Pretty Good School Day
Good morning. This is just me. I’m getting over frustration with the picture situation. One picture worked on “small left,” and then it didn’t work some more. So that at least tells me that my computer isn’t broken. I got pretty chicken when it came to unplugging the cable wire from the big computer to the little one, because there are so many cords back there now and they’re pretty tight in there. I’m not real disappointed with needing to use photobucket, because in reality it is much easier to upload than what happens normally through Blogger. I had to learn a different trick though in sizing the pictures. I know now that a width=”440” is about as wide as I can go with the pictures so that they don’t mess up my main margin, or my side bar. And, it isn’t too tricky to ratio it out so the height is adjusted accordingly. Just need to divide the width by how many 1/8” of the regular picture, and then multiply that number by the height in 8ths. I don’t get more precise than that. *Sigh*
Ok, on to bigger and better things …
Today at some point Sweetie is coming over so I need to be prepared for that … it means showered, dishes washed, and paper in its right place. Need to focus … one paper a day. I think I mentioned that already … we’re going to forward over the assignment again to this post so that we’ve got it easily in hand.
u06d3 Relativity and Universals :
Compare and contrast linguistic relativity and linguistic universals (p. 324-329), being sure to provide evidence that supports the existence of each (look for evidence in research). What has neuropsychological research taught us about the relationship between particular areas of the brain and particular linguistic functions? (p. 351-354).What other methods have shed additional light on this relationship? (p. 354-355).
Aha! That’s right, we had looked for the page numbers already that applied to the work. That will help. It’s about 8:30 am now. Ok, we gave ourselves a half hour to write the post … not sure if we have much to say anyway … just need to work our way into it.
Today, we’ll call our Grandma again. Have to work that out around Sweetie Pie coming over. I’m not sure all what we’re going to be able to get done today toward the car. But, that should be a focus for the day. Might have to look up at the DMV place what I will need to bring in for documentation. That’s always a problem … I’m pretty sure I don’t know where my birth certificate is. I also don’t think I have my social security card. That was lost with the driver’s license back in December. That’s all a little too scary for me right now. We’ll have to look at that later. AHA did something. I cleared off the treadmill from the stuff that was on it. That’s a little progression of something. Next … next … 15 minutes. Hmm, need to cancel the car rental. Ok, good … that’s done. As much as I want that GPS thing … I more want to be able to drive in comfort and SMOKE! I heard you can get some cars for smokers, but there was still the problem of our credit card also being a debit card. And, I understood that when they checked because sometimes they allowed it, they based it on your credit report, and since mine isn’t sparkly, I had to let go that option or hope. PLUS, I save $300 that can go toward my real car being checked up.
Ok, that was a progession. TWO progressions treadmill and car/trip. Next?
Hmm, maybe later I should budge time when our friend is here to see if I can’t hook up the GPS devise I had purchased with the PDA. I think it’s all in one little box in the other room. It has to get hooked onto the car somehow. It won’t be as convenient as a bigger screen on the dashboard, but it would still give guidance. The only thing I’m not sure about there is if my cigarette lighter is working. I know it doesn’t work as a lighter would heat up for a smoke. Hmm, maybe I can check that out with the mechanics. Hmm, I wonder if I could have them attach it … better try our friend first then check that out. I am pretty sure that having the devise working in the car would be an asset as a driver.
Ok, time for one more thing … let’s see …
Need to talk to our friend about the kitties … he might want to talk too about the cell phone. Still not real positive on that … maybe we could go to a phone store and get one in time for the trip, but it would have to be one that isn’t for regular talking, but instead for emergencies. I’d just give the number out to the boys, our friend, V, and Dr. M. We’re doing pretty good about not giving out our home number. I still haven’t figured out about picking up messages … not sure where to start there. Maybe the # we’re supposed to call is at work? Hmm, that one’s to hard to figure out right now … maybe though a matter of calling Comcast.
Should say something in here too … I had a message from my mother saying that my father’s brother has now died and the wake is in Minneapolis today. We never built a relationship with this Uncle past very early years. He was very poor and had drinking habits. I also found out through the obituary that one of his two daughters I had talked to slightly growing up had also died. Like I said, we weren’t close, but it is something I should acknowledge if only this brief paragraph. I would hope his family well. They must have been prosperous, because the paper mentioned nine grandchildren and one also who had died. At this point, there is only one 2nd cousin who remains on my father’s side of the family who I’d ever have some interest in. Her name is Louise. We have always gotten along well, though our contact has been limited to childhood and a few brief meetings when my father and his wife had died. After that … that side of the family will be entirely lost to time. I have that same feeling with my Grandmother to some extent. I will keep up some kind of relationship with my mother, but I don’t have any thought that it would be much beside scarce. When she sends out these kind of emails, she always includes my sister and brother’s email address. So, I know I could contact them if I wished – no phone numbers. But, it is nothing that inspires me to write down a number. Ok, ok … went as far as to save one email that lists there addresses. Still can’t see why I would ever wish to contact them. I suppose if my mother died. I’m guessing in that case my brother would contact me through work. He has that ability.
