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Purdue PSY 12000 - Thinking and Language
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1Reminders• Exam 3 in two days, Thursday, March 12th• Review session for Exam 3:– Tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, Oct 27,6:30pm - 7:30pm EE 1292Thinking and LanguageChapter 10Psy12000Spring, 2009Objectives• What are the basic structures of language• Describe development of language in children• Can/do animals communicate?• What is the relationship between language andthinking? Is one necessary for the other tooccur?4LanguageLanguage, our spoken, written, or gestured work,is the way we communicate meaning to ourselvesand others.Language transmits culture.M. & E. Bernheim/ Woodfin Camp & AssociatesNoam Chomsky (1972)“When we studyhuman language weare approaching whatsome might call the‘human essence,’ thequalities of mind thatare, so far as we know,unique to humans”6Language StructurePhonemes: The smallest distinct sound unit in aspoken language. For example: bat, has three phonemes b · a · tchat, has three phonemes ch · a · t27Language StructureMorpheme: The smallest unit that carries ameaning. It may be a word or part of a word.For example:Milk = milkPumpkin = pump . kinUnforgettable = un · for · get · table8Structuring LanguagePhraseSentenceMeaningful units (290,500) … meat,pumpkin.WordsSmallest meaningful units (100,000)… un, for.MorphemesBasic sounds (about 40) … ea, sh.PhonemesComposed of two or more words(326,000) … meat eater.Composed of many words (infinite)… She opened the jewelry box.9GrammarGrammar is the system of rules in a languagethat enable us to communicate with andunderstand others.GrammarSyntaxSemantics10SemanticsSemantics is the set of rules by which we derivemeaning from morphemes, words, andsentences. For example:Semantic rule tells us that adding –ed to theword laugh means that it happened in the past.11SyntaxSyntax consists of the rules for combiningwords into grammatically sensible sentences.For example:In English, syntactical rule says that adjectivescome before nouns; white house. In Spanish, it isreversed; casa blanca.12Language DevelopmentChildren learn theirnative languages muchbefore learning to add2+2.We learn, on average(after age 1), 3,500 wordsa year, amassing 60,000words by the time wegraduate from highschool.Time Life Pictures/ Getty Images313When do we learn language?Babbling Stage:Beginning at 4 months,the infantspontaneously uttersvarious sounds, like ah-goo. Babbling is notimitation of adultspeech.14When do we learn language?One-Word Stage: Beginning at or around his firstbirthday, a child starts to speak one word at atime and is able to make family membersunderstand him. The word doggy may mean lookat the dog out there.15When do we learn language?Two-Word Stage: Before the 2nd year a childstarts to speak in two-word sentences. Thisform of speech is called telegraphic speechbecause the child speaks like a telegram: “Gocar,” means I would like to go for a ride in the car.16When do we learn language?Longer phrases: After telegraphic speech,children begin uttering longer phrases (Mommyget ball) with syntactical sense, and by earlyelementary school they are employing humor.You never starve in the desert because of all thesand-which-is there.17When do we learn language?Question?Is it through nature or nurture thatwe learn how to speak?419Explaining Language Development1. Operant Learning: Skinner (1957, 1985)believed that language development may beexplained on the basis of learning principlessuch as association, imitation, andreinforcement.20Explaining Language Development2. Inborn Universal Grammar: Chomsky (1959,1987) opposed Skinner’s ideas and suggestedthat the rate of language acquisition is so fastthat it cannot be explained through learningprinciples, and thus most of it is inborn.21Explaining Language Development3. Statistical Learning and Critical Periods:Well before our first birthday, our brains arediscerning word breaks by statisticallyanalyzing which syllables in hap-py-ba-by gotogether. These statistical analyses arelearned during critical periods of childdevelopment.22Language & AgeLearning new languages gets harder with age.Interview with Noam Chomskyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zPHAhj_Cio24Do animals have a language?Animals & LanguageHoney bees communicate by dancing. The dancemoves clearly indicate the direction of the nectar.525Do Animals Exhibit Language?There is no doubt thatanimals communicate.Vervet monkeys,whales and even honeybees communicatewith members of theirspecies and otherspecies.Rico (collie) has a200-word vocabularyCopyright Baus/ Kreslowski26The Case of ApesChimps do not have a vocal apparatus forhuman-like speech (Hayes & Hayes,1951).Therefore, Gardner and Gardner (1969) usedAmerican Sign Language (ASL) to trainWashoe, a chimp, who learned 182 signs by theage of 32.Teaching Language toChimpanzeesWashoe the Chimp28Gestured CommunicationAnimals, like humans, exhibit communicationthrough gestures. It is possible that vocalspeech developed from gestures during thecourse of evolution.29Sign LanguageAmerican Sign Language (ASL) isinstrumental in teaching chimpanzees aform of communication.When asked, this chimpanzee usesa sign to say it is a baby.Paul Fusco/ Magnum Photos30Computer Assisted LanguageOthers have shown that bonobo pygmy chimpanzees candevelop even greater vocabularies and perhaps semanticnuances in learning a language (Savage-Rumbaugh,1991). Kanzi and Panbanish developed vocabulary forhundreds of words and phrases.Copyright of Great Ape Trust of Iowa631Criticism1. Apes acquire their limited vocabularies with agreat deal of difficulty, unlike children whodevelop vocabularies at amazing rates.2. Chimpanzees can make signs to receive areward, just as a pigeon who pecks at the keyreceives a reward. However, pigeons have notlearned a language.3. Chimpanzees use signs meaningfully but lacksyntax.4. Presented with ambiguous information, peopletend to see what they want to see.32Language & ThinkingLanguage and thinking intricately intertwine.Rubber Ball/ Almay33Language Influences ThinkingLinguistic Determinism: Whorf (1956) suggestedthat language determines the way we think. Forexample, he noted that the Hopi people do nothave the past tense for verbs. Therefore, the Hopicannot think readily about the past.Benjamin Whorf (1897-1941)34Language Influences ThinkingWhen a language provides words for objects or events,we can think about these objects more clearly andremember them. It is easier to think about two colorswith two different names (A) than colors with


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Purdue PSY 12000 - Thinking and Language

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