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AP Psychology:
Language: spoken/written/signed
words + the ways they are…
AP Psychology:
Language: spoken/written/signed
words + the ways they are combined
to communicate meaning
Importance
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allows cultural knowledge to travel from one mind to another, which furthers civilization
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Learning + Acquisition
Stages
24 months: two-word stage
- (two-word sentences)
- telegraphic speech: short + sweet
10 months:
- begins to resemble sounds of houselond language
- outside sounds disappear
Beyond 24 months:
- words become sentences
- sentences become more complex
4 months: babbling stage
- miscellaneous sounds
- not imitation of adult sounds
12 months: one-word stage
- word often accompanied by gesture
Critical Periods
Childhood seems to represent critical/sensitive period for mastering certain language aspects before language learning period closes
- one has to begin learning a second language early to speak fluently without an accent
Language learning window closes gradually in early childhood
- Later than usual exposure to language (age 2 or 3) unleashes the idle language capacity of child’s brain, producing rush of language
- by about age 7, those who have not been exposed to either a spoken or signed language gradually lose their ability to master any language
The Brain and Language
Aphasia: language impairment
- usually caused by left-hemisphere damage to either Broca's area (impaired speech) or Wernicke's area (impaired understanding)
Different neural networks activate when using:
- your native language vs. a second one
- nouns + verbs vs. objects + actions vs. reading stories of visual vs. motor experiences
Key Idea: when processing language, the brain operates by dividing mental functions (speaking, thinking, remembering) into sub-functions
Cognition
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Language and Thought
- Whorf:
- linguistic reality hypothesis: linguistic determinism = language influences the way we think
- different languages = different reality perceptions; learn the language = learn the culture
- concept is somewhat supported: some bilingual ppl have two different personality profiles when taking the same test in two different languages
- our words may not determine what we think, but they do influence our thinking + grouping into categories
Development
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Chomsky:
- language is inborn, + inborn capacity is developed, but we are not born with a specific built-in language
- languages all have same building blocks (nouns, verbs...)
- all human languages are dialects of universal grammar: pre-wired into our brains
- language acquisition capacity: like a box (language acquisition device) in which grammar switches are thrown as children experience language
- Surface vs. Deep Structure:
- Surface structure: word strings, what the words actually say (the words themselves); ex: The shooting of the psychologist was terrible
- Deep structure: abstract representation of relationships expressed in sentence; ex: psychologist had terrible aim or it was terrible that someone shot the psychologist
Skinner: learn language by basic learning principles (conditioning)
- association: sights of things with words
- imitation: replicate words + syntax
- reinforcement: repeat what is praised
Statistical Learning
Infants show a remarkable ability to learn statistical aspects of human speech
- their brains discern word breaks and statistically analyze which syllables go together
- 7 month olds can learn simple sentence structures