VS
Linguistic relativity views
: two languages may be so different from each other
that their native speaker’s thoughts and experience is also different. The
language shape our thoughts.
E.g. « Gasoline drum » gives a feeling of danger, while « Empty Gas Drum »
gives a feeling of safety.
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Languages influences our experience and perceptions, meaning that differences
between languages will be present on non-linguistic tasks.
Extreme version
: linguistic determinism, a person’s thoughts are determined by
language
Early support from Hopi Indian language does not have words or a concept
of time, but this was later proven false.
Weaker version
: a person’s thoughts are influenced by language.
Midterm 2 PSYC 213
Social context of language
To formulate his views on thoughts and speech, Vygotsky reanalazyed…
Piaget’s egocentric speech
:
speech to oneself, that does not take the
listener’s perspective into account (non-silent).
Inner speech
: speech to oneself as a stream of thoughts (silent).
*
resemble the conversation of two people who knows each other very
well : no need to specify the subject and there’s a personal meaning for
the words, rather than conventional.
*
important for the planning of cognitive operations.
Zone of proximal development
Definition :
the distance between the actual developmental level as
determined by independent problem-solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance.
*draws attention to the social aspect of cognitive development.
Midterm 2 PSYC 213
« What a child can do with assistance today is what he will be able to do himself tomorrow. »
Midterm 2 PSYC 213
Literacy
Definition
: the ability to read and write; sometimes extended to include the
metalinguistic ability to talk or write about text.
Metalinguistic awareness
: ability to talk about language itself without
worrying about what it refers to.
E.g. an illiterate person can’t answer to a syllogism (the white bear ex.)
Implications of literacy
a)
We see interpretations of texts as subjective results of mental processes
b)
Our language change when we become literate
c)
Words that refer to language itself (assert, dictate, remark, etc.) appeared
much later in history than words about thinking.
Consequences of print exposure
ART (author recognition task) and MRT (magazine recognition task) predicted scores
on cognitive skills measure even after IQ was taken into account.
Midterm 2 PSYC 213
Conclusion
: print exposure makes an independent contribution to cognitive skills,
over and above IQ.
Midterm 2 PSYC 213
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and
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Support for the hypothesis
o
Berinmo tribe members were worse to pick color from the
blue-green
pair.
o
English speakers were worse to pick color from the
nol-wor
pair.
Conclusion
: speakers cannot access colors if the color boundary isn’t in their
language. Language shapes the quality of color memory.
Arguments against the hypothesis
English Language Speakers (11 words for color) were tested against the Dani
tribe in Indonesia (2 words for color).
