Communication
behavior that affects the behavior of others by the transmission of information
Code
a complex pattern of associations of the units of a communication system. In language, those units could be sound units; meaningful units, such as words; or meaningful units that are larger than words, such as phrases, clauses, and sentences
Language
a uniquely human cognitive system used to produce and understand precise meaningful utterances
Utterance
a stretch of speech between two periods of silence or a potential (perceived) silence; does not have to be a complete sentence
Encode
to put a message into code
Grammar
the system (pattern) of elements (such as words) and of the rules of phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics inherent in a language; also refers to the study of those elements and rules
Recursion
the process whereby any linguistic unit can be made longer by embedding another unit in it
Decode
to react to a message in a way that reflects the reason that the sender encoded it
Phonological system
the grammar (pattern) of sounds of a language
Lexicon
a mental dictionary, the vocabulary that one has stored in the brain
Morphological rules
the rules used to construct words from their component parts
Syntax
the set of rules a person uses to form units of language larger than words; also refers to the study of those rules
Semantics
the study of meaning
Linguistic competence
the (mostly) subconscious knowledge of language that allows a speaker to create a potentially infinite number of messages
Productivity
the ability to produce messages that one has never produced before and to understand messages that one has never heard or seen before
Linguistic performance
the application of linguistic competence to actually producing an utterance
Delivery system of language
the way in which knowledge of language (linguistic competence) is used to send a message. The three basic ways of delivering a message linguistically are speech, writing, and sign language.
Verbal
language: speech, writing, or sign language
Nonverbal
not language; any communication that is not conveyed through speech, writing, or sign language
Synchrony
the connection and relationship between two or more things that occur at the same time
Culture shock
the disorientation and anxiety that occur when social expectations are not met
Ethnocentrism
judging other cultures by the standards of your culture; it is also the belief that your culture is superior to other cultures
Pheromone
a chemical that is secreted by one individual and acts from a distance on another individual to alter that individual's behavior
Redundancy
when the same message (or elements of a message) is encoded in different ways and is simultaneously sent to the receiver of the message
Sound spectograph
an instrument used to analyze sound by producing a visual record of the time duration of the sound, its frequency (number of occurrences within a specific unit of time), and its amplitude (degree of loudness)
Calls
usually relatively short vocal signals that might communicate a variety of messages. A variety of other species might respond to the calls of a given species
Songs
longer and more complex sequences of sound that, in birds, are usually associated with attracting a mate. Songs are species specific.
Openness
the ability to add new words, phrases, or other meaningful units to a language
Discrete signal
one that does not blend with other signals
Arbitrary
means that features of language, such as words, have no direct relationship to their meaning
Stimulus-bound
behavior that occurs only as a result of a specific environmental trigger (occurrence)
Displacement
the ability to communicate about things at times other than the present and to communicate about things not directly in front of the sender and/or receiver
Prevarication
refers to the ability to communicate about things that are not verifiable, things for which there is no empirical proof
Hominim
refers to modern humans and to the ancestors of modern humans that go back in time more than six million years
Clever Hans effect
the name given to the fact that a nonhuman's or human's behavior might be influenced or directed by subtle and often unintentional cues of others. In terms of experimentation, these cues might reflect a researcher's expectations fo what the results of the
Broca's area of the brain
the area of the brain that controls the larynx, lips, tongue, and other areas of the digestive and respiratory systems involved with oral and facial fine motor skills in the production of speech
Wernicke's area of the brain
one of the areas of the brain that is involved with the comprehension of speech and the selection of lexical items
Broca's aphasia
a condition caused by damage to Broca's area of the brain and is characterized by problems in the production of speech and loss of some grammatical understanding of language
Wernicke's aphasia
caused by damage to Wernicke's area of the brain, is characterized by speech that includes lexical errors and nonsense words
Theory of mind
refers to the ability to characterize and predict the mental states of others
Looking glass self
the human characteristic of building a concept of self through interpreting the perceptions we believe that others have of us and their behavioral reactions toward us
Communication is _______.
behavior that affects the behavior of others by the transmission of information
The consequence of communication is ________.
change
Language is one form of ________.
communication
Language is a code made up of a ________ and a _________.
lexicon (words), grammar (rules to combine sounds, words, sentences, etc.)
All codes have ________.
rules
A grammar refers to the rules for combining various types of linguistic elements. There are also rules for combining units of sound. The study of these rules is called _______. _________ deals with how words are constructed. How these words are combined i
phonology, morphology (or morphological rules), syntax, semantics
Most of the rules of a language are known __________.
subconsciously
A person's internalized knowledge of a language's grammar and lexicon is called ________.
linguistic competence
The way we actually speak is called our ________.
linguistic performance
Language resides in the _________.
mind (brain)
The three ways in which humans can communicate linguistically are _________, __________, and __________.
through speech, signing, and writing
Language is not dependent on ________ or ________.
hearing, speech
Nonverbal communication appears to be like a "dance" that includes spatial arrangement, physical appearance, facial expressions, and touching behavior, which appear to be coordinated. This "dance" involves _________.
synchrony
Bees do not learn an aspects of their "dance." This statement is __________ (true or false).
false
Bees communicate the _________, _________, and _________ of a food source to members of their hive through elaborate dances.
direction, distance, quality
In addition to the visual channel of communication, bees use the _________ channel of communication by leaving ______ at the source of the food supply.
the olfactory (sense of smell), pheromones
Multiple channels of information or multiple messages over the same channel of communication that indicates the same information are called __________.
redundancy
Birdcalls, as compared to bird songs, are generally ________ and ________. Songs, on the other hand, are _________ and _______.
shorter, can serve more functions, longer, function for limited purposes, such as in mating rituals
Bird songs of different species are often the same or similar. This statement is _________ (true or false).
false
Language is impressive for its _________.
broad scope
The ability to coin new words is called _________, and the related ability to create new combinations of words (sentences) and to understand sentences that you have never heard before is called _________.
openness, productivity
The number of messages that humans can generate by using language is potentially ________. This _______ (is or is not) true of most nonhuman communication systems.
infinite, is not
One word is independent of another. Therefore, words are _______ units.
discrete
The units of language are _______ in that they have no direct relationship to what they refer to.
arbitrary
Displacement is ________.
the ability to communicate about things not directly in front of the sender and/or receiver
The ability to say false or fictional things is called _________.
prevarication
The fact that most nonhuman communication is initiated by something that occurs in the environment led to the characterization of nonhuman communication as being primarily _______, whereas most human communication is __________.
stimulus-bound, non-stimulus-bound
Washoe was a ________ who learned to use __________.
chimpanzee, ASL
Koko, a ___________, has learned ________ (more or fewer) signs than Washoe.
gorilla, more
Everyone believes that apes have really learned to use a human linguistic system in the same way that humans use language. This statement is __________ (true or false).
false
__________ is an ape-language researcher mentioned in the text who does not believe that the apes are really learning language.
Herbert S. Terrace