Language and Thought
- Memory
- Problem Solving
- The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Memory
- Question: Do verbal labels help or hurt memory for pictures?
- Charmichael, Hogan & Walter (1932)
- Bower, Karlin & Dueck (1975)
Charmichael, Hogan & Walter (1932)
- Participants were shown a series of simple line drawings.
- Each was accompanied by one of two verbal labels.
- Memory for the pictures was distorted in the direction of the labels.
- Similarity to Bartlett (1932)
Bower, Karlin & Dueck (1975)
- Participants were shown "droodles" with or without descriptive labels (e.g.,
"Worm Crossing Razorblade").
- Memory was much better with labels.
Problem Solving
- Functional Fixedness
- If we associate an object with a specific function, we have a hard time considering
other uses for it.
- Dunker’s Candle Problem
- Glucksberg & Weisberg (1966)
Dunker’s Candle Problem
- Dunker’s (1945) Classic Demonstration of Functional Fixedness
- Props: Candle, Box of Tacks, Matches
- Problem: Attach the candle to the wall in a manner that will allow it to be burned
safely.
- What’s the solution?
Glucksberg & Weisberg (1966)
- Glucksberg & Weisberg replicated Dunker, but attached verbal labels to the props.
- When the labels did not draw attention to the box apart from the tacks ("box of
tacks"), the average solution time was almost 9 minutes.
- When the labels did draw attention to the box apart from the tacks ("box",
"tacks"), the average solution time was only 37 seconds.
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
- Overview
- Early Evidence
- Evidence Against Sapir-Whorf
- Proper Tests of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Overview
- According to this hypothesis, the language that you speak determines how you perceive,
think about, and remember the world around you.
- People who speak different languages perceive, think about, and remember the world
differently!
- In support of this hypothesis, Whorf (1956) observed striking differences between
English and a variety of Native American languages.
English has 1 word for snow while the Innuit language has 7.
The English phrase "it is a dripping spring" is translated into Hopi as
"as water, or springs, whiteness moves downward".
Early Evidence
- Brown & Lenneberg (1954) investigated memory for colors.
- Colors can be described objectively in terms of wavelength.
- Languages differ in the number of color terms they include.
- Hypothesis: If Sapir-Whorf is correct, colors that are more codable in a language should
be easier for native speakers of that language to remember.
Codability
- Can you name the following colors?
- Operationalized using number of syllables, average naming time, and naming agreement.
Memorability
- Which colors were on the previous slide?
Method and Results
- All participants were native speakers of English.
- Colors that were most codable in English were also easiest to recognize.
Evidence Against Sapir-Whorf
- Problems with the evidence presented so far.
Whorf’s evidence is anecdotal and includes no demonstration of cognitive
differences.
Brown & Lenneberg only investigated one language!
- Heider (1972)
The same colors are most codable in 23 different languages.
- Berin & Kay (1969)
[black/white] > red > [yellow/green/blue] > brown >
[purple/pink/orange/gray] > others
- Rosch (1973)
The Doni were only able to learn color categories centered on the focal colors.
Proper Tests of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
- Conditions for a Proper Test
Multiple Languages
Linguistic Differences
Independent Demonstration of Cognitive Differences
- Kay & Kempton (1984)
- Maria Sera’s Research
Kay & Kempton (1984)
- Tested native speakers of English and Tarahumara (a Uto-Aztechan Language)
- Colors A, B, and C all have the same name in Tarahumara but C has a different name in
English.
- A and B are more discriminable than B and C.
- Which color is most different from the others?
English speakers choose C
Tarahumara speakers choose A
Maria Sera’s Research
- English has a single verb "to be".
- Spanish has "ser" and "estar"
How do we translate "John is tired." into Spanish?
Permanent versus temporary properties.
- How can we use this difference to test the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis?
Conclusions
- Language can clearly influence our ability to perceive, remember and solve problems.
- The ability of language to determine how we perceive, remember and solve problems is
limited.
- How limited remains to be seen!
The End!
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