Read Chapters 9 & 10.
Why would language and intelligence be in the same chapter? How does the social context impact language acquisition or development? How does the social context impact intelligence?
From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?
What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?
Provide a list of psychological terms that you used in your comment at the bottom of your post.
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Explore!
The Birth of a Word http://www.ted.com/talks/deb_roy_the_birth_of_a_word.html
Battling Functional Fixedness http://sarcasticcharm.com/99-life-hacks-that-could-make-your-life-easier
Language and intelligence are likely to be so close together in the book due to the fact that they are closely linked. Language and intelligence rely on each other to function. Without intelligence, humans wouldn’t have the cognitive skills necessary to develop any kind of language, let alone the language that is as complicated as today’s is. On the other side of the coin, intelligence relies on language. Without language, humans have very few ways to articulate their thoughts, and the level of intelligence found in each person becomes a moot point, because no one would be able to communicate well enough for anyone to cooperate for long enough to accomplish anything. Needless to say, humans would be far farther behind in technological advances without language. Intelligence and language define humans as a species. Without either of these essential qualities, humans would not be as “special” as we think ourselves to be.
Social context can be wildly influential in developing language acquisition. There is such a thing as a critical period, which is defined by the book as the period after which language can’t be learned. One of the examples the book uses is the example of a girl that was kept in a closet for the first decade (at least) of her life, and no one really ever talked to her. She was 13 when she finally got out, and the critical period had ended, leaving her unable to acquire any new language skills. The more language people are exposed to at a young age, the more expansive their vocabulary is likely to be. Intelligence is also susceptible to social context, but it is also somewhat determined by genes and the traits inherited by parents. Intelligence can still be impacted by environment, however. Children who are read to more often when young or taught by their parents, are usually predisposed to higher intelligence later in life.
The most interesting and memorable topic to me was actually how context and genes can relate to intelligence and language. I’ve always wondered what is the perfect recipe for a kid being smart, and whether I fit into that group. Obviously, it’s not actually as simple as a recipe, but as a kid I was convinced that it was that simple. I think my parents are really intelligent and that probably played a part in my relatively high intelligence, but I was also read to a lot as a child. My younger brother, though very funny and clever and all around one of my best friends, does not get as good of grades as I do (he excels at cooking, though). So it’s certain that genes don’t determine everything about intelligence or language. As I think more about it, I think that perhaps because I’m 2 years older, I got Mom and Dad’s full attention for my early developmental stages and my brother got less attention because my parents had to divide their attention between us. If I had to guess, I would say the context of his environment was harder to learn in than mine was.
Language
intelligence
cognitive
develop
Social context
critical period
It makes sense that language and intelligence would be included in the same section of the book because they are extremely interrelated. If they are not both present, humans are not able to function in the way that makes us unlike any other organism in on the planet. If one were to have language and no intelligence, they would have nothing to say. On the other hand, if one were to have intelligence and no language, we would never know that that individual had any thoughts in his or her head at all. This instance is similar to the cases of Broca’s aphasia and Wernicke’s aphasia. It is extremely important that humans have both language and intelligence to be able to not only possess thoughts, but to be able to communicate them to others as well.
Social context plays a huge role in both language and intelligence. As was discussed in the linguistic relativity hypothesis, the vocabulary available in the speakers’ language determines how the speaker thinks about things. For instance, the book gave the example of certain cultures having less vocabulary to describe color. This means that the social context in which language is learned determines how things are perceived and described to others. Likewise, social context largely determines intelligence as well. As the book said, approximately fifty percent of intelligence is nature and the other fifty percent is nurture. As far as the nurture half goes, the book cites that family and home environment, culture, occupation, and school all influence intelligence greatly. All of these things influence and either nurture or inhibit intelligence in individuals.
One of the most interesting parts of these chapters was the section on metacognition. Metacognition is thinking about one’s own thoughts. Forms of metacognition include thinking about specific facts and where and when we learned them and how they affect what is happening now, self-reflection, and theory of mind. Theory of mind is particularly interesting. It is the ability to realize that people have their own perspectives and base their actions off of their perspectives. Humans have the ability, through metacognition, to imagine these perspectives and attempt to understand why people act the way that they do. This is so fascinating because I never thought about the fact that we have the ability to put ourselves “in someone else’s shoes” and act accordingly.
