Language, Thought And Communication Flashcards
Schema
Where we store new information we’ve learnt
The 4 points to Piaget’s theory
Language depends on thought
Young children
The development of language
Logical thinking
Piaget’s theory - language depends on thought
Understanding comes before their language
Piaget’s theory - young children
They only understand the concepts when they have reached the right stage of cognitive development to have an understanding
Piaget’s theory - the development of language
In the sensorimotor stage, children understand the concept of language before they start to use it. In the pre-operational stage, they start to develop the language
Piaget’s theory - logical thinking
By the concrete operational stage, children’s language becomes more logical and mature
The 4 points of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Thinking depends on language
Strong - language determines thought
Weak - language influences thought
Which version is better?
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis - thinking depends on language
That language comes first and then thoughts come after
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis - strong
This view says that if a particular word has no words for a certain thought then, if they speak that language, they cannot think about it
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis - weak
The weak side says that language only influences thought and doesn’t completely determine thought
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis - which version is better?
Both Sapir and Whorf preferred the weaker version of the hypothesis
Von Frisch’s bee study aim
To describe the dances performed by bees and how these help bees to communicate
Von Frisch’s bee study method
He put food close to a bee and far away and observed 6000 bees over 20 years
Von Frisch’s bee study results
There were two types of dances. The round dance was in a circle if food was less than 100 metres away. The waggle dance was them moving a figure of 8 and waggling their abdomen in the middle, if they wiggled faster then it was closer than if they waggled slower
Von Frisch’s bee study conclusion
That bees have quite a sophisticated form of animal communication
The 4 functions of animal communication
Survival - monkey
Reproduction - peacock
Territory - rhinos
Food - bees
3 properties oh human communication that is not present in animal communication
Plan ahead and discuss future events
Creativity
Single Vs multiple channels
Verbal communication
When we use words and language as a way of expressing our thoughts and feelings
Non - verbal communication
Exchanging information without information
The 3 examples of non - verbal communication
Eye contact
Body language
Personal space
3 things eye contact does
Regulating flow of conversation
Signalling attraction
Expressing emotion
Eye contact - regulating flow of conversation
Eye contact is often used to signal who’s turn it is to speak
Eye contact - signalling signs of attraction
Levels of eye contact normally increase when we are up close or talking to someone we like
Eye contact - expressing emotion
We use eye contact to express how intense the emotion we are experiencing is
3 typed of body language communication
Open and closed posture
Postural echo
Touch
Body language - open and closed posture
Closed posture signals that the person does not want speaking to and open posture signals that the person is more relaxed
Body language - postural echo
People who get on, such as friends, tend to copy each others body posture unintentionally
Body language - touch
Touch can be used to flirt, express friendship or show dominance
3 factors affecting personal space
Cultural differences
Gender differences
Status differences
Personal space - cultural differences
Personal space varies between different cultures as English people are comfortable with personal space of 1 metre where as for Arab men it was a lot closer
Personal space - gender differences
Men tend to prefer a larger personal space than women. Women also felt more uncomfortable when their personal space was invaded by the side and men from the front
Personal space - status differences
People with equal or similar personal status tend to have closer personal space than those with very different status
The 4 parts to Darwin’s evolutionary theory
Darwin and evolution
Non - verbal communication as evolved and adaptive
Comparisons with human behaviour
Serviceable habits
Darwin’s evolutionary theory - Darwin and evolution
Darwin argued that genes for any behaviour that improves an animal’s chance of survival are passed on to the next
Darwin’s evolutionary theory - Non - verbal communication as evolved and adaptive
Darwin suggests that non - verbal communication has evolved in animals as a way of expressing emotions, for example bearing teeth
Darwin’s evolutionary theory - comparisons with human behaviour
Darwin’s theory argues that all animals are linked through evolution, so many of the non - verbal communications we see in animals we often see in humans as well
Darwin’s evolutionary theory - serviceable habits
Habits that would have been promoted for survival in the wild for animals
3 factors that show that non - verbal behaviour is innate
Social releases in neonates
Facial expressions in neonates
Sensory deprived
Neonate research
Research done in newly born babies
Evidence that non - verbal behaviour is innate - social releases in neonates
Smiling and eye contact make someone want to care for and look after a baby, making them a survival technique
Evidence that non - verbal behaviour is innate - facial expressions in neonates
Babies show emotions through facial expressions very soon after birth
Evidence that non - verbal behaviour is innate - sensory deprived
Blind babies can smile even though they have never seen someone smile before showing it is an innate survival technique
The 3 factors that show that non - verbal behaviour is learned
Contact Vs non - contact cultures
Gestures
Explaining cultural differences
Evidence that non - verbal behaviour is learned - contact Vs non - contact cultures
People have different personal space in different cultures. In Latin cultures they are classed as a more contact culture than countries such as the UK and the USA which are classed as a more non - contact culture
Evidence that non - verbal behaviour is learned - gestures
Different gestures are interpreted by different cultures differently
Evidence that non - verbal behaviour is learned - explaining cultural differences
People observe how other people in their culture interact and then immitate it
Yuki’s emoticon study - aim
To see if there is a difference in how different emoticons are understood by people in the East and in the West
Yuki’s emoticon study - method
Students from Japan and America were shown emoticons with either happy, sad or neutral eyes and sad, happy or neutral mouths and were asked to rate their emotion on a 9 point scale
Yuki’s emoticon study - results
Japanese people gave higher ratings for emoticons with happy eyes and American people gave higher ratings for emoticons with happy mouths
Yuki’s emoticon study - conclusion
That Japanese and American people interpret facial expressions differently, this could be due to cultural norms and expectations
