limba 2 Flashcards
origins from 1984 book
the aim of language in book was to determine how population would think
devised language to control population
one can use language to control thought
does language influence the way we think about the world
yes, it can influence cognition
why is it important to understand language and thought
to see if thought is dependent on words
What is the history of the Whorfian hypothesis?
sapir studies native american languages
he noted that languages seem to encourage their speakers to think about different things
e.g in english, you think about verb suffixes to consider tense
Whorf wasn’t a psychologist
he had an interest in native amrican languages
language dictates the way we think and udnerstand the world around us
what is the whorfian hypothesis
The structure and vocabulary of a language influence the way its speakers perceive and think about the world.
So language shapes our thoughts.
What is evidence for the whorfian hypothesis?
evidence that language can influence spatial cognition so how we think about sapce is infleunced by how we talk about space
The way people talk about space:
English (ego-centric): right, left. - in relation to our own bodies - if i move around left moves with me - poiints of reference change as i move through space
Kuuk Thaayorre (cardinal): north, west - positions independent of our own orientation - abolsute cardinal frames of refrence
so these people have to stay oriented at all times
Does the way people talk about space impact on spatial cognition?
Yes.
Kuuk Thaayorre are better at staying oriented and keep track of where they are
Language forces them to monitor their absolute position in space
the infleunce on languge on how we think about time
close relationship between space and time
in english we talk about time using space metaphors
in english they are ego centric - putting past behind us
does the way someone speaks about time influences the way they think about time
ppts had to place pictures in temporal order - from young to old
ppts either faced south or east or north etc - different cardinal orientations
english speakers tended to think about time as going from left to right
if ppts were moved, their ordering changed to fit this left right temporal progression
kuuk thayorre - thought about time in an east to west manner
the order of the pictures of the men stayed the same
What is more evidence for the Whorfian hypothesis? - colours
in english there is blue and we dont make distinction between blues
Russians have more words to say different shades of blue - they distinguish between light blue and dark blue
how does russian influence the way russians see blue
given cokour mathing task
which of the bottom colours match the top colours
english speakers showed no difference in terms of the speed with which they are able to match the colours
russian speakers were slower to distinguish when all colours are dark blue
and they were faster when 2 colours were dark blue and one was light
so russian speakers were better at the task when distracter colour was a different category fo blue
What is evidence in terms of language and personality?
administered personality questionnaires to enlgish and spanish monolinguals
Spanish speakers scored higher on neuroticism.
Bilinguals:
- when took test in english scored higher on A, E, C
- when took test in spanish scored higher on neuroticism
What are criticisms of Whorfian hypothesis?
whorf argued that Hopi do not think about concepts like the past, present or future due to their lack of conception of time.
this means they dont think about time
hoWEVER, Pinker stated that Hopi can make distinctions in time, they just go about it differently
what is the eskimo criticism
in eskimo cultures they used different expressive terms
in english we only refer to snow as snow
eskimo cultures they have different terms due to the conditions they lived in,
if eskimos use different terms that does not mean they would think about it differently
- what is another criticism of whorf
according to whorf thought is dependent on langauge - you are unable to think if you cannot speak
problems - how can new words be invented
the concept comes first and then the label
