Psycholinguistics: History and Major Theories

Summary

The script delves into the history and theories of psycholinguistics, highlighting key figures like Wilhelm Wundt, Franz Joseph Gall, Paul Broca, and Carl Wernicke. It explores their contributions to understanding language acquisition, brain localization, and speech production. The narrative also covers the evolution of psychological thought from behaviorism to cognitive science, featuring influential work by Noam Chomsky, George Lakoff, and Steven Pinker. The script encapsulates the development of psycholinguistics and its impact on our comprehension of language and cognition.

Takeaways

• 😀 Language is a vital part of society and culture, contributing to our uniqueness as individuals.
• 🧠 Wilhelm Wundt, known as the father of experimental psychology, established the first psycholinguistic laboratory and studied language acquisition and production.
• 🔍 Franz Joseph Gall's phrenology, though a pseudoscience, contributed to the concept of brain localization of functions.
• 🗣️ Pierre Paul Broca's work identified the importance of the left frontal lobe in speech production, now known as Broca's area.
• 👨‍⚕️ Carl Wernicke's research led to the discovery of the area in the brain responsible for speech comprehension, now called Wernicke's area.
• 👶 Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development includes stages that explain how children learn language and concepts.
• 🧐 Rudolf Carnap's work on logical syntax laid the groundwork for understanding the formal structure of language.
• 🔧 Behaviorism focused on observable behavior, influencing the study of language through conditioning and reinforcement.
• 🔄 Structuralism and functionalism provided early frameworks for understanding language structure and its practical application.
• 🌟 Noam Chomsky's theories on generative grammar and the innateness of language capacity revolutionized psycholinguistics.
• 🔮 The cognitive revolution shifted the focus from behaviorism to mental processes, significantly impacting the study of language and thought.

Q & A

Who is considered the father of experimental psychology and founded the first experimental psycholinguistic laboratory?

Wilhelm Wundt is known as the father of experimental psychology and the founder of the first experimental psycholinguistic laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879.

What was Franz Joseph Gall's contribution to the field of psychology?

Franz Joseph Gall made a notable contribution by pushing the hypothesis of brain localization into the mainstream. He was a neuroanatomist and physiologist who came up with the idea known as phrenology, which was later dismissed but had a lasting impact on the concept of localization of function in the brain.

What condition did Paul Broca discover after examining a patient who could only say the word 'tan'?

Paul Broca discovered Broca's aphasia after examining a patient known as 'Tan' who could only say one word. This condition is characterized by the ability to understand language but difficulty in speech production, and it is associated with lesions in the left frontal lobe of the brain, now known as Broca's area.

What was the significance of the patient that Carl Wernicke examined who could speak but not understand language?

The patient Carl Wernicke examined, who could speak but not understand language, led to the discovery of Wernicke's area in the brain. This region, located in the rear temporal region of the left hemisphere, plays a vital role in speech comprehension and is now known as Wernicke's area.

How did Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development influence the understanding of language in children?

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, with its four stages, influenced the understanding of language in children by suggesting that language assists in the development of concepts for a developing child, with each stage reflecting different levels of cognitive and linguistic abilities.

What was the main focus of the functionalist school of thought in relation to language?

The functionalist school of thought focused on studying what people do with language and thoughts rather than the structure of the mind. It was pragmatic, emphasizing the usefulness of knowledge and its application to practical problems, such as learning how to read.

What was the key argument that Noam Chomsky presented against B.F. Skinner's behaviorist view of language?

Noam Chomsky argued against B.F. Skinner's behaviorist view by asserting that the potential for language is an inborn or innate mental capacity. He claimed that children's language acquisition patterns were too systematic to be the result of operant conditioning, proposing the existence of a universal grammar.

How did George Lakoff's theory of the embodied mind challenge traditional views on human cognition?

George Lakoff's theory of the embodied mind challenged traditional views by suggesting that human thinking, even at complex levels, relies heavily on lower-level sensory and motor systems. He rejected the idea that cognition could be explained without considering these lower-level details.

What is the 'cognitive revolution' and how did it impact the field of psycholinguistics?

The cognitive revolution was a transition in psychology from behaviorism to a cognitive perspective, emphasizing mental processes and internal mental states. It led to the birth of psycholinguistics and focused on how people perceive, organize, remember, and use information, particularly in the context of language production and comprehension.

How did Steven Pinker's views on language differ from those of Noam Chomsky, and what evidence did he cite to support his theories?

