Psychology
Language and Thought
Language and thought are interconnected in psychology, with language influencing how we think and perceive the world around us. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that the structure of a language can shape or limit the thoughts and perceptions of its speakers. This relationship between language and thought is a key area of study in understanding human cognition and behavior.
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10 Key excerpts on "Language and Thought"
eBook - PDF- Nick Lund(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
2 The relationship between Language and Thought Introduction The linguistic relativity hypothesis Thought determines language The interdependence of Language and Thought Summary Review exercise One feature that sets human communities apart from animal commu-nities is the use of language. Language is a vital part of every human culture and is a powerful social tool that we master at an early age. A second feature of humans is our ability to solve complex and/or abstract problems. Although some animals are capable of solving simple problems none are capable of solving the problems involved in something like space exploration or even in the designing of a psychology experiment. For centuries philosophers have questioned whether these two abilities are related and, if so, what the nature of the relationship between Language and Thought is. At the beginning of the last century psychologists joined this debate and it is a topic that is currently generating a lot of research. Another factor in the study of Language and Thought is the role of culture. When we study a language from another country we realise that it is not just the words and grammar that are different but the 9 Introduction customs and traditions as well. Even the ideas of that culture and the way of dealing with life can be different. If people speaking different languages have different customs and ideas it raises the following question: do different languages lead to different ways of thinking? Although there is some debate about the extent of language in thinking (see, for example, Carruthers, 1996), as adults much of our thinking seems to involve words and language. Furthermore, we cannot use language without thinking about what we want to say. Thus, in adults at least, Language and Thought seem closely entwined. There are four main views about the nature of this relationship between Language and Thought: 1. The language we speak determines or influences the way we think.
eBook - ePub- Nick Lund(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
2 The relationship between Language and Thought DOI: 10.4324/9780203695012-2 Introduction The linguistic relativity hypothesis Thought determines language The interdependence of Language and Thought Summary Review exerciseIntroduction
One feature that sets human communities apart from animal communities is the use of language. Language is a vital part of every human culture and is a powerful social tool that we master at an early age. A second feature of humans is our ability to solve complex and/or abstract problems. Although some animals are capable of solving simple problems none are capable of solving the problems involved in something like space exploration or even in the designing of a psychology experiment. For centuries philosophers have questioned whether these two abilities are related and, if so, what the nature of the relationship between Language and Thought is. At the beginning of the last century psychologists joined this debate and it is a topic that is currently generating a lot of research.Another factor in the study of Language and Thought is the role of culture. When we study a language from another country we realise that it is not just the words and grammar that are different but the customs and traditions as well. Even the ideas of that culture and the way of dealing with life can be different. If people speaking different languages have different customs and ideas it raises the following question: do different languages lead to different ways of thinking?Although there is some debate about the extent of language in thinking (see, for example, Carruthers, 1996
eBook - PDF- Nancy Ogden, Michael Boyes, Evelyn Field, Ronald Comer, Elizabeth Gould(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Language evolved as a means for connecting socially and com- municating, and creativity is an inherent part of the adaptive power of language. Language and Thought are characteristics that distinguish humans from other creatures. Language enables us to communicate in a precise and often creative way. We also use language to tell stories or jokes. Language has allowed us, as a species, to learn from past generations, originally by oral storytelling and then by written language. Language is a critical component of human behaviour because it greatly facilitates progressive social interactions. Consider the dif- ficulty involved in organizing a large group of people to build a city. Such a feat would be nearly impossible without the use of language. Although language is communicative, sometimes we use language only in our own heads. We often think using words, but many of our thoughts are not shared. Some people write exten- sively but only for themselves, never intending or wanting others to read their written words. Although the processes of Language and Thought overlap, a clear difference exists between them. In general, psychologists study these processes separately. Human thought is highly complex, varies from individual to individual, and takes on many different forms. The study of thought is a major component of cognitive psychology. As we saw in Chapter 1, the word cognition refers to a variety of mental processes that con- tribute to thinking and knowing. Cognition is involved in learning and memory, as well as in thinking. In this chapter, we will discuss a number of different types of thinking, which can involve accumulating knowledge, solving problems, making decisions, and even thinking about thinking. cognition mental processes of thinking and knowing.