Out of the chapter on intelligence, I found the part about the different kinds of intelligence interesting. This explains why some people are “book smart” and some people are “street smart.” I really like Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences because it points out how people excel in different areas such as linguistic, logical, musical, special, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic intelligence. Another point of view that I liked was Alfred Binet’s opinion on his intelligence test. He realized that intelligence is too complex to decide whether one child is more intelligent than another. I really appreciate this view because I don’t necessarily agree with the testing of children’s intelligence from the age of preschool.
Vocabulary: language, intelligence, Broca’s aphasia, Wernicke’s aphasia, social context, linguistic relativity hypothesis, metacognition, theory of multiple intelligences, intelligence test
Throughout reading chapters 9 and 10 there were many instances in which language and intelligence went hand-in-hand. The concept of language is crucial in determining ones intelligence to some extent. This is, in turn, why these concepts are so close together in the psychology text book. Each one is different yet completely linked to the other. For example, language is used to quantify intelligence when one does the written or spoken parts of an IQ test. Another example is the fact that children that are not stimulated in learning language at a young age tend to have a lower IQ.
The idea of social context being a big factor in language development is seen in many studies. The more social a child can be to interact and communicate with other children and adults the faster and more that child learns linguistically than a child that does not have much social interaction and does not communicate often. The example that was given in the book was the situation of Genie who did not talk much at all until the age of 13 in which she did not have a very extensive vocabulary and had a harder time learning her language because she was not brought up in a way that nurtured this behavior. In turn, this impacted her intelligence which includes being able to meet the demands of the environment. Since she had a limited vocabulary and it was harder for her to pick up on language this decreased her ability to understand and meet society’s requirements which lowers her intelligence.
The topic in this reading that grasped my attention the most was that of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This topic was found at the end of chapter nine when the author explains how things go wrong in thought processes. This topic intrigued me because I had heard of this before, however, I had never really thought of the provoked thoughts being obsessions. I thought that the actions that one did to reduce the anxiety were the obsessions, not necessarily the thoughts that provoke those actions. This and the concept of Schizophrenia were very interesting to me. Schizophrenia was interesting because I did not realize that this disease was more than just seeing things. This section of chapter nine really opened my eyes to what really goes on behind the scenes in these diseases.
The most surprising thing that I learned about in this reading was the idea of intelligence being a combination of all sorts of different environmental and genetic factors. I knew of the IQ test before I read this chapter but I had no idea that these tests had been altered so much in order to make the best possible conclusion on how smart a person is. Even then the IQ test does not measure all aspects of a person’s intelligence. For example, a person that does not standardize test well may not have a very high IQ, however, they could be extremely gifted in a certain area that does not show on the IQ test. There are so many factors that play into how intelligent a person is and scientists are still trying to quantify this at a higher success rate than they have right now.
Vocabulary: language, intelligence, vocabulary, OCD, Schizophrenia, IQ test
Intelligence is defined as “the ability to learn and meet the demands of the environment effectively.” Meeting the demands of the environment requires communication with those around you. Metacognition is another level of intelligence: the ability to control one’s mental abilities. To control your mind, you need to be able to form coherent thoughts. The linguistic relativity hypothesis states that the greater your vocabulary, the more complex your thoughts will be. Social intelligence is another example of why language and intelligence play so well together. To succeed socially, you need communication.
Language is greatly affected by social context. The clearest example of this is a child’s home life, and how it affects them during the critical period of developing language. After this period, a person is unable to develop certain language skills. Studies have shown that children who grow up in lower-class homes know fewer words when they enter school than children in higher-class homes. Researchers suggest that this is because poor children are exposed to less words and the words they do hear are more likely to be negative words telling them not to do something. In addition to socioeconomic status, differences in gender also can affect language development. Girls tend to be better at language and speak sooner than boys, and this is likely because of how they are raised. Boys are encouraged to pursue physical activities that require less speech. The number of languages spoken in a home can also affect development. Children in multi-lingual homes may be a little slower in developing language skills.
Scientists have wondered for years if intelligence is influenced by genetic or environmental factors. This is made manifest in the nature vs nurture debate. Researchers Hernstein and Murray did a study and suggested that intelligence is influenced by genetics and has heritability.
Tests have proven to show some correlation between genetics and intelligence. Researchers have found that identical twins scored more similarly on tests than fraternal twins. Critics argue that this is due to the tendency parents have to treat identical twins as people who are more alike. Researchers have also found that the test scores of adopted children correspond more to those of their biological parents, but not by much.
