COGNITION

Syllabus:
Cognition: Definition,Thinking; Components of thought- images, concepts,
propositions.
Reasoning- Deductive and Inductive
Basic sources of error in reasoning- mood states, beliefs, conformation bias,
hindsight.
Problem solving- steps, Barriers to effective problem solving. Strategies of
problem solving-algorithm, heuristics, means to end analysis and backward search.
Creativity: Convergent and divergent thinking. Stages of creativity.
Language: Structure of language, theories of language acquisition- Behaviourist
theory, nativist theory, interactionist theory. Language , culture and thought.
Cognitive style and problem solving.

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Cognition is the mental activity associated with thought, decision making, language and
other higher mental processes. Cognitive abilities are impressive in many respects. On the
other hand we are prone to errors that frequently arise and prevent us from recognizing even
relatively simple solutions. Even intelligent, highly trained people are not immune to errors that
affect their ability to think and reason effectively. Knowledge, therefore has been rightly
considered as liberating and a major step towards reducing sufferings in life.
Thinking:
Thinking is a cognitive activity that involves the manipulation of mental representations of
various features of the external world. When people think they are not only aware of the
information’s in the brain but also are making decisions about it, comparing it to other
informations and using it to solve problems. When people think they have images as well as
words in their minds. There are three basic elements for thought:
• Concept
• Preposition
• Images
Concept:
They are mental categories for objects, experience, events, ideas etc that are similar to one
another in one or more respects. They helps to represent a great deal of information in an
efficient manner. They simplify our complex world of experience. People use concepts to think
about objects and events without having to think about all the specific examples of the category.
This ability to think in terms of concepts allow us to communicate with each other.
Concepts not only contain important features of the object or events people want to think about,
but they also allow the identification of new objects and events that may fit the concept. For
example dog comes in all varieties but people have no trouble recognizing dogs as dogs.
The formation of concept is the process of classifying information into meaningful categories. It
is based on experience with negative and positive instances.
For example, imagine that in a conversation, a friend uses the term ‘zip drive’. You have never
heard it before, so you ask what she means. She replies, “ it’s a speedy, high-capacity portable
hard drive useful for backing up files on your computer and transferring large number of
computer files from one computer to another. You already had a concept for ‘hard drive’ and
you immediately place this new term in that category. Now you can think about it quite
efficiently; you know that it stores large numbers of computer files, that it is portable, and that it
can help accomplish certain tasks, such as helping you to avoid losing information in the event of
a computer crash.
Forming Concepts: How are concepts formed?
Concept formation is the process of classifying information into meaningful categories. At its
most basic, concept formation is based on experience with positive and negative instances.
Example, imagine a child learning the concept of dog. The child and her father go for a walk. At
a neighbor’s house, they see a medium sized dog. The father says, “see the dog!”. As they pass
the next yard, the child sees a cat and says, “Dog”! Her father corrects her by saying, “no, that’s
a cat!”. The child now thinks that the Dogs are large and cats are small”. In the next yard, she
sees a Pekingese and says “cat!”. “No that’s a dog” replies her father. The child’s confusion is
understandable. With more and more positive and negative instances, the child will eventually
recognize everything from Great Dones to Chihuahuas as members of same category-dogs.
Nature of concepts:
Concepts can represent many different levels of objects or events. Concepts can be of a very
general form, such as “fruit” called as superordinate (ranked highest in status or ranking)
concept.
The concept- mango is more specific but can still be a basic level type. Pear, orange and
watermelon would also be examples for basic level concept. An alphonoso mango would be a
subordinate( ranked lowest in status or ranking) concept.
Types of concepts:
 concept

Artificial/ Logical concepts Natural Concepts

Artificial/ Logical concepts:
Concepts that can be clearly defined by a set of rules or properties are called artificial concepts.
Thus an objects membership in a category is unambiguous. Any object or event either is or is not
a member of a given concept category by the virtue of whether or not it has the defining feature
or features. Such artificial concepts are very useful in many areas of mathematics and science.
Eg: In geometry, a figure can be considered as triangle only if it has three sides whose angles
adds upto 180 degree.
Natural concept:
Concepts that are not based on a precise set of attributes or properties, do not have clear cut
boundaries and are often defined by prototypes. These are formed as a result of their experiences
in the real world.
