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Language and Thought

Language and Thought. Its all about communication!!! Good site for next year: http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/markport/language/aspects/spg2003/04morph.htm. Should the U.S. establish an official language? BTW, we do not have one right now.

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Language and Thought

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  1. Language and Thought Its all about communication!!! Good site for next year: http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/markport/language/aspects/spg2003/04morph.htm

  2. Should the U.S. establish an official language? • BTW, we do not have one right now.

  3. Start with: Moving Images: Estimating Risk: The Availability Heuristic • How was the availability heuristic at work concerning the “road rage” in the video?

  4. Language • Our spoken written or gestured words and the way we combine them to communicate meaning. Believe it or not, this communication is a form of language!!!

  5. 1 Cool Thing • Can you udrensantd what im wirtnig rhgit now? Read the rest… • I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

  6. Phonemes • In a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit. • Chug has three phonemes, ch, u, g. • How many in the English language? • Tongue Twisters How many phonemes does platypus have?

  7. Morphemes • In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning. • Can be a word or part of a word (prefix or suffix). • How many in the English language?

  8. Semantics • The set of rules by which we derive meaning in a language. • Semantic rule = Add ed to the end of the word…what does this mean? • LAUGH-ED = NOW THE MEANING IS THAT IT HAPPENED IN THE PAST The Chinese languages do not have expansive semantic rules. They usually have totally different symbols for different tenses. Anyone know Chinese??

  9. Syntax • The ORDER! • In English, adjectives come before nouns, but not in Spanish!! Is this the White House or the House White?

  10. Grammar • A system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate and understand others. • SEMANTICS + SYNTAX = GRAMMAR • Ebonics grammar

  11. Language Development • How many words do you think you know now? Probably around 80,000. After age 1 you average about 13 words a day.

  12. Language Development • Cooing Stage: 3 months • Babbling Stage: starting at 3-4 months, the infant makes spontaneous sounds. Not limited to the phonemes of the infant’s household language. • One-word stage: 1-2 years old, uses one word to communicate big meanings. • Two word stage: at age 2, uses two words to communicate meanings- called telegraphic speech. • After this, language progresses rapidly! • My little brother (3-4) used to say: “What do you need for my help?” when he wanted to help my mom and me around the house. • + : Language develops rapidly into complete sentences, grammar is improved at the “grammar school” age (elementary school) • VIDEO: Mind 23– Infant Speech Sound Discrimination

  13. How do we explain… HOW WE ACQUIRE OUR LANGUAGE?

  14. Skinner • Skinner thought that we can explain language development through his BEHAVIORAL APPROACH (disregard the old PPT on this…it is too confusing). • Via operant conditioning, positive reinforcement of appropriate grammar and language ENTIRELY explains how children learn the aspects of language. • “Yes, honey that is a kitty cat. You are so smart.” • “No, honey, say “I would like a cookie, not “me want cookie.” The young boy adjusts his grammar to achieve the reward.

  15. ChomskyNativist Theory of Acquisition • Inborn Universal Grammar • We acquire language too quickly for it to be learned. • WE ARE BORN WITH AN INNATE ABILITY TO LEARN VARIOUS ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE VERY QUICKLY • BUT, THE EXACT LANGUAGE, DIALECT, ACCENTS, AND SO FORTH ARE DETERMINED BY THE PARTICULAR ENVIRONMENT / SOCIETY • We have this “learning box” inside our heads that enable us to learn any human language. • The language and accents we learn are predictable by geography and culture. • English babies don’t come out speaking Chinese, right?! • Video: Mind 24: Language Predisposition

  16. Does language influence our thinking?

  17. Whorf’s Linguistic Relativity • The idea that language determines the way we think (not vice versa). • The Hopi tribe has no past tense in their language, so Whorf says they rarely think of the past.

  18. Do people that speak more than one language think differently depending on their language at that time?

  19. Thinking without Language • We can think in words. • But more often we think in mental pictures. In 1977, Reggie Jackson hit 3 HR’s against the Dodgers. He has stated that before each at bat, he visualizes crushing a home run. Do you think visualization helps?

  20. Do Animals think?

  21. Kohler’s Chimpanzees • Kohler exhibited that Chimps can problem solve.

  22. Honeybees seem to communicate

  23. VIDEO: Moving Images: The Case of Kanzi (Animal Language) Apes and Signing

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