Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psychology > Language, Thought and Communication > Flashcards

Language, Thought and Communication Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
AP® Psychology flashcards Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

Communication

A

Passing information from one person to another

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Language

A

System of communication used by a specific group

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Thought

A

Mental activity that produces ideas and opinions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Piaget’s theory of thought and language PARTS

A
  • thought comes first
  • schemas
  • stages of development
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Piaget’s theory of thought and language THOUGHT COMES FIRST

A
  • children understand concept of language before using it
  • they start talking towards the end of the first year
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Piaget’s theory of thought and language SCHEMAS

A
  • children develop knowledge of world through schemas long before language
  • produce language by matching correct words to schemas
  • e.g child can understand and play with balls before saying ‘ball’
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Piaget’s theory of thought and language STAGES

A
  • sensorimotor - explore world, copy sounds from others, make schemas to understand language
  • pre-operational - egocentric, use internal voice, only use language to talk about themselves
  • concrete-operational - more logical language
  • formal-operational - talk about abstract things, question and criticise
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Piaget’s theory of thought and language STRENGTHS

A
  • evidence from natural experiment
  • set in natural environment so children would have behaved naturally as they didn’t know they were being studied, wouldn’t have behaved falsely
  • conclusions most likely valid
    +
  • supporting evidence
  • when children start speaking they use 2-words phrases like ‘mummy sock’ describing mummy’s sock, understanding relationships between words before properly talking
  • suggests children can only talk when schemas developed, supporting theory
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Piaget’s theory of thought and language WEAKNESS

A
  • opposing theory
  • Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that language comes before thought and how we think is influenced/determined by it
  • potentially reduces validity
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis DATE

A

1929

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis PARTS

A
  • linguistic determinism
  • linguistic relativism
  • strong version
  • weak version
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis LINGUISTIC DETERMINISM

A
  • language comes before thought
  • it determines how we think + see world
  • use more words for things we value more - Solomon Islands have 9 words for coconuts
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis LINGUISTIC RELATIVISM

A
  • as language determines perception, different language speakers see world differently
  • if culture has specific word for something, they can talk in more detail - Mandarin ‘lao’ (respect for elderly)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis STRONG VERSION

A
  • if language doesn’t have word for something, it can’t be thought about - English doesn’t have ‘lao’ so can’t think about elderly
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis WEAK VERSION

A
  • language influences thought - can imagine different types of coconut despite not having words but can’t talk in detail
  • preferred by Sapir-Whorf
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis STRENGTH

A
  • explains link between language and intelligence
  • Bernstein (1961) found children from poorer backgrounds spoke with restricted language, negatively affecting how they thought, opposite with middle class children
  • if there is link between language and intelligence, language must influence thought
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis WEAKNESSES

A
  • didn’t consider why there are cultural differences in language
  • Inuit language has many words for snow as it reflects their environment
  • suggests language develops because of how we perceive environment, thought comes before language, opposes Sapir-Whorf
    +
  • evidence from Boas (1911) may have exaggerated language differences between cultures
  • Pullman (1989) argued Inuits have 2 snow words - quanik (in air), aput (on ground), English also have many words for snow - slush, slurry
  • conclusion that language determines thought not as strong as differences not that great
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Ways language affects our view of the world

A
  • recall of events
  • recognition of colours
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Different recall of events examples

A
  • Hopi
  • Carmichael
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Hopi

A

-Whorf
- timeless language
- no concept of past/present/future
- their culture doesn’t think about time in same way as Westerners

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Carmichael

A
  • 1932
  • showed ambiguous pictures to Ps
  • e.g - told pic was either glasses or dumbbell
  • language used affected memory
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Different recognition of colours examples

A
  • Zuni
  • Berinmo
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Zuni

A
  • only 1 word for ‘yellow’ and ‘orange’
  • couldn’t distinguish between 2 colours
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Berinmo

A
  • only have 5 colours
  • can’t distinguish between others - e.g. blue/green
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Purposes of animal and human communication

A
  • survival
  • reproduction
  • territory
  • food
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Animal communication for survival example

A
  • rabbits
  • lift tails, pin ears back, leap forward to warn other rabbits of danger
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Animal communication for reproduction example

A
  • male peacock
  • stretch out plumage, revealing pattern (brighter colours indicate health) to attract female mates
28
Q

Animal communication for territory example

A
  • rhinos
  • pile dung, producing 20-30 piles to show occupied area, drag feet though dung too spread scent
29
Q

Animal communication for food example

A
  • bees
  • perform dance to signal where nearby pollen sources are
30
Q

Von Frisch’s bee study DATE

A

1967

31
Q

Von Frisch’s bee study AIM

A

To investigate how bees communicate things like locations of food sources to each other

32
Q

Von Frisch’s bee study METHOD

A
  • natural observations
  • controlled observations - put some food closer to hive (with 10-20m), some food further away (up to 300m)
  • bees being studied marked with tiny dot of paint
  • 600 honey bee observations over 20 years
33
Q

Von Frisch’s bee study RESULTS

A
  • round dance - food less that 100m away, move in circle, sometimes changing direction
  • waggle dance - move in figure of 8, straight part of this shows food direction, slower dance = food further away
  • after watching dance 60% of bees went to food source
34
Q

Von Frisch’s bee study CONCLUSION

A
  • bees have sophisticated form of communication
  • this has evolutionary value as it aids survival
35
Q

Von Frisch’s bee study STRENGTH

A
  • collected much data over many years
  • understanding of animals improved, people knew bees danced but didn’t know function
  • study contributed to knowledge of animal communication
36
Q