Steven Pinker agreed with Noam Chomsky on the innateness of language but differed in his emphasis on language as an instinctual development through evolution to solve communication barriers. Pinker cited evidence such as deaf babies using sign language with real grammar and the fact that language develops without formal instruction as support for his theories.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Historical Foundations of Psycholinguistics

This paragraph delves into the significance of language in society and culture, emphasizing the importance of understanding psycholinguistics. It highlights the contributions of key figures like Wilhelm Wundt, known as the father of experimental psychology, who established the first psycholinguistic laboratory. Wundt's work on the mind-body connection and the use of language to study the mind is discussed. Franz Joseph Gall's phrenology, although a pseudoscience, influenced the understanding of brain localization of functions. The paragraph also covers the self-reported case of aphasia by Lordat Jacques Lord, which contributed to the understanding of speech disorders. Lastly, it mentions Carl Wernicke's discovery of the brain region now known as Wernicke's area, crucial for speech comprehension.

05:01

🧠 Pioneering Discoveries in Brain and Language

The second paragraph focuses on the work of Paul Broca, a French physician known for identifying Broca's area in the brain, associated with speech production. It discusses how Broca's area was discovered through the case of 'Tan', a patient with severe speech impairment. The paragraph also touches on the debate surrounding the importance of Broca's area in light of cases where speech remains unaffected despite its removal. Furthermore, it outlines Jean Piaget's influential theory of cognitive development in children, detailing the four stages from sensory-motor to formal operational stages. Lastly, it mentions Rudolf Carnap's work on logical syntax and his exploration of language forms and rules.

10:02

🔍 The Evolution of Psychological Schools of Thought

This section explores the development of various psychological schools of thought and their impact on the study of language. It begins with behaviorism, which focused on observable behavior and rejected introspection, leading to a shift in how language was viewed. It contrasts this with structuralism, which analyzed the basic elements of consciousness and language, and functionalism, which studied the practical use of language and thought. The paragraph also discusses the cognitive revolution, which marked a transition from behaviorism to a focus on mental processes, leading to the emergence of cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics. Notable contributors to this revolution, such as Noam Chomsky and George Miller, are highlighted for their significant contributions to the field.

15:03

🌟 Modern Contributions to Psycholinguistics

The fourth paragraph emphasizes the modern contributions to psycholinguistics, particularly focusing on Noam Chomsky's challenge to behaviorist theories of language and his proposal of an innate language capacity. It also discusses George Lakoff's work on the centrality of metaphor in language and his theory of the embodied mind. Steven Pinker's views on language as an instinctual ability that evolved to solve communication barriers are also covered. The paragraph underscores the importance of cognitive science in understanding human thought and communication, and how it has set the agenda for 21st-century research in language and cognition.

20:04

🚀 The Cognitive Revolution and Future Horizons

The final paragraph summarizes the cognitive revolution's impact on psychology and psycholinguistics, highlighting the transition from behaviorism to a cognitive perspective. It mentions the work of Michael Gazzaniga, Roger Sperry, Claude Elwood Shannon, and others in advancing the understanding of language and cognition. The paragraph concludes by acknowledging the contributions of various thinkers and the ongoing progress in the field, suggesting that future breakthroughs will continue to shape our understanding of language and psychological processes.

Keywords

💡Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguistics is the study of the psychological and neurological aspects of language. It explores how language is processed, produced, and understood in the human mind. In the video, psycholinguistics is central as it delves into the history and theories that have shaped our understanding of language and cognition. The works of pioneers like Wilhelm Wundt, Franz Joseph Gall, and others are discussed, highlighting their contributions to the field.

💡Wilhelm Wundt

Wilhelm Wundt is recognized as the father of experimental psychology and the founder of the first experimental psycholinguistic laboratory. He is noted for his theory of speech production and his use of language to study the mind. In the video, Wundt's work is highlighted as foundational to the development of psycholinguistics, emphasizing his focus on the link between language and cognitive processes.

💡Phrenology

Phrenology, though now considered a pseudoscience, was a concept introduced by Franz Joseph Gall that suggested personality traits could be inferred from the shape of the skull. The video discusses how Gall's ideas, despite being discredited, contributed to the broader understanding of brain localization of function, which is a key aspect of modern neuroscience.

