Psychology 1001: Chapter 9 - Language and Thought

**Chapter 9 (pg. 356-358)** **Language and Thought *Class notes are written in orange!*** **Outline:** - - - - - - **What is Language?** - - - - - - - - - **Two Processes:** [Language Production:] generate and express ideas (thoughts) through words or gesture...

**Chapter 9 (pg. 356-358)** **Language and Thought *Class notes are written in orange!*** **Outline:** - - - - - - **What is Language?** - - - - - - - - - **Two Processes:** [Language Production:] generate and express ideas (thoughts) through words or gestures. *It is almost impossible to state the same ideas and words in the same way twice.* - **Note:** human language is *generative* or *creative*. We can automatically (on the fly) convey our ideas in sometimes novel ways (within the framework of the language). [Language Comprehension:] the ability to understand spoken, written, or signed language. *Different regions of the brain control understanding versus production (they work simultaneously)* **The study of speech is divided into 4 main areas:** - - - - **Language Structure: Phonology** **Phonemes**: the smallest distinctive sound units of speech. *Used differently to form words and sentences. Can be broken down into specific sounds.* - - - - - **Language Structure: Semantics** **Morpheme**: the smallest unit of language that conveys meaning. - - - - - **Language Structure: Syntax** - **Note:** Generally, syntax does not affect meaning as much as semantics\... *(arguably not as important as semantics (direct meaning and understanding)* - - **Language Structure: Pragmatics** In addition to timing and intonations (etc.), it also includes non-verbal gestures that facilitate communication. *Added understanding and altered communication, interpretation* - **\*Language production is generative\*** **Language Development** - - - - **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) *distinguishing between novel and habituated sounds (like a sponge). Produce and understand basic sounds (vowels NOT consonants)* **Babbling** (*begins \~6 months old*): Meaningless experimental sounds preceding actual words with consonants and vowels (ex. bababa gagaga dadada) *combination of vowels and consonants, learning to combine phonemes/practice forming speech* - **One Word Stage** (*begins \~ 1 year old*): Utter single words (mostly nouns... Ex. doggie) *assimilation and accommodation of words, thrown into categories (not specific could represent any number of things) \*cat and crow could be the same in their mind\* unable to differentiate between them.* **\*Comprehensions proceeds production\*** **Telegraphic speech** (*by 2 years of age*): Simple (two-word) sentences omitting all but essential words e.g., *Want mommy, Send money.* *Only speak the essentials.* - **Pragmatics** (*by 3 years of age*): Basic understanding of practical information regarding language (e.g., pauses after sentence, raising voice *(emotion)* at end of the sentence for question). **Grammar** (*by 4 years of age*): Basic rules of grammar are understood without formal education (full sentences) *understanding figurative language and humor* **Theories of Language Development:** ***\*Nature vs Nurture\**** **Nurture (Skinner):** - - - - **Doesn't explain:** 1. 2. **Nature** (**Noam Chomsky**): - - **Explains:** 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. **Interactionist perspective:** - - **Child-directed speech ("*Motherese*")**: simple, high-pitched, slow-paced, emotion-charged speech used by adults when speaking with babies and young children. *Baby voice* - - **Critical or Sensitive Periods:** Window of opportunity for learning language (well) - - - **Note:** The developing brain requires proper stimulation during the critical period. *The brain is ready to make a meaningful bond.* - **Evidence:** - - - - **Genie -- Secrets of a Wild Child** (received no exposure to language until age 13 due to extreme abuse/neglect). *Neglect and abuse can inhibit development and language acquisition. The critical period had passed before she could learn a language.* **The Brain and Language** - - **Aphasia**: an impaired use of language (different types depending on the area of damage) **Broca's aphasia** Characterized by deficiencies in **speech production**, (Ex. Difficulty forming words and inability to speak with proper grammar (***agrammatism***). *Order is impacted, jumbling words.* - - - **Patient describing the story of Cinderella (Broca's Aphasia):** *Cinderella\...poor\...um \'adopted her\...scrubbed floor, um, tidy\...poor, um\...\' adopted\...Si-sisters and mother\...ball. Ball, prince um, shoe\... Cinderella hooked Prince. (Laughs.) Um, um, shoes, um, noon ball, finished.* - - **Wernicke's aphasia:** - - - - - *\"You know that smoodle pinkered and that I want to get him round and take care of him like you want before." **("Colorless green ideas sleep furiously").*** **Broca's =** Production **Werincke's =** Understanding **Motor =** Moving lips  **Other brain regions: Left side =** *takes things literally* **Amygdala:** When speaking profanity. *Heated and emotional speech* **Right hemisphere:** To understand figurative speech (metaphors, etc.) (Ex.