Psychology 349LT - Seminar in Perception and Cognition: 'Language and Thought'
Sem: Language and Thought
Spring
2021
01
4.00
Mara Breen
M 08:00AM-09:15AM;TTH 08:00AM-09:00AM;WF 08:00AM-09:45AM
Mount Holyoke College
113801
mbreen@mtholyoke.edu
Languages differ in the way they describe the world. For example, the noun for bridge is feminine in German, but masculine in French. Russian has two words for blue, while English has only one. The Piraha (an Amazonian hunter-gatherer tribe) arguably have no number words. In this course, we will be asking to what extent these cross-linguistic differences are reflected in thought. That is, do German speakers think bridges are more feminine than French speakers do? Can Russian speakers discriminate different shades of blue better than English speakers? Can the Piraha count? In exploring these questions, we hope to discover how tightly linked language and thought are.
This course is open to juniors and seniors; This course is limited to PSYCH, PSYED, and NEURO majors only.; Prereq: PSYCH-200 or PSYCH-204.
Any available seats and the waitlist will open to junior majors on the first Thursday of pre-registration.