural selection and survival of the fittest. He said that organismsvthat make the best changes in order to fit their situation and environment, are the ones most likely to survive and reproduce.
• Darwin states that humans and animals have similar behaviours. We might wrinkle our nose when we see/smell something disgusting. This allows us to avoid breathing in something potentially dangerous.
• Darwin wrote about the principle of serviceable associated habits. A serviceable behaviour has a purpose. An example would be when people expose their teeth when they have an angry facial expression. Originally, humans may have used biting as a form of self-defence. So just like many animals, they may have exposed their teeth as a way of saying ‘back off’.

Question 37

AO3 Darwins Evolutionary Theory

Answer 37

• One strength of Darwins Theory is it’s supported by research of newborn babies. Babies don’t 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
• One weakness is that Darwins theory doesn’t explain cultural differences. Some parts of NVC aren’t universal, such as personal space rules. This is a weakness because it suggests that some parts of NVC aren’t in our biology, otherwise it would be the same in every culture

Question 38

Evidence that non verbal behaviour is innate

present at birth

Answer 38

Neonates (newborn babies):
- Bowbly (1969) suggests that neonates are born with social releasers, these are NV behaviours such a smiling or giving eye contact; without these the baby could be ignored and can’t look after itself
- Rosenstein and Oster (1988) gave a few weeks old babies a sour taste and found that they showed a disgusted reaction; wrinkling their nose, suggesting NVC is innate

Sensory Deprived:
- Children who’re born blind have been found to show facial expressions such as suprise or NV behaviours such as sulking; suggests NVC is innate

Question 39

Evidence that non verbal behaviour is learned

we develop it

Answer 39

Contact vs Non Contact
- Edward Hall (1966) states that countries such as Italy, Spain and Brazil are contact cultures, the UK and US are non contact cultures. Ppl from contact cultures prefer a small personal space, ppl from non contact cultures prefer a larger distance. This suggests NVC is developed through the environment we live in

Gestures
- Roxie Black (2011) states that pointing your finger is interpreted differently in different cultures. In western cultures it’s acceptable whereas in Hindu cultures it’s considered offensive.

Question 40

What was the aim of Yuki’s study of emoticons

Answer 40

His aim was to find out if there was a difference in how emoticons were understood by people in the East (Japan) and the West (America)

Question 41

What was the method of Yuki’s study of emoticons

Answer 41

• 95 students from Japan and 118 students from America were used (an independant group design)
• Six emoticons were shown with different combinations of eyes or mouth (sad, happy or neutral)
• They were asked to rate how happy they thought it was using a 9 point scale

Question 42

What were the results of Yuki’s study of emoticons

Answer 42

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

Question 43

What was the conclusion of Yuki’s study of emoticons

Answer 43

This suggests that Japanese and Americans interpret facial expressions differently, this could be bc of cultural norms and **expectations **

Question 44

AO3 of Yuki’s study of emoticons

Answer 44

• One weakness of this study is it only investigated 2 types of emotions - happy or sad. in everday life faces express a range of diff emotions; fear, suprise, disgust. This is a weakness because this study doesn’t test how the full range of emotional expressiosn are interpreted by ppl of diff cultures
• Another weakness is that rating scales may not be the best method of measurement. Emotions are very complex, and rating scales reduce emotions to a single score. Therefore Yuki et al may have measured the interpretation of emotions in too simple a way