Language Thought Communication LESSON 1 THE POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP

Language, Thought & Communication LESSON 1: THE POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT

You must be able Learning to: • outcomes: Explain Piaget’s theory of language and thought • Explain the Sapir. Whorf hypothesis • Describe how language and thought affect our view of the world. The Possible Relationship Between Language And Thought

Language Depends on Thought (Piaget) The Possible Relationship Between Language And Thought

Language Depends on Thought (Piaget) (1896 -1980) indicated that development takes place in a number of stages and that language development is the result of cognitive (or thought) development. • According to Piaget, a child must first be able to use ideas and concepts before being able to use language. A child might use and repeat words before understanding the concepts behind these words. Piaget called this egocentric speech.

Language Depends on Thought (Piaget) • The purpose of adult communication is to convey ideas and information. A child must be able to understand what specific words are used for before applying them to communication. • This can be seen in the link between impaired cognitive development in children and impaired language development. • However, some children have severe learning difficulties but normal language development, suggesting language development isn’t dependent on cognitive development. • Some studies have found that language development can accelerate cognitive development

Thinking Depends on Language (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) The Possible Relationship Between Language And Thought

Thinking Depends on Language (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) • Language influences the way people perceive and think about the world. • There are two types of : • The strong version says that language determines thought. • The weak version says that language influences thought. • Differences between languages determine the types of thoughts people are able to have. • There are certain thoughts and individual has in one language that cannot be understood by those who live in a society that uses a different language.

There are two main theories concerned with the relationship between language and thought. Piaget’s theory states that language determines thought, while the Sapir. Whorf hypothesis suggests that thinking is dependent on language The Possible Relationship Between Language And Thought

Language and Memory The Possible Relationship Between Language And Thought

Language and Memory • The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that language influences the way in which people remember events. (1932) showed a series of nonsense pictures to two groups of participants. • The pictures were paired with a label, but the label was different for each group. • When asked to draw the picture from memory, it was found that the label had influenced the participants memory of it.

Colour Recognition The Possible Relationship Between Language And Thought

Colour Recognition • Zuni Tribe • The Zuni (a Native American tribe) only use one term for the yelloworange region of the colour spectrum. • When Zuni participants were shown a coloured chip and asked to locate the chip amongst other chips, they performed better if there was a simple colour name (e. g. red) rather than a mixture of red and blue.

Colour Recognition • Himba Tribe • Goldstein studied the Himba tribe of northern Namibia, who have the same word for green and blue (bura). • However, the Himba use different words to distinguish between shades of green (dambu for light green; zuzu for dark green). • When members of the Himba were shown 11 green squares and 1 blue square, they had difficulty indicating which square was the odd one out. • When they were shown 12 green squares, 1 of which was a lighter green, they had no problem identifying the odd one out. • These studies add support to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Key Point : Language can influence other cognitive functions such as memory and perception. The Possible Relationship Between Language And Thought

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