Eg: For fruit, most people think of apples, peaches etc. they are far less likely to mention
avocados or tomatoes.
Natural concepts are important in helping people understand their surroundings in a less
structured manner than artificial concepts that are taught in schools and they form the basis for
interpreting those surroundings and events that may occur in everyday life. Natural concepts are
often based on prototypes- the best or clearest models to identify the concept.
Example, A robin is a model bird while ostrich is not.
Prototypes emerge from our experience with external world, and new items that might
potentially fit within category are then compared with them. The more attributes new items share
with an existing prototype, the more likely they are to be included within the concept.
Example, consider the following natural concepts clothing, art. For clothing, most people think
of items like shirts, pants or shoes. They are far less likely to mention suits or coats of armour.
Similarly for art, most people think of paintings, drawings, sculptures. Fewer think of art work
such as the light show at Disney world.
concepts
Relational concepts
Disjunctive concepts

conjunctive concepts
Conjunctive concepts:
Conjunctive concepts or and concepts are defined by the presence of two or more features. In
other words an item must have “ this feature and this feature and this feature”
Example, a motor cycle must have two wheels, and an engine and handle bars.
Disjunctive Concepts:
Disjunctive concepts are concepts that have at least several possible features. These are “
either/or concepts”. To belong to this category, an item must have “ this feature or that feature or
another feature”.
Example: In baseball, a strike is either a swing and a miss or a pitch over the plate, or a foul ball.
The either/or quality of disjunctive concepts makes them hard to learn.
Relational concepts:
Relational concepts are concepts based on how an object relates to something else, or how its
features relate to one another.
Example: ‘larger’, ‘above’,’north’, and ‘upside and down’ . Another example is ‘sister’ which is
defined as ‘a female considered in her relation to another person having the same parents’.
PREPOSITIONS:
Prepositions are relations between concepts; they are sentences which relate one concept to
another and can stand as separate assertion.
Examples: “Frozen yoghurt is not as sweet as icecream” – here each sentence indicate some kind
of relationship between the concepts or between one or more of their features.
Other examples: Ramesh greeted salman—affection between two friends—it describes relation
between two concepts
Example(2)Polar bears have white fur—describes the relation between a concept and its
properties.
MENTAL IMAGES:
Mental images are the mental representations of events or objects which have a picture-like
quality. Mental images are not flat like photographs; also, they are sometimes more than just
pictures.
Example: Your image of a bakery may also include its delicious odour.
Mental image is something that people use everyday. It helps them remember where they parked
their car, find furniture that fits your space etc. People are even able to mentally rotate or turn
images.
In the brain, creating a mental image is almost the opposite of seeing an actual image. With an
actual image, the information goes from the eyes to the visual cortex of the occipital lobe and is
processed or interpreted by other areas of the cortex that compare the new information to
information already in memory. In creating a mental image, areas of the cortex associated with
stored knowledge send information to the visual cortex where image is perceived in the “mind’s
eye”.
REASONING:
Reasoning is a cognitive activity that transforms information inorder to reach specific
conclusions. It is of 2 types: Inductive and deductive
Inductive reasoning:
Inductive reasoning takes a series of specific observations and tries to expand them into a more
general theory.
Example: A person who notices an observation- “ All of the cows I have ever seen are spotted’-
might think that all cows must be spotted. This is not actually the case. The next step in this logic
might involve attempting to find things which disprove the assertion that all cows are spotted, as
might be done by asking other people if they have seen cows which are not spotted.
Inductive reasoning is commonly seen in the sciences when people want to make sense of a
series of observation.
Example, Isaac Newton famously used inductive reasoning to develop a theory of gravity.
Using observations, people can develop a theory to explain those observations, and seek out
disproof of that theory.
Deductive reasoning:
With deductive reasoning one takes a general theory or idea, test it, and moves through a
sequence of ideas to arrive at a specific conclusion.
Example, if we begin with the premise that ‘every animal that eats mice is a cat,’ then on noting
that Rover eats mice, we might conclude that ‘ Rover is a cat’.
The goal of deductive reasoning is to arrive at a valid chain of reasoning in which each statement
holds upto testing , but it is possible for deductive reasoning to be both valid and unsound.
Basic sources of error in reasoning:
Several factors, working together, seem to reduce our ability to reason effectively.