💡Aphasia

Aphasia is a neurological condition that impairs a person's ability to communicate. It is often caused by damage to the brain. The video references Lord's self-reported case of verbal amnesia, which is a form of aphasia. This example illustrates how historical cases of aphasia have contributed to the understanding of language processing and brain function.

💡Wernicke's Area

Wernicke's area is a region in the brain associated with language comprehension. Named after Carl Wernicke, who identified its role in speech comprehension, it is a critical component in the study of psycholinguistics. The video discusses Wernicke's discovery through his examination of patients with language comprehension difficulties, emphasizing the importance of this area for understanding language.

💡Broca's Area

Broca's area, named after Paul Broca, is a part of the brain involved in speech production. The video describes how Broca's identification of this area through his work with patients who had difficulty speaking revolutionized the understanding of the neural basis of language. It is a prime example of how the study of brain injuries can inform psycholinguistics.

💡Cognitive Development

Cognitive development refers to the growth of cognitive abilities over time. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, which includes stages like the sensory-motor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages, is mentioned in the video. Piaget's work is integral to understanding how language and thought processes develop in children, a key aspect of psycholinguistic research.

💡Behaviorism

Behaviorism is a psychological approach that focuses on observable behavior and rejects unobservable mental states. The video discusses how behaviorists like BF Skinner and John Watson sought to establish psychology as an empirical science based on observable behavior. Behaviorism's focus on measurable outcomes contrasts with other schools of thought like structuralism and functionalism, which considered internal mental processes.

💡Cognitive Revolution

The cognitive revolution marked a shift in psychology from behaviorism to a focus on internal mental processes, including language and thought. The video highlights how this shift, influenced by scholars like Noam Chomsky and George Miller, redirected the field towards understanding the cognitive aspects of language, leading to significant advancements in psycholinguistics.

💡Universal Grammar

Universal Grammar is the concept that all human languages share a common underlying structure, proposed by Noam Chomsky. The video discusses Chomsky's challenge to behaviorist views on language learning, arguing instead for an innate capacity for language acquisition. Universal Grammar is a cornerstone of Chomsky's theories and has profound implications for how we understand language processing and learning.

Highlights

Language is integral to society and culture, making us unique individuals.

Psycholinguistics explores the history and theories of the mind's interaction with language.

Wilhelm Wundt, known as the father of experimental psychology, founded the first psycholinguistic laboratory in 1879.

Wundt's work focused on language acquisition, comprehension, production, and sign language.

Franz Joseph Gall's phrenology, though a pseudoscience, contributed to the localization theory in the brain.

Pierre Paul Broca's discovery of Broca's area revolutionized the understanding of speech production.

Carl Wernicke's identification of Wernicke's area advanced knowledge of speech comprehension.

Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development have been influential in understanding child development.

Rudolf Carnap's work on logical syntax laid the foundation for formal language theory.

Behaviorism focused on observable behavior, influencing the study of language through classical conditioning.

Structuralism analyzed the basic elements of consciousness and the underlying system of language.

Functionalism studied the practical use of language and thoughts, diverging from structuralism's focus on mental structure.

Cognitive science integrates research from multiple disciplines to understand human thought and communication.

Noam Chomsky's theory of generative grammar and universal grammar challenged behaviorist views on language.

George Lakoff's work on metaphor and the embodied mind has been central to understanding conceptual thought.

Steven Pinker's theories suggest that language is an instinctual development for communication.

The cognitive revolution marked a shift from behaviorism to studying mental processes and language.

Psycholinguistics continues to evolve with new breakthroughs and interdisciplinary research.