Researchers attribute 50% of intelligence to genetics and 50% to environment. Yet again, home life plays a large role in intelligence development. Parents can influence child’s development by stimulating them daily and providing organization for their schedules. Culture also can influence intelligence- some cultures require memorization to function in society. However, different cultures define intelligence differently. Schools also have a huge effect on intelligence. At school, children learn new information and develop skills to further their intelligence.
The most surprising thing to me was how important home life is in developing language, thoughts, and even intelligence! This concept is stated over and over in psychology, and each time it makes me so thankful for my wonderful upbringing.
The most interesting topics to me were mental retardation and giftedness. My brother has Down syndrome, and I am always interested in learning more about him and people like him. Learning about giftedness is also interesting to me because, like I’m sure almost everyone in this class was, I was part of the “gifted and talented” group in my elementary school, and I liked learning what that actually meant.
Terms: language, critical period, heritability, intelligence, meta cognition, linguistic relativity hypothesis, Down syndrome, giftedness
Language would be grouped together in the book because of their reliance on one another. Without intelligence, we would have a hard time communicating because we wouldn’t be able to learn new words, control or recognize factors in the environment that we might need to alert others to, or understand what we are trying to communicate. And without language, we would have no way to share information with others, no way to communicate about an environmental factor that needs to be brought to attention, and no way to communicate our thoughts.
Social context is important in language because without other people, we wouldn’t need to communicate with others. Social context is also important because we learn language socially; by listening to our parents talk, and eventually conversing with them and others as we master speech. It is also important that this social interaction happen before the critical period. If the child is not stimulated socially before the critical period, the child will not be able to learn or use language effectively just like Genie who was rarely spoken to and was never able to fully use language to her advantage.
Similarly, we need a stimulating environment in order to expand our intelligence. If a child grows up in a not very stimulating environment, the chances are that they will have a lower intelligence than a child who grew up with multiple types of stimulating toys or people.
I was most interested in the section on language structure. I remember back in high school, I was taking an English class and one of the things we discussed quite a bit was about how language works and where does language come from. I remember watching a video about phenomes and how phenomes gradually became morphemes . Also in that class, we had a project about lexical meaning where we tracked down the entomology of a word and wrote a report about it.
I was also interested in the section about learning multiple languages. I always wanted to be able to speak multiple languages and depending on the language I’m “learning” (I don’t try very hard most of the time) I enjoy looking at how different languages are similar. For example, German and Dutch are very closely related; it is very easy to recognize German roots in Dutch words and eventually recognize them in English words as well.
The most memorable part of the reading was about the theory of multiple intelligences. I thought it was very cool that there are different types of intelligence and that everyone has their own combination of intelligences that make up who they are as individual.
Language
Intelligence
Critical Period
Phemomes
Morphemes
Lexical Meaning
Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Language and intelligence are located closely together in the book because there are many aspects of that they have in common, yet they are separate chapters because they are still so complex on their own. Language can influence intelligence and intelligence can even influence language acquisition and development. Language and the ability to communicate effectively must be in place for any sort of intelligence to arise. Without the ability to get our ideas across to others, intelligence would be virtually non-existent. This is especially true when taking into account non-Western ideas of intelligence that involve interpersonal communication. Intelligence can also influence how effectively we learn language. Although it is proven humans already have an inborn capacity to learn language, intelligence can also play a part in how well we learn the language, as well as learning multiple languages, especially after the “sensitive” period. As we can see, language and intelligence are both closely interwoven and share a lot of the same big ideas and concepts, explaining why they are located so closely in the book. But each is also very complex on its own, involving many theories, environmental and biological based, that they require their own chapter to fully explain the topic.
Social context plays a big role on language acquisition and development as well as intelligence. As stated earlier, humans have an inborn capacity to learn language. Any language. As was demonstrated in the book, babies are capable of perceiving all possible phonemes. It is within the baby’s social context, where it is raised, that unused phonemes are eliminated and used ones are better learned. That is, the baby begins to learn the language of its social and environmental context. The influence of social context is also seen when it comes to intelligence. Although, the heritability of intelligence is 50 percent, the other 50 percent can also be explained by environment and social context. For example, children that grow up in more affluent homes tend to have higher intelligence levels than those who grew up in poorer homes. This is due in part because the child in the wealthier home has a different social environment, one that promotes better learning with more involvement from the parents, more educational toys and access to better schooling. Although this is not shown to have a lasting effect on the child, it is still obvious that at an early age, a more supportive and educational social environment is more likely to lead to higher intelligence levels.