1. The role of mood states:
The way we feel our current moods or emotions can dramatically reduce our ability to reason
effectively. It is commonly seen that we lose our ability to reason effectively in situations in
which we’ve lost our cool.
In one study, Oaksford and colleagues(1996) used brief film clips to induce either positive or
negative or neutral moods in the study participants. Following the mood induction, all
participants in the study attempted to solve a difficult analytical task. Interestingly, the
participants in the positive mood condition required significantly more trials to solve the problem
than participants in the other groups.
Inducing positive mood states makes more and more diffuse memories available to us- definitely
an asset if the task at hand requires a creative solution. However, the analytical task mentioned
above relies less on long term memory retrieved and more on the ability to work through the
discreet steps necessary. In short, a positive mood state does not guarantee that our ability to
reason effectively will be enhanced.
2. The role of Beliefs:
Reasoning is often influenced by emotion-laden beliefs.
Example: Imagine that a person with deeply held convictions against the death penalty listens to
a speech favoring capital punishment. Suppose that the arguments presented by the speaker
contain premises the listener cannot readily refute, and thus point to the conclusion that the death
penalty is justified for the purpose of preventing further social evil. Yet the listener totally rejects
this conclusion. This is because his/her passionate beliefs and convictions against the death
penalty may cause the listener to alter the meaning of the speakers premises or “remember”
things the speaker never really said. This is, ofcourse serves to weaken the speakers conclusion.
When powerful beliefs come face to face with logical arguments, it is often the latter that give
way.
3. The Social Context:
Social context can also exert powerful effects on reasoning.
Example, while entering a restaurant – one you have never tried before- you ask a couple who
are leaving, “how was it”? if they reply” it was great” what do u conclude? After all, the couple
did not comment directly on the quality of the food, the service or the atmosphere inside the
restaurant. However from a variety of contextual variables- the tantalizing aromas emanating
from the restaurant, the fact that many people are eating there, the unmistakable look of
satisfaction on the couples faces- from all this you probably conclude that your chances of
experiencing a delightful meal are more.
4. The confirmation bias:
It is the tendency to test conclusions or hypothesis by examining only or primarily, evidence that
confirms our initial views.
Example; Take the above example of the anti-death penalty person. Suppose that over several
weeks he or she encounters numerous magazine articles, some report evidence conforming the
usefulness of death penalty, while others report evidence indicating that capital punishment is
ineffective in terms of deterring crime. As can be readily guessed, the individual will probably
remember more of the articles that support the ani-death penalty view. In fact, there is a good
chance that this person will read only these articles, or will read these articles more carefully
than the ones arguing in favour of capital punishment.
5. Hindsight:
It is the tendency to judge events as more predictable after their occurrence than in foresight.
Example: A dramatic real life illustration of this effect was provided by the launch of the hubble
space telescope in the spring of 1990. Shortly after the telescope reached orbit, it was discovered
to have a serious defect. Within a few days of this discovery, several officials stated that they had
known all along that this might happen; in fact, the problem resulted from a failure to conduct
certain tests of the telescope that they had personally recommended. Where these individuals
correct? Existing evidence on the hindsight effect costs considerable doubt on this possibility.
Many studies conducted in widely different contexts, learning that an event occurred causes
individuals to assume that they could have predicted it more accurately than is really the case.
PROBLEM SOLVING:
Problem solving refers to active efforts to discover what must be done to achieve a goal that is
not readily attainable.
Steps in problem solving:
There are basically 4 steps in problem solving. They are:
1. Understanding the problem/ Problem identification:
We must recognize that the problem exist and figure out just what issues, obstacles and goals are
involved.
Example, Suppose your car won’t start. We must find out why: is it a bad battery? Bad ignition?
Lack of fuel? Until you identify the problem, it is difficult to move ahead with its solution.
2. Formulate potential solutions:
Solutions do not arise from a cognitive vaccum, they require thinking critically about a problem
and they depend heavily on the information at our disposal- information stored in long term
memory and can be retrieved. The more information available, the greater the number and wider
the scope of potential solutions we can generate. Formulating a wide range of possible solutions
is an extremely important step in effective problem solving.
3. Evaluating each alternative and the outcomes it will produce.
We should evaluate which alternative works better and should see whether there is any serious
obstacles in using these alternatives. We should also evaluate the cost of applying the alternative.
