Lecture 3: Language & Cognition

language, development, reasoning

broad: chess, sex, cooking, computer

specific: english, dutch, french, ASL

everyone has tendency to speak (children babble), but no instinctive tendency to bake/write

every “normal” human has language

No. Broca’s, arcuate, etc.

can create/understand sentences never heard before bc of rules

1. Syntax

2. Morphology

3. Phonology

Combinatorial system: take diff parts and put together

most phrases are unique, but can still understand ideas bc of syntax

one rule of syntax feeding into self

ie if sentence= subjects+verb+object, could add another sentence for infinity

arbitrary sign (dog doesnt look or sound like a dog)

morpheme: smallest meaningful unit of language (ie cat, difficult)

can combine them (ie cats, difficulty)

different for each language

speakers of language can hear segments in language, but others cant if dont know

different rules to interpret same string of words (ie “let him have it”)

language grows in a person (born with), not JUST learning

1. F. respond to meaning

2. T. Western thing

preference for melody of own language

prefer native language heard in womb

sensitive to all phenomes (sounds)

ability to distinguish languages (lost as grow up)

babbling (verbally or with hands [ASL])

first words (basic, 1 word at time)

first words will reflect environments theyre raised in

learn words faster, 2 word sentences

capacity for language starts to fade

outside “critical period” for learning

R2D2 voice: dont understand at first, but when told what is said, can hear the sentence

relationships between different parts of experience

brains = association machines

coexist

memorization

Yes, but not as well as children

Will deduce that word never heard before = object never seen before

Shows that learning language apparatus = not unique to humans

kids have abstract relationships of things (theres a sock, no sock, want sock), but dogs dont (sock = fetch sock only)

when given sentences where had to use syntax to make sense of it, babies looked longer at video matching with sentences heard

= not just repeating, but understanding

(wug → wugs)

1. If language is learned through same machinery as other cognitive processes, then should have isolated impairments (genetic disorders that only affect language while other learning is intact)

2. reinforcement & punishment arent necessary (Amazonian mothers dont talk much, but children still learn language)

3. children dont learn behaviours, but rules to understand sentences (wug → wugs)

Nativist perspective: genetically determined structure

problem: dont create language, learn from environment

able to understand others’ perspective/ see through their eyes

cant see others’ perspective

cant put yourself in their shoes

1. Babies use statistics of language to hear the separate gaps in words (certain sounds are always followed by another = one word, but if it is only occasionally = not a word)

2. Visual and verbal association (look at where speaker is looking using social cues/theory of mind)

3. Syntax cues help to learn (ie when shown 3 pictures [object, substance, and action], when asked if there was sibbing, pointed to action, etc.)

4. some are psychologically natural

5. basic level of categorization= know that some words are categories (ie cat) of something, not a subtype (ie grey, tabby cat)

Yes, animals go through mazes, babies reason before they speak

1. adults do thinking without language (plan things before they do/communicate)

2. language is ambiguous, but thoughts are not

3. if there wasnt thought without language, we wouldnt be able to learn language in the first place

Reflects culture/thought

1. We see things as whole (dont have a word for the top half of a rabbit because we dont look at it that way)

2. time and space are connected in our brains bc we use the same words (ie “in the cupboard” (space), “in a few hours” (time))

3. sex is forbidden/shameful bc taboo words are related to sex

   1. same with religion

4. Time is akin to money (ie “i spent all my day working on this”)

saying things without actually saying them. for example:

person A: what do you think about his work?

person B: well I hear he has a great personality

increase with age

communication helps us understand more about the minds of others

language doesnt just convey thought, but shapes, ideas, etc.

• formal vs informal (vous vs tu)

• in russian, have two words for blue = able to distinguish quicker and colours may be remembered more accurately (verbal memory)

1. different areas of the brain dedicated to language (ie broca, wernicke’s)

2. specific genes implicated in language disorders

3. larynx evolved for communication to express speech (dropped in throat = increased risk of choking)

everything we know is learned/a product of our environment

nurture

substantial amount is hardwired into the brain

nature

Children are not passive recipients of the environment (little scientists)

frameworks that help to organize knowledge, help kids interact with environment

1. Assimilation: existing information/schema and extend it to a different context

2. Accommodation: change the schema, modify the skill/action

start a life with intuitive theories of the world that develop over time

kids develop/prove theories by interacting/doing experiments, etc.

ex. if an object did something impossible (ie block went through a wall), when given the object, kids play in ways that correspond to the weirdness (ie bang it on hard surfaces)

no learning (nurture) without initial machinery (nature)

ie time sense and circadian rhythyms

experiment with 3yr olds, categorized into 3:

