Psychology 3228 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Rote Learning, Interjection, Foxp2

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 3228
• Professor: Scott Mac Dougall- Shackleton

Document Summary

Syntax: sounds need to occur in a specific order to mean a certain thing. However: even though things like syntax and semitics overlap, no other species shows spontaneous development of even the most rudimentary of languages, animals communicate in presence terms. 2 key components of human language: infinite creativity, displacement: we can discuss things meaningfully even when they are not present. Ex. talk about things in the past or future. People often think language is thought la(cid:374)guage thought: (cid:449)e do(cid:374)(cid:859)t (cid:374)eed la(cid:374)guage to e(cid:374)gage i(cid:374) (cid:272)og(cid:374)iti(cid:448)e pro(cid:272)esses thinking can occur in the absence of language little support for the sapir-whorf hypothesis or linguistic determinism. Sapir-whorf hypothesis or linguistic determinism: our entire interpretation of the world is driven by language. Evidence that la(cid:374)guage thought refutes this hypothesis. Combinatorial power of grammar semantic reference occurs in many other species: humans only know 45,000 100,000 words. Combinatory power of grammar is unique tp humans. Pinker and bloom (1990) natural language and natural selection.