*It's raining cats and dogs.) humor ability to understand jokes* - - **Angular gyrus:** reading (or sign language) **Sex differences in language:** ​​Language production and comprehension tend to occur at an earlier age in girls than in boys. *The gap between the 2 closes around the early to late teens.* - - **Do animals have language? (Communication**... definitely) *they don\'t "talk" like humans but can understand each other* - - - - - - - - ***However\...*** - - - - - - **Language and Thinking** *(Language and thinking are interrelated)* - - - - ***Which came first?*** - - - **Linguistic relativity hypothesis (Edward Sapir & Benjamin Lee Whorf):** - - - - - - - - **Thinking is a TWO-WAY relationship.p** **Thinking and Control** - - - **Cognitive Control:** the ability to direct thoughts and actions by one's intentions. *Multitasking, distractions, talking, interruptions. Can be overwhelming. (retraining/rewiring your brain)* - - - - **Executive function:** the *brain's* ability to exert control over mental processing to accomplish tasks. *(Involves the frontal lobe, controlling impulses and cognitive function)* - - **Dysexecutive syndrome:** impairment in the ability to control and direct mental activities. *(Damage to the frontal lobe, revert to pre-developed frontal lobe)* - **Thinking and Problem Solving** **Problem:** A situation or circumstance that must be overcome to reach a desired goal - - **Defining the problem**: The first step is to determine exactly what the problem is. - - - - **Strategies in problem-solving**: Several strategies to problem solving (obtaining goal): 1. 2. 3. 4. **Trial and Error:** Haphazard approach devoid of systematic reasoning. *Lazy man\'s load* - - **Algorithms:** Exhaustive, systematic, step-by-step procedure that guarantees a correct solution. *(Ex. Combination lock will guarantee a solution eventually)* - - **Heuristics:** *simple, shortcut thinking strategies*. *(ex. Searching for analogies, applying rules that worked in the past. Habitual tendencies)* - - - **Insight:** involves a ***sudden realization*** of a solution to a novel problem. - - **Problems in Problem Solving** **Mental Set:** Tendency to approach a new problem with thinking strategies that worked in the past (e.g., heuristics). *Attempting to solve problems from the same perspective. With a new perspective, problems can be solved quickly.* **The Water Jar Problem:** Start at the top row (line number 1). Imagine that you have three containers (A, B, and C) that hold the number of units of water indicated across each row. Using only those containers and no other measuring device, figure out how to end up with the goal amount of water listed in the last column of the table for that row. *Mental sets can get us stuck into a certain pattern/path to the solution.* **127 - 21 = 106 - C (twice)** **151 - 36 = 115 - C (twice)** **76 - 11 = 65 - C (twice)** **Functional Fixedness**: This type of mental set in which you fail to see a new *use or function* for a familiar object. *Too set into a path/way to see something new as being used in a different way (new ways to get a solution)* - **Confirmation Bias:** A tendency to look for information that confirms our ideas (and to not seek information that would refute them.) *Gather evidence to confirm our theory instead of trying to prove it wrong. More likely to support/promote our own beliefs.* **Wason (1960) showed students a series of numbers: (2 -- 4 -- 6)** - - - - - **Confirmation Bias:** - - **Thinking in Making Decisions:** - - - - - - - **Representativeness Heuristic:** Judging what category a thing or a person belongs to based on how well they seem to *represent*, or *match*, our concept of that category. *Naturally making judgments to set things into categories in our brains. We look as a whole and see if they fit the previous examples in that category. Not specific data or individual differences.* - - **The problem**: When employing the representativeness heuristic, we ignore important/strong statistical information that would go against our decision. *Statistics should alter your assumptions but often don't.* - - - **Another example:** In a series of 10 coin tosses, which result is more likely (where H is heads and T is tails)? HHTTHTHTTH OR HHHHHHHHHH ***(the same probability of occurring) ↪** Seems to represent the randomness cause of the inconsistency, so it must be more likely.* **Availability Heuristic:** Estimating the likelihood of events based on their ***availability*** in memory. *Emotional memories are available in the brain first* - - - 1. 2. - - - **Can lead to exaggerated fears? (Availability Heuristic)** - - - **Availability Heuristic** works sometimes! - - - **Role of Emotions:** - - - - - - **Metacognition:** Thinking about thinking *what happens in our brain that we are conscious of* **Examples:** - - **Theory of mind:** Inferring the thoughts of others from their actions. First requires appreciation that your thoughts are not the same as others'. *Individualism* - -