4. Trying potential solutions and evaluating them on the basis of effects they produce.
All too often, a potential solution is only partially effective. It brings us closer to where we want
to be but does not solve the problem completely or finally.
Sometimes it is easy to recognize that the solution will be only a partial one. In many other
situations, though, it is difficult to know how effective a potential solution will be, until it is
implemented. Thus, careful assessment of the effects of various solutions is another key step in
the problem solving process.
STRATEGIES OR METHODS FOR PROBLEM SOLVING:
There are certain strategies for solving a problem effectively.
1. Trial and error method:
A method of solving problems in which possible solutions are tried until one succeeds.
Example; If shijo has forgotten the pin for his banking website, he can try one after the other
until he finds the one that works; if he only uses few pins normally.
Mechanical solutions can also involve solving rote or a learned set of rules. This is how word
problems were solved in grade schools. However trial and error is not very efficient and it offers
no guarantee that a useful solution will be found.
2. Algorithms:
Algorithm is a methodical step by step procedure for trying all possible alternatives in searching
for a solution to a problem. Algorithms will always result in a correct solution, if there is a
correct solution and you have enough time to solve it.
When librarians organize books on bookshelf they also use an algorithm: place books in
alphabetical order within each category. Many puzzles like rubiks cube have a set of steps that if
followed exactly will result in solving the cube/puzzle. But algorithms are not always practical in
use.
Example: if shijo didn’t have pin by trying all possible combinations of four digits, 0 through 9.
He would eventually find the right four-digit-combination- but it might take a very long while.
3. Heuristics:
A heuristics is a guiding principle or rule of thumb used in problem solving or decision making.
It is an educated guess based on prior experiences that helps narrow down the possible solutions
for a problem. These guesses based on prior experiences may or may not work in the present
case so a solution is not guaranteed. But what heuristics lack in terms of certainity, they gain in
efficiency. They often provide useful shortcuts.
Example: In the case of the forgotten restaurant you might begin by assuming that your friend
probably chose a restaurant close to where she lives. This simple rule could eliminate many of
the most distant restaurants and considerably simplify your task.
 4. Forming sub-goals:
It involves dividing the problem into a series of smaller pieces or subproblems. Each of these is
then solved and the distance between our original state and the goal is reduced in a step-by-step
fashion.
Example: Writing a term paper can seem overwhelming until it is broken down into steps:
choose a topic, research the topic, organize what has been gathered , write one section at a time
and so on.
5. Working Backward:
If you are working on a problem that has a well specified end point you will find the solution
more readily if you begin at the end and work backward.
Example, if you want to know the shortest way to get to a new coffee shop in town you already
know, the goal ie; finding the coffee shop, hence all you need to do is, take an internet map or
GPS and find the shortest route.
6. Searching for analogies:
An analogy is a strategy for solving problems based on applying solutions that were previously
successful with other problems similar in underlying structure.
Example: Imagine that while driving through an unfamiliar town, you are suddenly seized by an
uncontrollable desire for a Mc D. you don’t know your way around this town, but you know
from past experience that many Mc Donalds restaurants are located near busy interstate
highways. Applying this knowledge, you follow the signs to the nearest interstate. If you are then
rewarded by the sight of the famous golden arches, you have solved the problem through
analogy.
7. Changing representation:
Whether you solve a problem often hinges on how you envision it – your representation of the
problem. Many problems can be represented in a variety of ways such as verbally,
mathematically or spatially. You might represent a problem with a list, a table, an equation, a
graph, a hierarchical tree diagram, a sequential flowchart etc. there isn’t one ideal way to
represent problems . however when researchers compare experts and novices in a particular area
of problem solving, they find that the experts strip away irrelevant details and represent problems
much more efficiently. This findings highlight the importance of how problems are represented.
Then when you fail to make progress on your problem with your initial representation, changing
your representation is often a good strategy.
8. Means to end analysis:
Means end analysis is another kind of heuristics in which the difference between the starting
situation and the goal is determined and then steps are taken to reduce that difference.
