Psychology of Language 1
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE CHATPER 1
WHAT IS LANGUAGE? Define LANGUAGE in your own words.
Once you define LANGUAGE in your own words define the terms
below:
What is communication?
What is speech? Now answer these questions:
Do nonhuman animals communicate – explain your answer?
Do nonhuman animals have language – explain your answer?
Do you know of any evidence that indicates that nonhuman animals have language?
Psychology of Language 2
LANGUAGE ORIGINS, HUMAN ORIGINS Modern Humans (homo sapiens) first appeared about 150,000 years ago.
Virtually all of what we would call technological advancements have occurred during
the last 40,000 years. These basic facts present an interesting puzzle. Why do we see such a sudden
change in our species?
Richard Leakey (1994), a foremost authority on fossil records of human evolution stated:
____________ made___________ possible, and it may also have revolutionized _____________________. It allows us to entertain ______________________.
Evidence suggesting late evolution comes from comparative analyses of __________________________. According to Lieberman (1991),
______________________________________________________________
Psychology of Language 3
NINE PROPERTIES/PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE Language is Communicative
Communication
Arbitrary
"tree" in English "baum" in German "arbor" in Spanish
Exception = Onomatopoeia
What does this arbitrariness afford us?
Abstraction Language allows displacement of time and space.
Structured
Language is Leveled (Multilayered):
Productive/Generative:
Productive:
Creative/Generative:
Language is Evolutionary:
Psychology of Language 4
NINE PROPERTIES/PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE Language is not really learned or taught.
Humans are active information processors:
Language is Ambiguous
PSYCHOLINGUISTICS PSYCHOLINGUISTICS: The area of psychology devoted to the
study of language. SCOPE OF PSYCHOLINGUISTICS
Language Comprehension Language Production Language Acquisition Pragmatics & Discourse
RESEARCH METHODS USED BY PSYCHOLINGUISTS EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Hypothesis
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Random Assignment
Internal Validity
Psychology of Language 5
NATURAL EXPERIMENT OR QUASI EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Advantages
Disadvantages
history Maturation testing Instrumentation statistical regression toward the mean Selection Mortality
Naturalistic Observation
A study in which observations of naturally occurring behavior are made in real-life settings and are formally recorded.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Single Case Design or Case Studies
Psychobiological Measures: PET, CAT, fMRI, Surgery
Strategies for Assessing Language Development
Longitudinal
Cross-sectional
Sequential study
Psychology of Language 6
THEORETICAL ISSUES NATURE VS. NURTURE
How Is The Complex Task Of Language Learning Accomplished?
Environmentalist Theories
Skinner
Verbal Behavior, 1957
Nativist Theories:
Chomsky (Syntactic Structures, 1957) proposed a Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
Language Universals.
Critical or sensitive period during which the LAD can optimally function.
• Specialization in human brain for language: Broca & Wernicke's
areas.
Psychology of Language 7
HISTORY OF PSYCHOLINGUISTICS Wilhelm Wundt & Structuralism:
Functionalism:
HISTORY OF PSYCHOLINGUISTICS Behaviorism
Linguistics: The Skinner-Chomsky Debate
Cognitive Psychology: study of the internal processes that result in
knowledge and how this knowledge is structured. Cognitive Science: integrates research linguistics, psychobiology, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience perspectives in order to understand more clearly how humans think and communicate.
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