The most interesting topic to me within these chapters was when the nature vs. nurture topic was addressed. I took a sociology class in high school and that was a main idea that was discussed within the class and has left me intrigued ever since. I don’t believe that we develop solely from nature or solely from nurture, that it is a blend of both, but it is also interesting to read how different parts of us are developed from each. For example, comparing identical twins’ intelligence levels to determine if intelligence is really genetically based and finding that there is indeed a strong correlation. However, you have to also take into account that identical twins also get fairly similar treatment from their parents, as opposed to any other siblings, which then brings up an environmental factor. Nature vs. nurture is just an entirely back and forth conversation that will always bring up more questions, more answers that then lead to more questions, and I will always find it incredibly interesting.
The most surprising thing I learned within these chapters was of the existence of the g factor. The measure of intelligence and how to define intelligence has always been a difficult topic for me, as I felt that it too often didn’t take into account several areas of abilities. The g factor only reemphasizes this idea more, saying that a general factor underlies all mental abilities and determines intelligence. Although this idea is not the only one in existence, and other theories do take into account multiple areas of abilities, it is still widely accepted as an aspect of intelligence.
Terms: Language, phoneme, sensitive period, intelligence, g factor, heritability, nature vs. nurture
Language and intelligence are located near each other because they are so closely interrelated. Language and intelligence go hand in hand with each other and one could not come very easily without the other which is why we use them together in our lives all of the time. For example, the language a person uses can sometimes be related to their level of intelligence. It is often said that those with a larger range of vocabulary have a greater level of intelligence than those that have a smaller range. Language is also important in terms of intelligence because without language, we would not be able to pass along knowledge and therefore the intelligence level of the human race would be greatly diminished. As language has progressed and become more complex over time, we have also become more advanced as a society.
The social context is a huge aspect of language acquisition and development. Many children learn how to form sentences and communicate with others by learning from the people around them. I'm sure we have all seen those funny videos online of young kids that have learned a swear word from being around their parents, family, or others they have encountered. While we may giggle at the child, it is actually an amazing feat to think about the fact that the child simply heard the word and was able to repeat it. This can also be problematic because in some (many) instances, kids may not always know what these words mean. Using words that they don't understand can result in serious consequences for the child saying it or for the person that has exposed them to it.
Communication in terms of language is extremely important for development. Children who speak more growing up tend to be better at advancing their learning of language. Children who don't speak as much while they are growing up tend to be less advanced in their language skills. This also has been shown to impact intelligence as well. Due to the decreased language skills, such as in the example from the textbook, she was unable to understand and therefore meet the needs placed upon her by society.
Intelligence is a huge topic among people, particularly students, all over the world. We are constantly worrying about how we will compare to others and if we will ever measure up to what is expected of us. This is especially significant in honors students. One thing comes to mind when applying to colleges and trying to prove our "intelligence". It's those dreaded standardized tests. The SAT isn't needed as an entrance to this university however it is needed for many across the United States still. I found the section on it to be very interesting and I was quite surprised by the results that it produced. Many are trying to make the test optional for admissions. The test has shown to be very biased and the results produced by it do not take everything into account. Others are simply trying to improve the test to become a better predictor of what the first year grades will be like. Until then, students will have to continue suffering sweaty palms and test anxiety if they want to be accepted into certain universities.
Vocabulary Terms: language, intelligence, learn, communicate, development, anxiety, standardized
Language and intelligence are in the same chapter because they are so closely related. Not to say that someone who cannot use language is not intelligent, and in fact they may be much more intelligent than a literate person but in very different ways. However, the chapter talks about the linguistic relativity hypothesis, which states that the more words we know about a subject, the more complex and detailed our thoughts are about this subject. Just because our thoughts are more detailed, however, does not mean that those without language cannot see them; they just may not have the words to describe them. Some people may assume that because those images and sensations don’t exist as words, the person experiencing them has a lower intelligence. This is not true at all; it’s just a different way of viewing the world.
I was super intrigued by this chapter, especially the language portion. I’m an English major and I love reading words others have written, but I’m actually quite terrible at verbalizing my thoughts, especially when it comes to emotions. In any setting, I tend to stumble and trip over my words and I’m unable to communicate as effectively as I would like. Syntax is also an important factor in being an English major, because there are so many ways that certain words could be used, and it’s important to have a variety of vocabulary in your writing. I’m also super interested in linguistics, and the section on lexical meaning caught my attention. I find it super interesting how the definitions of words can change over time, or mean something very different when used by a baby boomer as opposed to a millennial.
