I believe that the statement “All of the other Ways of Knowing are controlled by language” is only valid to some extent. First, we must examine the word “control” itself. The definition of “control” is to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command. This definition suggests one of two things. Firstly, it suggests that language has a dominating role in its relationship with the other Ways of Knowing: Reason, Emotion, and Perception and is in command of them. However, I believe that this is an extreme perspective that does not always show to be true. On the other hand, if a person sees the definition of “control” as impacting and determining one of the Ways of Knowing’s outcome, I believe that there is in fact some validity in this statement and that perhaps “influences” would be a good replacement for “controls” in the original statement. For example, doesn’t a baby crying indicate that an infant is in fact capable of emotion despite not knowing language? However, this very same infant may not be able to feel a complex emotion such as optimism or submission. It is for this reason that I feel that language does hinder one’s perception, ability to reason and ability to feel complex emotions but does not prevent these Ways of Knowing. If one believed that language had complete control over these things, that would ultimately mean that humans would not be able to advance because, without reason, perception and emotion, we would not be able to acquire language in the first place. Therefore, I feel that language does not influence rudimentary reasoning, perception, and emotion but does impact complex reasoning, perception and emotion.
Emotion language term paper
The differences between happiness, joy and gladness1.IntroductionThe concept of happiness can be characterized by three separate prototypes, which all refer to happiness but each approaches the concept of happiness from a slightly different meaning. The differences reveal mainly in the intensity of the emotion. Therefore it is very interesting how these differences appear in the English language. ...
There have been many studies which indicate that language does not control reason, but may have an impact on its development. Chomsky’s language acquisition theory suggests that all humans are born with a “Universal Grammar” which gives us an innate ability to acquire language. As stated earlier, if one needed language in order reason, then we would simply not be capable of learning language. However, this theory seems to suggest that we are born with some type of reasoning skill that, in turn, allows us to learn language. One example of this is the Case of Genie. Genie was a young girl who was chained to a potty chair starting from the young age of 20 months and was never exposed to any language until she was 12 years old. When she was discovered, many psychologists immediately began trying to teach Genie English. Results showed that she was still able to acquire the English language despite never being exposed to it. However, Genie was never able to obtain a vocabulary or IQ higher than an elementary child because her development came to a halt after four years. Therefore, this suggests that language does effect one’s ability to reason because unlike any normal child that grows up with the language, Genie’s inability to learn the English language fully did effect her ability to reason.
Like the Case of Genie, Gergley’s study of selective imitation does suggest that humans are able to reason without language. In this study, infants were put in one of two conditions. In one, the infants observed an adult, with his/her hands free, turn on a light with his/her forehead. In the other condition, the infants observed an adult, with his/her hands occupied, turn on a light with his/her forehead. The results showed that the infants in the first condition imitated the adults when turning on the same light but infants in the second condition did not replicate the adults. This was because they reasoned that the adults only used their forehead to turn on the light due to the fact that their hands were not available for use. This suggests that the infants logically inferred that using their hands was a more convenient way of turning on the. However, when their role model had their hands free, they reasoned that this was the proper way to turn on the light because the role model chose to do so. Despite not knowing language, these infants were capable of reasoning for themselves. This suggests that language does not control how well one can reason but may impact reasoning skills.
The Term Paper on Early Language and Development
Language is a complex and abstract endeavor, wonderfully creative at the same time governed by a multitude of rules. Before the age of 1 year, babies communicate with intent, primarily through the use of body orientation, facial expressions, gestures, and nonsymbolic vocalizations that mimic the intonations of their native language. At the end of the first year, however, many babies are beginning ...
Sapir Whorf’s Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis suggests that different cultures interpret things differently because of the languages that they speak. One culture that was studied was the Piraha people of the Brazilian Amazon. This particular tribe lack numbers in their language in the way they are normally defined. Despite attempts to teach the Piraha people simple arithmetic, the Piraha people were unable to deduce the logic behind counting. Although some may argue that since they were nomadic hunter gatherers there was no need for an ability to count, this still suggests that because no apparent counting system was prevalent in their language, they were unable to understand the reasoning behind it. All of these examples seem to indicate that language does influence reason, however, it does not control it completely.