For example, kareena wanted a certain kind of invitation for her wedding, but buying it already
made was very expensive and well over her budget. She ordered one sample of the invitation and
examined it carefully. It had a pocket inside that held the response cards for people to send back
to kareena, a decorative sea shell tied into the outside of the card with fancy ribbon, and a small
box instead of an envelope. Her goal was to make 200 of these invitations by hand. Here subgoal
were to find the paper, take the invitation carefully apart to see how to put one together, buy the
little shells, find and buy the right size boxes and assemble the invitation. What might have
seemed an impossible taskbecame possible once it was broken down into smaller subgoals.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING:
On the basis of their studies of problem solving, psychologists have identified a number of
barriers that frequently impede subjects efforts to arrive at solutions.
1. Irrelevant information:
Irrelevant information can lead people astray. Therefore an effective problem solving requires
that u attempt to figure out what information is relevant before proceeding.
2. Functional fixedness:
This barrier was identified by gestalt psychologists. Functional fixedness is the tendency to think
of using objects only as theyhave been used in the past.
3. Mental set:
It is the impact of past experience on present problem solving: specifically the tendency to retain
methods that are successful in the past even if better alternatives now exists.
Rigid thinking is also at work when a mental set interferes with effective problem solving. A
mental set exist when people persist in using problem solving strategies that have worked in the
past. Mental set may explain why having expertise in an area sometimes backfires and can
hamper problem solving efforts.
4. Unnecessary constraints:
Effective problem solving requires specifying all the cobstraints governing a problem without
assuming any constraints that donot exist. An example of a problem in which people place an
unnecessary constraint on the solution is the 9- dot problem.
People often make assumptions that impose unnecessary constraints on problem solving efforts.
5. Confirmation bias:
It is the tendency to search for evidence that fits ones belief while ignoring any evidence to the
contrary. This is similar to a mental set except that what is ‘set’ is a belief rather than a method
of solving problems.
CREATIVITY:
Creativity is the process of solving problems by combining ideas or behavior in new ways.
Creativity involves the generation of ideas that are original, novel and useful. Creative thinking
is fresh, innovative and inventive. But novelty itself is not enough. In addition to being novel,
creative thinking must be adaptive. It must be appropriate to the situation and problem.
It is widely believed that creativity usually involves sudden flash of insight and great leaps of
imagination. However the evidence suggest that major creative achievements generally are
logical extensions of ideas, involving hardwork and dedication. Creative ideas do not come of
nowhere. Creative idea comes from a deep will of experience and training in a specific area
whether it is music, painting, business, science etc.
CONVERGENT AND DIVERGENT THINKING:
According to many theorists, the key to creativity lies in divergent thinking- the thinking that
goes off in different directions; as J.P Guilford put it. He distinguished between convergent and
divergent thinking.
In convergent thinking one tries to narrow down a list of alternatives to converge on a single
correct answer. The problem is seen as having only one answer and all lines of thinking will
eventually lead to that single answer by previous knowledge and logic.
Example, when you take a multiple choice exam, you try to eliminate incorrect options until you
hit on the correct response.
Most training in schools encourages convergent thinking. Convergent thinking works well for
routine problem solving but may be of little use when a more creative solution is needed.
Divergent thinking is a type of thinking in which a person starts from one point and comes up
with many different ideas or possibilities based on that point.
Divergent thinking is an important part of creativity, but there is more to it. To be creative, the
solution to a problem must be practical if it is an invention and sensible if it is an idea. The
creative person uses reasoning and critical thinking to evaluate new ideas once they are
produced.
Measures of creativity:
Creative thinking involves all of these -thinking styles, fluency, flexibility and originality.
Fluency: it is defined as the total number of valid suggestions you are able to make.( creating
ideas in a specific category)
Flexibility: it is the number of times you shift from one class of possible uses to another ( diverse
category of ideas)
Originality: it refers to how novel or unusual your ideas are.
By counting the number of times you showed fluency, flexibility and originality we could rate
creativity or capacity for divergent thinking.
Steps in Creativity:
Typically there are five stages occurring during creative problem solving; they are:
1. Orientation:
The person defines the problem and identifies its most important dimensions.
2. Preparation:
Creative thinkers saturate themselves with as much information about the problem as possible.
3. Incubation:
Most major problems produce a period during which all attempted solutions will be futile. At this
point, problem solving may proceed on a subconscious level. Although the problems seem to
have been set aside, it will be still ‘cooking’ on the background.
4. Illumination:
The stage of incubation is often ended by a rapid insight or series of insights. These produces the
‘aha’ experience, often depicted as a light bulb appearing over the thinkers head in cartoons.
