Name:
Thinking and Language
A.P. Psychology
Hour:
Explaining Language Development
B.F. Skinner – Operant Learning
 Association (word with
image)
 Imitation (words, syntax)
 Reinforcement (success,
smiles, hugs)
Noam Chomsky – Inborn Universal Grammar
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)
Argued that babies learn language
the same ways bird and rats learn
to peck buttons.
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