Revision (content from lecture #8)

Question 1

Langauge

Answer 1

System of symbols for thinking and communicating
- Arbitrary symbols e.g., cage, rage
- Syntax - Rules governing the sequence of words in a phrase or sentence
→ Sentence = noun phrase + verb phrase
→ Ben drove the car to university

Question 2

Sentence Meaning

Answer 2

• Semantic meaning
• Perceptual meaning
• Syntactic meaning
• Pragmatic meaning

Question 3

Semantic Meaning (Denotation) (Literal)

Answer 3

• Relationship between a linguistic event and a nonlinguistic event
• -> E.g., “chair” relates to an object you sit in
• General properties that determine the way the word is used

Question 4

Perceptual Meaning (Connotation)

Answer 4

• Relationship between a linguistic event and an individual’s consciousness
• Positive and negative responses to a word
• Literal or basic meaning plus all it suggests to you
• “Loaded” language
• -> E.g., Christmas, evolution, death, disease, love

→ Loaded Language:
University is difficult
challenging
VW beetles are ancient
classic
Reading psychology textbooks is their obsession
passion
There’s a student in my class who is so big-headed
confident

The preceding sentences have a negative meaning because the word in bold has negative connotations.

The sentences can be made positive by replacing the word in bold with a word that has a similar denotation but a positive connotation.

Question 5

Syntactic Meaning

Answer 5

Relationship between words in a sentence

• Content: words that express the major message
• Description: words that elaborate or modify the major message
• Connection: words that join the major message

Question 6

Pragmatic Meaning

Answer 6

The person speaking and the situation in which the word is spoken

Question 7

Using Language Effectively

Answer 7

• Read widely
• Analyze the work of others
  Use the full range of words to express yourself
  Use word meanings accurately
  Clear and concise
• Use analogies
  E.g., Addicts choose the short-term pleasure of getting high even though their drug use affects their brain functioning, career, and personal life. Similarly, procrastinators choose the short-term pleasure of postponing tasks despite the bigger price this imposes.
• Get feedback from other people

Question 8

Language as a tool

Answer 8

Clarify thinking - clear and precise language leads to clear and precise thinking

Avoid vague words
Lack distinct meaning
E.g., middle-aged, wealthy, interesting

Avoid Vague Language
Participants briefly viewed each photograph.
Participants viewed each photograph for 30 seconds.

The vast majority of people in the survey said they liked dogs better than cats
Two out of three people in the survey said they liked dogs better than cats

Language as a tool
Social context
Different social contexts call for different language responses
Familiarity – abbreviation of language style, separates “insiders” from “outsiders”
E.g., Psychology community – “bell curve”, “likert-type scale”

Slang, Jargon, Dialect
Slang
A restrictive style of language that limits its speakers to a particular group

Jargon
Words, expressions, technical terms that are intelligible to the professional circles or interest groups but not to the general public

Dialect
System of communication distinguished by sounds and markings among given groups of people