PSYA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Bipedalism
PSYA01 – Lecture 24: Language
CONTINUATION FROM MEMORY
- Reinstating Context – easier to accurately retrieve some specific bit of info when the
retrieval context (internal/external) = as similar as possible to the context in which the
info was learned State-dependent learning (transfer appropriate processing)
o Learned something when we are sad, then it’ll come back every time you’re sad
again
The Power of Language – fine line between communication + formal structural language
- Animals use bodies + sounds to communicate but usually in the present (DIRECT)
o Many animals (espec. Dogs) have strong “receptive language” abilities, some
may even have some language production abilities – is it all just ‘good
conditioning?’
o MOVIE: Project Nim story of chimps; seem like humans but language is
missing so teaching sign language to communicate. (Penny & Gorilla COCO)
IDEA of chimps just limited in language due to their lack of exposure to
complex language structures.
- Humans different, allows one to transport knowledge + ideas across time + spaces.
Learning doesn’t have to be direct (INDIRECT)
o Human domination (or plague) of the planet
Bipedalism – freeing up our hands
Frontal Cortex – figures out useful ways to use our hands
Language – ability to transmit all this across generations
o Humans are only species that are aware of impending death ; creation of
religion + judgment day
o Organisms must use language in a very flexible way – words (symbols) used very
dynamically to represent + convey ideas ‘abstract symbol system’
