Language, thought, communication Flashcards

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1
Q

Sensorimotor stage (language)

A

babies are learning what their bodies can do, and this includes making
vocal sounds. Babies begin to copy the sounds that they hear others making

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2
Q

Preoperational stage (language)

A

Children are able to voice their internal thoughts but there is limited use of language for communicating with other people.

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3
Q

concrete operational stage (language)

A

Language has developed a lot, but it is only used to talk about actual, concrete things

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4
Q

formal operational stage (language)

A

language can be used to talk about abstract, theoretical ideas.

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5
Q

piaget language theory

A

Thoughts comes BEFORE language

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6
Q

Piaget’s language theory EXTENDED

A
  • children develop language by matching the correct words to their existing knowledge of the world. The child’s understanding of the concept comes first and then they learn how to express their understanding of it - hence his theory is that language depends on thought
  • believed cognitive development leads to the growth of language, and this means that we can only use language at a level that matches our cognitive development
  • children develop language in stages
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7
Q

Evaluation of Piaget’s Language theory

A

A: Practical applicaiton, shows a child isn’t a mini adult, helps teachers and parents understand that a child cannot do something they are not reader for.
A: valid, children show udnerstanding of the words they use as their talk is not at random (e.g. a baby may say mommy sock to show the sock is owned by their mum. shows language is used when schemas are there)
D: hard to get evidence for as a 1 y/o cant tell you what theyre thinking
D: opposing theory, sapir whorf believes language comes before thought

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8
Q

Sapir whorf theory

A

Language comes first
- words influence our thoughts, memories and eprceptions

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9
Q

strong version of sapir whorf

A

Language DETERMINES thought
- no word for a thought, object or idea then you are unable to think about it

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10
Q

weak version of sapir whorf

A

Language INFLUENCES thought
- you can imagine something with no words for it
- if the words we have for a concept/idea are limited, our ability to notice/recall the idea will be limited

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11
Q

evidence for Sapir Whorf theory - bridges

A

In german bridge is fem, in spanish it is masc. German ppl describe bridges as beautiful, elegant and slender which are feminine adjectives. Spanish ppl describe bridges as long, strong and dangerous which are masculine adjectives. So language does influence thought.

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12
Q

Evidence for Sapir Whorf - colours

A

Himba culture only has 5 colour catergories. Western culture has 11 colour catergories. Himba people can distinguish between certain colours better than western peple like green because of difference in language. But they can’t distinguish between blue and green.

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13
Q

Evaluation for Sapir Whorf

A

D: issue of billingualism highlights the limitions of the Strong version as people who speka more than one language fluently do not necessarily think differently per language
D: idea that inuit have many words for snow has been disputed plus it is also argued that there is more than one word for snow in english, which makes the hypothesis lack validitity
A: external validity, different cultures percieve a bridge differently because of the differently gendered language, so language does influence thought

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14
Q

4 types of animal communication

A
  • Visual: color or display
  • Auditory: sound to warn about danger
  • Chemical: scent and taste danger or mating
  • Tactile: to show comfort or dominance
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15
Q

4 funcitons of Animal communication

A
  • Survival
  • Reproduction
  • Territory
  • Food
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16
Q

Example of how animal’s survival function

A
  • Vervet monkeys use SOUNDS to warn of danger, e.g. snake.
  • signals increase the survival of members of the signaller’s species
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17
Q

Example of animal’s reproduction function

A
  • peacocks use displays/visuals; they stretch their feathers like an umbrella to attract females
  • mating displays communicate genetic fitness through brightly coloured and plentiful feathers
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18
Q

Example of animal’s territory function

A
  • animals mark territory through spreading scents
  • rhinos produce 20-30 piles of dung to communicate that the area is occupied
  • evolutionary value as it takes less energy than fighting
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19
Q

Example of animal’s food function

A
  • animals use signals to show location of food
  • ants leave a pheromone trail to communicate the loation of a food source
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20
Q

