1 Language and Thought Module 24 Language is so powerful that is has “…produced a species that transcends apehood to the same degree by which life transcends mundane chemistry and physics.” Vilayanur S. Ramachandran The Tell Tale Brain pg. xv

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3 Thinking, Language, & Intelligence Overview Language and Thought  Language Development  Thinking and Language  Animal Thinking and Language

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5 Language and Thought Language, our spoken, written, or gestured work, is the way we communicate meaning to ourselves and others. Language transmits culture. M. & E. Bernheim/ Woodfin Camp & Associates AM Language development AM Language development #6

6 Language Structure Phonemes: The smallest distinct sound unit in a spoken language. For example: bat, has three phonemes b · a · t chat, has three phonemes ch · a · t Languages have these sounds in common She has mastered the Phonemes but not the meaning…Ken Lee vid 1:14Ken Lee vid

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8 Language Structure Morpheme: The smallest unit that carries a meaning. It may be a word or part of a word. For example: Milk = milk Pumpkin = pump. kin Unforgettable = un · for · get · table

9 Grammar Grammar is the system of rules in a language that enable us to communicate with and understand others. Grammar SyntaxSemantics

10 Language  Semantics  the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language  also, the study of meaning  Syntax - Grammar  the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

Rapid bouquets deter sudden neighbors. …syntactically correct but not semantically correct. 11

In all the 6,000 languages in the world, only about 14 different syntaxes are employed and the vast majority fit within 4 styles, again supporting Chomsky's views. Dr. Sapolsky Stanford University 12

13 Language Development Children learn much of their native languages before learning to add 2+2. We learn, on average (after age 1), 3,500 words a year, amassing 60,000 words by the time we graduate from high school. Time Life Pictures/ Getty Images Deb Roy Birth of a word at TEDDeb Roy Birth of a word at TED 19:52

14 Words in English? With variants ~750,000 Smart and educated people may use as many as 60,000 English words, or about 7.5% of the entire English vocabulary. We use remarkably little of it… –Ten simple words account for 25 percent of all English speech –50 words account for 60 percent –1,500 to 2,000 words account for 99 percent of all that Americans say

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19 Language  We are all born to recognize speech sounds from all the world’s languages Percentage able to discriminate Hindi t’s Hindi- speaking adults 6-8 months 8-10 months months English- speaking adults Infants from English-speaking homes Infant speech sound discrimination

20 Language  Babbling Stage (pre-linguistic event)  beginning at 3 to 4 months  the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language Linguistic Genius of babies at TED 10:18 Linguistic Genius of babies at TED  One-Word Stage  from about age 1 to 2  the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words Babbling twins

21 Language  Two-Word Stage  beginning about age 2  the stage in speech development during which a child speaks in mostly two-word statements  Telegraphic Speech  early speech stage in which the child speaks like a telegram-–“go car”--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting “auxiliary” words

22 Language Summary of Language Development Month (approximate) Stage Babbles many speech sounds. Babbling reveals households language. One-word stage. Two-word, telegraphic speech. Language develops rapidly into complete sentences.

23 Explaining Language Development 1.Operant Learning: Skinner (1957, 1985) believed that language development may be explained on the basis of learning principles such as association, imitation, and reinforcement.

24 Explaining Language Development cont. 2.Inborn Universal Grammar: Chomsky (1959, 1987) opposed Skinner’s ideas and suggested that the rate of language acquisition is so fast that it cannot be explained through learning principles, and thus most of it is inborn.

25 Explaining Language Development Childhood is a critical period for fully developing certain aspects of language. Children never exposed to any language (spoken or signed) by about age 7 gradually lose their ability to master any language.

26 Critical Period Learning new languages gets harder with age.

27 Genes, Brain, & Language Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience modifies the brain. Michael Newman/ Photo Edit, Inc. Eye of Science/ Photo Researchers, Inc. David Hume Kennerly/ Getty Images

28 Language Influences Thinking Linguistic Determinism (Whorf hypothesis): language determines the way we think. For example, he noted that the Hopi people do not have the past tense for verbs. Therefore, the Hopi cannot think readily about the past. Link

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31 ….language creates a structure in our minds through which we perceive reality. Although language was originally shaped to reflect reality, because a single human life is so much shorter than the life of the language, language ensures that the new generations' minds grew within this mold. –Joumana Medlej

“….It turns out that people in southern Africa, the cradle of humanity, not only have richer DNA than anyone else but richer languages, with up to one hundred distinct sounds,…” - Sam Kean 32

33 Language Influences Thinking When a language provides words for objects or events, we can think about these objects more clearly and remember them. It is easier to think about two colors with two different names (A) than colors with the same name (B) (Özgen, 2004).

