Developmental psychology.pdf

Cognition and Language 205
But rats ultimately can master this concept. After triangles of all sizes, shapes,
and positions were paired with other figures for one thousand trials, and the response
to the triangle was always rewarded, some rats responded positively on the first trial
with new triangles, ones that were isosceles, colored, or different in some other way
from the previous triangles. These animals, without language as far as we know, had
abstracted and generalized. They were responding to the concept of triangularity, regardless
of other characteristics (Fields, 1932, 1936).
There are clear differences among the species however. Rats and pigeons, with
much effort, can acquire concrete concepts like triangularity and brightness, in which
the problem is basically a perceptual one, but these animals have difficulty with more
complex concepts. Chimpanzees are at another level. Whatever goes on inside their
black box, there is no doubt that chimpanzees can acquire abstract concepts, even without
a formal language. They can even solicit cooperation (Figure 8.4).
Normal human babies show the same reactions, and deaf children, deprived
of a great wealth of linguistic information, also can form abstract concepts. At times
human adults have difficulty expressing concepts in words. From all of these instances
we can conclude that even though words are enormously facilitating, concepts can be
formed without language.
Forming Abstract Concepts Language is very important in acquiring abstract
concepts, as shown in the incessant questions of young children. Helping to bury a dead
animal, the child asks, "When is she going to wake up?" "Does she like being down
there?" "How is she going to get out?" On this basis we realize the limits of the child's
concepts of life and death.
Perhaps we explain that animals that are dead never wake up, cannot get out
by themselves and, as far as we know, neither like nor dislike being buried. But this
process of observing, questioning, and receiving answers continues for years before the
child gains an adult understanding of life and death.
Children form the concept of life in a series of steps, and under age six the
major criteria are usefulness, human characteristics, and movement. With regard to
usefulness, a child says that a watch is alive "because it tells you what time" and a
pencil is alive "because you can write with it." As for human characteristics, the child
states that a cat is alive because it can breathe but then incorrectly adds that a watch
is alive "because it eats grease" and a flower is not "because it has no feet." Many
young children also think that anything that moves is alive, such as a mountain "when
it sends smoke and fire" and snow "when it is falling."
Around age six or seven, as children ask more and more questions and make
their own observations, they insist on autonomous movement. Bicycles, pencils, and
other human-made objects are not alive because people must make them go, whereas
cats move of their own volition. Certain natural phenomena are considered alive, however,
such as fires, which "grow by themselves and don't need help to move." Clouds
are alive because "they can become bigger or smaller." Plants remain a puzzle. They
grow, but somebody must plant them (Piaget, 1929; Laurendreau & Pinard, 1962).
Even adults are not quite sure what they mean by the concept of life. Note
the controversies over abortion and euthanasia, as we try to clarify the concept for
ourselves. Does life begin with conception or birth? Does it end with the cessation of
brain waves or the cessation of heartbeat? Owing to the importance of many complex
concepts in daily life, there have been continuous attempts to develop an overall approach
to investigations in this field (Strauss & Lewin, 1981).
Linguistic Determinism Language is useful in concept formation, as we have seen,
for most of our thinking involves the internal manipulation of language symbols. Some
investigators, on this basis, have been led to formulate an hypothesis of linguistic
relativity. The essence of this view, called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis or, more generally,
linguistic determinism, is that language determines thought; the structure of one's
language plays a significant role in the nature of that person's thinking.
Figure 8.4
Soliciting Cooperation. In this
experiment two chimpanzees were
taught, one at a time, to pull a rope
attached to a box containing food.
When the box was made too heavy
for one animal, two ropes were
attached and the chimpanzees
needed to pull at the same time.
After special training they learned to
do so, but sometimes one animal,
more eager than the other for food,
had to solicit cooperation. In the top
photo, Bula touches Kambi near the
mouth and turns her head toward the
ropes. In the middle picture, Bula's
hand is on top of Kambi's, pushing it
down toward a rope. In the bottom
photo, the two chimpanzees are
pulling together (Crawford, 1937).
Answers to Figure 8.2
II MANK RELK PALT QUAN GLIF
JOFT
III PALT JOFT MANK GLIF QUAN
RELK