Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Noam Chomsky, Deep Structure And Surface Structure, Phoneme

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Dr.Mike

Document Summary

A system of symbols and rules for combing the symbols in ways that can generate an infinite number of possible messages and meanings. The scientific study of psychological aspects of language. Over the course of evolution, humans adopted a more socially oriented lifestyle that helped them survive and reproduce. Some evolutionary theorists believe that the use of language evolved as people gathered to form larger social units. Conscious thinking usually takes the form of self-talk (inner speech) The symbols used in any given language are arbitrary. The set of rules that dictate how symbols can be combined to create meaningful units of communication. The rules that govern the order of words. The symbols of language can be combined to generate an infinite number of messages that have novel meaning. Ability to use finite number of words and rules to produce infinite number of sentences. Language allows the communication of events and objects that are not physically present.