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It turns out that, since people prefer typing with their dominant hands and most of them are right-handed, they …tend to prefer the words with more right-hand letters than left- hand letters. 35

"While we think ourselves the masters of language, precisely the opposite is true. Language is the master of us, a tyranny from which no escape can be imagined.“ -Pesce 36

37 Adjectives and Taste Studies show that flowery modifiers not only tempt people to order the lyrically described foods but also lead them to rate those foods as tasting better than the identical foods given only a generic listing. “Salad” vs. “A Melange of Local Greens”

Which would you enjoy more,… velvety mashed potatoes or velvety mashed potatoes ! 38

39 Try it… Sketch this picture onto the scratch paper I just gave you. The girl pushes the boy.

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43 Word Power Increasing word power pays its dividends. It helps explain the bilingual advantage of bilingual children to inhibit one language while using another. But what about psychosis….

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45 Thinking in Images To a large extent thinking is language- based. When alone, we may talk to ourselves. However, we also think in images. 2. When we are riding our bicycle. 1. When we open the hot water tap. We don’t think in words, when:

46 Images and Brain Imagining a physical activity activates the same brain regions as when actually performing the activity. Jean Duffy Decety, September 2003

47 Language and Thinking Thinking effects language, language effects thinking

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50 Do animals have a language? Animal Thinking & Language Honey bees communicate by dancing. The dancedance moves clearly indicate the direction of the nectar.

51 Do Animals Think? Common cognitive skills in humans and apes include the following: 1.Concept Formation 2.Insight 3.Problem Solving 4.Culture African grey parrot assorts red blocks from green balls. William Munoz Parrot learning link

52 Insight Chimpanzees show insightful behavior when solving problems. Sultan uses sticks to get food. Chimp Problem solving: mBi3cI&NR=1&safety_mode=true&persist _safety_mode=1 W9LnT4&feature=related&safety_mode=tr ue&persist_safety_mode=1

53 Problem Solving Apes are, much like us, shaped by reinforcement when solving problems. Chimpanzee fishing for ants. Courtesy of Jennifer Byrne, c/o Richard Byrne, Department of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland

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56 Do Animals Exhibit Language? There is no doubt that animals communicate. Vervet monkeys, whales and even honey bees communicate with members of their species and other species. Rico (collie) has a 200-word vocabulary Copyright Baus/ Kreslowski

57 Animal Culture Animals display customs and culture that are learned and transmitted over generations. Dolphins using sponges as forging tools. Chimpanzee mother using and teaching a young how to use a stone hammer. LinkLink Copyright Amanda K Coakes Michael Nichols/ National Geographic Society

58 The Case of Apes Gardner and Gardner (1969) used American Sign Language (ASL) to train Washoe, a chimp, who learned 181 signs by the age of 32. When asked, this chimpanzee uses a sign to say it is a baby.

Tickle me! All those chimps who get trained in American Sign Language, one of the first words they master is "tickle" and one of the first sentences is "tickle me.” Dr. Robert Sapolsky Link Tickle me at 1:25Link 59

60 Implications of Ape Language Studies for Humans We all communicate through gestures as well as words This may be the way human language originated May explain why deaf people learn sign language readily

61 Koko Mastered 600 signs for more generative communication such as “That Koko” “Finger bracelet” “I was sad and cried this morning” Washoe Mastered 181 signs for limited but useful commands such as “Gimme sweet drink” Koko vid

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64 Other primate links UEi2ko Koko linkhttp:// UEi2ko 227DI&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_ mode=1 Washoe linkhttp:// 227DI&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_ mode=1 TrIIis&feature=related&safety_mode=true &persist_safety_mode=1 kanzihttp:// TrIIis&feature=related&safety_mode=true &persist_safety_mode=1

65 Syntax Comprehension Others have shown that pygmy chimpanzees can develop even greater vocabularies and perhaps semantic nuances in learning a language (Savage- Rumbaugh, 1993). Kanzi (shown below) developed vocabulary for hundreds of words and phrases. Copyright of Great Ape Trust of Iowa

66 But Can Apes Really Talk? 1.Apes acquire their limited vocabularies with a great deal of difficulty, unlike children who develop vocabularies at amazing rates. 2.Chimpanzees can make signs to receive a reward, just as a pigeon who pecks at the key receives a reward. However, pigeons have not learned a language. 3.Chimpanzees use signs meaningfully but lack human syntax. 4.Presented with ambiguous information, people tend to see what they want to see (perceptual set).

67 Conclusions If we say that animals can use meaningful sequences of signs to communicate a capability for language, our understanding would be naive… Steven Pinker (1995) concludes, “chimps do not develop language.” “Asking whether language is mainly nurture is as silly as asking whether the saltiness of table salt comes mainly from chlorine or mainly from sodium.” Vilayanur S. Ramachandran The Tell Tale Brain pg. 170

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69 Pinker on language and thought pinker_on_language_and_thought.htmlhttp:// pinker_on_language_and_thought.html

70 English is a weird language How about potato: ghowghteighteough Gh/ow/ght/eigh/te/oug h p as in hiccough o as in snow t as in thought a as in sleigh t as in bite o as in although

71 “ghoti” spells what? FISH

72 Language “The limits of your language mean the limits of your world.”