Von Frisch’s bee study WEAKNESSES

A
  • failed to consider other factors that could contribute to bees’ communication
  • e.g - sound crucial in bee dance, if silent, may not have had same effect, location of food source also influential
  • dance may only be 1 part of their communication, difficult to draw conclusion
    +
  • used artificial materials
  • bees in glass beehive, food source in glass container, not bee’s natural habitat
  • unrepresentative of bee’s communication in real life, lacks external validity
37
Q

Purposes of human only communication

A
  • plan making
  • talk about future
  • be creative
  • tell a lie
38
Q

Verbal communication

A

Exchanging information using words

39
Q

Non-verbal communication

A

Exchanging information without words

40
Q

Types of non-verbal communication

A
  • eye contact
  • body language
  • personal space
41
Q

Eye contact

A

Two people looking at each other’s eyes at the same time

42
Q

Functions of eye contact

A

-regulating flow of conversation
- signaling attraction
- expressing emotion

43
Q

Body language

A

Communication through gestures such as posture and touch

44
Q

Types of posture

A
  • open
  • closed
  • postural echo
45
Q

Open posture

A
  • arms relaxed
  • shows approval/acceptance
46
Q

Closed posture

A
  • arms and/or legs crossed
  • shows rejection/disagreement
47
Q

Postural echo

A
  • mirroring another persons body during a social interaction
  • suggests 2 people are getting on
48
Q

Examples of touch

A
  • handshake when meeting
  • high five of congratulation
49
Q

Personal space

A

Invisible bubble around us which is the distance we prefer to keep between ourselves and others to feel comfortable

50
Q

Factors affecting personal space

A
  • culture
  • gender
  • status
51
Q

How does culture affect personal space

A
  • white English people prefer to have conversations at 1/1.5 metres
  • much less for Arabs
52
Q

How does gender affect personal space

A
  • men tend to have bigger personal space boundaries, prefer friends sit opposite, have personal space boundary invaded less, feel more uncomfortable when personal space invaded from front
  • women tend to have smaller personal space boundary, prefer friends sit by side, have personal space invaded more, feel more uncomfortable when personal space invaded from side
  • both prefer more distance between them and members of opposite sex
53
Q

How does status affect personal space

A
  • people tend to stand closer to people they deem to be a similar status
  • people of higher status feel more free to choose how close they are to someone
54
Q

Darwin’s evolutionary theory PARTS

A
  • evolution
  • adaptive
  • serviceable habits
  • innate
  • universal
55
Q

Darwin’s evolutionary theory EVOLUTION

A
  • gradual development of a species
  • survival of a creature isn’t important, reproduction is
  • anything leading to successful reproduction is naturally selected and genetics for that characteristic will be passed on
56
Q

Darwin’s evolutionary theory ADAPTIVE

A

Characteristics + behaviours that promote survival and reproduction are adaptive, give individuals genetic advantage

57
Q

Darwin’s evolutionary theory SERVICEABLE HABITS

A
  • elements of non-verbal behaviour that serve purpose
  • e.g. threat signal - animals bare teeth to indicate they are
    about to bite so is a sign of aggression, communicates
    same message in humans
  • as useful for survival, genetics passed on through reproduction
58
Q

Darwin’s evolutionary theory INNATE

A

As NVC has been naturally selected, we
are born with these traits as product of our genetics

59
Q

Darwin’s evolutionary theory UNIVERSAL

A

As NVC is naturally selected, same traits exist across all of same species, regardless of environmental influences

60
Q

Darwin’s evolutionary theory STRENGTHS

A
  • supporting research into facial expressions
  • Ekman et al (1972) found 6 primary facial expressions (surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happines, sadness) associated with same emotion in every culture
  • supports idea that the habits are universal and in our genes
    +
  • supporting research from newborn babies
  • suggests many aspects of NVC present at birth, babies don’t have to learn to smile / maintain eye contact - have survival value to encourage baby to be cared for so have been naturally selected
  • supports idea that NVC is innate
61
Q

Darwin’s evolutionary theory WEAKNESS

A
  • difficulty in explaining cultural differences in NVC
  • if all cultures are biologically same/similar and NVC is genetically determined, it should be same in every culture - personal space preferences between Whites (1/1.5) and Arabs (much less) differ for example
  • evolutionary explanation can’t explain all NVC
62
Q

Yuki’s emoticon study DATE

A

2007

63
Q

Yuki’s emoticon study AIM

A

To see if there is difference in interpreting emotions in different cultures, East (Japan) and West (USA)

64
Q

Yuki’s emoticon study METHOD

A
  • lab study
  • independent groups (Japan/USA)
  • 118 students from Ohio uni, 95 students from Hokkaido uni
  • shown 6 emoticons with different combos of eyes/mouths - happy/sad/neutral, made to rate from 1-9, 1(very sad), 9(very happy)
  • IV - whether students where from Japan/USA
  • DV - how Ps rated emotions 1-9
65
Q

Yuki’s emoticon study RESULTS

A
  • USA Ps gave higher rating when mouth happy
  • Japan Ps gave higher rating when eyes happy
66
Q

Yuki’s emoticon study CONCLUSION

A
  • cultural norms in interpretation on expression of emotion is learnt
  • cultural differences exist
67
Q

Yuki’s emoticon study WEAKNESSES

A
  • artificial task
  • emoticons not real faces, don’t have things like lines on faces giving extra interpretation information
  • lacks ecological validity
    +
  • only tested 2 emotion types - happy/sad
  • faces express wider range in real life (fear,surprise,disgust), just because Japanese focus on eyes for happy/sad, may not for all emotions
  • less ecological application
    +
  • complex process measured in simple terms
  • rating scale may have oversimplified how we interpret emotions, judgement reduced to single number
  • less validity

Psychology (8 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions