Chapter 9: Language and Thought. Chapter Outline 1. Language 2. The relationship between language...

Chapter 9: Language and Thought

Chapter Outline

1. Language2. The relationship between language and

thought3. Thought

© John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Language

Language is defined as a set of symbols used for communication Facilitates thinking, problem solving, and

decision making Unique to humans Supports creative and progressive social

interaction


Components of Language

Language production—the structured and conventional expression of thoughts through words

Speech—the expression of language through sounds

Language comprehension—the process of understanding spoken, written, or signed language


Language Structure

Phonology—the study of how individual sounds or phonemes are used to produce language Phoneme—the smallest unit of sound in a language, an

individual sound Example: The word pig has three phonemes: /p/, /i/, /g/

Semantics—the study of how meaning in language is constructed of individual words and sentences Morpheme—the smallest unit of a language that

conveys meaning Example: The word pigs has two morphemes: pig and s

Lexical meaning—dictionary meaning of a word


Language Structure

Syntax—the system for using words (semantics) and word order to convey meaning (grammar)

Pragmatics—the practical aspects of language usage, including speech pace, gesturing, and body language Non-verbal communication—body language


Language: How We Develop

Sequence of language learning Prevocal learning—2–4 months old

Babies distinguish all phonemes they will later use for language; cooing (vocalization of vowel-like sounds)

Babbling— ~6 months old Meaningless experimental sounds

preceding actual language First words— ~ 1 year old

Simple single-word talking begins with comprehension exceeding speech


Language: How We Develop

Sequence of language learning (continued) Telegraphic speech—by 2 years of age

Simple (two-word) sentences omitting all but essential words

Pragmatics—by 3 years of age Basic understanding of practical

information regarding language Grammar—by 4 years of age

Basic rules of grammar are understood without formal education


Three Theories of How Language Develops

Nature—children are genetically programmed at birth to learn language (Chomsky)

We are born with a language acquisition device in our brain that allows us to easily learn language.

Nurture—language is entirely learned (Skinner) When babies are given rewards (praise or

attention) for a word/sound, they are more likely to repeat that word/sound

Nature and nurture (interactionist perspective) Both theories are important


Critical/Sensitive Periods in Language Development

Critical period Stage when an individual is particularly open to

specific learning; in this case, language learning

Sensitive period Stage in development when an individual can

best acquire specific skills Ability to learn language later in life requires

considerable effort Many psychologists believe the years prior to

age 13 are vital for language development


Environmental Impact on Language Development

Child-directed speech Simple, high-pitched, slow-paced, emotion-charged

speech used by adults when speaking with babies and young children

May help babies learn words by keeping them interested

Grammar development is affected by the environment Overregularization—the process by which

elementary school children apply learned grammatical rules to improperly “correct” an irregular verb

Example: “thinked” instead of “thought”


Language Centres in the Brain

Broca’s area Critical for speech

production Associated with grammar

comprehension Agrammatism—inability to

speak with proper grammar

Located in frontal lobeWernicke’s area

Critical for language comprehension

Located in temporal lobe


Aphasia

Aphasia—a type of language lossBroca’s aphasia—unable to produce coherent

speech. Patient describing the story of Cinderella: Cinderella...poor...um 'dopted her...scrubbed floor,

um, tidy...poor, um...'dopted...Si-sisters and mother...ball. Ball, prince um, shoe... Cinderella hooked prince. (Laughs.) Um, um, shoes, um, twelve o'clock ball, finished.

Wernicke’s aphasia—unable to comprehend speech. Patient describing picture of a child taking a cookie: This and this and this and this. These things going

in there like that. This one here, these two things here. And the other one here, back in this one.


Gender Differences in Language

Language production and comprehension tend to occur at an earlier age in girls than in boys

Girls score higher in English than boys in elementary school

No substantial male-female differences in reading or writing scores by young adulthood

Women are more likely to use both hemispheres of the brain to process language information


Learning Multiple Languages

Children in bilingual and multilingual homes acquire language at a slightly slower pace.