Ok, ok … enough of that. Thinking its about time … but, I want to end this portion on a slightly higher note than the last paragraph. Hmm, better put back on the braces too. Hands pretty numb. Oh, and need more coffee!
Ok, better. Dr. M. sent a brief note stating that he had looked at the movie … He said it was pretty and he thanked us. Not much else … enough to fill one line. *Sigh* Don’t know what else I may have wanted.
Oh oh that’s a downer too.
Ok, girls something bright here? Hmm, brightest thing seems to be the good feelings I have while writing papers. Maybe I should think school direction. Be nice to surprise V with another paper written by the time he gets home from work. Kind of like putting a virtual cake in the oven. Hehhee Yayyyyy Smiles! Ok, you stop playing around … SCHOOL!!!
Take out your books and a blank sheet of paper. Put your name and date across the top. Make sure you have a sharp pencil. Ok, the first question …
“Compare and contrast linguistic relativity and linguistic universals (p. 324-329), being sure to provide evidence that supports the existence of each (look for evidence in research).”
Paper …
Linguistic relativity is “the assertion that the speakers of different languages have differing cognitive systems and that these different cognitive systems influence the ways in which people speaking the various languages think about the world” (Sternberg, 2003). Linguistic universals suggest similar “characteristic patterns found across languages of various cultures” (2003). It would then seem that the difference between language relativity and universalism is that the former speaks more of differences where the latter speaks more of similarities. I’ll attempt to give ample examples of each.
Linguistic relativity would suggest that a Norwegian might have a different view of “lefsa” (a soft flattened type of bread similar to Jewish manna) than a non-Norwegian American. Lefsa is normally spread and sprinkled with butter and cinnamon sugar, or spread with jelly, and then it is rolled and eaten. Very good. A Norwegian might smile and think warmly upon hearing the name “lefsa,” where a non-Norwegian American might crinkle his nose, and think, “I don’t think so … not interested.” Another similarity to this term would be in the Hispanic/Latino community holding the word and concept of tortillas. Countries that use lefsa or tortillas, most likely would think of them more strongly or favorably than they think of bread. Americans might then have different words for bread or bread sandwiches like the terms hoagie, submarine sandwich, foot long, or grinder. Chances are that the countries of Guatamala and Norway, don’t have four separate words for the above, and when they did think of bread, they were probably thinking more of a hard long roll or French bread than a slice of “Wonder bread.”
The terminology we used is affected even by the regions we grow up. Primarily, we are a native of the mid-west. I have a friend from Philadelphia who is convinced that a sub-sandwich should be called a hoagie, because that’s how things are “out East.” He states that a Hoagie originated on Hog Island with the poor Irish working class, so his affiliation with the term hoagie is different than I might encounter. I never had that image while eating a sub-sandwich. My impression leans more to the special shape of the sandwich and similarity it had to a submarine, so I am thinking effectively compact and easy to handle, where my friend might be impressed by a feeling of solidarity with others from his native country of Ireland that have had to work hard for a living. In this manner, we have both learned to organize differently our minds around what could look outwardly like the same sandwich.
Sternberg (2003) states that language influences thought and affects perception and memory, and more concretely how we manipulate images and mental representations. If my friend were asked to draw a hoagie it might look more similar to a Philly cheese steak as I am sure my drawing of a pizza would look more like a Chicago deep dish, because I’ve lived in Chicago now over the last 25 years. Sternberg would likely think now if we were to ask you to draw a hoagie or a pizza, it would look more like our friend’s drawing or ours, because that is now what is impressed most recently in your mind.
Another example of forming different perspectives according to the labels we give our impressions is found in the word and concepts of mental retardation. I am sure that because I work with people who have developmental disabilities, the term would mean something different to me than it would to you if you, especially if you had just heard the word “retard” on a television sitcom you were watching. It appears the less conscious we are of “thinking through” our responses, the more accurate to our immediate thinking would be of the though, such as the case in Freudian slips. In a sense, the conscious filters our thoughts, especially in adapting to our environment. Chances are I would explain the phenomena of “mental retardation” differently if I were giving testimony at a trial compared to if I were explaining the “people I work with” to a friend at a bar who was three sheets to the wind, or if I were to explain the phenomena of “people who think more simply” to my five year old granddaughter.
