Communicating is a key aspect of life in both humans and animals, but how animals communicate varies quite heavily from how we humans do. Did you know, for instance, that some types of fish can produce and detect electrical signs and use these signals to communicate, e.g. for mating purposes and to warn others of dangers?
There are also differences in how humans communicate. People who aren't able to hear may use sign language, and others may use hand gestures to emphasise what they are saying. Let's look at how language, thought and communication are linked!
- To learn about language thought and communication in psychology, we will start by looking at the use of language in communication, the different types of communication and the differences between human and animal communication.
- Then we will look at the relationship between language communication and thought whilst looking at influential theories, such as Boroditsky and cultural influence, Piaget's theory of language development and Vygotsky's theory of language.
- Whilst looking at the theories, we will delve deeper to understand the use of language in communication.
Communicating is essentially a method that people use to exchange information or to express their thoughts, feelings and behaviour, freepik.com/pch.vector.
Language Thought and Communication Psychology
Language and thought are similar concepts. Thought is similar to an internal monologue that isn't expressed out loud and can be based on what we are thinking or feeling, whereas language is we construct our thoughts and feelings verbally or non-verbally, which we express.
When you see someone staring at you, you may feel uncomfortable and start to wonder if something is amiss, e.g. if you have something on your face.
The Use of Language in Communication
Language is a tool used in communication to tell others information and express our thoughts. It is often used to help people understand our thoughts and to get insight from others, and this allows us to get a deeper understanding of an idea or to help others get a deeper understanding of the information being exchanged.
How we communicate is not always dependent on verbal language. There are also non-verbal types of communication. These can be used independently or alongside language to get out point across to others.
Common types of non-verbal communication are:
- Eye contact - to understand what someone is trying to express through eye contact, we need to look at the context. For instance, if you're on a train being loud with your friends, others may make eye contact because they are trying to signal that they are annoyed.
- Body language - how we present our body can often express how we think or feel. If someone slouches, they may feel anxious and think about what is making them uneasy.
- Personal space - usually, when you are talking to someone, there is an unspoken boundary; this is the physical distance you maintain when talking. If this is violated, then it usually makes people feel uncomfortable; this usually occurs in instances such as fights.
Some theorists have proposed linguistic determinism, which suggests that language is deterministic and restricts our thoughts and learning. These theorists would argue that there are other reasons for language, such as suppression rather than expressing oneself.
If you think about humans, we have many social categories, or when completing a questionnaire with fixed responses, we have to fit ourselves into a category or answer even if we disagree with it.
Differences Between Human and Animal Communication
Generally, humans use language to communicate abstract and complex ideas, whereas animals use different methods to communicate less complicated thoughts. Animals may communicate about may concern potential threats, whether they are available for mating or telling others the locations of food sources.
Karl Von Frisch’s Bee Study (1950) found that bees dance to find and tell other bees suitable food locations.
The study highlights how although humans and animals may communicate similar things, the purpose may differ, as well as the method. For example, we may tell our friends the best food places to go. Bees need to find a good food source for their survival. Our purpose is more for leisure.
We use different methods to communicate. Humans may communicate via messages directly to one another, whereas bees dance.
Aitchison's (1983) criteria of language
Initially, Hockett (1960) identified 16 language features. Aitchinson later (1983) identified four features specific to humans only.
The four criterions relative to humans only are:
- Displacement - we can exchange information about abstract and complex things that are not relative to the current time or situation.
- Structure dependence - we follow specific rules, e.g. if something doesn't make grammatical sense, others may not understand what we're trying to say: "The man throws a ball," is different to "The ball throws a man," despite the same words being used.
- Semanticity - the meaning of words and symbols rather than how they sound is used to make sense of what someone is trying to communicate, of which these symbols are understood by others.
- Creativity - humans have an endless number of ways and words that can be used to say what they are thinking.
These four criteria are required for communication to be seen as a language.
Some examples of the features of language that are shared in humans and animals are:
- Using vocal-auditory channels - both use sound, gesture and body language to communicate.
- Language is learned - humans and animals both learn language; however, they learn it in different ways.
- Turn-taking - animals and humans both take turns to communicate.
- Duality - how we communicate needs to be presented in a meaningful way
Animals do not use displacement or creativity in their communication techniques.
Relationship between language communication and thought
From the definition of language, thought, and communication, we can understand that language is often used as a tool to express the thoughts that we wish to communicate to others. However, researchers have proposed different theories to explain the relationship between language, thought and communication.
Often people use the expression you should think before you talk; this suggests that thought is important before communicating as it can lead to misunderstandings, freepik.com/storyset.