How humans communicate differently from animals

A
  • plan ahead and dicuss future events
  • creativity
  • single versus multiple channels
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21
Q

Displacement

A

the capability of language to communicate about things that are not immediately present

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22
Q

Plan ahead and dicuss future events // differences

A
  • humans can use their language to plan ahead and dicuss future events (displacement)
  • animals comm tends to focus on things that are physically present in the environment, such as food sources or predators
  • therefore, displacement is not part of animal communication in the same way as it is a part of human communication
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23
Q

creativity // differences

A
  • animal comm involves a closed system as the gestures, sounds and movements only refer to very specific events
  • human language is an open system as words can be combined in an infinite number of ways
  • means that human comm has endless potential
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24
Q

single vs multiple channels // differences

A
  • human language can be expressed using a whole range of different channels such as spoken written or sing language and all the different types of social media
  • not a feature of animal communication which tends to use single channels such as pheromones
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25
Q

verbal communicaiton

A

communication that is written or spoken word

26
Q

non verbal communication (NVC)

A

is communication that is NOT written or spoken word

27
Q

Types of NVC

A
  • facial expressions
  • body movement and posture
  • gestures
  • eye contact
  • touch
  • space
  • voice
28
Q

eye contact

A

when two people are looking at each other’s eyes at the same time

29
Q

function of eye contact

A
  • regulating flow of conversation
  • singalling attraction
  • expressing emotion
30
Q

regulating flow of convo // eye contact

A

eye contact indicates if youre interested and when to take turns in a conversation

31
Q

signalling attraction // ec

A
  • looking a person from a distance
  • level of eye contact increased
  • indicates you are up close or talking to somebody you like
32
Q

expressing emotion // ec

A

eyes are used to emphasise the emotion expressed

33
Q

conversation flow study (Kendon)
NOT NAMED

A
  • ppts meeting for the first time watched through a 2 way mirror
  • speakers would look away when they were about to speak and prolong eye contact when they were about to stop talking
    this signalled to the other person they can talk
  • if it didn’t happen, there were awkward pauses on the conversation
  • this suggests that eye contact is important in covo
34
Q

signaling attraction study (Claire Conway)
NOT NAMED

A
  • level of eye contact increase when we are talking to someone we like
  • several hundred students were shown pics of males and females either looking directly at cam or to the side
  • conway found that ppl who maintain ec are judged to be more attractive than those who don’t
  • suggets eye contact is an evolutionary behaviour that shows a potential mate you are attracted to them
35
Q

Expressing emotion study (adam and Kleck)
NOT NAMED

A
  • showed ppts of pics of faces expressing emotion
  • joy, anger, fear and sadness
  • pictures showed either a direct gaze or an averted gaze
  • ppt had to rate how intense the emotion was
  • found that; joy and anger more intense with direct whilst fear and sadness were more intense when averted
  • suggests we use eye contact to express how intense our emotions are
36
Q

Evaluation of eye contact

A
  • issue in autism, autistics tend to not use eye contact and sturggle reading ppls expression
  • real world applicaiton: autistics can be taught to read eye contact making them better able to deal with social situations
  • research often uses rating scales, subjective interpretation, everyone sees attractiveness differently, prone to subjective bias
  • research tasks are often artificial, lacks mundane realism
37
Q

what does body language involve:

A
  • facial expressions
  • gestures
  • postures
38
Q

posture

A

the positioning of the body
- type of NVC

39
Q

postural echo

A

the copying of another individual’s posture
- if someone crosses their arms during a convo and the other person subsequently does the same

40
Q

closed posture

A
  • positioning the arms so that they are folded across the body and/or crossing the legs
  • tends to convey rejection or disagreement
41
Q

open posture

A
  • positioning the arms so they aren’t folded across the body and the legs aren’t crossed
  • tends to convey acceptance or approval
42
Q

open and closed posture study (mcginley)

A

To see if the effects of open and closed posture when having a convo.
A confed had a convo with individuals in social situations. IN half of the convos the confed had an open posture. In the other half, closed posture was used
When showing open posture, the confed was seen as friendly and attraction. When showing closed posture, the confed was seen as unfriendly and less attractive
The posture makes a difference to how much they are liked

