Language, Thought And Communication Flashcards
How do children develop language?
Children develop language by matching the correct word to their knowledge.
Thought and understanding comes first, language develops after.
What are the evaluation points of Piagets theory in language?
A strength is that early language is not random.
When children start talking they use two-word phrases like ‘Mummy sock’, which shows they can see how objects relate to each other.
This suggests that children only start to use language when they have some understanding of it.
A weakness is the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis challenges Piaget.
It states that language comes before thought as people need a word or phrase for an object in order to think about it.
This suggests that Piaget may have been wrong.
Another weakness is that schema cannot be scientifically measured.
It is very difficult to know if schema exist as we cannot directly measure them.
This shows that Piaget’s theory of language and thought is not based on solid scientific evidence.
What was the Sapir and Whorf hypothesis?
Sapir and Whorf suggested it is not possible to think about something you don’t have words for.
What are the two versions of Sapir and Whorf’s hypothesis?
The stronger one: which believes that language determines our thoughts and
The weaker one: which says language influences thoughts.
How does the absence of words for a thought, object, or idea make it difficult to translate concepts from one language to another?
If there are no words for a thought, object or idea then you can’t think about it.
This is why it is difficult to translate ideas from one language to another.
Which of the two Sapir and Whorf hypothesis is preferred?
Weaker version preferred. If the words we have for a concept or idea are limited, our ability to notice or recall that idea will be limited.
What is are the evaluation points for the Sapir and Whorf’s hypothesis?
A weakness is that differences between cultures may have been exaggerated by Boas.
There are really only two words for snow in Inuit culture and actually English has other words for different types of snow.
This shows that the differences aren’t that great and challenges the conclusion that language may determine thought.
Another weakness is that having more words for snow doesn’t mean the words came first.
The Inuit language may have more words for snow because there is always lots of snow.
This suggests that language develops because of the way we perceive our environment, which supports Piaget’s view that thinking influences language.
A 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).
Why did Whorf study Native American cultures?
Whorf studied Native American cultures to investigate whether language influences the way people think.
How do Native Americans language influence the way they think about time?
Hopi language doesn’t distinguish between past, present and future.
Therefore this influences the way they think about time.
What was Carmichaels experiment?
Carmichael et al. gave two groups of participants the same pictures but each group heard different descriptions.
When they were asked to draw them, the pictures drawn reflected the labels they had heard.
This suggests that language influences memory.
What did Brown and Lenneberg find?
Brown and Lenneberg found that 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 lack of words for those two colours affected their ability to distinguish between them.
What did Roberson find?
Roberson et al. found that the Berinmo people of New Guinea had difficulty recalling and distinguishing between a variety of colours as they only have five words for different colours in their own language.
This is evidence for the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis as it suggested that specific cognitive processes are influenced by language.
What was the aim of Von Frisch’s bee study?
To describe the dances performed by honey bees to explain how they communicate information to each other.
What was the method of Von Frisch’s bee study?
Von Frisch put a food source close to the hive (within about 10–20 metres), as well as one further away (up to 300 metres).
He made over 6000 observations of honey bees over 20 years.
What were the results of Von Frisch’s bee study?
Worker bees tell the others where pollen is located by two types of dance:
Round dance: Moving in a circle to indicate food is less than 100 metres away.
Waggle dance: Moving in a figure of eight, waggling its abdomen in the ‘middle’ of the eight, with this straight line pointing at the source of pollen. Speed indicates distance.
60% of bees went to food sources at the distance indicated by the dances.
What was the conclusion of Von Frisch’s bee study?
Bees use a sophisticated form of animal communication.
The signalling system has evolutionary value as it helps their survival.
What are the evaluation point’s of Von Frisch’s bee study?
A 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.
A weakness is that the importance of sound was overlooked.
When bees performed dances in silence, other bees would not then go on and investigate food sources (Esch).
This shows that sound-based signals also play a part in directing other bees – something that Von Frisch did not consider.
Another weakness is that bees do not always respond to the waggle dance.
Bees do 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 (Gould).
This shows that Von Frisch’s account was incomplete.
What are the four functions of animal communication?
Survival:
Ververt monkeys use sounds to warn of danger (alarm calls). A specific sound warns other monkeys close by.
Rabbits use visual signals. They lift their tail high, pin ears back and leap forward to communicate danger to other rabbits.
These signals increase the survival of members of the signaller’s species.
Reproduction:
Animals use mating displays.
Peacocks stretch their feathers like an umbrella to attract females.
Mating displays communicate genetic fitness through brightly coloured and plentiful feathers.
Territory:
Animals mark territory through spreading scents.
Rhinos produce 20–30 piles of dung to communicate that an area is occupied.
This has evolutionary value as it takes less energy than fighting.
Food:
Animals use signals to show location of food.
Ants leave a pheromone trail to communicate the location of a food source.