Likewise, Perception is also effected by language; however, language is not the deciding factor when sensing something. When you walk on the street and you accidently step on a piece of dog defecate, you don’t exactly need someone to verbally tell you that the smell is not a nice one. Biologically, our nose picks up the scent, and we interpret it as unpleasant. However, language does seem to effect perception to some extent, one example being Rolls study of language and sense perception. Roll asked his participants to smell two containers: one labeled cheddar cheese and one labeled body odor. However, these odors were in fact made with the same ingredients and had the same scent. Rolls found that the participants rated the “cheddar cheese” label as much more pleasant than the “body odor” labeled sample. From this, Rolls concluded that “language can reach right down into”
The Essay on Animal Farm Language as a Tool of Control
Animal Farm is a short novel, published in 1945 and written by George Orwell. The novel tells the story of a group of farm animals who, in an attempt to create an idealistic state, overthrow their human master. However, their leaders, the pigs, progressively become more corrupt and the other animals realise that their goal, to establish a utopia, has become a mere, receding whisper. The pigs use ...
perception. This is because the negative connotation that came with the words themselves seemed to impact the person’s sense of smell. However, it is important to note that all of the Ways of Knowing are interrelated and therefore one may also infer that the participants had this reaction to the samples due to the emotional aspects that came with smelling “body odor” versus “cheddar cheese”, such as disgust, repulsion, etc. Loftus and Palmer also found that language seemed to hinder one’s ability to see. They had their participants watch various video clips and asked them, “At what speed was the car going when it _______ the other car.” The blank was filled with words like “bumped”, “hit”, “smashed”, etc. Loftus and Palmer found that using different words resulted in very different speed estimations. For example, the participants in the “bumped” condition estimated much lower speeds than the “smashed” condition. In a follow up study, Loftus and Palmer even found that the participants in the “smashed” condition had much higher rates of saying that they saw broken glass in the video than the participants that were in other conditions.
This suggests that the language used effected the participants’ sights and went as far as creating a false sighting of broken glass. However, the language did not control the participant’s ability to see the cars because the estimates of speed were not at completely different ends of the spectrum. The estimates were relatively close but still distinct. Like Roll’s experiment, this sight perception may have also been impacted by the emotions that the participants had upon seeing the word “smash”, for example, violent feelings. This may have primed the participant to remember seeing glass. Both of these studies seem to indicate that language does have an impact on perception but does not control it.
Emotion, like reason and perception, is also not controlled by language. To understand this, one can simply think about an experience they have had with a mean boss or friend. Have they used words to hurt you? Almost anyone can tell you that they have been called a bad name before and consequently, have had emotions that were provoked by these names. Does that not indicate that emotions are effected by language? However, on the other end of the spectrum, does one need language in order to feel emotion? If you were walking down the street and you saw someone slip, it can be expected that you would laugh, feel sorry, feel sympathetic, etc. Is this not a way of provoking emotion without language? Similarly, look at any encounter they have had with an infant. If a baby wants to picked up and is frustrated, it will cry. If a baby falls down and gets hurt, it will cry. If a baby is hungry, it will cry. This seems to suggest some ability to display emotion; however, when emotions become more complex, are infants still capable of the same emotions as adults? As shown in the Case of Genie, she never developed emotionally to the fullest because of lack of language and because she simply did not need to use complex language in her life before the age of 12. To expect an infant to feel relief or resentment towards a person or situation does not seem plausible because of their lack of language but also simply because their brain has not fully developed. This suggests that language does have an impact on emotions but does not solely control it.
The Term Paper on Language Acquisition Child Words Months
CONTENT Introduction... 3 Main body 1. Language acquisition... 42.The stages of language acquisition... 52. 1. The pre linguistic stage... 72. 2.Babbling... 72. 3. One-word utterances... 92. 4.Two-word utterances... 102. 5. Telegraphic speech... 132. 6.Language learning during the pre-school period... 163. The critical period... 174. The summary of behaviour's to expect of children with normally ...
Like any controversial topic, there are always two extremes and there is a gray area in between. I believe that all of the other Ways of Knowing are not controlled by language but are also not unrelated to language either. In the grand scheme, language rests in the gray area, as one of the many factors that affect reason, perception and emotion. Although there is no absolute way to prove that this point of view is incorrect or correct, through the various examples mentioned, language does seem to play a role in influencing our reasoning skills, changes our perception, and also can alter and effect our emotions.
Word Count 1672
Bibliography/Works Cited
Mossman, K. (2005).
Ooh, That Smell. Scientific American Mind, 16(3), 8. Retrieved from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection database.
The Essay on English Language Words Slang Word
Acronyms, Idioms and Slang: the Evolution of the English Language. Although the English language is only 1500 years old, it has evolved a tan incredible rate: so much so, that, at first glance, the average person in America today would find most Shakespearean literature confusing without the aid of an Old-English dictionary or Cliff's Notes. Yet Shakespeare lived just 300 years ago! Some are ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child)
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/controlled
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_relativity
Some form of a bibliography should come after the word count (if necessary) and should follow some accepted bibliographical format. I would suggest you use NoodleTools for this. It is also standard that you single space your entry and use the hanging format in which the first line sticks out but all subsequent lines are indented.
Hanging format is set up MS Word by going to “Format”, then “Paragraph” and it’s in the “Special” drag down box directly above “Line Spacing”.
