Week 2 Flashcards
What was interesting about Vervet Monkeys?
They appear to have three different predator alert calls, corresponding to Eagle, Snack and Leapard
We were presented a definition of language with three elements. What were they?
The definition came from Deacon (1997)
Language is:
- a mode of communication based on SYMBOLIC REFERENCE
- involving COMBINATORIAL RULES
- that comprise a system for representing LOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS among these symbols
We learned about how ‘reference’ means the means by which one thing (a sign) ‘brings to mind’ another thing (the signified). What were Peirce’s three MODES OF REFERENCE?
- Iconic
- Indexical
- Symbolic
In the context of Pierce’s three modes of reference, what is ICONIC reference?
Referenced based on PHYSICAL SIMILARITY between sign and signifier.
For example, a portrait or onomatopoeia.
In the context of Pierce’s three modes of reference, what is INDEXICAL reference?
Reference based on the physical or temporal contiguity between sign and signifier.
Examples:
- alarm call indicating predator
- pheromones indicating sexual receptiveness
- smoke indicating fire
- here, there, I, me, you, this
In the context of Pierce’s three modes of reference, what is SYMBOLIC reference?
Reference based on formal or agreed upon link (social connection)… where there is nothing indexical or iconic going on.
Example
- cat (nothing about that word resembles cattishness)
Icons, indices and symbols are mutually exclusive forms of reference, T/F
FALSE
The three forms of reference co-exist in a hierarchical representative structure. Symbolic needs the other two in place first (ie it is grounded in the other two)
What is the main thing Meredith new out to show that symbolic learning is hard?
Because what determines the meaning of a symbol is NOT the probability of co-occurence with is reference object/event in time or space
