8. Language & Thought

8. Language & Thought

1. Spair-Whorf Hypothesis

   • Considerable amount of evidence that suggests language effects cognition, including colour processing, grammaticaly differecnes, number systems, coding for space and time
   • Language determines the structure of our thought processes, cognition, the way we remember and perceive
   • Linguistic Determinism
     • People think differently due to differences in language
     • each language imposes its own world views
     • e.g. Hopi language has no words/grammatical concept for time
   • Linguistic Relativism
     • As different languages map onto the world, different language generate different cognitive structures
     • lingguisitc language is complex due to environment
     • linguistic differences mirrored by non-linguistic differences
     • Boas (1911) suggest eskimos have 4 words for snow, while english have 1
     • ethnocentric = we shouldnt assume the world is carved up in a way that is reflected by our language
   • Miller & McNiell (1969) suggested 3 versions of the hypothesis = strong suggests language determines thoughts, weaker version suggests language affects perception, and the weakest version (has the most evidence) suggests language affects processing

2. Inter-Dependence Theory

   • Vygotsky = relation between language and thought is complex
   • Speech is pre-intellectual stage of up to 3 years, language and cognition are independent but after this period they become connected
   • language and cognition develop independently, and then become inter-dependent
   • thoughts become verbal speech and speech becomes representational
   • Vygotsky's experiments are difficult to evaluate as he omitted many procedural details = hard to replicate
   • Piaget suggested cognition determines language = egocentric speech occurs as the child is not fully socialised, communicates by taking other POV, self-guidance becomes internalised = suggest the opposite

3. Language & Thought

   • Thought = ideas and opinions produced by thinking
   • Watson (1913) suggested thoughts are nothing more than motor habits
   • Language = communication with words, writing and gestures
   • Animals can solve problems without language = shows this doesnt involve language
   • Smith et al (1947) temporarily paralysed voluntary muscles. Couldn't make motor movements but he could still think and solve problems = language is not necessary for thought
   • Young children learn to speak thoughts aloud and become internalised
   • Language and thought can effect each other developmentally, cognition determines language (piaget), language and cognition are independent (Chomsky), language and cognition originiate separately but become inter-dependent *Vygotsky) or language determines cognition (Sapir-Whorf)

4. Does Language mean thinking?

   • Turning Test (1950)
     • if anything can use language = it thinks
     • in 1 room there is a machine answering questions, 2nd room human answering questions, 3rd room interrogator asking questions. If machine is able to trick interrogator into thinking its a human, its passed the test
   • Computers cant think
     • They are programmed = can't think. But, humans think and they are pre-programmed with genes
     • They aren't creative. But, some researchers have suggested they can be as they have creative functions
     • They can't learn. But they can, e.g. they learn the sound of your voice for voice recognition
     • They dont have brains. But, humans have brains, with metal parts in sometimes and still are human
     • They don't have emotions = but there are individuals with autism that dont feel emotions but still think
   • Chinese room test
     • Searle (1980) = passing the turing test doesnt mean you have thought, language doesnt mean consciousness
     • Test = man A in a room with a chinese rule book, people B outside the room that speak chinese. They pass in symbols and man A replies = they assume he speaks chinese, but he has a dictionary
     • just because computers communicate, doesnt mean they think
     • man appears to understand chinese = doesnt though
     • There is more to thought and consciousness than language