43
Q

Personal space

A

the distance we keep between ourselves and other people in our every day lives where we feel comofortable

44
Q

factors affecting personal space

A

culture, status and gender differences

45
Q

four zones of personal space

A
  • initimate distance (closest)
  • personal distance
  • social distance
  • public distance (furthest)
46
Q

intimate distance

A
  • 1 to 46cm
  • involes direct contact such as hugging and touching, to whispering
47
Q

personal distance

A
  • from 46cm to 1.2m
  • interaction between family, friends and good acquaintances
48
Q

social distance

A
  • 1.2 to 3.7m
  • maintained btwn colleges in formal settings, new acquaintances and strangers in public spaces
49
Q

public distance

A
  • 3.7 to 7.6m
  • space for speaking in front of the larger audience, such as classrooms, auditoriums
50
Q

gender differences

A

Men prefer sitting opposite to eachother
Women prefer to sit side by side

51
Q

gender difference study (fisher and bryne)

A
  • study where a confed would invade the ps of men and women in a library
  • either face to face or from the side
  • females said they felt more stressed when a strangeer invaded their personal space from the side whilst for the men the front was more uncomfortable
  • clear differences in what men and women prefer in relation to ps
52
Q

outline evidence that NV behaviour is learn

A

according to hall, ppl from contact cultures are comfortbale with a smaller ps whereas ppl from non contact cultures maintain a larger idstance between themselves and others. evidence of cultural differences, which must be learnt rather than innate as, if they were innate, then ppl all around the world would behave the same

53
Q

cultural differences in NVC

A
  • in europe and USA the okay sign means okay
  • however in other cultures it means smth different
  • in japan it means money
  • in germany and brazil. it is offensive
54
Q

innate

A

born with factors due to genetics

55
Q

neonate

A

name given to newborn babies

56
Q

sensory deprived

A

an animal or human who does not have a particular sensory ability
- e.g. blind from birth

57
Q

what type of evidence shows that NV behaviour is innate

A
  • nenoate research as they have had less time for it to have been learnt
  • sensory deprived research
58
Q

natural selection of babies

A
  • the process by which behaviours which ensure survival are passed down through generations
  • Bowlby argued that the babies and caregivers posses instic to ensure survival
  • babies posses the instincts such as crying and smiling, and appearance (big eyes, cuteness) which encourage the caretaker to look after them. (these features are called social releasers)
  • parents, esp the mum, posses instincts to protect their baby from harm and to ensure their survival to maturity
  • w/o these instincts the baby does not survive, so their genes don’t survive
  • attachment behaviour is, therefore innate (present at birth) and adaptive (ensures survival)
59
Q

Darwins evolutionary thoery

A
  • key idea is natural selection and survival of the fittest. He said that organisms that make the best changes in order to fit their situation and environmnet, are the ones most likely to survive and reproduce
  • NVS has evolved as a way of expressing emotions
  • wrote about the principle of serviceable associated habits. a serviceable behaviour has a purpose.
  • example of a seviceable habit would be when ppl expose their teeth when they have an angry expression. Originally, biting was a form of self dence. So just like many animals, they have exposed their teeth as a way of saying back off.
  • suggestedsome NVC is caused by our nervous system. Eg dilated pupils when frightened. They are some of the effects of the flight or fight response and could help survival.
60
Q

servicable associated habit

A

when any action has been useful or neceseary in the past but it continues to be performed even though it no longer has a use

61
Q

NVC as evoled and adaptive

A

adaptative behaviour that have evolved increase the change of survival

62
Q

examples of NVC being evolved and adaptive

A
  • pufferfish: inflate with water when feeling threatened, to scare of predators by doubling in size
  • peacocks: spreads out tail feathers to display colours and eyespots for female to see, higher chance of reproduction
  • poisonou frogs: brightly coloured to warn potential predators