PSYCO105 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2,3,7: Deep Structure And Surface Structure, Phoneme, Psycholinguistics

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCO105
• Professor: Geoff Hollis

Document Summary

Language: system of symbols, has rules for combining these symbols that can generate an infinite number of meanings and messages. Psycholinguistics: the scientific study of the psychological aspects of language (how we understand, produce, and acquire language) As time lagged, human thought and behaviour depend on more than the physical structure of the brain, although the physical structure of the brain hasn"t changed, the cognitive and linguistic skills have. Over time, humans adopted a more socially oriented lifestyle that helped them survive and reproduce. The development of language made it easier for humans to adapt to these environmental demands. Example: the word dog in english is different in all other languages, therefore these words don"t give off the same ring as to when the word dog is said. A language"s grammar is a set of rules that dictate how symbols can be combined to make meaningful units of communication called syntax (govern the order of words)