Language, Thought & Communication Flashcards
What is language?
The method of human communication, spoken or written, involving the structured use of words.
Piaget’s theory - LANGUAGE DEPENDS ON THOUGHT
Piaget said we develop schemas - mental frameworks about things we develop through experience. He said language is only possible once we have a schema for the topic. Children who repeat words without the schema for it are like “parrots” merely repeating with no understanding. Four stages - Sensorimotor - children develop the first linguistic abilities. Pre-operational - language develops rapidly, can talk about abstract concepts eg feelings, however still egocentric and can only view things from their point of view. Concrete operational - around age 7 where logical thinking has developed and can decentre language.
Piaget’s theory - Evaluations
Weakness - opposing theory
Sapir - Whorf hypothesis states that thought depends on language - we only think about language available to us. Weakness because there is conflicting evidence
Strength - Support
Children show understanding of words they use as talk is not random eg “mummy sock” to show the sock is their mum’s. Strength because language is used when schema is there.
Sapir Whorf hypothesis - THOUGHT DEPENDS ON LANGUAGE
Sapir and Whorf said we cannot think about something without the word for it - we only think about things when we have the appropriate words for them. Strong version - words determine thought - without a word for something, people cannot think about it, explaining the difficulty in translation. Eskimos had 27 words for snow, suggesting a deeper understanding of it than English speakers. Weak version - words influence thought - language influences the way in which people think but doesn’t fully determine it.
Sapir Whorf hypothesis - Evaluations
Weakness - opposing theory
Piaget’s theory states the opposite and is more widely accepted. Weakness because the theory has conflicting evidence.
Weakness - exaggeration
The difference in culture may have been exaggerated as there are only two words for snow in Eskimo language and English has words for different types of snow. Weakness because differences aren’t as prominent and challenges conclusion that language determines thought.
Von Frisch’s Bee Study - AMRC (Key Study)
A - to see how bees communicate information to each other
M - He put food sources close to hive and also far away. Then he marked bees who visited the food source with paint and observe their behaviour with other bees
R - Worker honey bees tell other bees where pollen is through 2 dances - Round dance - bee moves in a circle to indicate food less than 100m away. Waggle dance - bee moves in a figure of eight for food further than 100m away, with slower dances to indicate more distance. 60% of bees watching went to find the food sources
C - Bees have a sophisticated form of animal communication - it is evolutionary as it helped survival
Von Frisch’s Bee Study - Evaluations (Key Study)
Strength - reliability
Von Frisch used controlled observations meant data is reliable and consistent over time. Strength because extraneous variables are limited therefore we can trust the data
Weakness - validity
Von Frisch used glass hives to observe the bees. Weakness because we cannot say that bees behaved the same as it was not their natural environment
What are the 4 main reasons animals communicate?
Territory - animals use scent markings to mark territory eg urine, faeces or other scents
Food - animals use signals to draw attention to food sources such as the waggle dance for bees or pheromones for ants
Survival - animals have certain sounds or actions in order to warn others of potential threats, such as monkeys having alarm calls to alert others of potential predators
Reproduction - animals have mating displays/calls to signal to others that they want to reproduce, such as peacocks having bright feathers to attract mates
What can humans do via communication that animals can’t?
Plan ahead (discuss future events) - humans can discuss future events (displacement) whereas animal communication tends to focus on things that are physically present such as food or predators
Creativity - human language is an open system as words can be combined in an infinite number of ways via sentences however animals used a closed system as gestures, sounds and movements only refer to specific events
Multiple channels - humans can communicate via various methods, such as spoken written or sign language whereas animals can only communicate using single channels eg pheromones
Why do we hold eye contact?
Maintain flow of conversation - makes convo run smoothly as it informs others how interested we are. Kendon found it encourages turn taking, without it there would be awkward pauses
Signal attraction - evolutionary behaviour that shows potential mates that you are attracted. Levels of eye contact may be higher for people we like. Conway (2007) found that it is deemed more attractive
Express emotion - can be used to show others how we are feeling. Adams and Kleck (2005) found anger and joy judged to be the most intense when there is a direct gaze, and fear&sadness being most intense with diverted gazes
What is body language?
The way in which we communicate attitudes and feelings to others through unspoken movements/gestures.
What are the types of body language?
Open and closed posture - open posture is relaxed and suggests approval/acceptance whereas closed posture suggests rejection/disagreement. McGinley (1975) found people more likely to agree if you use open posture when making points
Postural echo - mirroring somebody’s position while speaking to them. Chartrand (2006) found using postural echo means others are more likely to experience positive feelings towards you.
Touch - we use touch to flirt, express friendships or show dominance eg high fives. Fisher et al found that touch can affect our attitudes towards others.
What is personal space?
An invisible “bubble” surrounding an individual. The size of the bubble depends on gender, culture and status. We may feel uncomfortable if our bubble is invaded.
What factors affect personal space?
Gender differences - men prefer a larger distance talking with other men than women prefer when talking with other women. Men prefer to sit opposite whereas women prefer to sit side by side.
Culture differences - there are different cultural norms for personal space, eg English people preferring a further distance than Arabs.
Status differences - people of similar statuses eg teacher and another teacher, usually stand closer than people of different statuses eg student and headteacher.
Darwin’s theory of evolution
Non-verbal communication has evolved in animals so they can effectively express emotions. These features are adaptive as they promote survival. Darwin states that humans and animals have similar behaviours. We may wrinkle our noses when we smell something bad to avoid breathing something dangerous. Serviceable habits - things that would have been adaptive to ancestors because they promote survival but may not be useful to humans as we have developed.
