Problem 9 Flashcards
What are the cross cultural differences on the relationship between talking and thinking ?
-
West: Speech + thought are thoroughly interrelated
* Analytic thinking, where each part can be described seperately + sequentially -
East: Speech + thought are independent from one another
* Holistic thinking, where one focuses on the whole
In comparison to western countries, eastern countries put less emphasis on speech.
But does speech necessarily mean less communication ?
No,
the closer the relationship, the more likely are people to rely on nonverbal communication
–> interdependence
Why is one better at recognizing objects or faces when one was not previously asked to describe it ?
Because, verbal descriptions will interfere with our ability to process the object as a whole
–> poorer recall
High context culture
Refer to cultures where people are deeply involved with each other + have shared info that guides their behavior
-
no need of explicit communication, more indirect speech
e. g.: Eastern cultures
Low context culture
Refers to a culture with little involvement among individuals
-
need for explicit communication to guide behavior, more direct speech
e. g.: Western cultures
There is a big difference in the explicitness of East asian languages, compared to European languages.
How is the key information of messages, when talking, conveyed ?
They are expressed nonverbally, whilst the content of the words are rather empty
- this is why easterners attend + focus more on the opponent conveying the message
e. g.: facial expressions, gestures, etc
Whorfian/linguistic relativity hypothesis
(Strong version)
Language determines how we think, we cannot think without language (available words)
–> universally rejected
Whorfian/linguistic relativity hypothesis
(Weak version)
Suggests that the language we speak affects how we think
–> e.g.: certain aspects of cognition like perception + memory
Categorical perception
Suggests that we tend to perceive stimuli as belonging to separate + discrete categories, even though the stimuli may gradually differ from each other along a continuum
ex.: difference between the phonemes “ba” vs “pa”, difference between colors green + blue
Much debate one the Whorfian hypothesis has focused on cross cultural differences in color perception, as different cultures classify colors in different ways.
Does the weaker version of the worfian hypothesis hold true here ?
Yes,
Ones perception of different colors is influenced by the color categories used in ones respective languages
–> as shown by categorical perception
Mathematics is a domain that is independent from culture, thus our ability to reason with numbers should reflect the experiences we had in our cultures.
Is this true and therefore evidence for the strong version of the Whorfian hypothesis ?
Yes,
Evidence showed that if linguistic terms for specific numbers were absent, people were not able to understand the associated numerical concept
–> e.g.: if there is no word for numbers higher than 2, one isn’t able to do maths correctly
Linguistic relativity can be considered in terms of peoples spatial descriptions.
How does this differ from culture to culture ?
West: Identify locations based on their position relative to the speaker
–> recent development
Australians: Identify locations based on the cardinal directions
Linguistic relativity
Refers to the ways in which speakers of any given language are influenced by the language they speak
Pragmatics
Refers to the study of the ways in which language is used + understood in the real world
–> relates to the intended meaning as opposed to the literal meaning
“meaning minus semantics”
Figurative language
Refers to language that is not intended to be taken literally
ex.: metaphors, irony etc
- requires more cognitive resources than literal language processing
- combining content with a relationship type
What are the 3 stages involved in processing a metaphorical or figurative statement ?
(Standard pragmatic model)
- Assessing the literal meaning
- Deciding whether the literal meaning makes sense in the current context
- If inadequate, searching for a suitable one
Standard pragmatic model
Predicts that figurative/metaphorical meanings should be accessed more slowly than literal ones
–> proved to be wrong, because this process is automatic
Predication model of metaphor understanding
(Kintsch)
Suggests that our understanding of metaphors depends on our ability to inhibit semantic properties of the predicate that are irrelevant to the argument (Non-reversability)
Consists of 2 components:
1. Latent semantic analysis component
- understanding the meanings of words based on their relations to other words
2. Construction-integration component
- using info from component 1 to construct interpretations of the statement
=> Metaphors involve a non-directional process that is preceded by a directional process
Directional process
Projecting info from the argument onto the predicate
ex.: sharks are aggressive, thus lawyers are aggressive
Non-directional process
Involves finding commonalities in meaning between the argument + predicate
ex.: sharks + lawyers
People with better … -Memory are better at inhibiting info that is irrelevant to the situation, thus are faster at understanding metaphors.
Working
Common ground
Refers to the shared knowledge + beliefs possessed by a speaker and listener
- the use of it facilitates communication
e. g.: Easterners have a greater common ground
Egocentric heuristic
Refers to a strategy used by listeners in which they interpret what they hear based on their own knowledge rather than knowledge shared with the speaker
–> causes one to misunderstand the speaker
e.g.: Westerners engage in this more often
Why do listeners often rely on the egocentric heuristic ?
