Psycholinguistics: History and Major Theories
Summary
TLDRThe 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
- đ Language is a vital part of society and culture, contributing to our uniqueness as individuals.
- đ§ Wilhelm Wundt, known as the father of experimental psychology, established the first psycholinguistic laboratory and studied language acquisition and production.
- đ Franz Joseph Gall's phrenology, though a pseudoscience, contributed to the concept of brain localization of functions.
- đŁïž Pierre Paul Broca's work identified the importance of the left frontal lobe in speech production, now known as Broca's area.
- đšââïž Carl Wernicke's research led to the discovery of the area in the brain responsible for speech comprehension, now called Wernicke's area.
- đ¶ Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development includes stages that explain how children learn language and concepts.
- đ§ Rudolf Carnap's work on logical syntax laid the groundwork for understanding the formal structure of language.
- đ§ Behaviorism focused on observable behavior, influencing the study of language through conditioning and reinforcement.
- đ Structuralism and functionalism provided early frameworks for understanding language structure and its practical application.
- đ Noam Chomsky's theories on generative grammar and the innateness of language capacity revolutionized psycholinguistics.
- đź 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
đ 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.
đ§ 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.
đ 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.
đ 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.
đ 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄPsycholinguistics
đĄWilhelm Wundt
đĄPhrenology
đĄAphasia
đĄWernicke's Area
đĄBroca's Area
đĄCognitive Development
đĄBehaviorism
đĄCognitive Revolution
đĄUniversal Grammar
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
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)