Today I would like to talk to you about the language. Have you ever wondered, how is it possible that we have this wonderful ability?
Our language is a human activity of superior rank, it shares many characteristics with other activities or psychological processes, such as memory or thought (for many, our thinking is based on language, mother tongue influences in a decisive way our way of thinking) think).
While it is true that language is not the only way to communicate that we have, it is the richest and most complex. It is also the most important achievement of our species. Imagine what our civilization would be like without it. It wouldn't exist, as we know it, right?.
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Psychologists study the language that people use when they speak and when they understand what they hear. A living, multiple and changing language.
In our days, influenced by the theories of Vygotsky (Russian psychologist 1896-1934), many scholars have analyzed the role of language as a cultural mediator and instrument to know, communicate and create worlds..
It is in 1954 when the book "Psycholinguistics" (Osgood and Sebeok) is published, taking the firm step to unite psychology and linguistics. Its main purpose is the increasingly comprehensive understanding of the processes of production, understanding and evolution of normal and pathological language.
Neuropsychology tracks, for example, the mental processes that allow acoustic stimuli that reach the inner ear to become nerve impulses and reach the brain to be interpreted and translated there, that is, decoded into understandable parts. On the other hand, linguistics will take care of finding out what are the individual and collective processes that make it possible for people to communicate.
Psychology deals with the analysis of language by distinguishing between its formal or structural components (such as the sounds of speech or the laws that govern the formation of words, phrases and texts), its contents (what language had to say about) and its functional components ( in what ways can we operate on our environment through language).
As you have seen, it is multidisciplinary, it constantly has to resort to linguistics and neuropsychology, among others, when addressing the psychology of language..
There are many types of communication that do not require the use of language, we will reserve the term "language" to designate an organized human activity as a system of signs with a complex structure..
With the term "communication", on the other hand, we refer to a broader set of phenomena, including all those actions in which we manage to influence the physical or social environment through it or the interlocutors. For example, body communication is a form of communication, but not an authentic language, since its components are not organized in a complex structure and the contents that allow expressing.
Language has various functions and, most importantly for psychologists, these functions are not determined only by the form of the spoken expression..
One fact is evident: with the same word or phrase, very different effects can be achieved, depending on the situation in which it occurs and the intentions of the person speaking.
Think, for example, when we say "can you pass me the salt?", We are not asking if our interlocutor has that capacity, are we? What we want is for him to pass it on to us. And so, surely many examples come to mind.
By one year of age, babies go from making sounds to saying words and naming objects. It is debated among the experts if the existence of a suitable environment is required for this.
Everything is communication, especially for that social being that is man. In the early stages of life we learn to speak automatically, by playing. In a short time we acquire the lexicon of our mother tongue and become familiar with its grammatical rules, exceptions included, and with the social conventions of linguistic uses..
As Annette Karmiloff-Smith of the University of London has shown, the brain can still react later to sound differences between unknown languages. That is, we do not lose the ability to distinguish sound nuances. However, sounds that are not part of the mother tongue are inhibited, outside of conscious perception. Obviously the brain considers them superfluous.
Information you should know:
18% of the children in a grade have, for no apparent reason, problems learning their mother tongue. At the age of two, these "slow to speak" speak less than 50 words and are unable to construct sentences..
Some "slow to speak" regain their delay, but about 7% face a "specific developmental language disorder" (PDLD). To avoid long-term disorders, they should undergo personalized speech therapy after three years at most. These late disorders often manifest at school.
Cognitive development of childhood: language and emotions
When a 24 MONTHS child speaks little, the speech therapist investigates:
At 30 MONTHS, the following criteria are considered red flags:
At 3 YEARS the logotherapist has to make a complete diagnostic profile, which includes all linguistic fields.
If a delay is still observed, therapy should be started immediately. Even if the child has recovered, it will be necessary to examine from time to time to detect a "false recovery".
Gestures, movements, postures ... also transmit messages. It is an unspoken language that says a lot about our unconscious. The emission of non-verbal messages depends on our character, mood, our feelings towards the interlocutor, etc. The eyes are a communication instrument of the first order. Looking at the other can indicate many things: interest, affection, self-confidence, sexual attraction, defiance; avoiding his gaze can express shyness, discomfort, betrayal, shame, inferiority (how this reminds me of the series "Lie to me", if you have the opportunity to look for it and see it, do it. You will love it, it is also inspired by the work of Paul Ekman). Another example is when we maintain a certain distance from others, because we need that space to feel comfortable, it is worth mentioning that the distance, as well as the other postural elements, also depends on the culture. If you know any Italian you will see that they gesticulate more than the English.
More examples that you probably already know; the movement of hands, showing palms indicates friendship; always display the back, disinterest. Anyway, this is a whole world to continue discovering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVqBva8IvjQ
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