lang thought and com

• what is language?


  a system of communication used by a specific group of people
• what is Thought?


  The mental activity of thinking, which involves reasoning and considering, and that produces ideas and opinions
• describe Piaget's theory of Language and Thought

  -children develop language by matching the correct words to their existing knowledge (schemas)

  -their understanding of a concept comes first (schema) and then they learn to express it through words

  -believes thought comes before language

  -cognitive development leads to growth in language
• strength of Piaget's theory of Language and Thought?

  -used his own children so their behaviour was natural and accurate
• weaknesses of Piaget's theory of Language and Thought?

  -may have personal biases towards his judgement as he used his own children

  -cannot be generalised as he used a very small sample

  -counter-argued by sapir-whorf
• Describe the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

  -we only think about things we have the words for

  -language comes before thought

  -there are 2 versions of the theory; the strong version suggests language determines thought so if a language doesn't have the words for something people cannot think about it. the weak version suggests language influences thought so we can still think of things we don't have words for but not as easily
• which version do Sapir and Whorf prefer?

  weak version
• Strength of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

  explains the link between language and intelligence. poorer children speak in more restricted and elaborated codes. children's intelligence is influenced by language they hear and speak, so fall behind in school due to their restricted code
• weaknesses of Sapir-Whorf?


  1. just because a culture has more words doesn't mean words came first. language reflects the environment which people live, Eskimos will have more words for snow because they live in the cold

  2. they exaggerated the difference in language between cultures. Eskimos only actually have 2 not 27 words for snow, and we also have multiple
• define animal communication?


  exchange of information between animals within the same species using a variety of signals. some are vocal, visual or involve smell
• what are examples of visual animal communication?

  -their colour

  -behaviour
• what are examples of auditory animal communication?

  -echolocation

  -adaptable volume

  -used to signal emotion
• what are examples of tactile (touch) animal communication?

  -nuzzling for comfort

  -grooming to clean

  -lock horns for dominance
• what are examples of chemical animal communication?

  -leaving traces for other animals

  -used to sense direction
• Aim of Von Frisch bee study?

  to investigate how bees communicate the location of a food source to each other
• Method of Von Frisch bee study?

  food sources for a hive of bees were created from glass containers full of sugar water at different locations. when bees visited, they were marked with dots of paint. Researcher observed and recorded movements of the bees when returning to the hive
• study design of Von Frisch bee study?

  field experiment because it was carried out in a real life environment of the bee participants
• Results of Von Frisch bee study?

  -Bees made different movements depending on how far away the food source was

  -when less than 100m, bees did a round dance

  -when over 100m, bees did a waggle dance. number of turns in 15 seconds is distance of the food source, and the straight part communicates the direction in relation to the sun
• Conclusion of Von Frisch bee study?

  bees use a variety of different movements to communicate distance and direction of food sources to each other
• Strengths of Von Frisch study?

  -some of the earliest into animal communication and encouraged more research

  -reliability as other researchers have found similar results, also repeated with wooden hives and still found the same results
• Weakness of Von Frisch study?

  -lacks ecological validity because food sources were artificial, although it was a field experiment

  -the importance of sound involvement in bee communication was overlooked

  -low mundane realism because bees don't naturally live in glass hives
• define displacement


  ability to communicate about things that are not present, or events that will happen in the future
• communication used by both humans and animals?

  -giving direction

  -show we care

  -teach a skill

  -warn off danger
• communication only used by humans:

  -make plans for in the future

  -multiple vs single channels

  -creativity (lies, stories, art)
• define ID?


  animalistic part of us
• what is verbal communication?

  exchanging information with the use of words
• what is non-verbal communication?

  exchanging information without words
• what is eye contact?

  when 2 people look at each others eyes at the same time
• what are the functions of eye contact?

  - Regulating flow of conversation

  - Signalling attraction or respect

  - Expressing emotion
• what is body language?

  the way in which attitudes and feelings are communicated to each other through non-verbal movements and gestures
• what is a strength of eye contact?

  -studies can explain the importance of eye contact- people with autism find it hard to communicate and read peoples emotions, many don't use eye contact. shows eye contact is important when interpretating and expressing emotion
• what is a weakness of eye contact?

  -some eye contact studies involve artificial tasks and lack mundane realism- in Kendon's study participants were asked to get to know each other.

  eye contact observed wasn't accurate as participants felt embarrassed
• define open posture


  the way in which someone positions themself which suggests they are listening or approving. relaxed posture
• what is some research into open posture?

  participants were shown slides of a woman discussing controversial topics. participants were asked their views before and after. when she had an open posture, they were more likely to change their opinion
• define postural echo


  mirroring of body positions which suggests 2 people are getting along
• what is research into postural echo?

  participants were asked to give feedback about a new drink called "vigor". one group used postural echo. they were move likely to say they liked the drink
• define touch (posture)


  expressing friendship or dominance. exchanging info without words
• what is some research into touch ?

  all female participants given a book. half were touched on the hand by the librarian. these participants spoke more positively about the librariian
• define closed posture


  armed crossed, body appearing unengaged or uninterested. usually used when in disagreement or annoyed
• strength of body language studies?

  -studies of body language can be applied to real life. for example if people want to make a good impression they will use open posture

  -most studies take place in a natural setting so behaviour shouldn't change