Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes -Language Acquisition, Deep Structure And Surface Structure, Universal Grammar

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Mark Cole

Document Summary

Humans communicate more efficiently and think better than animals do. Mental representations include images, ideas, concepts, and principles. In forms of language, thinking, reasoning, and problem solving. Language consists if symbols and rules for combining these symbols in ways that can generate an infinite number of possible messages. Thinking, reasoning, and problem solving involve language. These cognitive processes build on the large store of knowledge that resides in memory and they provide us with intelligent behaviour. Human thought and behaviour depend on more than physical structure of the brain. The use of language evolved as people gathered to form larger social units. The development of language made it easier for humans to adapt to environmental demands. Humans evolved into highly social creatures who need to communicate with one another (physical characters allow them to do so) We can share thoughts, feelings, goals, intentions, desires, needs and memories with one another. Language is also a powerful learning mechanism.