I could imagine now that if I were to think at the level my granddaughter might understand, I would make the interpretation as fundamentally close as I could, but less complicated. In sharing an element of truth with her for example I might say, “Nancy your friend isn’t able to write her name like you because her mind makes it too difficult (yes, we talk to our granddaughter about minds). She might look at the name you wrote on the paper and see just squiggly lines.” If I were to carry that impression back to work, I might sit down with one of the people I work with who can’t write their name and be very impressed that she is writing her “squiggles” from left to right and within the margins of the faded blue lines on the paper. I might appreciate how much she’s learned and most likely identifies her thoughts with the forms she leaves on the paper. They have meaning to her, although she would have to explain it to me, because I don’t understand her written language. In this manner, I’ve learned to parse a different set of values according to the words I use to explain to my granddaughter and the words I hold in my heart, so in this respect, I have consequently developed different thoughts of my work than another who had not thought in this direction. According to the words I use to explain, things are either more complicated, or simpler.
Perhaps on an opposite plain or field, linguistic universals are opposite to linguistic relativity. This term seems to seek out the similarities of concepts cross cultures. Certain patterns of words hold fairly close interpretations. An example of this might be in the way different people interpret large spread events like Live Aid or Tsunami relief. Another example would be the probability of most cultures having relatively basic words for hello and goodbye, although the word might be the same as the Hawaiian word “Aloha.” Sternberg uses the concept of colors to explain this phenomenon, although even colors and greetings will bare cultural differences. For example, the colors of pink and purple have been said to represent homosexuality. There is a good chance that someone who was homosexual would perceive the color pink differently than a 50’s type male who might think pink is only for little girls or “commies.” I hold the color lime green and orange differently than others may because my first mini-bike as a kid was lime green, which is associated with happy fun feelings and my father had owned a Clark gas station when I was very young. I hadn’t realized that orange was not really as popular as for example red and green, because I saw the orange and black colored logo often. It represented something that was solid. However, the fact remains, I knew each of these colors existed as I am sure 5 year olds recognize throughout most countries.
In one of the previous examples, we had mentioned terms for “hello” and “goodbye.” Sternberg might assert that linguistic universals that different words within these sample categories might be used dependent on context. When we are younger or are acting less formal, we might use the words “hi” or “hello.” In an older context or more formal situation, we might specifically say, “good morning,” or “good afternoon.” If I as a 5 year old said, “good evening” to my mother, I might be showing too much formality, and if I said, “hi” to a stranger I might not be showing enough formality. If I were a sales representative over the phone, I might address too informally my unknown customer as “Hi Sue,” which might indicate to me a sense of danger. It appears that professional linguists consider this kind of word usages in finding ways in which cultures carry thoughts of similar truths to better understand human dynamics. For example, in Cancun where most strangers are vacationers, it might be more acceptable to address a stranger on more familiar terms. Though there are other standards to contend with. I would be decidedly more comfortable with the waiter on the beach saying “Hi Ann can I fetch you another Ma Tai?” Rather than the maid at my hotel saying “Hi Ann can I get you another pillow.” I wouldn’t care to have the maid so intimately attached to my name and to my more personal feelings of sleep. It might be considered an unnecessary intrusion of familiarity even though in both situations people serving or taking care of us. For similar reasons, a maid will wait until you leave before straightening up our room. It seems that it is a norm that she does her work without being seen, where I am looking forward to the waiters return and direct attention. A linguist might be interested in the probability of each country being able to express “please get me another drink.” In one country or social class the request might seem more a demand and in another country or gender it might sound more like an apologetic suggestion, which would imply the kind of thinking and mind set between the individuals involved, or thinking and mind set within the same cultural group.
In one last example in comparison and contrast, Pilling and Davies (2004) completed a study comparing tasks of color sorting, triads, and visual search between two countries who spoke different native languages. The findings were similar to the findings that Sternberg (2003) represented in his discussion of Berlin & Kay’s work on the color. One of the countries did not have words for orange, pink and purple. The results would indicate if “a core universal component [was] modulated by a relativist influence” which might be caused by a direct and indirect influence on pre-attentive processes. The concern of the paper was whether “linguistic categories affect color perception” in that either the universalistic or the relativist position would indicate the distribution of categorical perception. It appeared as a result of the test that the country who had more “terms” to describe the colors took more time in the third task of sorting because it took longer when they named the colors than in using the strategy of perception only, but the overall results indicated universal perception processes were stronger than relativity perceptual processes or strategies. The results of this study have been contradicted by other studies. But, the example outlines well the either or position of the two key terms “universalistic” or “relativistic.”