eBook - ePub- Ronald Comer, Nancy Ogden, Michael Boyes, Elizabeth Gould(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Using your cellphone and GPS requires language skills as well as some key thinking skills. You have to make several key decisions and likely solve some problems when using technologies like cellphones, especially if you are moving around and playing Pokémon Go at the same time (Serino et al., 2016; Althoff, White, & Horvitz, 2016). The need to plan is true of GPS systems as well. For example, it is good to find out how to turn off the “use unpaved roads” setting on your GPS before letting it guide you around in Canada (especially in winter).Language and Thought are characteristics that distinguish humans from other creatures. Language enables us to communicate in a precise and often creative way. We also use language to tell stories or jokes. Language has allowed us, as a species, to learn from past generations, originally by oral storytelling and then by written language. Language is a critical component of human behaviour because it greatly facilitates progressive social interactions. Consider the difficulty involved in organizing a large group of people to build a city. Such a feat would be nearly impossible without the use of language.Although language is communicative, sometimes we use language only in our own heads. We often think using words, but many of our thoughts are not shared. Some people write extensively but only for themselves, never intending or wanting others to read their written words. Although the processes of Language and Thought overlap, a clear difference exists between them. In general, psychologists study these processes separately.Human thought is highly complex, varies from individual to individual, and takes on many different forms. The study of thought is a major component of cognitive psychology. As we saw in Chapter 1 , the word cognition
- Thomas Pechmann, Christopher Habel, Thomas Pechmann, Christopher Habel(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter Mouton(Publisher)
The Language and Thought debate: A psycholinguistic approach Mary Carroll, Christiane von Stutterheim, and Ralf Nuese 1. Introduction The current discussion on the relation between Language and Thought has been with us for many centuries and can be traced back to Greek philosophy. In the language philosophy of Plato the unquestioned assumption was that language can assume an ideal form in relation to thought, a view which lasted into the Middle Ages and was revived again in the age of Enlightenment. Although the relation between Language and Thought has never been seriously questioned, the crucial question rests on the nature of this relation and whether language influences the way in which we partition and classify the experienced world (Gumperz and Levinson 1996; Gentner and Goldin-Meadow 2003). One of the first to formulate a clear position under a comparative perspective was W. v. Humboldt. Although Humboldt believes that people can acquire different views on the world by learning a new language, he retains a normative viewpoint in regarding a particular type of language (inflectional) as optimally suited for formulating thought. Radical interpretations of this form of linguistic relativity consolidated the notion of linguistic determinism (cf. Lee 1996), a position which implies that speakers who have learned a given language not only develop language-specific conceptual structures but are also bound by them, a view which rightly or wrongly has been termed the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. This debate received new impetus in the areas of cognitive science, cultural anthropology, cognitive linguistics, and developmental psychology with the introduction of new and more rigorous tools of investigation. Theories of human cognition in cognitive science are based on the assumption of a universal cognitive base for human reasoning and conceptualisation.
eBook - PDFLanguage and Thought
Anthropological Issues
- William C. McCormack, Stephen A. Wurm(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter(Publisher)
On Speech and Thought JOHN W. M. VERHAAR The problem of speech and thought is one of stupendous proportions. There is, first of all, the task of confining the field to essentials. Further-more, some clarity is required as to what disciplines are involved. These two questions are related. Finally, I shall have to cut down on essentials even within the limits to be set, and I shall do this as I go on. Inevitably, the pruning will be somewhat arbitrary. I wish to address myself to the topic mainly from the point of view of linguistics, which to me is an empirical science, distinct from philos-ophy and from other empirical sciences such as psychology or sociol-ogy. However, admittedly much of linguistic theory has originated in philosophy, and it would be unrealistic to suppose that there are no remnants to be removed. Further, one cannot very well study thought, even though for the most part thought in natural language, and hope to avoid philosophy. Therefore, a certain amount of philosophy will be inevitable. The linguistic focus eliminates any thought which is not couched in language: a drastic and convenient limitation of the subject. Given this, at least two principal approaches to thought in lan-guage present themselves. I shall describe these first and then choose, giving reasons for the choice. If one accepts that meaning is an integral part of language, and that it can and must be studied in the empirical study of language, then it is reasonable to say that what we call meaning from the point of view of language we should call thought from the point of view of the mind. This raises the question whether, inversely, all lingual thought must be confined to lingual meaning. According to its contents, yes; accord- 100 JOHN W. M. VERHAAR ing to its formal structure, no.
eBook - PDFFor the Love of Language
An Introduction to Linguistics
- Kate Burridge, Tonya N. Stebbins(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
‘LANGUAGE IS THE DRESS OF THOUGHT’ LANGUAGE, MIND AND WORLD PART 6 Though the faculty of language may be congenital, all languages are traditional. The words in which we think are channels of thought which we have not dug ourselves, but which we found ready-made for us. Max Müller (1873), Lectures on Mr Darwin’s Philosophy of Language 16.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter opens with a reflection on the relationship between language and the mind. When learning a second language, it doesn’t take long for most people to notice that the world is not constructed in precisely the same way in all languages. How does language reflect our understanding of the world? Where do these differences come from? How do they relate to culture? What do they tell us about language and about its human users? Thinking about language and the mind focuses us on our experiences and behaviours as speakers of particular languages. But, the mind is elusive; we cannot answer some of our most basic questions about how language works with a focus on the mind alone. Shifting our focus to language and the brain allows for quite different sorts of questions. How is language stored in our brains? What thinking processes are involved in producing or understanding speech? How can we find out more about the way language is organised in our brains? These questions become especially compelling when we reflect that brain tissue has roughly the same consistency as cold porridge, is around 77 per cent water and corresponds to roughly 2 per cent of our total body weight. Furthermore, the structure of the brain and its relation to language is only now becoming clearer to researchers, as new technologies and methods make it possible to develop more and more detailed records of the brain activity associated with language.