Transcripts

language is an integral part of our

society and the way we live our lives it

is an irreplaceable aspect of every

culture and it helps make us unique as

individuals for these reasons it is

important to learn and understand the

long and detailed history and theories

of psycholinguistics the works of want

Gaul Lord at broken and Wernicke as well

as the groundbreaking discoveries that

they and many others made in the field

of psycho linguistics have helped pave

the way for extremely advanced knowledge

on the subject key contributors want

Wilhelm wundt is known as the father of

experimental psychology and the founder

of the first experimental

psycholinguistic laboratory in Leipzig

Germany in 1879 one claimed that there

is a special field of study dealing with

the link between the mind and the body

some scientific methods that had been

promising in German physiology could now

be applied to some issue that had been

beyond the scope of experimental science

one limited scientific psychology to

only those inner phenomena which can be

studied using the methods of objective

and experimental science one used

language as a means of studying the mind

he wrote at length about language

acquisition comprehension production

sign language and reading all of which

remained topics of interest today one

developed a theory of speech production

using the sentence as the unit of

analysis

he thought of production as a sequential

process that begins with a complete or

whole thought that becomes sequentially

organized and articulated the

comprehension process was the same as

production but in Reverse

proceeding from sound segments to the

complete thought Gaul Franz Joseph gall

made a notable contribution in

psychology in that he helped push the

hypothesis that there was localization

in the brain into the mainstream Gaul

was a neuroanatomist and physiologist

and he came up with an idea known as

chrono Skippy for what is now commonly

referred to as phrenology phrenology a

pseudoscience was the idea of assigning

personality types based on physical

characteristics for example a condition

such as hyper terrorism the abnormal

separation of organs such as the eyes

being abnormally far apart could be

attributed to homosexuality for gul 26

or 27 distinct areas her organs were

represented on the surface of the brain

his followers increased this number but

the basic idea remained the same

over under development of any of these

areas would obviously alter the shape of

the skull making it possible for a

scaled bump reader to determine the

strengths and weaknesses of any

particular individual's mind

Chuck's 126 this idea wasn't

particularly helpful and gave people in

higher classes the idea that people were

inferior to them based on disabilities

or other physical maladies nowadays even

though the idea of phrenology has been

dismissed by the academic mainstream

their basic claim of localization of

function in the brain has been

vindicated clark and O'Malley 1968 Lord

at Jacques Lord it was a doctor and

professor of anatomy and physiology at

universites Montpelier in France after a

stroke at the age of 52 he reported that

he could not get his words out he called

his problem verbal amnesia Earl laelia

this was also one of the first self

reports of what we know now as aphasia

since he was a doctor which most likely

allowed him to report in detail what he

was going through during this period

Lord had elaborated on a theory of ten

acts that lead from thought to sound

emission Lord it defined a laelia as a

disorder of the material transformation

of ideas into sounds corresponding to

impaired remembering of previous sounds

stored into memory together with a

dysfunction of the syntactic

organization of sounds Lord had also

insisted on the integrity of his

intelligence and the preservation of his

inner thinking and did not need to speak

he eventually recovered from his aphasia

and died 45 years after his stroke at

age 97 neurological disorders in famous

artists part three were Niki Carl

Wernicke was an influential neuropathy

at wrist and dealt with all mental

illnesses that resulted from defects in

brain physiology he made major

discoveries in brain anatomy and

pathology but one of his major findings

was that abnormalities could be

localized to specific regions of the

cerebral cortex and thus could be used

to determine the functions of those

regions wernicki was one of the first to

conceive of brain function as dependent

on neural pathways that connected

different regions of the brain with each

region contributing a relatively simple

sensory motor activity at the time most

scientists conceived of the brain as

functioning as a single organ wernicki

also help demonstrate dominance by

either the right to

left hemispheres of the cerebral what

wernicki is most famous for is

establishing what is now known as

Wernicke's area in the brain he was

examining a patient who had recently

suffered a stroke and although the man

could speak and his hearing was working

perfectly fine he could not understand

anything of what was being said to him

or written words unfortunately the

patient later died however once he died

he examined his brain and found that

there was a lesion in the rear parental

temporal region of the his left

hemisphere wernicki concluded that this

region played a vital role in speech

comprehension and that region of the

brain is now called Wernicke's area

wernicki called the syndrome that the

patient had sensory aphasia however it

is now known as Wernicke's aphasia

encyclopedia of psychology Broca Paul

Broca was a French physician anatomist

an anthropologist who worked on a whole

host of topics in the medical community

such as the histology of cartilage and

bone cancer pathology the treatment of

aneurysms and infant mortality

however Broca is most famous for his

work of speech research and the role

that the brain plays in speech Broca is

most well known for the establishment of

the Broca's area in the brain Broco was

referred to patient by another doctor

that patient could only say one word tan

and henceforth was known as Tan Tan was

suffering from gangrene and was close to

death Broca invited another doctor to

examine the patient and that doctor

earnest Albertan concluded that this

patient along with other patients with

similar issues should have a lesion or

softening of the anterior lobes chucks

tan died shortly after on April 17th and

the following day broke a presented tans

brain of a meeting amongst other experts

Broca and a few other doctors found that

albertans prediction of lesions of the

left frontal lobes were correct and that

part of the brain became known as

Broca's area nowadays a person with tan

symptoms is deemed to have Broca's

aphasia chucks

essentially patients suffering from

Broca's aphasia know what they want to

say but can't get it out however there

has been recent research that has

questioned the importance of Broca's

area since there are cases that have

brought to light the fact that some

people's speech is completely unaffected

after the removal of Broca's area more

importantly broke

has left behind an immense legacy and a

