Week 12 - Language & Thinking Flashcards
Define Cognitive Psychology
The study of perception, learning and thought which are the cognitive processes
Define Linguistic Determinism
How our language perception and development effects our thoughts, for example, novel 1992 “new speak”- making dangerous thoughts impossible
changes in perception of time across different language speakers and different perceptions of direction
arguably many different names for snow by Eskimos
Pirahas (indigenuous) have no numbers no filex colours, no relative tenses, no deep memory or history and a lack of words for all, each, all quantifying words, as well as no myths fiction or art
Define Lingustic relativity
the idea that cognition can be influenced but is not determined by language
typically observed through the differences in perception of space, time and colour labelling
the codability of colours is the distinctions we make between different colours
it effects how we differ in our perceptions and conceptions of space and time
english has an egocentric preference, where we only talk about where something to the “left or right” of us
how we may visualise future and present events as horizontal terms on a line, this is different to china for example
swedes talk about length of time and spanish people talk about the volume or time “long vs little”
countries with futureless languages took the future more seriously because to them the future is the same as the present moment