Language thought and communication: Cultural differences
Boroditsky (2001) proposed that each language has its way of processing cognitive abilities. Each language uses different ways to make sense of various things, such as time, verbs, space and metaphors.
For instance, the British are known for using metaphors like it's raining cats and dogs outside!
People from other countries will struggle to understand it is a metaphor if they are not familiar with the phrase.
Another example of cultural differences in language is...
In French, the word used in a sentence depends on whether the object described is masculine or feminine. Personifying a thing does not make sense in the English language.
Boroditsky (2001) investigated how native English and Mandarin speakers thought about time differently.
Most countries think of time as horizontal. Think of a timeline; the present is where we sit on the timeline now, the past is behind us, and the future is ahead of us.
In China, time is understood vertically, indicating time is continuous. Researchers have highlighted that this is because, in Chinese culture, humans are believed to reincarnate after death (Castelli, 2015). Time is described as 'up', which means earlier or 'down' refers to later.
The study involved using priming, a technique used to influence others to think in a certain way to think of time as horizontally or vertically.
English speakers responded faster to time questions if primed horizontally compared to vertically, and Mandarin speakers answered time questions more quickly if primed vertically when answering 'earlier or later' phrased questions. People who spoke Mandarin showed no significant difference when primed horizontally or vertically.
To conclude the study, language is culturally dependent and affects our thoughts and how we understand things.
The linguistic relativity hypothesis, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, has been proposed to explain language differences and how this affects how people perceive reality. The vocabulary and structure of our sentences influence how we view the world (weak Whorf). Linguistic determinism suggests we see the world only as our language explains it, influencing our thoughts, cognitions, and reality.
Winawer et al. (2007) investigated how Russian and English speakers differ in their use of language and the effects it has on how they perceive reality. Russian speakers have distinct categories for the different shades of blue (goluboy = lighter blues, and siniy = darker blues). They investigated if the linguistic distinctions led to differences in colour discrimination.
They found that Russian speakers could identify the difference between two colours faster when they were in different categories (siniy vs goluboy) than in the same category (both siniy).
Piaget's Theory of Language Development
Piaget suggested that children experience several stages of cognitive development. Piaget argued that how well a child develops depends on schemas rather than language, but language is essential.
Schemas are mental frameworks that consist of organised materials that we use to understand the world.
Piaget proposed that children's linguistic abilities depend on which stage of cognitive development they are in.
Children in the formal operational stage (last stage) can communicate abstract ideas and understand others' perspectives. In the first stage, the sensorimotor stage, children can make random sounds, imitate sounds, and voice or indicate their needs.
Piaget's theory suggests that thought precedes language, and language is not always dependent on thought; e.g. children imitating sounds does not usually involve thought. However, when a child is trying to voice their demands, such as when they are hungry, there is some thought before the communication.
Piaget argued that language develops as children go through the stages of cognitive development, freepik.com/vectorjuice.
Vygotsky's Theory of Language
In comparison to Piaget, Vygotsky highlighted the importance of language. Vygotsky argues that our learning and development result from social interactions and culture. Language allows more knowledgeable others (MKO) to communicate new concepts and knowledge that aid children's development. The theory suggests that language is not only used when socially interacting with others but also when thinking independently.
Vygotsky described three forms of language children go through during development:
- Social (external) Speech
- Egocentric Speech
- Inner Speech
According to Vygotsky, children first say their thoughts aloud. Eventually, this disappears and turns into inner speech.
Young children often count objects aloud to help them think.
The influence of language on thoughts
Vygotsky's theory on the different types of speech can help us understand the influence of language on thoughts. The theory suggests that people initially have both pre-linguistic thoughts and pre-intellectual language.
Pre-linguistic thoughts are when we can recognise something without language, and pre-intellectual language is when speech is used randomly and has no thought behind it.
An example may help to understand the two different types of thoughts!
When a child is hungry, they signal to their parents by crying, as the child is thinking that they are hungry and trying to communicate this to their parents; this is a form of pre-linguistic thought.
Whilst an example of pre-intellectual language is when newborns make random noises which typically have no thought behind them.
The two concepts suggest that there is an interchangeable relationship between the two. The one we rely heavily on depends on what stage of development we are in.
Language, thought and communication - Key takeaways
- Thought is similar to an internal monologue that isn't expressed out loud and can be based on what we think or feel. Language is how we think or feel which we can communicate verbally and/or non-verbally.
- In addition to the use of language in communication, several other techniques can be used to express our thoughts, such as via eye contact, personal space or body language.
- According to Aitchinson, four language features are distinct to humans and seven are shared between humans and animals.
- Several theories and factors, such as Piaget's theory of language development, have been described to understand the relationship between language communication and thought.
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