1. 1 Language and Thought Module 24/CH 11 Sec 2 Language is so powerful that is has “…produced a species that transcends apehood to the same degree by which life transcends mundane chemistry and physics.” Vilayanur S. Ramachandran The Tell Tale Brain pg. xv

2. 2 Thinking, Language, & Intelligence Overview Language and Thought  Language Development  Thinking and Language  Animal Thinking and Language

3. 3 Language and Thought Language, our spoken, written, or gestured work, is the way we communicate meaning to ourselves and others. Language transmits culture. M. & E. Bernheim/ Woodfin Camp & Associates AM Language development AM Language development #6

4. 4 Language Structure Phonemes: The smallest distinct sound unit in a spoken language. For example: bat, has three phonemes b · a · t chat, has three phonemes ch · a · t Languages have these sounds in common She has mastered the Phonemes but not the meaning…Ken Lee vid 1:14Ken Lee vid

5. 5 Language Structure Morpheme: The smallest unit that carries a meaning. It may be a word or part of a word. For example: Milk = milk Pumpkin = pump. kin Unforgettable = un · for · get · table

6. 6 Grammar Grammar is the system of rules in a language that enable us to communicate with and understand others. Grammar SyntaxSemantics

7. 7 Language  Semantics  the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language  also, the study of meaning  Syntax  the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

8. 8 Language Development Children learn much of their native languages before learning to add 2+2. We learn, on average (after age 1), 3,500 words a year, amassing 60,000 words by the time we graduate from high school. Time Life Pictures/ Getty Images Deb Roy Birth of a word at TEDDeb Roy Birth of a word at TED 19:52

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10. 10 Language  We are all born to recognize speech sounds from all the world’s languages 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Percentage able to discriminate Hindi t’s Hindi- speaking adults 6-8 months 8-10 months 10-12 months English- speaking adults Infants from English-speaking homes Infant speech sound discrimination

11. 11 Language  Babbling Stage (pre-linguistic event)  beginning at 3 to 4 months  the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language Linguistic Genius of babies at TED 10:18 Linguistic Genius of babies at TED  One-Word Stage  from about age 1 to 2  the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words Link

12. 12 Language  Two-Word Stage  beginning about age 2  the stage in speech development during which a child speaks in mostly two-word statements  Telegraphic Speech  early speech stage in which the child speaks like a telegram-–“go car”--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting “auxiliary” words

13. 13 Language Summary of Language Development Month (approximate) Stage 4 10 12 24 24+ Babbles many speech sounds. Babbling reveals households language. One-word stage. Two-word, telegraphic speech. Language develops rapidly into complete sentences.

14. 14 Explaining Language Development 1.Operant Learning: Skinner (1957, 1985) believed that language development may be explained on the basis of learning principles such as association, imitation, and reinforcement.

15. 15 Explaining Language Development cont. 2.Inborn Universal Grammar: Chomsky (1959, 1987) opposed Skinner’s ideas and suggested that the rate of language acquisition is so fast that it cannot be explained through learning principles, and thus most of it is inborn.

16. 16 Explaining Language Development Childhood is a critical period for fully developing certain aspects of language. Children never exposed to any language (spoken or signed) by about age 7 gradually lose their ability to master any language.

17. 17 Critical Period Learning new languages gets harder with age.

18. 18 Genes, Brain, & Language Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience modifies the brain. Michael Newman/ Photo Edit, Inc. Eye of Science/ Photo Researchers, Inc. David Hume Kennerly/ Getty Images

19. 19 Language Influences Thinking Linguistic Determinism (Whorf hypothesis): language determines the way we think. For example, he noted that the Hopi people do not have the past tense for verbs. Therefore, the Hopi cannot think readily about the past. Link

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21. 21 Language Influences Thinking When a language provides words for objects or events, we can think about these objects more clearly and remember them. It is easier to think about two colors with two different names (A) than colors with the same name (B) (Özgen, 2004).

22. 22 Adjectives and Taste Studies show that flowery modifiers not only tempt people to order the lyrically described foods but also lead them to rate those foods as tasting better than the identical foods given only a generic listing. Salad vs. A Melange of Local Greens

23. 23 Try it… Sketch this picture into your notes. The girl pushes the boy.

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25. 25 Word Power Increasing word power pays its dividends. It helps explain the bilingual advantage of bilingual children to inhibit one language while using another.

