Language, Thought and Communication (P2) Flashcards
What was Piaget’s theory?
PIaget’s theory was that language came before thought - children develop language by matching words to existing schemas.
They can copy words, but it is not communication until they know what they mean.
What happens in the sensorimotor stage and what age?
Sensorimotor (0-2)
- Babies are still discovering what their bodies can do, including the ability to make sounds.
- Babies then learn to copy the sounds they hear other people making.
- They understand the concept of language
What happens at the pre-operational stage and what age?
Pre-operational (2-7)
- They use the language they have developed to voice their internal thoughts.
- Language develops rapidly.
- Language is egocentric
What happens at the concrete operational stage and what age?
Concrete operational (7-11)
- The ability to use language is more mature and logical
- Language has developed but it’s only used to talk about concrete things
- Less egocentric ie talking about other’s feelings
What happens at the formal operational stage and what age?
Formal operational (11+)
- They can use language to talk about abstract, theoretical ideas.
What did piaget say about ‘readiness’?
Piaget said that children will only understand words they have been taught if they are ‘ready.’
They only truly understand the words if they have reached the appropriate stage in cognitive development or if they have a schema for the word.
What is animism?
Believing that all things are alive and have feelings.
What does animism tell you about a kid?
Differences in children’s thinking can be seen in the language they use. A child who has hurt himself might say he banged his head on the ‘naughty door’ or ‘naughty table’.
Children’s language development is a reflection of their thinking. The language of animism tells us that children are still egocentric.
Evaluation: Strength of this theory?
P- One strength of Piaget theory is that there is evidence to support it.
E- When children first start to speak they often use 2 word phrases such as mummy-sock. This suggests some understanding of the relationship between objects and people before they talk
T- This means that Piaget’s claim that children only use language when they have developed a schema has evidence to support.
Evaluation: Weakness of his theory?
P- However one limitation of Piaget’s theory is that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests the opposite.
E- They claim children can only think about and understand the world through the language that is available to them. We can only think about things we have words for.
T- This theory suggests that language is not dependent on thought and at least some of the time language comes first.
What was Sapir-Whorf’s hypothesis?
Language shapes thought, words and grammar of a language change the way the world is perceived.
According to Sapir-Whorf, can language limit thinking?
Yes, if a language lacks a concept, it may be harder to think about.
(some indigenous tribes don’t have the word ‘left’ or ‘right’, instead they use compass directions)
What was variation in recall of events?
- The way something is described can influence the way we remember it.
- Carmichael (1932) showed pictures to P’s. One group were read a descriptive word for each & the other group heard a different word.
- Both groups had to draw the pictures from memory.
The drawings from both groups reflected the labels the participants had heard.
This suggests memory of the picture was influenced by the word they heard with it.
Evaluate: Strength of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
P- Some research suggests that thought is dependent on language.
E- For example, the Hopi language (studied by Whorf) does not have distinct words for past, present, and future, which he argued affects how Hopi speakers perceive time. Additionally, studies on the Inuit people suggest that having multiple words for snow allows them to perceive snow in greater detail than English speakers.
The Berinmo tribe in Papua New Guinea has different words for colours than English speakers, and studies show they categorise colours differently.
T- This supports the idea that language shapes cognition, as different languages lead to different ways of thinking.
Evaluate: Weakness of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
P- The strong version of the hypothesis (linguistic determinism) is too extreme.
E- If language completely determined thought, people would not be able to think about concepts they do not have words for.
However, people can understand and describe new ideas even if they struggle to find the right words.
T- A weaker version of the hypothesis is more widely accepted, as it suggests that language influences rather than determines thought
Von Frisch’s bee study, what was the aim?
The aim of this study was to investigate how bees communicate the location of a food source to each other
What was Von Frisch’s method?
- The bees were kept in a glass hive so they could be observed, and their movements could be recorded.
- When bees fed from containers of sugar-water in different locations, they were marked with a tiny dot of paint so they could be identified when they returned to their hive.
What were Von Frisch’s results?
Over 6000 observations Von Frisch noticed that when the bees returned to the hive, they made different movements (round dance or waggle dance) depending on how far away from the hive the sugar-water was.
What is the round dance?
When it was less than 100 metres from the hive, the bees turned rapidly in circles to the right and then the left (a round dance).
What was the waggle dance?
When the food was further away, the bees performed a waggle dance , moving forward in a straight line while wagging their abdomens side to side, before circling to the left. Then moving straight forward again before circling to the right.
What was Von Frisch conclusion?
Von Frisch concluded bees use a variety of different movements to communicate to each other the distance and direction of food sources.
Evaluation: Strength of Von Frisch’s bee study?
P- Von Frisch has made important contributions to science
E- Von Frisch’s research is important as it was one of the 1st studies into animal communication and through careful meticulous observations lead to understanding of how animals communicate and influenced other researchers to conduct research into animal communication.
T- This shows how valuable Von Frisch’s research has been to ethology and science because we now have a greater understanding of animal communication.
Evaluation: Weakness of Von Frisch’s bee study?
P- Von Frisch’s study used an unrealistic task
E- Bees do not collect sugar-water from glass containers or use glass hives every day.
T- This decreases the ecological validity of the results and means that they can’t be generalised to a real life scenarios meaning we don’t know how bees behave in their natural setting.