Because, it can be cognitively challenging/demanding to take on the perspective of a different person
Theory of WM capacity
Individuals with high WM capacity have superior executive attention
–> these differences influence language comprehension
Why does higher WM capacity lead to faster metaphor processing ?
- Reduced mind-wandering
- Better at discriminating between relevant + irrelevant info
- Smaller seductive details effect
Discourse
Refers to language that is a minimum of several sentences in length
–> can be written text or connected speech
What is the difference in processing a discourse vs single sentence ?
A Single sentence is often harder to process/comprehend as there is little info to infer.
–> when listening to a discourse one has a lot of info to make several conclusions
List the 3 main types of inferences.
- Bridging
- Elaborative
- Logical
Bridging inference
Involves establishing coherence between the current part of the text + the preceding text
Elaborative inference
Making inferences based on our knowledge of the world, by adding details to a text being read
Mental model
Refers to an internal representation of some possible situation/event
Minimalist hypothesis
States that only 2 automatic (bridging) inferences are used/needed for comprehension, which are
- are based on quickly available information
- contribute to local text coherence
Constructionist approach
Suggests that readers typically construct a mental model of the event
–> one typically engages in numerous elaborative inferences , eventhough when they are not required to understand the text
Anaphor
Involves identifying a profound or noun with a previous noun phrase
-
form of bridging inference
ex. : Fred sold John a book, then he sold him his phone
–> understanding that “he” is Fred
Causal inference
Requires reader to work out causal relationship between the sentence they are reading + previous one
–> form of bridging inference
What are the 2 stages in forming bridging inferences ?
1. Bonding
- involves automatic activation of words from the preceding sentence
2. Resolution
- ensuring the overall interpretation is consistent with the contextual info
List the 3 types of errors that can occur due to the use of schemas.
- Rationalisation
- Levelling
- Sharpening
Rationalisation
Refers to distortions designed to make recall more rational + in line with the readers expectations
Levelling
Omitting/Leaving out certain unfamiliar details from recall
Sharpening
Selecting/adding certain details for embellishment
What are the 3 main assumptions of the construction-integration model?
(Kintsch)
- Readers turn sentences into propositions
- Propositions are stored along with the irrelevant ones
- A certain process selects the appropriate propositions to form text representation
–> 3 levels of text representation are contracted as a result
List the 3 levels of text representation.
(Construction-integration model)
1. Surface representation
- text itself
2. Propositional representation
- propositions formed from the text
3. Situation representation
- mental model describing the situation
Event indexing model
Suggests that readers monitor 5 situational aspects and compare those present events to previous events, to decide whether their situation model needs to be updated:
1. Protagonist
2. Temporality
- present vs previous events
3. Causality
4. Spatiality
5. Intentionality
- present + previous goals
=> accounts for comprehension processes when reading a narrative text
=> here and now view
Event segmentation theory
Suggests that updating of a situational model in response to changes within + between events can take 2 main forms:
1. Incremental updating of individual situational dimensions
- “brick by brick”
2. Global updating in which an old situational model is replaced by a completely new one
- “from scratch”
=> Resonance view
Schema theory of discourse comprehension
States that schemas influence our comprehension of discourse in a _top down f_ashion
Which cognitive advantages do bilingual people have ?
Are there multiple language systems ?
- Bilingualism protects against cognitive decline (cognitive reserve) + elicits better executive control
- No, there is 1 language system working for both languages
What are the objectives of language ?
1. Content
–> e.g.: commanding, info sharing, threatening
2. Relationship type
a) Dominance
b) Communality
c) Reciprocity
Universalism
Thought influences language
–> opposite to Whorfian hypothesis
Supporting evidence for universalism
1. Perception
2. Thinking infants
3. Reliving memories
- usually depicted in pictures, than words in the mind
4. Inventing process
- when inventing a word, we first think
What does a moral dilemma consist of ?
Deontological + Utilitarian outcome
Moral foreign language effect
Bilinguals are more likely to endorse the utilitarian decisions, when speaking a foreign language
–> emphasis on moral thinking
Dual process framework
S1: Deontological outcome (inhibited)
- biased
S2: Utilitarian outcome (excited)
- not biased
Explanation for MFLE
- Blunted deontology
* less emotional processing - Dual process framework
Resonance view
When attaining new info it doesn’t replace the old ones but just represents a new model, beside the other ones that were already created
–> related to event segmentation theory
Here and now view
Most current info replaces old info
–> related to event indexing model
Name the 2 kinds of Bilingualism.
1. Compound bilinguals (early)
- learning 2 languages at the same context
ex. : from parents
2. Coordinate bilinguals (later)
- learning languages in separated environments
ex. : school
