PSYB57H3 Lecture : chapter 10.doc
Document Summary
Human beings are the only species that can communicate using language that is what makes us uniquely human. Without language people would not be able to communicate new ideas, desires, needs and corporate gatherings would be impoverished as well as the acquisition of new knowledge would be near impossible without language. This is why all humans expect ones that have brain damage or total isolation can use language. We are going to look at some things in particular. The ways language skills might shape how we think. Language deals with a special kind of translation, translating from scenes you have witnessed to sounds that you can utter to another person and this person needs to comprehend. Language is organized with clear patterns in the way ideas are expressed. As speakers and listeners we need to grasp the pattern of the language, we need to know what ideas are intended by the words, we must be able to decode syntax etc.
