week 3: thought Flashcards
sapir-whorf hypothesis
- our thought process determines how we see our world
- words and structures of language restrict thought processes
- language we use shapes the way we think and how we see the world
- linguistic relativity
Vygotsky
- child apprentices how to function
effectively in a complex social environment - Cultures provide tools (e.g., language) that
shape mental processes
what does lang utiltiy and usefulness need
- exercise power (make needed distinctions)
- ease of use (minimize joint effort to produce/understand)
- ease of learning (fit w attention, memory)
- langs are learnable bc they are created by other humans
- shared learning biases lead to structural similarities across langs
chomsky argued that languages have to be constrained ______ by universal grammar
internally, bc there isnt enough evidence to channel the course of learning the way we see it
learning biases
- some sets of configurations are easier to learn than others
- may result from lang specific (universal grammar) aka domain specific
- can result from expectations we create for tools
greenbergs linguistic universals
- general descriptive principals
- may emerge from learning biases (what brains understand more easily)
greenburg universal 18
- when descriptive adjective proceeds the noun, the demonstrative and the numeral, with overwhelming more than chance frequency, do so also
- adjective proceeds the noun, then the numerative or demonstrative also proceeds the noun
- different in french, adjectives follow the noun
study of words
- manipulated: frequency of which dif structures appear
- adjective/noun or noun/adjective
language specific vs domain general
- lang: cognitive processes or brain regions that are dedicated solely to the function of language
- domain: cognitive processes that can be applied across various cognitive domains, including language, reasoning, and memory
preference for _____ not prefixing (putting stuff at the end of the word) to modify meaning
suffexing
if words end the same way, ___ should not alter the meaning and they will be similar
prefixes
adding something at the end changes btu does not ____
modify
kirby et al ball moving and word
- people thought that ways the ball moved and colours referred to different letters
design of how function of language is constraining the shape of language
grounded in linguistic context: gesture, common goals, shared human experience, knowledge
Zipf law
the higher the frequency of the word, the shorter it is or they are also more predictable by the context
information context is more predictable of the _____ of the word than its ______
length, frequeny
Exoteric languages
languages with larger populations, larger areas,
and more linguistic neighbours
Esoteric languages
languages with comparatively smaller
populations, smaller areas, and fewer linguistic neighbours
linguistic relativity hypothesis
- linguistic determinism (how we think, see, remember things) is highly impossible
- proof to debunk: langs can describe same things in similar ways
euphemism
mild word/phrase used to replace smth unpleasant or embarassing
generic ‘he’
- unmarked=male
- recent changes makes to the phrases including it
Kay and Kempton odd one out study
- different response and distingueshes english from taraumara for green and blue
- presented squares where one is green and the rest are blue/similar to green shade
- when asked which is odd one out, english speakers were consistant and tarahumara responded randomly
Winawer et al. (2007) reaction measure study
- reaction measure rather than accuracy
- conditions: verbal/nonverbal/no interference
- easier to make distinction between categories rather than within
gilbert et al study of left hemisphere
- most language is processed in the left side of the brain, visual on the right
- participants had to identify which square doesn’t fit other others in a circle
- no difference between if the target was in same category or between categories
- if visual was presented in right visual field and went to left hemisphere, responded faster