Neuropsychological research has taught us about the relationship between particular areas of the brain and particular linguistic functions “through studies of brain-lesioned patients,” which is primarily due to the relationship between “the areas of lesions observed in patients” and “the observed deficits in the brain-injured patients” (Sternberg, 2003). The studies show damage to language is more severe in the Wernicke’s area of the brain than the Broca’s area and that the posterior cortex plays a large role in language functions (2003). They have also found if you receive damage to your left hemisphere other areas of the brain will be enhanced to take over for the lost ability and that some of the subcortical structures of the brain affect language functioning (2003).
Neuropsychologists have outlined models of how the brain processes language and have indicated that males and females process language differently and are affected differently by lesions, found that language processes are similar for people who speak, and found people who do sign language process language similar to people who speak though language processes of right and left hand people are different (Sternberg, 2003). Further language processing differences are shown between people who learn languages early compared to late (2003). The last area noted by Sternberg (2003) is that studies indicate people with natural lesions may be affected in other areas than the area damaged, studies can only occur only after damage has been done and naturally one cannot cause a lesion in order to study it.
Other neuropsychological research is available that indicates a smattering of examples such as there is effect shown in language for people with schizophrenia and that brain disturbance is one of many factors that might disturb the sensitivity of this group’s cognitive functioning (Walter, 2005). Research seems to be showing the affect of brain injury on language functioning to be underestimated “in terms of vocational, behavioral, and social outcomes following the rehabilitation process” (Klonoff, Sheperk, O’Brien, Chiapello, & Hodak (1990). Research indicates that “due to the absence of a brain mechanism for converting spatial arrays (e.g., spelling patterns)” children who are late in developing left-hemisphere dominance become impaired in learning the written language (Mather, (2003). And, research indicates syntactic processing problems are found in both language and music perception for people with Broca’s aphasia (Patel, 2003).
Lastly, Sternberg (2003) discusses briefly other language/brain studies such as electrical stimulation, metabolic activity, and blood flow. From these methods, we can learn information such as EMG (electromyography) activity is shown to be lower while students study foreign language in a lab compared to being aided by a computer and blood pressure is higher at the beginning and end of their learning sessions than it was in the middle, which might indicate the need to study optimal classroom conditions while learning foreign language (Ritaven, Koskelo, & Hanninen, 2002). We can learn electrical stimulation studies provide an argument in favor of “a main ventral subcortical pathway underlying the semantic system” (Duffau, Gatignol, Mandonnet, Peruzzi, Tzourio-Mazoyer & Capelle, 2005), and we can learn by electrodes placed during epileptic surgery that a suggestion can be made toward the existence of a “broad neuronal network” connecting Broca’s area to the Wernicke’s area (Matsumoto, Nair, LaPresto, Najm, Binagman, Shibasaki & Luders, 2004).
Duffau, H., Gatignol, P., Mandonnet, E., Peruzzi, P., Tzourio-Mazoyer, N., & Capelle, L., (2005, April). New insights into the anatomo-functional connectivity of the semantic system: A study using cortico-subcortical electrostimulations (Electronic ed.). Brain, 128(4), 797-810.
Heinrichs, W. R. (2005, April), The primacy of cognition in schizophrenia (Electronic ed.). American Psychological Association, 60(3), 229-242.
Klonoff, P. S., Sheperd, J. C., O’Brien, K. P., Chiapello, D. A. & Hodak, J. A., (1990, July). Rehabilitation and outcome of right-hemisphere stroke patients: Challenges to traditional diagnostic and treatment methods (Electronic ed.). 4(3), 147-163.
Mather, D. S. (2003, July/August). Dyslexia and dysgraphia: More than written language difficulties iin common (Electronic ed). Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(4), 307.
Matsumoto, R., Nair, D., R., Najm, I., Bingaman, W., Shibasaki, H., & Luders, H. O. (2004). Functional connectivity in the human language system: A cortico-cortical evoked potential study (Electronic ed.). Brain, 127(10), 2316-2330.
Patel, A. D. (2003, July). Language, music, syntax and the brain (Electronic ed.). Nature Neuroscience, 6(7), 674-681.
Piling, M. Davies, I R L. (2004, November). Linguistic relativism and color cognition, (Electronic ed.). British Journal of Psychology, 95(4), 429-456.
Ritaven, T. Koskelo, R. & Hanninen, O. (2002, June). Myoelectric activity differences in three learning sessions (Electronic ed.). Journal of Psychophysiology, 16(2), 92-96.
Sternberg, R. J. (2003). Cognitive psychology (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wasdsworth/Thomson Learning.
posted by Ann Marie @ 6/06/2006 02:39:00 AM
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