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This lesson brings together the key concepts from the Language, Thought and Communication topic for AQA GCSE Psychology revision.
| Theory | Key Idea | Evidence | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piaget | Thought comes before language | Pre-linguistic infants show object permanence | Underestimates language's role in thinking |
| Sapir-Whorf (strong) | Language determines thought | Not well supported — people can think without specific words | Too extreme; generally rejected |
| Sapir-Whorf (weak) | Language influences thought | Colour perception differences; time concepts in different languages | Supported by research; widely accepted |
flowchart TD
Q["How do language<br/>and thought relate?"] --> P[Piaget]
Q --> V[Vygotsky]
Q --> SW[Sapir-Whorf]
P --> P1["Thought before language<br/>cognition drives speech"]
V --> V1["Thought and language merge<br/>private --> inner speech"]
SW --> S1["Strong: language<br/>determines thought"]
SW --> S2["Weak: language<br/>influences thought"]
S1 -.rejected.-> X["Dani colour<br/>discrimination"]
S2 -.supported.-> Y["Russian blues;<br/>Carroll & Casagrande"]
| Type of NVC | Examples | Key Research |
|---|---|---|
| Eye contact | Gaze, mutual gaze, staring | Cultural differences (Western vs East Asian) |
| Body language | Open/closed posture, postural echo | Mirrors rapport and liking |
| Facial expressions | Six universal emotions | Ekman (1970) |
| Personal space | Four zones (intimate, personal, social, public) | Hall (1966); Felipe and Sommer (1966) |
| Gestures | Thumbs up, pointing, waving | Culturally variable |
| Study | Key Finding |
|---|---|
| Von Frisch | Bees use waggle dances to communicate food location (direction and distance) |
| Yuki (2007) | Japanese focus on eyes; Americans focus on mouth when reading emotions |
| Ekman (1970) | Six basic emotions have universal facial expressions |
| Felipe and Sommer (1966) | Invading personal space causes discomfort and avoidance |
| Hall (1966) | Identified four zones of personal space |
| Feature | Human Language | Animal Communication |
|---|---|---|
| Displacement | Yes | Limited (bee dance is an exception) |
| Productivity | Yes — infinite novel sentences | No — fixed signals |
| Cultural transmission | Yes | Mostly innate |
| Duality of patterning | Yes | No |
| Intentionality | Yes | Debated |
The strong version (linguistic determinism) argues that language determines thought — if you do not have a word for something, you cannot think about it. This is considered too extreme and is not supported by evidence, as people can think about concepts without specific words.
The weak version (linguistic relativity) argues that language influences thought — the language you speak affects how you perceive and categorise the world, but does not prevent you from thinking about concepts you lack words for. This version is supported by research showing that speakers of languages with more colour terms can discriminate between similar colours more quickly.
Yuki (2007) investigated cultural differences in reading emotions from faces. Japanese and American participants viewed faces where the eye and mouth expressions could be varied independently. Japanese participants relied more on the eyes to judge emotion, while American participants relied more on the mouth. This reflects cultural display rules — in Japan, people suppress facial expressions (especially the mouth), so the eyes are a more reliable cue to true emotions. These cultural differences are also reflected in emoticon design: Western emoticons emphasise the mouth :) while Japanese emoticons emphasise the eyes (^_^).
Human language has several features that animal communication lacks. Humans can discuss the past, future, and hypothetical situations (displacement), while animal communication is mostly about the present — though the bee waggle dance is an exception. Human language is infinitely productive (we can create new sentences), whereas animals have a fixed set of signals. Human language is culturally transmitted (learned from others), while most animal communication is innate. However, some animal communication is more sophisticated than previously thought — bees communicate direction and distance, and apes can learn to use symbols meaningfully.
Final Exam Tip: This topic covers a wide range of content. When answering exam questions, always use named studies and specific findings as evidence. For NVC questions, give examples of specific non-verbal behaviours and explain their function.
Aim: to test the weak Sapir-Whorf hypothesis — does the grammar of a language shape perceptual habits? Navajo verbs for handling objects must agree with the shape of the object (long and rigid, flat and flexible, round, etc.), whereas English does not force this distinction.
Procedure: Carroll and Casagrande tested three groups of children aged 3 to 10 in Arizona: Navajo-dominant Navajo, English-dominant Navajo, and English-speaking white American children from Boston. Each child was shown three objects — for example a blue rope, a yellow rope, and a blue stick — and asked which two "go together." The researchers coded whether the child classified by shape (rope with rope) or by colour (blue with blue). Tasks used carefully matched sets so that shape and colour cues were in direct competition.
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