Language Thought and Communication

• Explain Piaget's Theory


  Thought and understanding come first, language develops after

  Children only understand words when they have reached the correct development and are ready- they can have language w/o understanding

  Readiness- The biological age when children are ready to perform activities

  Sensorimotor stage: Children speak towards the end of their first year

  Pre-operational stage: From 2 years they talk about things not present

  Concrete operational stage: By 7 years children's lang becomes more mature and logical as they question things and create their own ideas
• Evaluation of Piaget's Theory


  + Early language is not random, when children start talking they use two-word phrases like 'mummy sock', which shows they can see how objects relate to each other. This suggests children only start to use language when they understand it

  
  

  - Sapir-Whorf hypothesis challenges this. Evidence suggests language does come before thought as Berinmo people didn't have certain words for colour and so could not distinguish between. This suggests Piaget was wrong

  
  

  - A schema cannot be scientifically measured, it is difficult to know if schema exist as we cannot directly measure them. This shows Piaget's theory is not based on solid scientific evidence
• Explain the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis


  Language comes first and thought afterwardsStrong version:If there are no words for a thought, object or idea then you can't think about it. Difficult to translate ideas from one lang to anotherWeak version:Words help you to 'carve up' the world. You can still imagine something with no words for itWeaker version preferred. If the words for a concept are limited, our ability to recall are limited.
• Evaluation of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

  -Differences between culturesmay have been exaggerated. Only two words for snow in the Inuit culture and English have other words for different types of snow. Differences aren't that great and challenges that language may not determine thought

  -Thoughts come before language. Having more words for snow doesn't mean the words came first. The Inuit language may have more words for snow because there is always a lot of snow. Suggests that lang develops because of the way we perceive our environment which supports Piaget's view
• Explain the variation in recall of events

  Hopi Language doesn't distinguish between past, present and future. Influences the way they think about time.Eval:Only one individual was studied. Some argue that Hopi and European languages describe the passing of time similarly. Whorf's conclusions lacked a firm basis.
• Explain how language affects recall of events

  Carmichael et al, gave two grps of PPs the same pictures but the each grp heard different descriptions. When they were asked to draw them, the pictures drawn reflected the labels they heard. Suggests language influences memoryEval:The materials used were ambigiuous as we would usually be less influenced by labels. May not be able to generalise the findings to everyday life.
• Explain variation in recognition of colours

  Brown and Lennburg found that Zuni people have only one word for shades of yellow and orange and had difficulty recognising and recalling these colours compared to English speakers. Their lack of words for those two colours affected their ability to distinguish between them.Eval:The language barrier could have affected how well the Zuni people communicated their understanding of colour to the researchers. Lacks validity
• Explain how language affects the recall of colour

  Roberson et Al found that Berinmo people of New Guinea had only five words for different colours and had difficulty recalling and distingushing between a variety of colours. Supports the Sapir-Whorf hypothesisEval:Challenged by other research as Dani people have only two words for colour but were still as good as English-speaking PPs on a colour-matching task. Lack of colour words did not influence their ability to think about colour
• Aim + Method of the Von Frisch's bee study

  To investigate the methods in which bees communicate to each other

  Von Frisch put a food source close to the hive (within about 10-20 metres) and one further away (up to 300 metres). He made over 6000 observations in 20 years
• Results of the Von Frisch's bee study

  Worker bees tell other bees where the pollen is located through two types of dance:

  Round dance: Bees move in a circle to indicate food is less than 100 metres away

  Waggle dance: Moving in a figure of eight, bee waggles its abdomen on the straight line in the 'middle' of the eight

  60% of bees went to food sources at the distance indicated by the dances
• Conclusion of the Von Frisch's bee study

  Bees use a sophisticated form of animal communication and has evolutionary value as it helps their survival.
• Evaluation of the Von Frisch's bee study

  + Made an important contribution to science. People knew bees 'danced' but did not understand the meaning of movements

  
  

  - Importance of sound was overlooked. Other research shows that when bees did dances in silence, other bees would not then go on and investigate food sources. Shows that sound-based signals also play a part in directing other bees.
• Name four functions of animal communication

  Survival, Reproduction, Territory and Food
• Explain survival as a function of animal communication

  Vervet monkeys use sounds for danger (alarm calls). A specific sound warns other monkeys close by.

  Rabbits use visual signals. They lift their tail and pin ears back to communicate danger to other rabbits.

  Increases the survival of members of the signallers' species
• Explain reproduction as a function of animal communication

  Animals use mating displays.

  Peacocks stretch their feathers to attract females.

  Mating displays communicate genetic fitness through brightly coloured and plentiful feathers
• Explain territory as a function of animal communication


  Animals mark their territories through spreading scents

  Rhinos produce 20-30 piles of dung to communicate that an area is occupied.

  Evolutionary value as it takes less energy than fighting
• Explain food as a function of animal communication

  Animals use signals to show the location of food. Ants leave a pheromone trail to communicate the location of a food source.
• Name some properties of human communication not present in animal communication

  - Humans use language to plan ahead and discuss the future (displacement) whereas animals focus on things that are physically present

  - Animal communication is a closed system however human communication is an open system as words can be combined in an infinite number of ways (endless potential)

  - Human language can be expressed through different channels (spoken, written or sign lang) whereas animals use single channels such as pheromones
• Three different types of eye contact

  Regulating flow of conversation, signalling attraction and expressing emotion
• Regulating flow of conversation: Eye Contact


  Kendon found that speakers looked away when they were about to speak and gave prolonged eye contact when about to finish

  Shows eye contact encourages turn-taking in conversation
• Signalling attraction: Eye Contact

  Conway et al found that people who use eye contact are judged as more attractive even with a negative facial expression
• Expressing emotion: Eye Contact

  Adams and Kleck found that PPs judged emotions of joy and anger as more intense when shown a pic of someone gazing straight at them as opposed to gazing away.