5. Verification:
The final step is to test and critically evaluate the solution obtained during the stage of
illumination. If the solution proves faulty, the thinker reverts to the stage of incubation.
Creative thinking can be highly complex. Rather than springing from sudden insights, much
creative problem solving is incremental. That is, it is the end result of many small steps.
LANGUAGE:
Language consists of symbols that convey meaning, plus rules for combining those symbols that
can be used to generate an infinite variety of messages.
It is a system of symbols and rules for combining them for the purpose of communication.
Language allows people not only to communicate with each other but also to represent their own
mental activity.
Language uses symbols for communicating information. There are several criterias so as to view
symbols as languages. First, information must be transmitted by the symbols: the words and
sentencesmust carry meaning. Second, although the number of separate sounds or words in a
language may be limited, it must be possible to combine these elements into an essentially
infinite number of sentences. Third, the meaning of these combinations must be independent of
the setting in which they are used.
LEVELS OF LANGUAGE/ STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE/ COMPONENTS OF
LANGUAGE:
1. Phonemes:
They are the basic units of sound in language. It doesnot have any inherent meaning by itself but
when put together they can make words. The English language is composed of about 40
phonemes, corresponding roughly to the 26 letters of the alphabet plus several variations.
Example: the ‘a’ in the word ‘car’ is a very different phoneme from the ‘a’ in the word ‘day’
even though it is the same letter of the alphabet. The difference is in how we say the sound of the
‘a’ in each word. Phonemes for different languages are also different, and one of the biggest
problems for people who are trying to learn another language is the inability to hear and
pronounce the phonemes of that other language. Although infants are born with the ability to
recognize all phonemes, after about 9 months , that ability has deteriorated and the infant
recognizes only the phonemes of the language to which the infant is exposed.
2. Morphemes:
Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. There are approximately 50,000
english morphemes which include root words as well as prefixes and suffixes. Some may have a
single morpheme/ free morpheme ( eg: fire, guard, friend etc) but many others represent
combinations of morphemes- bound morphemes( eg: unfriendly, non violence etc). each of the
morpheme contributes to the meaning of the entire word.
3. Semantics:
Semantics is the area of language concerned with understanding the meaning of words and word
combinations including the symbolic use of language. They are rules for determining the
meaning of words and sentences.
Example: the word “run” has many meanings- running, run in my nose, runway etc
4. Syntax:
Syntax is a system of rules that specify how words can be arranged into sentences. A simple rule
of syntax is that a sentence must have both a noun phrase and a verb phrase.
Eg: The sentences “ Johny hit the ball” and “ the ball was hit by Jhony” have the same semantic
meaning while have different syntax
5. Pragmatics:
Pragmatics deals with the practical aspects of communicating with others. It includes different
aspects like taking turns, use of gestures , different ways of speaking to different people and so
on. Thus pragmatics can be defined as the appropriate use of language in correct context.
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT:
Since 1950’s a great debate raged about the key processes involved in language acquisition;
which centers on the nature versus nurture issue. This debate was stimulated by the influential
behaviorist B.F Skinner who argued that environmental factors influence language development
in 1957. In 1959, Noam Chomsky emphasized biological influence.
Behaviourist Theory:
The behaviourist approach to language was first outlined by B.F Skinner. He argued that children
learn language the same way they learn everything else: through imitation, reinforcement and
other principles of conditioning.
According to Skinner, vocalizations that are not reinforced gradually decline in frequency. The
remaining vocalizations are shaped with reinforces until they are correct. Behaviorists assert that
by controlling reinforcements, parents encourage their children to learn the correct meaning and
pronunciation of words.
Behavioral theorists also use the principles of imitation and reinforcement to explain how
children learn syntax.
According to behaviorist view, children learn how to construct sentences by imitating the
sentences of adults and older children. If childrens imitative statements are understood, parents
are able to answer their questions or respond to their requests, thus reinforcing their verbal
behavior.
Example: As children grow older, parents may insist on closer and closer approximations of the
word “water” before supplying the requested drink.
Nativist Theory:
In 1959, Noam Chomsky pointed out that there are an infinite number of sentences in a language.
It is therefore unreasonable to expect that children learn language by imitation. According to
Chomsky, children learn the rules of language, not specific verbal responses, as Skinner
proposed. Thus nativist theory came into existence.