footprint that will last forever in the

psychological field the discovery of

Broca's area revolutionized the

understanding of speech production and

more recently lesions in that area are

thought to cause stuttering in speech

apraxia Piaget Jean Piaget was a French

developmental psychologist who played an

extremely influential role in how we

understand development and children PA

Jude is most famous for introducing his

four stages of cognitive development the

first of the four stages is the sensory

motor stage which occurs from ages zero

two according to Piaget in this stage

infants construct an understanding of

the world by coordinating sensory

experiences such as seeing and hearing

with physical matura CAC shion's infants

gain knowledge of the world from the

physical actions they perform on it an

infant progresses from reflexive

instinctual action at birth to the

beginning of symbolic thought toward the

end of the stage Sant Rock 2010 the

second stage is known as the

pre-operational stage which occurs from

ages to seven in this stage the child

learns how to use and represent ideas by

words drawings and images they are able

to do more advanced things than an

infant however thinking is still

egocentric the third stage is known as

the concrete operational stage which

takes place from ages seven eleven and

is known for the child's increased use

of logic within this stage children

learn the concepts of Sirian

reversibility and eliminates the

egocentric thinking that had previously

been dominant the fourth and final stage

is known as the formal operational stage

which starts at around age eleven

puberty and ends at the beginning of

adulthood the hallmark of this stage is

that the child learns how to think

abstractly and use hypothetical and

deductive reasoning they begin to think

of the way adults would think sanrak

2010 this theory brought a whole new

light to developmental thought and made

a big impact in the field additionally

according to Piaget language assists in

the development of concepts for a

developing child carnap Rudolf Carnap

was an influential German philosopher

member of the vienna circle an advocate

of logical positivism he was famous for

studying language especially the study

of logical syntax Carnap defines logical

syntax as the formal theory of the link

form of that language the systematic

statement of the formal rules which

govern it together with the development

of the consequences which follow from

these rules carnap 1928 additionally

carnap explained that the sentences

definitions and rules of that language

are concerned with the forms of that

language Carnap wondered how those

sentences definitions and rules are to

be expressed he wondered if we needed

some kind of super language in order to

do that one of this baseline questions

was is it possible to formulate the

syntax of a language within that

language itself Carnap was essentially

concerned with two languages the

language that was the object of his

study her investigation which he called

the object language and the language in

which we speak about the syntactical

forms of the object language he called

that syntax language Carnap used

symbolic languages as his object

languages and he used the English

language as his syntax language with the

help of a few gothic symbols carnap 1928

carnap was also interested in the

technique of arithmetician of syntax

this demonstrated that it was possible

to reason about languages without having

to adopt a meta language distinct from

the object language schools have thought

behaviorist in the early 1900's after

the inception of structuralism and

functionalism another school of thought

was introduced called behaviorism

behaviorists tried to establish

psychology as an empirical science with

all the requisite tools of the

scientific method but devoid of mental

constructs like mind thought and imagery

famous behaviorist such as John Watson

and BF Skinner wanted a psychology based

on observable behavior and not mental

constructs this is where behaviorism

diverges from schools of thought such as

structuralism structuralism somewhat

failed because of its reliance on

introspection because we could not trust

our objective skills of introspection

behaviorism reacted against this

interest in consciousness and

behaviorist said we cannot accurately

measure what is subjective and is inside

your head they claimed that psychology

cannot be measured as a science

according to behaviorists if psychology

wants to be a science it has to study

fields that are measurable they argued

that they should look at behavior

instead which is what they did

behaviorism became firmly established in

America due to the

work of Watson and in Russia due to the

work of Ivan Pavlov famous for his work

in classical conditioning of dogs as

part of that work Pavlov demonstrated

how an originally neutral stimulus in

this case a bell when frequently paired

with a reflex in this case salivating to

meet powder would elicit the reflective

response in the 1950s classical

conditioning was used to account for how

words acquired emotional meaning

behaviorism help change the way experts

viewed language however that would

change at the beginning of the cognitive

revolution BF Skinner

one of the first behaviorists

structuralist structuralism emerged as

the first school of thought it focused

on breaking down mental processes into

the most basic parts a method known as

introspection was used by structuralist

s-- to understand the basic elements of

consciousness structuralism also played

a big role in linguistics one of the

preeminent structuralist ferdinand de

saucé sure argued in his book course in

general linguistics which was compost by

colleagues after he died

based on notes he compost he analyzes

not the use of language but the

underlying system of language saucier

claimed that linguistic signs were made

up of two parts the first is the

signifier which is the action when

somebody says or thinks of a word the

second is the signified which is the

meaning or the concept of a word one of

the most important examples of

structuralism and language comes from

the prague school of structuralism which

sought to explain why and how certain

sounds of a language are connected

rather than simply coming up with a list

of sounds through the practice of

phonemic s' for example Japanese

speakers have trouble differentiating

the per litre sound from the R sound

because there is no contrast of those

two sounds in the Japanese language the

aforementioned Wilhelm wundt who is

known as the father of psychology was

one of the first people to propose the

ideas of structuralism

however structuralism only found its

name under one of once students Edward

Titchener who coined the term

structuralism and also described some of

its main tenets Titchener was influenced

by some of once ideas about volunteerism

as well as his theories about

Association and a perception helped form

the titchener's theories about

structuralism functionalist shortly

after the school of thought in a

structuralism context was founded

another school of thought

came along started by one of the

preeminent American psychologists dr.