  In contrast, they judged emotions of fear and sadness as more intense when the gaze in the picture was averted
• Evaluation of Eye Contact

  + Eye contact studies can help people develop this skill

  Important for social skills to regulate convo and express emotion better

  Can lead to practical help so people can manage social situations better

  
  

  - Use of rating scales to make judgements.

  Relying on people rating their views on 'attractiveness' or 'intensity of emotion' are open to bias and interpretation
• Three types of Body Language

  Open and closed posture, postural echo and touch
• Open and closed posture: Body Language

  Closed Posture= crossing your arms/legs suggesting rejection or disagreement

  Open posture= arms and legs not crossed suggesting approval and acceptance

  McGinley et al found that PPs were more likely to change their opinions in line with a female confederate if she had adopted an open posture when discussing her views, not a closed posture
• Postural echo: Body Language

  Copying each other's body position

  Tanner and Chartrand found that PPs had more positive feelings towards a drink if the researcher had used postural echo during the interview than if there was no postural echo
• Touch: Body Language


  Includes high fives, putting hand in shoulder etc

  Fisher et al found that students handed books by a librarian who touched them on the hand were more positive about the librarian than those who were not touched.
• Evaluation of Body Language

  + Real world application

  Open posture, postural echo and touch= creating a good relationship

  Useful for everyday life

  
  

  - Body language studies lacks control

  In the library study there may have been other reasons why the PPs liked/disliked the librarian apart from the presence/absence of touch.

  Issue for the validity of the results
• What are the three key differences of personal space?

  Cultral differences, Gender differences and status differences
• Cultral differences: Personal Space

  Sommer found that English people's personal space is 1-1.5m wheres Arabs' is much less

  Found that Englishmen who stood closer and gave more eye contact were better liked by Arabs
• Gender differences: Personal Space

  Men prefer a larger social distance when interacting with men than women talking to other women

  Fisher and Bryne found that women felt more uncomfortable when a confederate invaded their personal space from the side whereas with men it was from the front.
• Status differences: Personal Space

  Zahn found that people with a similar status maintain a closer personal space than those with an unequal status
• Evaluation of Personal Space

  + Real world application- doctors could use knowledge about cultural differences

  Positive impact on the real world

  
  

  - Research into personal space only looks at one factor at a time. In reality, several factors may be affecting personal space at the same time (too simplistic)
• Explain the evidence that NVB is innate

  - Neonate research: if NVB is shown at birth it is likely to be innate

  
  

  - Social releasers: eg smiling which makes others want to look after babies. Adaptive because a young baby will be looked after and genes passed on

  - Facial Expressions: Young babies' faces showed disgust with novel foods such as citric acid (lemons). Suggests facial expressions as a way of communicating emotions are innate

  
  

  - Sensory deprived: If a human/ animal w/o a sensory ability show the same NVB as people with normal hearing their behaviours are innate
• Explain the evidence that NVB is learned

  - Contact vs non-contact cultures: People from contact cultures (Mediterranean and Latin America) are comfortable with smaller personal spaces whereas people from non-contact cultures (UK and US) maintain a larger distance between themselves and others.

  
  

  - Gestures: Pointing one's index finger is acceptable in Western culture to emphasise what is being said but offensive in Hindu cultures

  
  

  - Explaining cultural differences: Social learning theory can explain cultural differences (observing and imitating others). People observe what other people in their culture are doing (eg personal space) and copy those behaviours
• Aim + Method on Yuki's study of emoticons

  To investigate if there is a difference in how emoticons are understood by people in the East (Japan) and the West (America)

  
  

  95 students from Japan and 118 students from America- an independent group design

  Six emoticons were shown with different combinations of eyes and mouths (happy, sad or neutral) and PPs rated the emoticons for happiness using a 9-point scale.
• Results + Conclusion on Yuki's study of emoticons

  The Japanese gave higher ratings to faces with happy eyes than the Americans even when the mouth was sad

  Americans gave higher rating when the mouths were happy even when the eyes were sad

  
  

  Suggests that cultural groups interpret facial expressions differently, which may be due to cultural norms and expectations
• Evaluation of Yuki's study of emoticons

  - Emoticons do not represent human faces

  They do not include tell-tale lines on people's faces which gives us further info on how to interpret their eyes and mouth

  May lack relevance to everyday life

  
  

  - Study only investigated two types of emotion

  In everyday life, faces express a whole range of emotions- fear, surprise, disgust

  Does not give us a full insight into the full range of emotional expressions that are interpreted by people of different cultures
• Explain Darwin's evolutionary theory


  Genes that increase survival chances are passed onto the next generation- 'natural selection'

  If behaviours increase survival chances they are adaptive-provide a genetic advantage

  Evolved from animals- any behaviour that was adaptive of our distance animal ancestors will have stayed in the gene pool and passed onto humans

  Serviceable habits: Our emotional expressions are remnants of behaviour from our ancestors that have helped them meet important goals
• Evaluation of Darwin's Evolutionary Theory

  + Supported by research conducted by Ekman

  States that there are 6 primary emotions including surprise, fear , disgust, anger, happiness or sadness and he found emotion were associated with the same facial expression in every culture ( Emotions are universal and more likely to be innate) This supports.

  
  

  - Research shown not all NVC are universal. People from Saudi Arabia and people in England vary in levels of how much personal space they find comfortable. Differences in non-verbal behaviour

  Goes against Darwin's theory