PSYCH 1F03 Chapter 4: Language
9 Feb 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Communication occurs w/ all animals, but humans are unique in their complex form of communication known as language. No other species of animal use language. To communicate using language, a user must understand that various language stimuli represent different meanings and concepts. In oral language, sounds are the relevant stimuli. Different languages have different stimuli for the same meaning. The words represent the concept as a whole. The ability to refer to objects in their absence opens the possibility to communicate about complex ideas and hypothetical concepts. Difficult for pre-linguistic toddlers and using a foreign language w/ limited vocabulary. Allows us to communicate memories of past events and hopes for the future. Allows us to discuss objects that only exist in theory. Words we use for concepts are arbitrarily assigned. Arbitrary associations allow various languages to use different sounds to label the same item.