William James the functionalist school

of thought was based around studying

what people do with language and

thoughts rather than the structure of

the mind functionalist such as James

were pragmatic thinkers and they

believed that the value of knowledge

depended on its usefulness in that way

functionalists were more able to gloss

over some ideas that were not entirely

useful for their purposes whereas

structuralist preferred to consider

everything functionalism was also

important because it could be applied to

practical problems like those children

face when learning how to read another

prominent functionalist figure

Edmund Burke Huey came up with what

might now be considered a modern theory

of reading from a functionalist

perspective

Huey refined the use of an important

laboratory device known as the Texas

toast Oh which was designed to present

text materials very rapidly to a human

subject in order to record reaction time

our tea the processes underlying reading

can be explained by assuming that longer

our teas reflect the difficulty or

complexity of the reading material

however one flaw with functionalism was

that for some people it was not enough

of a rigorous science and some changes

would be made to include more scientific

aspects dr. William James one of the

first structuralist cognitive in the

past 20-30 years a new point of view has

emerged the cognitive science school of

thought is a multidisciplinary effort

that integrates research from

linguistics psycho biology artificial

intelligence cognitive psychology and

cognitive neuroscience perspectives to

better understand how humans think and

communicate cognitive neuroscience is a

field of research that links the brain

and nervous system to cognitive

processing psycho linguists are

currently incorporating research on

language from and contributing research

to cognitive psychology cognitive

science and cognitive neuroscience the

cognitive and neurons frameworks for

language have set the agenda for

research in the 21st century ultimately

cognitive science became the study of

how people perceive organize remember

and use information cognitive psychology

and cycle linguistics converge to study

how people produce and comprehend

language modern contributors Noam

Chomsky Noam Chomsky is one of the

preeminent linguists as well as scholars

in the academic field today

among the many things that Chomsky is

known for he is arguably best known for

his critical review of BF Skinner's book

verbal behavior 1957 Skinner argued for

the behaviorist position and his book

was predicated by the principles of

operant conditioning developed two

decades earlier during the behaviorist

domination of American experimental

psychology Skinner viewed that speech

was a product of operant learning

processes such as reinforcement

extinction and generalization Chomsky

however famously and successfully

challenged Skinner's assumptions and

claims Chomsky's rationalist argument

was that the potential for language was

an inborn or innate mental capacity

he argued that children's patterns of

language acquisition were too systemic

to be the product of parents operant

conditioning

Chomsky's perspective changed how

scholars defined language the potential

for language was universal and innate

not the product of operant conditioning

infants were predisposed to acquire

language with a built-in language

acquisition device Ladd comparing these

two accounts is referred to as the

Skinner Chomsky debate Chomsky is also

well known for his contributions to

other parts of language such as his

books and tactic structures 1957 which

challenged structural linguistics his

approach took sequences of words and he

characterized them with a context-free

formal grammar Chomsky is also known for

his theory of generative grammar where

he claimed that much of our knowledge of

grammar was innate and this innate

knowledge of grammar came to be known as

universal grammar George Lakoff George

Lakoff is a famous American linguist who

has been a professor at University of

California Berkeley since 1972 he is

particularly famous for his work on the

centrality of metaphor in the English

language as well as his writings on the

embodied mind which he has applied to

the field of mathematics in his book

metaphors we live by 1980 Lakoff claimed

that metaphors are conceptually

constructed and are central to the

development of thought according to

Lakoff the only time non-metaphorical

thought is possible is when one is

talking about are considering only

physical reality another of Lakoff

famous theories is that of the embodied

mind when Lakoff says embodied mind he

means that even as we are conducting our

