Linguistic Relativity

Question 1

Whorfian Hypothesis (Whorf, 1929)

Answer 1

Language determines our conception of the world and shapes the way we think/what we think

Question 2

Mylonas and McDonald (2014)

Answer 2

11 basic colour terms in English language - these may refer to something else in a different language

Question 3

Heider (1972)

Answer 3

Dani people (Indonesian New Guinea) only have 2 colour terms. Mola (bright, warm colours) and Mili (dark, cold colours)
Implies perception different as colours hold different representations

Question 4

Robertson and Davidoff (2000)

Answer 4

Berinmo (Papua New Guinea) have 5 basic colour terms in nol (greenish) and wor (yellowish)
Visually this represents the blue-green range in english
Suggests colour not universal

Question 5

Gilbert et al (2006)

Answer 5

Ppts asked to search for different colour target
(context: English see blue and green as completely separate categories but other cultures don’t)
Categorical effect only seen in RVF (LH - dominant for language)
Supports Whorfian hyp in RVH only

Question 6

Davies et al (1992)

Answer 6

Setswana (Botswana) - ‘botala’ means blue or green

Not separate categories

Question 7

Franklin et al (2008a)

Answer 7

In adults there are stronger categorical effects in the RVF (LH) but in infants there is only a categorical effect in the LVF (RH)
Suggests colour universal until language acquistition

Question 8

Franklin et al (2008b)

Answer 8

Learners (people still learning colour names) have categorical effect in LVF (RH) but namers (people who know colour names) have it in RVF (LH)
Suggests colour universal until language acquisition