The section on child-directed speech was really interesting and surprising to me. When I first started working with TC and TK, I automatically started doing this sort of baby talk. I don’t really know why it happened, but as I observed, I noticed other security members doing it too. I’ve often questioned why we do that; we have to dress them and often have to literally hold their hand to take them through crowded places, but they aren’t toddlers. I know the cats are fully capable of understanding me if I talk normally, but because it is hard to hear what’s going on at the majority of events we attend, I feel as though the higher pitched voice, slower talking and more exaggeration of facial expression helps better convey my meaning in a situation in which TC or TK can only communicate back through nonverbals.
linguistic relativity hypothesis, language, language production, syntax, lexical meaning, nonverbal communication.
Language and Intelligence are located so closely together in the book because they have many things in common, but they are still so complex that they need their own chapters. Both can influence each other, language must be communicating effectively for any sort of intelligence to arise. Without the ability to to get our ideas across to others, intelligence would be lost.
The social context is an aspect of language acquisition and development while having the ability to understand and manage men and women to act wisely in human relationships. Many people find intelligence to be a major topic in society as of today, worrying about what their IQ is and if they are smarter than others or not. One thing that came to mind when reading these chapters was the dreaded standardized tests that were mandatory in high school. Now the SAT is not needed as an entrance for colleges and universities in the midwest, but it can be encouraged, the ACT is what is needed in the midwest considering it was created right in Iowa City, Iowa and where it is scored. I found it surprising that some people are taking the SAT to predict what their first year grades will be like. I appreciate that some students are trying to get these tests thrown out, but question if they do what exactly will colleges ask for instead? When looking back and finding different study materials online the SAT is found more friendly towards practical and creative skills while the ACT leans more towards practical skills.
Creativity in terms of intelligence is original and extremely valuable. People who score higher are on creativity tests tend to score higher on intelligence tests. Investigators found that creative environments help nurture, inspire, and refine creative thinking as a child is growing up. These environments help to encourage people to be innovative, provide freedom, and time to think and explore. Something memorable was seeing a section on does environmental enrichment make a difference? This made me think back to my dynamics of human development class where the answer is yes. A child in a low SES could receive less intellectual stimulation than a child in a high SES.
Something I found interesting was some of the things that could go wrong with thought processes. Reading more about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is interesting to me after reading this as well as the book, Triggered by Fletcher Wortmann. Knowing that the person knows of their obsession but still can not stop their actions is interesting to me. The concept of Schizophrenia was interesting as well. Schizophrenia was interesting to me because I have a few cousins that have schizophrenia so I already have some background about this disorder, but I am always trying to find some new information so I know other things about schizophrenia. This section helped me to understand this disorder much better in ways than I did before.
Vocabulary: IQ, language, intelligence, social context, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia
Language and intelligence are grouped together in our discussion and near each other in the textbook, because they both compliment each other greatly. Knowledge of language and context and use of language are factors that apply in determining intelligence of a person especially through standardized testing and IQ testing. Also without the ability of language we would have a much harder time determining intelligence since their would be no form in which to convey results of intelligence.
Both language and intelligence can be greatly affected by social context and the environment that we are placed in. Social context is key in language development over critical periods in childhood. If children are not able to develop skills for language over these critical points within their development, research has shown that it is much harder for them to learn later in life. We see this explained quite well in the learning of a second language as a teenager compared to learning it as a child. This also has to do biologically with the Broca’s Area being more active in language learning in childhood as compared to teenage years. While we are babies, in prevocal learning we learn how to perceive phonemes which translates to social interaction allowing them to learn. Same during babbling to learn correct vocalization. If we don’t have the social context and interaction with others to determine if what we are saying is right, then how are we able to develop language skills. Finally they would know through social context and interaction which words and sentences are correct to say during the first word and telegraphic speech part of their childhood. Child-direct speech by caregivers helps babies learn words of language as well playing a key role in social context impacts on language and language development. Meanwhile, social context has big impacts on intelligence as well. The External and Experiential parts of Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of intelligence rely heavily on social interaction and context to know whether doing things in a certain way are correct or incorrect and how this knowledge applies to your intelligence of certain situations. Wisdom certainly ties into social context through the fact that we learn conventional wisdom about situations through social context in the right situation in order to have wisdom on it. Take cooking for example. I work in the Piazza kitchen and when I’m preparing food sometimes I get tips from other cooks on how to do it faster or better. This is the social context required for me to gather more wisdom on cooking. Family, environment, occupation, schooling, and culture can have an effect on general intelligence and even how intelligence is defined in the case of culture. There are different ways to view intelligence in different cultures because of the differences in their environment and what they need to thrive and be successful within their culture. Optimal environments for certain categories in intelligence can also have a positive effect on bringing out that form of intelligence. People from poorer homes tend to be less intelligent due to a dearth of intellectual stimuli in their life while they grow up.