most complex thinking and reasoning we

are still

heavily relying on our lower-level

systems he rejects that human thinking

can be explained without first beginning

at the lower level details

more recently Lakoff has put more of his

time into the political scene he founded

and ran a now defunct progressive think

tank called Rock Ridge Institute in a

2003 article he explained why he

believed the conservative Republicans

were able to hold such a majority in the

three chambers of government Senate

House of Representatives in the White

House he believes that conservatives

have spent decades carefully framing

their ideas to sound appealing to voters

and building an infrastructure to

communicate them he claims that the way

politicians frame words and phrases can

go a long way to getting people on their

side and to vote for them HTTP colon

slash slash berkeley.edu / news / media

/ releases / 2 0 0 3 / 1 0 / 2 7

underscore Lakoff das HTML Lakoff was a

colleague of Noam Chomsky's and helped

him develop his theories of grammar

however there was a falling-out between

Chomsky and some his students including

Lakoff when they disagreed over whether

syntax is independent of meaning and

logic these disputes came to be known as

linguistics Wars Steven Pinker Steven

Pinker is a canadian-american cognitive

scientist experimental psychologist and

linguist who is a professor at Harvard

University's Department of Psychology

Pinker is known for writing a number of

best-selling books such as the language

instinct 1994 and the blank slate 2002

in the language instinct 1994 Pinker

argues that humans have an innate

ability of language and somewhat agrees

with Chomsky that there is a type of

universal grammar also in the book

Pinker seeks to debunk certain claims

about language such as that our

societies grammar is going down in

quality children must be taught language

in order to use it and that language has

an influence of people's thoughts he

thought all those ideas were false

instead Pinker views language is

something that has developed through

evolution in order to solve the

communication barriers that early humans

had difficulties with he also suggests

that language is instinctual and that it

is not a man-made invention and cites

evidence such as deaf babies using sign

language based on real grammar

as well as the fact that language

develops without formal instruction or

by parents trying to correct the child's

grammar he cites this as evidence for

the innate 'no sub language the language

instinct 1994 the cognitive revolution

the work by Noam Chomsky and other

influential experts such as George

Miller at Harvard led to a revolution in

psychology in which a transition began

to occur from behaviorism to the

cognitive perspective this transition

came to be known as the cognitive

revolution the cognitive revolution was

crucial to the birth of psycho

linguistics and it turned attention away

from behaviorism toward language and

mental processes cognitive psychology

became the study of how people perceive

organize remember and use information

cognitive psychology and

psycholinguistics converge to study how

people produce and comprehend language

there were a number of contributors the

cognitive revolution in addition to

Chomsky and Miller in 1961 Michael

Gazzaniga and Roger Sperry did very

important work and studying and

initiating human split brain research

Claude Elwood Shannon and Norbert Weaver

developed their information theory which

involved quantifying information Eric

Lindberg also made a contribution in his

book biological foundations of language

1967 he advanced the theory that there

is a critical period of language david

rumelhart and james mcclelland came out

with a book called parallel distributed

processing 1986 in which they made

models of cognition testable by using

computer-based connectionist models

conclusion over all many important

people contributed to the history of

psycholinguistics many important

theories were put forth and much

progress was made regarding the

understanding we have about language and

how we think about it the different

schools of thought provided a framework

for how thinkers shaped their thoughts

and ideas while the thinkers did not

always agree with each other

there was always stimulating discussions

and we furthered our knowledge of the

subject as a result of these debates

brilliant men such as want Piaget

Chomsky and many others have changed the

way we think about language in a

psychological context the cognitive

revolution was a time of the

breakthrough of many fresh ideas that

enlightened us even more in the future

there will surely be many more

breakthroughs that we have not even

pondered yet under yet