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27. 27 Thinking in Images To a large extent thinking is language-based. When alone, we may talk to ourselves. However, we also think in images. 2. When we are riding our bicycle. 1. When we open the hot water tap. We don’t think in words, when:

28. 28 Images and Brain Imagining a physical activity activates the same brain regions as when actually performing the activity. Jean Duffy Decety, September 2003

29. 29 Language and Thinking Thinking effects language, language effects thinking

30. 30 Do animals have a language? Animal Thinking & Language Honey bees communicate by dancing. The dancedance moves clearly indicate the direction of the nectar.

31. 31 Do Animals Think? Common cognitive skills in humans and apes include the following: 1.Concept Formation 2.Insight 3.Problem Solving 4.Culture African grey parrot assorts red blocks from green balls. William Munoz Parrot learning link

32. 32 Insight Chimpanzees show insightful behavior when solving problems. Sultan uses sticks to get food. Chimp Problem solving: LinkLink Chimp insight 5:47 LinkLink One clever crow :41 LinkLink Chimp prob solving 1:02

33. 33 Problem Solving Apes are, much like us, shaped by reinforcement when solving problems. Chimpanzee fishing for ants. Courtesy of Jennifer Byrne, c/o Richard Byrne, Department of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland

34. 34 Animal Culture Animals display customs and culture that are learned and transmitted over generations. Dolphins using sponges as forging tools. Chimpanzee mother using and teaching a young how to use a stone hammer. Link 3:09Link Copyright Amanda K Coakes Michael Nichols/ National Geographic Society

35. 35 Do Animals Exhibit Language? There is no doubt that animals communicate. Vervet monkeys, whales and even honey bees communicate with members of their species and other species. Rico (collie) has a 200-word vocabulary Copyright Baus/ Kreslowski

36. 36 The Case of Apes Gardner and Gardner (1969) used American Sign Language (ASL) to train Washoe, a chimp, who learned 181 signs by the age of 32. When asked, this chimpanzee uses a sign to say it is a baby.

37. 37 Implications of Ape Language Studies for Humans We all communicate through gestures as well as words This may be the way human language originated May explain why deaf people learn sign language readily

38. 38 Koko Mastered 600 signs for more generative communication such as “That Koko” “Finger bracelet” “I was sad and cried this morning” Washoe Mastered 181 signs for limited but useful commands such as “Gimme sweet drink” Link: Koko plays with all ball 1:43 http://koko.org/world/kokoflix_archive.php

39. 39 Other primate links http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRM7v TrIIis&feature=related&safety_mode=true &persist_safety_mode=1 kanzi 2:39http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRM7v TrIIis&feature=related&safety_mode=true &persist_safety_mode=1

40. 40 Syntax Comprehension Others have shown that pygmy chimpanzees can develop even greater vocabularies and perhaps semantic nuances in learning a language (Savage- Rumbaugh, 1993). Kanzi (shown below) developed vocabulary for hundreds of words and phrases. Copyright of Great Ape Trust of Iowa

41. 41 But Can Apes Really Talk? 1.Apes acquire their limited vocabularies with a great deal of difficulty, unlike children who develop vocabularies at amazing rates. 2.Chimpanzees can make signs to receive a reward, just as a pigeon who pecks at the key receives a reward. However, pigeons have not learned a language. 3.Chimpanzees use signs meaningfully but lack human syntax. 4.Presented with ambiguous information, people tend to see what they want to see (perceptual set). Link: Reality behind signing apes 24:01 (Stanford) CRITICALLink

42. 42 Conclusions If we say that animals can use meaningful sequences of signs to communicate a capability for language, our understanding would be naive… Steven Pinker (1995) concludes, “chimps do not develop language.” “Asking whether language is mainly nurture is as silly as asking whether the saltiness of table salt comes mainly from chlorine or mainly from sodium.” Vilayanur S. Ramachandran The Tell Tale Brain pg. 170

43. 43 EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (7th Edition in Modules) David Myers PowerPoint Slides Aneeq Ahmad Henderson State University Worth Publishers, © 2008

44. 44 Pinker on language and thought http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/steven_ pinker_on_language_and_thought.htmlhttp://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/steven_ pinker_on_language_and_thought.html

45. 45 English is a weird language How about potato: ghowghteighteough Gh/ow/ght/eigh/te/oug h p as in hiccough o as in snow t as in thought a as in sleigh t as in bite o as in although

46. 46 “ghoti” spells what? FISH

47. 47 Language “The limits of your language mean the limits of your world.”