One topic that I found to be both interesting and surprising was the fact that spatial navigation and mental imagery do not require language to obtain. I suppose it makes sense since these are working off of other senses that we have to be able to operate in our minds such as sight and touch.
Terms: spatial navigation, mental imagery, environment, wisdom, Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (External and Internal), Child-direct speech, phonemes, babbling, telegraphic speech, prevocal learning, critical period, IQ
It is easy for me to see how language and intelligence could be related. For one thing, most lessons that I have learned have been taught to me through speaking English. I don’t mean school lessons either, I mean the opinions and viewpoints of people I have met telling me their thoughts and allowing me to broaden my understandings of different parts of the world. Each of these people has used English to tell me their thoughts and while what they said may have been fine and well said, I know that the English language and the structure of our language affects our ability to communicate and it changes our mentality about many things. In terms of social context, in English we say “I broke…” or “I forgot…” which implies the fault is our own (which it usually is) but in languages like Spanish or Japanese the dialogue is changed to say things like “it broke itself” or “it was forgotten” and while they still essentially mean the same thing, the attitude is much more positive. It seems to me that people who speak more “positive” languages like Spanish or Japanese would probably on average feel better about themselves just because their language is less blameful. On the intelligence side, what you’re exposed to could completely change what you’re able to learn. People whose parents don’t cook probably were never taught to cook. If you grow up in New York City, never needing to drive, then you probably didn’t learn to drive. It’s a simple matter of exposure and experience shaping who you are as a person. Maybe you have an amazing hidden talent for riding horses but you’ve never had a chance to ride a horse. Its mind boggling to me to think about all the things I might not get to try and it honestly makes me mad. Social context allows for different types of learning and different types of language development just because people are experiencing different things
Critical Periods were very cool to read about. How incredible that the human brain can be so malleable and ready to learn at one moment and then far less receptive to new information later down the road. Children are the best learners, that seems like common knowledge but their ability to learn new things like languages or skills is so much higher than that of adults. Because their brains are developing and solidifying information into its early foundations, it just sticks with them better and when that window of increased learning closes it can never be reopened. Pretty fascinating.
Language, intelligence, exposure, experience, development, Critical Periods
Language and intelligence are topics that are interdependent of each other. Although the two areas are closely related, language does not equal intelligence. As defined by the book intelligence is “the ability to learn, to meet the demands of the environment effectively, and to understand and control one’s mental activities”. In order for an individual to learn and meet environmental demands effectively, one must communicate with others around them. In Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence, Gardner argues that there is not just one type of intelligence but different types of individual intelligence. One of these types is linguistic intelligence which relies heavily on language both written and spoken. Overall language provides interactions with others and a way to express emotions and thoughts which all enhance intelligence.
Both language and intelligence are clearly impacted by social context. For example, language development declines after about the age of thirteen and so if a child has not been heavily exposed to language in the form of written or verbal communication they will suffer the disadvantage of having a limited vocabulary. It is important that children be exposed to positive verbal communication before reaching the critical period or else they too will lack vocabulary and maybe even lack the acquisition of grammatical rules. Even though humans are born with the ability to learn a new language, environmental issues like abuse can hinder the process of learning language. Social context can also affect intelligence in the same way as language. The book mentions that intelligence is about fifty percent based on nature and other half based on nurture. Although intelligence is said to be based on genes and inheritance, nurture aspects such as school and home environments can be such as influencing.
I was really surprised to read about how intelligence is based half on genes and the other half on nurture. I have always that there was one correct answer but turns out maybe our intelligence isn’t based solely on your genes but how you grew up and what types of things you were exposed to as a child. It also makes me wonder about children who have the potential to do great things but grow up in an unfortunate environment that does supplement their inherited intelligence. Perhaps the most memorable thing from the reading is the section that described Genie’s story. I never knew how important it is for a child to experience positive vocabulary early on. I guess I just assumed that communication disorders like being mute were because of certain genes that a person inherited but it turns out that some disorders occur because the person was neglected and didn’t get proper experience with vocabulary and grammatical acquisition.
Vocabulary: language, intelligence, Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence, linguistic intelligence, critical period