Language&thought
piagets theory
- language depends on thought
- understanding of a concept (schema) comes before the language for it, language develops alongside cognitive stages
- stages of development, can't learn about something until cognitively ready and the features of speech in all the stages S(sounds) P(egocentric) C(logical thinking) F(abstract&complex)
- children can repeat words without understanding (parrot) but cant use language to communicate effectively until cognitive understanding is developed
piagets theory strength
-matches real world observations of child lang development
- babies imitate words but cant use them to communicate effectively until they have a schema for the concept
- this shows his theory has high face validity
piagets theory weakness
- schemas cant be tested scientifically
- it is difficult to objectively study internal cognitive processes such as schemas, cant be measured
- lacks evidence and lacks internal (construct) validity as it is based on inferences
- sapir whorf hypothesis states opposite
- explain sapir whorf theory + how it has research support eg. himba tribe, only one word for blue and green, found it harder ti distinguish between the 2
- suggests piaget may have been wrong
linguistic determinism
the structure of our language determines how we think
sapir whorf theory of language
- language comes before thought
- strong vers. language determines thought, without the language for something you cant think ab it
- weak vers. language/words influence thought but doesnt exactly determine thoughts, simply makes it easier to think about things if you have the language for it
- if a cultures language lacks the words for a concept they cant understand it the same way someone would if their culture has those words
sapir whorf theory strength
p - supported by cross- cultural research
e- berinmo tribe new guinea language only has 5 colour names, they had trouble distinguishing colours that werent distinguished in gheir language
a- they didnt have the language for these colours so werent able to think anout them, adds validity to the idea language influences thought
sapir whorf theory weakness
p- piaget suggests opposite
e- piaget suggests (..)
a- suggests sapir whorf may have been wrong, questions validity of theory
issues with cross cultural research
difficulties in translation (task&answer)
high demand chatacteristics (berinmo tribe hadnt seen many outsiders, remote tribe)
outline differences between piaget and sapir-whorf theory of language (6)
piaget
- you cant discuss something before you have the schema for it, lang depends on thought
- language develops alongside stages of development
- eg, pre operational are still egocentric & havent decentered so most of their language = I & Me statements
in CONTRAST sapir whorf
- thought depends on language
- strong vers: if you dont have the language for something you CANT think ab it
- following contradictory research, weak vers created. you can still think about smt u dont have the words for, it just makes it more difficult
Von Frisch's bee study outline
A: to investigate how honey bees communicated the location of food through movement
M: (controlled observation)a glass hive was used so he could observe and record bee movements
bees were fed sugar water from dif locations away from the hive, at these locations bees were marked with paint for identification in the glass hive. more than 6000 observations of honey bees over 20 years
R: through observation he found that the bees movements corresponded with the distance the sugar water (food) was away. round dance fir less than 100m away, waggle dance fir more than 100m away, slower dance = further away, angle of waggle dance = direction of pollen
C: bees communicate using movement ti identify the location of food
what is a controlled observation
an observation (recirding what can be seen) in an environment set up by researcher
verbal communication
the use of words to pass information between people. words can be spoken but verbal communication also includes reading and writing
non verbal communication
any other way info can be passed between people eg. facial expressions, body language also factors such as tone and volume (non verbal communication within verbal communication)
eye contact uses in nvc
regulating flow of convo
singnalling attraction
expressing emotion
how is eye contact used to regulate flow of convo
correct timing of eye contact indicates when leading the convo switched to the other person. provides info about listeners level of interest. a person looks away when theyre about ti start speaking, holds eye contact when theyre about to stop, signalling the end of their turn and the start of the next persons
what is meant by eye contact
a form of nvc where two people will look directly into eachothers eyes (or avoid eye contact) to pass on social meaning
how is eye contact used to signal attraction
- people who make eye contact are judged ti be more attractive than those who dont
- 100+ pictures of faces looking at or away from camera (same faces looking at or away shown to dif ppts) direct gaze were consistently rated more attractive, even true for those pulling digusted faces
- extended holding of eye contact is used to indicate attraction ("flirting"). holding eye contact demonstrates paying attention and interest
- eye contact across a crowded room indicates attraction
how is eye contact used to express emotion
amount of eye contact in combination with facial expressions can communicate level of emotion felt witb people appearing more intensely emotional if they jold eye contal while expressing said emotion on their face
body language
a form of nvc in which the position or gestures of body parts passes on info, often relating to the persons internal emotional state
open posture
an open posture is relaxed and expanisve with open arms and facing towards the other person. demonstrates self confidence, approval and acceptance of the other person and willingness to engage
closed posture
rigid, tense, facing away and hunched positioning indicating defensiveness, rejection, disagreement and lack of interest
postural echo
the mirroring of body positioning and movements between two people in a social interaction, tends to suggest two people are getting along and demonstrates interest
touch
used to indicate affection for or dominance over the other person.
Individuals are more likely to have a positive view of an individual if they use
touch in their social interactions. This can help foster feelings of closeness
and connection
personal space
distance from our bodies we see as "our own" and expect others to avoid to maintain a comfortable distance. varies depending on relationship and context.
how does personal space vary?
contact cultures (south america, south europe, middle east) tend to have smaller personal space than non cobtact cultures (north america, asia, north europe)
gender: the personal space between men tends to be larger than between women
status: people of a similar social status will have a smaller personal soace between them compared to people of different social status between them
yukis study of emoticons outline
a- investigate if there are cultural differences in the interpretation of emotion in the use of emoticons(emojis)
m- japanese and american students presebted w emoticons. they displayed 6 combinations of eyes abd mouths that were either sad, neutral or happy. ppts rated the happiness of each face on a scale 1-9
r- emoticons rated happiest by americans if they had happy mouths, whereas rated happiest by japanese if they had happy eyes, same for sadness (america rated by mouth, jspan by eyes)
c- japanese and americans have dif interpretations of the same face expressions, focusing on different parts of the face to interpret emotions. americans gave more weight to mouth and japanese gave more weight to eyes.