A.P. Psychology / Name:
Hour:
Explaining Language Development
B.F. Skinner – Operant Learning / Noam Chomsky – Inborn Universal Grammar· Association (word with image)
· Imitation (words, syntax)
· Reinforcement (success, smiles, hugs)
Argued that babies learn language the same ways bird and rats learn to peck buttons. / Considers Skinner naïve
· Kids acquire untaught words fast
· Come up w sentences never heard
· Begin using morphemes in predictable order (adding ing, using in and on)
· Overgeneralize grammatical rules (-ed)
Language will occur naturally -
Universal Grammar
· Nouns & verbs, subjects & objects, negations & questions in all languages
· 6000 languages are dialects of this universal grammar for which we are prewired.
· Come with a language acquisition device already in place
Cognitive Scientists – Statistical Learning and Critical Periods
· Brain works from very early to break words into syllables and understand them
o Uneye Tednay Shuns or nonsense syllable strung together (babies can find repetition in them)
· Childhood considered a Critical Period for mastering certain parts of language
o 2nd language spoken with the accent of the 1st
o Grammar becomes difficult to change (10 year old vs. 10 year American from Korea – the Korean will make more grammar errors)
§ As age at arrival increases, % on grammar test decreases
· Window to learn open until approx. age 7
Whorf’s Linguistic Determinism (Relativity) Hypothesis
· Language determines the way we think
· Hopi have no past tense, so it is basically impossible to think of the past
· Bilingual individuals report having different sense of self
o Sometimes considered different personalities (score different) or have different cultures (esp. values)
· Language does not necessarily determine the way we think, but it influences it
o Isolated Brazilian people (Piraha) have no numbers above 2 (only “many”)
· Language and perception – on spectrum, those that carry different name seem more different
o New Guinea tribe with 2 words for 2 shades of yellow
Thinking without Language
Are there times when thinking occurs without language?
· Procedural memories – which way do you turn the faucet for cold water?
· Musicians, artists, mathematicians, poets, athletes, and scientists.
· Playing piano engages thinking w/o language, you can sustain your skill w/o piano through mental practice
Mental practice
· Pianist Liu Chi Kung – imprisoned 7 years in during the Chinese Cultural Rev.
· Mark McGuire – pictured himself hitting every ball thrown at him.
· Imagining triggers the same neural networks as when you are actually performing the action
o New prosthetics
Outcome simulation vs. Process simulation
· Outcome: 5 minutes a day scanning posted grade list, seeing an A, beaming with joy, and feeling proud. Grades went up 2 points.
· Process: 5 minutes a day effectively studying, reading chapters, going over notes, eliminating distractions, declining an offer to go out. Grade went up 8 points.
Animal Thinking and Language
Thinking
· Apes, pigeons can form concepts
· Insight – Wolfgang Kohler with the bananas and crates experiment
o Ape has short stick, can’t reach the fruit. Long stick outside cage can be reached with the short stick. “Sultan” could do this in study.
· Use tools – use different tools for different tasks
· Cultural innovations – depends on your locale
· Deception – shows us understanding of others’ perceptions
o Have to think about what the other is thinking
· Self-recognition – use mirrors to wipe spots off faces
· Estimated that apes think like 2 year olds.
Language (Module 28 - 8 min)
· All creatures “communicate”
o Hunger, danger, drive to reproduce
· Explain the difference between humans and chimps in communication.
o Main difference – grammar. These rules (inborn according to Chomsky) can’t be learned by the smartest of the apes.
· What does Jane Goodall say is the fundamental difference between humans and animals?
o Spoken language – future plans, talk about the past, pass information to children, explains evolution