Young children readily learn a second or third language The earlier we learn a

language, the more proficient we become

Language learning ability declines as we age


Language and Thought

Thinking without words

Mental imagery involves picturing or visualizing a sensory experience mentally Visualizing an event or activity activates

many of the same regions of the brain as the actual event or activity

Spatial navigation uses visual imagery to navigate through space


Influence of Language on Thought

Linguistic relativity hypothesis The vocabulary

available for objects or concepts in a language influences how speakers of that language think about them


Cultural Conceptions of Living Things

English speakers have more words for “living things” than those in Indonesia Therefore

Indonesian children can properly understand and master the concept of living things at an earlier age


Thought

Controlled processing—effortful, and relies on a limited-capacity system

Cognitive control Ability to guide thinking and actions despite

distraction Ability to guide attention Ability to pursue complex behaviour

Executive function—the brain’s ability to control and manage the mental processing of information

Dysexecutive syndrome—impairments in the ability to control and direct mental activities


Thought

Automatic processing Seems effortless Not usually disrupted much if we are

distracted Requires less attention


Thinking to Solve Problems

Problem solving—involves thoughts and actions to achieve a desired goal


Three Steps to Solving a Problem

Define the problem Define your current state Define your ultimate goal Determine the difference between these two

Find a strategy for solving the problem Algorithm—step-by-step procedure to solving

problems that guarantees a solution Heuristic—short cut to solving problems but does not

guarantee a correct solution Insight—sudden realization of answer—eureka!

Evaluation Did you find a good solution?


Heuristics—Shortcut Thinking

Working backward—this approach starts with a solution and works backward through the problem

Works well for problems with well-defined goals Forming subgoals—the current position is

compared with the desired goal and a series of steps are formulated to close the gap between the two

Divide a larger problem into smaller ones and accomplish a series of subgoals

Analogy heuristic—apply a solution used for a past problem to a current problem that shares many similar features


Three Mental Stumbling Blocks to Solving Problems

Mental set—tendency to use problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past

Functional fixedness—our failure to use familiar objects in novel ways to solve problems

Confirmation bias—we often search for information that confirms our expectations


The Water Jar Problem

A B C Goal 1 21 127 3 100 2 36 151 9 97 3 11 76 5 55 4 2 16 2 10 5 15 39 3 18


The Nine-Dot Problem


Solution to the Nine-Dot Problem


The String Problem


Solution to the String Problem


Decision Making

Decision making—the process of considering alternatives and choosing among them Representative heuristic—guessing the probability of

something based on how closely a new object is judged to resemble our existing stereotype of that object Example: He is tall so he must be a basketball player

Availability heuristic—guessing the probability of something based on how quickly and easily information bearing on it comes to mind Based on more frequent and more recent experiences Example: Smoking doesn’t harm unborn babies

because my cousin smoked and her baby was fine


Decision Making

Rational decision making Use probability of desired outcome to make decision. When information or options are limited, bounded

rationality minimizes cognitive effort necessary to make decision.

Emotional decision making Particularly important in social interactions. People often make irrational decisions based on emotion. Framing refers to the way information is presented to

represent either a potential gain or a potential loss. Practical Application:

Advertising


Metacognition

Metacognition is thinking about one’s own thoughts Reviewing memories Considering past learning to understand events in the

present Self-reflection

Thinking about our own identities to evaluate and modify our behaviour based on past experience

Theory of mind Thinking about another person’s feelings or intentions Many animals are capable of complicated thought and

seem to possess a theory of mind


Metacognition: How We Develop

Children develop theory of mind gradually Preschool years

Hiding eyes: “You can’t see me!” Diminishes around 4 years

Lying to avoid punishment Emerges around 3 years and is fairly universal by

5 years Lying to make someone feel good

Seems to increase with ageOther forms of metacognition do not emerge until later

in development Thinking about one’s memories


Theory of Mind: What Happens in the Brain?

Mirror neurons Activated when a person performs a task as

well as when they witness another perform a task

Located in the frontal and parietal cortex Overlapping circuitry may facilitate

interpreting others’ feelings and predicting others’ behaviour


Thought: When Things Go Wrong

Disorders characterized by inability to control one’s thoughts: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Anxiety disorder characterized by the presence of anxiety-producing thoughts or obsessions

Many with OCD perform compulsive actions to help get rid of the obsessive thoughts

OCD affects about 1 percent of the population


Thought: When Things Go Wrong

Schizophrenia Psychotic disorder in which an individual

has lost touch with reality People with schizophrenia experience

hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking and speech, heightened perceptions, inappropriate affect, and impaired working memory

About 1.1% of people in Canada have been diagnosed with some form of schizophrenia


Copyright

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted by Access Copyright (The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency) is unlawful. Requests for further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. The purchaser may make back-up copies for his or her own use only and not for distribution or resale. The author and the publisher assume no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages caused by the use of these programs or from the use of the information contained herein.

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Chapter 9: Language and Thought. Chapter Outline 1. Language 2. The relationship between language...

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