PSYC 100 Study Guide - Genitive Case, Moral Development, Thematic Apperception Test

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Ingrid Johnsrude

Document Summary

Language is a method for communicating information including ideas, thoughts, and emotions. Unusual languages include: music, flower arrangements, bids in cards, the way we hold our bodies. Comprehension: information can be communicated only if both the sender and the receiver understands what"s going on. Semanticity: the extent to which a language can use symbols to transmit meaningful messages. Words vs. ideas: we don"t need a word for everything language combines a limited number of words and a few rules to convey many ideas. Generativity: the ability to combine words or symbols of a language using rules of composition and syntax to communicate an almost infinite variety of ideas using a relatively small vocabulary. Displacement: the ability to convey a message that is not tied to the current time and place. American sign language meets the criteria of a language. Pycholinguistics: a branch of cognitive psychology devoted to the study of the acquisition, comprehension, and production of a language.