Linguistics, the study of language, is a distinctive field of study in and of itself. It is, however, a discipline that does cross cut the boundaries of other disciplines, allowing for study of various different aspects of language in and of itself or through those other fields of study. For example, linguistic anthropology is an area of anthropological research that examines the interconnections between language and culture. Specific study questions pertaining to the sounds that exist within languages spoken today and/or in the past, the meaning of words within languages, the origins of language, and more are all questions asked by both linguistic anthropologists and linguists, but one of the fundamental questions posed by many anthropologists, which is what are the origins of language, is one that can be frame from a psycholinguistic approach. This blog post will discuss what psycholinguistics is and how it is being used to address this question.
Psycholinguistics is the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It is a broad subdiscipline that does cross cut anthropology, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and, of course, linguistics. Early psycholinguistic scholars, starting with the credited pioneer of this field of study, Wilhelm Wundt, believed that language was acquired through conditioning. Young children learned how to speak by repeating what their parents said and associating the words with specific emotional responses. There remains quite a bit of evidence to support this idea (as anyone who has been around children know that they are much like sponges and repeat what is said around them).
This approach, however, neglects the biological aspects required for language acquisition and use. This is evident when examining non-human primates and language use. Non-human primates communicate, but they have not produced their own languages. They can learn sign language and demonstrate several linguistic abilities that were thought to be unique to humans, but they still lack some of the biological requirements for full language use (e.g., the FoxP2 gene). It is through the study of nonhuman primates and humans of various ages and from various cultural groups that it is clear that environmental (cultural) and natural (biological) circumstances played a role in the creation and formation of languages among humans.
Today, psycholinguists focus on a variety of study topics, ranging from the social/cultural to the biological. They can study how written versus spoken language is understood cognitively, understanding how language is interpreted different by those with either learning or other serious cognitive disabilities, as well as attempt to better understand first and second language acquisition patterns within and between age groups. Each of these can be approached from a solely social/cultural or biological perspective, although the most complete answers may come from studying these topics holistically and bridging both perspectives. This is why psycholinguistics remains an interdisciplinary field of study-no one approach can truly answer the questions psycholinguists seek to answer.
Works Cited
No Author. (2014). Psycholinguistics. obo in Psychology.
Ratner, N.B. (2004). Encyclopedia of Neuroscience || Psycholinguistics. , (), 1199–1204
Von Raffler-Engel W. (1992) The Contribution of Psycholinguistics to the Study of Language Origins. In: Wind J., Chiarelli B., Bichakjian B., Nocentini A., Jonker A. (eds) Language Origin: A Multidisciplinary Approach. NATO ASI Series (Series D: Behavioural and Social Sciences), vol 61. Springer, Dordrecht.
10 comments:
I believe the process of linguistics starts before the child is even born. With that being said, a woman's maternal mental health affects her child’s language development. Being depressed , anxious, or very emotional throughout your pregnancy can cause your child to experience these symptoms as well because the fetus is growing inside you. Your child feels everything that goes into your body. That is why doctors prefer women to not drink or smoke throughout their pregnancy. These substances can have the tendency to cause defects to your child’s health and potentially put your child at risk in early child development. Sensory and brain mechanisms for hearing are developed at 30 weeks allowing for your child to hear things that are being said around you. People are encouraged to talk to their child while in the womb and even read books to them. Building a bond with your child before they enter the world will only bring them even closer. Stimulating your child's brain with nourishing aspects will allow your child to be the best they can be at an early age. Being familiar with sounds and vowels before they're even brought into the world allows for your child to intensify their understanding of certain sounds and words faster.
Dana Has a great point about a child being able to process linguistic before being born because the child and mother are connected. Children don’t just speak either they feel before they speak. They use emotions to speak for them . The words that come out of there mouth has emotions behind it because children aren’t taught to filter that emotion until later on . Primates being able to communicate through sign language is amazing. They don’t have the capability to speak like humans . It just amazing that communicating with animals is the most impressive thing I’ve seen.
I think this blog post is fascinating. I can not say that I put much thought into the actual scientific reasoning behind language before today. I was naive in thinking that it was always just a constant because imagining a world without communication seems impossible. With that said, It would be interesting to find how communication started and how much our culture affects this communication. In my opinion, I think culture has a significant effect on communication. I support this by pointing out the multitude of different languages in the world today. Not only that, but think of the world just Twenty years ago. Communication has jumped leaps and bounds. This is most likely due to the growth in technology. This new technology has connected cultures together but also started to produce a new form of culture. They have catchphrases, sigh, shorthand, traditions, and expectations just like other cultures but can reach many others and be a blending pot for some cultures. It will be interesting to see how technology advances in the next twenty years and how this will affect communication and culture.
Psycholinguists have it already more difficult than other forms of linguistics because it deals with the mind and the processes of how people can learn, how they gain perspective, and in what ways that they communicate. This new approach gained knowledge in the field and started an education and topic that will be studied and viewed between humans and nonhuman primates. Because this field of study is crossing between many departments there is a greater chance that the outcome can follow baseline paths and be most accurate when understanding completely.
Psycholinguistics helps understand problems in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. It is fascinating how non-human primates can communicate without really speaking. Studying social and cultural behaviors will help understand how they impact communication. From the fetus to when the child is born. Both culture and technology have affected how people around the globe communicate and it's bound to continue changing with the advancement of technology.
Psycholinguistics, more simply put, is basically psychology of language. In this science, and subdiscipline of philosophy, we look at and analyse psychological and neurobiological factors that enable us as language speaking humans to acquire, apply and understand language. Now, it really covers any subject that falls under ‘language and cognition’ and there is seemingly limitless research potential that falls under the term.
As read, psycholinguistics is known to be the psychology of language, reading, and speaking. I was intrigued to find out that non-human primates were communicating without actually speaking. Sign language is another way of communicating and getting to understand people and people understanding you.
- Jada Watkins
I have never really considered psychology having a linguistic category to it, but I do somewhat see where the psycholinguistics are coming from. In a way, some aspects of language are condition. Like stated in the blog, however, it is hard to find things that fully support this information due to the conflicts it has with the biological aspects of language.
After learning the relationships with disciplines like linguistic anthropology, neurology, psychology, and philosophy, the piece effectively shows the multidisciplinary aspect of linguistics. This emphasizes the complex language and how several viewpoints are necessary to completely comprehend its nuances. It is useful to learn about psycholinguistics as a subfield of psychology that focuses on the psychological aspects of language acquisition and usage. The post demonstrates the development of knowledge in the subject by referencing early ideas on language learning through conditioning and their shortcomings in taking biological aspects into account.
This line is intriguing because it emphasizes how interdisciplinary language studies are, incorporating both biological and anthropological viewpoints. - Brooklyn Blair
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