Language & Thought

Language & Thought

1. Uniquely Human Language Festures (Aitcheson)

   • Semanticity
     • Words to represent objects & actions
   • Displacement
     • Ability to refer to other time and place
   • Structure Dependence
     • Chomsky: deep structure of language.
     • Pinker & Bloom: syntax may be adaptive.
   • Creativity
     • Ability to understand & produce infinite number of utterences

2. Language of Thought

   • Nativism
     • Comsky
       • Innate universal language 'syntax' of thought
     • Fodor
       • Modular
         • Informationally encapsulated
       • Non-modular
         • Thinking & Memory
   • Structure Propositions
     • Constraints on sequences and combinations in language also apply to thought
   • Innateness of Concepts
     • Attaching names to pre-existing concepts.
   • Propositional Attitude
     • a mental stance, such as knowing, hoping or believing.
       • (Assumed to have syntax)

3. Radical Pragmatics

   • Differs from nativism in that it highlights the social dimention of language.
   • Polysemy (meanings are fluid, contextual)
     • Irony: intended, rather than literal meaning.
       • Grice
         • Implacature
       • Sperber & Wilson
   • Authorship
     • Roles of author, reader & text are constructed.
       • Rimmon-Kenan

4. Linguistic Determanism

   • Sapir-Wharf hypothesis
     • Thought is determined by the language we speak
     • Challenged by Heider & Olivier
       • No difference in memory for colour between two languages with different number of colour terms. English, 11: Dani 2.
   • Spatial Cognition
     • Spatial layout and orientation varies between languages.
       • Boroditsky
         • Time is thought of as horizontal in English, but vertical in Manderin.
           • (Findings have not been replicated in other studies)
       • Difference in reconstruction of spatial array of objects between Dutch & Tzeltal speakers.
       • Challenged by Li & Gleitman who stated environment was more influential.
   • Colour Perception
     • Brown & Lenneberg found differences in colour terms in different languages affected speed in naming colours.

5. Theory of Mind

   • Propositional attitude ascriptions
     • Vygotsky: important in shaping social intelligence.
   • Wimmer & Perner: Maxi, false-belief task.
   • ToM lacks in autistic spectrum disorders
     • Wimmer & Mayringer: evidence against poor executive function as a cause.
     • Clements & Perner: linguistic competence possibly related to ToM
       • however, chimps also show aspects of ToM: Hare & Tomasello

6. Piaget

   • Constructivist view: language dependent on thought for development.
     • Emergent aspect of general cognition.
       • Supported by parallel development in other symbolic function eg. symbolic play.
     • Nelson challenge based on lack of linguistic impairment in blind children
     • Does not exclude Nativist approach, as cognitive universals drive development.
     • Xu challenged as object permanence does not always precede concepts and naming of objects.