Psychology 3130A/B Chapter 5: Language & Thought
21 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Communication in non-human species is fairly limited and direct. Bee dances only one function signal location of food. Birds can only learn its own song. Highly intelligent birds like parrots can mimic language of humans but can"t use same language to carry out casual conversation. What is language: charles hockett makes 13 characteristics of human languages-list. All features of human language that suggest unique/highly evolved system designed for communication w/ others and self: vocal/auditory channel, broadcast transmission/directional reception, rapid fading, transitoriness. Whatever you say or vocalize you can also hear. This is necessary for human thinking: specialization, semanticity, arbitrariness. Doesn"t need to be correspondence b/w sound of word and idea that it expresses. For most part sounds that we use to express idea bear no relationship to concrete aspects of idea. Mental symbols that link together percepts and concepts: discreteness, displacement, productivity. Express infinite number of things and ideas.