1. undercontrolled: impulsive, restless, emotionally unstable

2. inhibited: slow to warm, fearful, easily upset by strangers

3. well-adjusted: just right, capable of self control, relatively confident and calm

when surveyed later, those who were

undercontrolled = prone to alcohol abuse, employment issues

inhibited = more depressed

well-adjusted = less likely to suffer from above

1. stayed in same state: genetically or environmentally

2. tend to fall into groups that best fit our personalities

reflected/repeated in

• birth - 2yr

• baby is purely sensory: perceives/manipulates, but doesnt reason

• before 6 months, act as if objects removed from sight don’t exist

• no sense of time

• no differentiation b/w self and others

• no object permanence

  • object permanence once children move through environment bc visual experience = only 2D

• 2yr - 7yr

• symbolic thought

• can think, differentiate self from others, rudimentary understanding of time, object permanence, but limitations:

  • egocentrism: cant/see understand world from other’s perspective (ex 3 mountains test)

  • conservation: don’t recognize certain properties of world are conserved (ex don’t have more candies by spreading them out)

  • cant distinguish appearance from reality (ex switching cat out for a dog by putting a mask on the cat)

• 7yr - 11yr

• sophisticated, but difficulty with abstract/hypothetical thinking

• 11yr onwards

• full cognitive maturity

• may not reach & may not use in every aspect of life

• claims are falsifiable

1. Theoretical: not clear how to make certain theories real (ie assimilation, accomodation)

2. Methodological: based on own interactions, but kids have problems articulating/explaining

   1. sensitive to: task demands/experimenter demands

3. Interpretation: sometimes too quickly attribute kids’ behaviour to cognitive immaturity when may have another explanation (ie children may be joking with the darth vader mask question)

giving the answer they think is right/what they think others want to hear instead of what they really think

1. law of effect (ex pacifier’s and mom’s voice)

2. habituation: get used to things so stare longer if surprised/not what expected

• young kids have object permanence (block & trapdoor experiment)

• simple math (Mickey: 1+1 = 3 confusion)

• babies imitate emotions of others

• cooperative/social: will like the puppets that help others

T

1. System 1: fast, automatic, effortless, quick, emotional, hot

2. System 2: slow, methodical, thoughtful, rule-governed, effort, cold

Cognitive reflection test: wrong answer is quick (System 1), but correct answer requires deliberation (System 2)

realistic (ie coke & 21 vs B & 3)

simple (sniffles & headache = cold or bubonic plague?)

if a sentence rhymes, more likely to believe it

1. availability bias

2. base-rate neglect

3. how information is framed

4. confirmation bias

• if something comes to mind quickly, we infer it is more likely (ie ‘k’ as first letter or as third letter)

• tendency to overestimate likelihood of events with emotional force, ones seen in the news (ie plane crashes)

• if estimating likelihood of a single event, should consider overall likelihood of such events happening (base rates)

• ie disease with false positive, should determine how many people actually have the disease

• biased to how info is presented

• decisions made depend on gains and losses (take a drug tested on 600 people that is successful 1/3 of the time)

  • Positive framing: treatment saves 200 lives

  • Negative framing: 400 people with die

• ex. who should be awarded custody gives same answer as who should be denied custody:

  • “awarded” = people look for positive behaviours

  • “denied” = people look for negative behaviours

• look for info that supports our prejudices/beliefs/opinions

  • Wason rule discovery task: given series of numbers and told to guess rule. People will generally guess what they think is right instead of trying to falsify hypothesis first

  • Problem with Freud & Skinner: try to prove hypothesis true instead of considering it might be false

1. irrationality, how we mess up

2. but, also intelligence and how we learn from mistakes

political affiliations

Beliefs and attitudes pervade thoughts and language

interact with/surround selves with those like us (groupthink)

constant defending of beleifs = strong formation (need to support with facts)

• separate from goodness and from truth seeking

• properly using knowledge and logic to achieve your goals

BUT

• social animals = want to be liked and accepted so might mean sharing others’ prejudices

“tragedy of the commons”

ex best interest of farmer to keep cattle grazing, but consequence of everyone overgrazing = depletion of resources, so might as well not graze

seen with voting: impossible for single vote to make a difference, so stay home

• objects are __c__ohesive

• objects are __s__olid

• objects move on __c__ontinuous paths

• objects move on __c__ontact

these principles appear before 1st bday = refute Piaget

• belief there is something deeper (essence) of objects different from appearance

• shows up in children while young (disprove Piaget), but not always same intuition as adults (ie pig heart transplant and kids say the human is more like a pig now)

• Babies tend to look at face shapes (not scrambled features)

• Prefer looking at faces that look at them instead of to the side

• Expect faces to move, upset if they become still

• Understand people have reasonable goals (reach for bowl and position changes, will change to reach again for bowl)

• Morality: will go towards people that help goal

• They understand others are thinking beings (try to communicate through grunting, pointing, looking, etc.)

• Able to understand other people’s opinions differ or that their opinions can change

can expect behaviour of another by knowing they have a false belief

BUT, 4&5 yr olds get it right, but younger kids dont

• success means holding 2 conflicting views of the world (double bookkeeping)

• overriding the “curse of knowledge” assumption that others have the same knowledge as you

• myelin sheath not fully developed = not as efficient transfer of information

• frontal lobes take long time to develop = no impulse control (will want to say where marble really is)