eBook - PDF- Shannon Bischoff, Carmen Jany, Shannon Bischoff, Carmen Jany(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter Mouton(Publisher)
Sounds are easy to observe and we understand them reasonably well. Their overt physical manifes‑ tations give us a good handle on them, and modern advances in electronic analy‑ sis let us investigate them in considerable detail. Thoughts are not like that at all. Their subjectivity places them well beyond the public observability that gives so much of an advantage to sounds. But if thoughts have the functional priority just described, as linguistics progresses in fits and starts toward a fuller understand‑ ing of language complexity, sooner or later it will be forced to shift more of its attention to the nature and fundamental role of human thinking. 3 What are thoughts anyway? Because thoughts and language are so inextricably intertwined, language can contribute substantially to our understanding of the nature of thoughts. There may even be a temptation to equate the flow of thoughts with the flow of inner language, but it is important to realize that language is not the whole story. The lack of equivalence between thoughts and language can be observed in a variety of ways. People often experience difficulty “turning thoughts into words,” explic‑ itly recognizing the difficulty with statements like “I don’t know quite how to say it” or “that’s not exactly what I meant.” One well‑known scholar described this experience cogently in the following way: 110 Wallace Chafe Now what seems to me obvious by introspection is that I can think without language. In fact, very often, I seem to be thinking and finding it hard to articulate what I am thinking. It is a very common experience at least for me and I suppose for everybody to try to express something, to say it and to realize that is not what I meant and then to try to say it some other way and maybe come closer to what you meant; then somebody helps you out and you say it in yet another way.
eBook - PDFThe Human Mind through the Lens of Language
Generative Explorations
- Nirmalangshu Mukherji(Author)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Bloomsbury Academic(Publisher)
So some notion of thought as contributing to the meaning-part of language is required for the concept of mind as well. However, as with mind and language, one may doubt if the concepts of Language and Thought have the same coverage. It raises the possibility that there could be some realm of thought that is not covered by language. If the concept of mind is to cover all realms of thought, which seems to be an intuitive requirement for the concept of mind, we face the possibility that some realm of thought will be left out if we approach the concept of mind exclusively from the architecture of language alone. It appears that there are three ways in which Language and Thought may have different coverage. First, a reason for separating thought and language is that perhaps the notion of thought could be extended to some human-specific non-linguistic domains such as music, arithmetic, arts, kinship and suchlike. There is no obvious reason why we should reject notions such as musical thought, mathematical thought, artistic thought and the like. These domains of thought are genuinely distinct from language because, in each case, it may be futile to ask if there is a linguistic rendition of such thoughts. As Wittgenstein (1931/1958, 178) remarked for music: ‘it is a “strange illusion” that possesses us when we say “This tune says something”, and it is as though I have to find what it says.’ Nevertheless, Wittgenstein also held that ‘understanding a sentence lies nearer than one thinks to what is ordinarily called understanding a musical theme’ (1953, 527; Mukherji 2010, Chapter Six). When we put these ideas together, it follows that there is a genuine notion of non-linguistic musical thought on a par with linguistic thought.
eBook - PDF- Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
· 3 · WHAT IS THINKING ? Children learn and develop in social interactions with their caregivers and siblings, teachers and peers, and more distant significant others. Social prac- tices include these interactions and the speech patterns that accompany them. Almost everything we do and think and feel is mediated through words that play an increasing role over the course of development. Consider some of the everyday social practices that typically fill the day: talking with family, friends, and colleagues; reading news and weather reports, books, and blogs; and writing lists, letters, notes, and homework. We also calculate budgets and plan for purchases; listen to and play music; and communicate with indi- viduals and participate in communities using computers, tablets, and cell phones. Cultural tools—both technical and psychological tools—mediate experience; they are the means of mediation and they shape the way we do things. The process of mediation is central to all social practices; language, and more specifically, speech is the primary psychological tool. Psychological tools, systems of signs and symbols used for making meaning, play a central role in thinking. The first section of this chapter defines learning and development as medi- ated through cultural tools. The second section describes the primary psycho- logical tool, speech, and three different functions of speech—social, private, 66 vygotsky and the promise of public education and inner speech—along with the unity of speech and thinking in develop- ment. The third section describes the development of concepts, as well as the relationship between everyday concepts and academic concepts. The following questions are offered as a reader’s guide for the chapter.
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