Nativist theory proposes that humans are equipped with a language acquisition device(LAD), an
innate mechanism or process that facilitates the learning of language. The exact nature of LAD
has not been spelled out in nativist theories. It presumably consists of brain structures and neural
wiring that leave humans well prepared to discriminate among the phonemes, to fast-map
morphemes, to acquire rules of syntax and so on.
Chomsky believed that children have an innate capacity to acquire language because:
• They seem to acquire language quickly and effortlessly.
• They develop such a complex skill within a short time
• Language development normally tends to unfold at roughly the same pace for
most children.
Nativist also cite evidence that the early course of language development is similar across very
different cultures. They interpret this to mean that children all over the world are guided by the
same innate capabilities.
Criticisms:
*The exact nature of LAD has not been spelled out in nativist theory
*This theory does not mention the role of environmental influence at all
Interactionist Theories:
The problems apparent in Skinners and Chomsky’s explanations of language development have
led some researchers to outline interactionist theories of language development. These theories
assert that biology and experience both make important contributions to the development of
language.
Like the nativists, interactionist also believe that human organism is biologically well equipped
for learning language. They also agree that much of this learning involves the acquisition of
rules.
However the interactionist also, like behaviourists, believe that social exchanges with parents
and others play a critical role in moulding language skills.
Thus interactionist theories maintain that a biological predisposition and a supportive
environment, both contribute to language development.
CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT:
Another long running controversy in the study of language concerns the relations between
culture, language and thought. Linguistic relativity hypothesis- it was proposed by Benjamin Lee
Whorf (1956). It states that one’s language determines the nature of one’s thought. Whorf
speculated that different languages lead people to view the world differently.
His classic example compared English and Eskimo views of snow. He asserted that the English
language had only one word for snow, whereas eskimo language has many words that
distinguish among falling snow, wet snow and so on. Because of this language gap, Whorf
asserted that Eskimos perceive snow differently than English speaking people.
However, Whorf’s conclusions about these perceptual differences was based on casual
observation rather than systematic cross cultural relationships or comparisons of perceptual
processes.
Moreover critics subsequently noted that advocates of the linguistic relativity hypothesis had
carelessly overestimated the number of Eskimo words for snow while conveniently ignoring the
variety of English words that refer to snow such as the word blizzard.
Many studies have focused on cross cultural comparisons of how people perceive colours
because substantial variations exist in various cultures among how colours are catogarized with
names. For example some language have a single colour name that include both blue and green
whereas other languages view light blue and dark blue as fundamentally different colours. If a
language does not distinguish between blue and green, then people who speak that language
think about colours differently than people in other cultures.
Recent studies have provided new evidences favouring the linguistic relativity hypothesis.
Eg: studies of subjects who speak African language that donot have a boundary between blue
and green have found that language affects their colour perception, as they have more trouble
making quick discriminations between blue and green colors than English-speaking subjects do.
Additional studies using a variety of methods have found that a culture’s color categories shape
subjects’ similarity judgments and groupings of colors. Moreover, the new support for linguistic
relativity is not limited to the study of color perception. Other studies have found that language
also has some impact on how people think about motion,time and shapes.
CULTURE, COGNITIVE STYLE AND PROBLEM SOLVING
Cognitive style as proposed by Herman Whitkin in 1964 found an interesting dimension ie- field
dependence- independence. Field dependence-independence refers to individuals’ tendency to
rely primarily on external versus internal frames of reference when orienting themselves in
space.
People who are field dependent rely on external frames of reference and tend to accept the
physical environment as a given instead of trying to analyze or restructure it. People who are
field independent rely on internal frames of reference and tend to analyze and try to restructure
the physical environment rather than accepting it as is. In solving problems, field dependent
people tend to focus on the total context of a problem instead of zeroing in on specific aspects or
breaking it into component parts. In contrast, field-independent people are more likely to focus
on specific features of a problem and to reorganize the component parts. Research has shown
that field dependence-independence is related to diverse aspects of cognitive, emotional, and
social functioning.
An extensive body of research suggests that some cultures encourage a field-dependent cognitive
style, whereas others foster a field-independent style. Cultural variations in analytic versus
holistic thinking appear to influence subjects’ patterns of logical reasoning, their vulnerability to
hindsight bias and their tolerance of contradictions. Research also suggests that people from
Eastern cultures tend to be more field-dependent than their Western counterparts.