PSYC 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Metalinguistic Awareness, Steven Pinker, Fast Mapping

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1010
• Professor: Gerald Goldberg

Document Summary

Cognition: refers to the mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge. Language: those symbols, that can be used to generate an infinite variety of message consists of symbols that convey meaning, plus rules for combining. Has a number of critical properties: language is symbolic. Symbols allow us to refer to objects that any be another place and events in a different time. Symbols are flexible in that a variety of objects may be called by the same thing: language is semantic. Are arbitrary in that no built-in relation exists between look or sound of words and objects they stand for: language is generative. Limited number of symbols can be paired with infinite number of way to generate an endless array of novel message: language is structured. Sentences structured in a limited number of ways. Rules govern arrangement of words into phrases and sentences; some acceptable some not. Basic sounds units with meaning words phrases sentences.