Key term
AQA GCSE Psychology 8182
Memory
Perception
Development
Research Methods
Topic overviewHypotheses and variablesSampling methodsExperimental designs and types of experimentInterviews, questionnaires, case studies and observationsResearch procedures, reliability and validityEthical issues in psychological researchTypes of data, calculations and averagesCorrelation, graphs and the normal distribution
Social Influence
Language, Thought and Communication
Brain and Neuropsychology
Language, Thought and Communication
- 4 subtopics
- 12 things to know
- Paper 2
What Language, Thought and Communication covers
Language, Thought and Communication is examined in Paper 2, Social context and behaviour. It covers language, thought and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, animal communication and von Frisch's bee study, non-verbal communication and explaining non-verbal behaviour through Darwin and Yuki.
Where it is assessed
Paper 2
Social context and behaviour, 1 hour 45 minutes and 50% of the GCSE.
Check the AQA specification ↗The 4 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Language, thought and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesisPiaget's view that thought comes before language, the strong and weak Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and the evidence from colour naming, Hopi, Navajo and the Dani.Open →
- Animal communication and von Frisch's bee studyHow animals communicate for survival, reproduction, territory and food, von Frisch's round and waggle dances, and how human language differs, including displacement.Open →
- Non-verbal communicationEye contact, open and closed posture, postural echo, touch, and personal space with Hall's zones and the effects of culture, status and gender.Open →
- Explaining non-verbal behaviour: Darwin and YukiDarwin's evolutionary theory of non-verbal behaviour, evidence from newborns, sensory deprivation and cross-cultural research, display rules, and Yuki's emoticon study.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
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What evidence from the Dani of New Guinea challenges the strong version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
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Describe the method of von Frisch's bee study.
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How can eye contact signal attraction?
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What is postural echo?
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What zones of personal space did Hall describe?
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Describe the method of Yuki's emoticon study.
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What were the results of Yuki's emoticon study?
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How does animal communication help survival?
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What does Piaget's theory claim about the relationship between language and thought?
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How do animals use communication for reproduction?
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What does Darwin's evolutionary theory claim about non-verbal communication?
Take Language, Thought and Communication further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Verbal communication vs Non-verbal communication
Verbal communication: passing on a message using spoken or written words. Non-verbal communication: passing on a message without words, through gestures, expressions or posture.
Linguistic determinism vs Linguistic relativity
Linguistic determinism: the view that language fixes the limits of what a person can think. Linguistic relativity: the view that language influences, but does not fix, how a person thinks.
Round dance vs Waggle dance
Round dance: a circling bee movement signalling food close to the hive. Waggle dance: a figure-of-eight bee movement giving the direction and distance of food.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What does Piaget's theory claim about the relationship between language and thought?
Model answer
Piaget claimed that language depends on thought. A child must understand a concept before they can use the words for it correctly.
- 2
What example supports Piaget's view that thought comes before language?
Model answer
Babies start using words such as 'gone' only after they understand object permanence. The word appears once the concept is already in place.
- 3
What did Sinclair-de-Zwart find when she taught non-conserving children words for quantity?
Model answer
Sinclair-de-Zwart taught children who could not conserve words such as 'more', 'less', 'longer' and 'shorter'. Few of the children then learned to conserve, so the words had not changed their thinking.
- 4
Why did Piaget see young children's egocentric speech as support for his view?
Model answer
Piaget argued that young children's speech is egocentric because their thinking is egocentric. Speech reflects the stage of thought the child has reached.
- 5
Give one weakness of Piaget's view of language and thought.
Model answer
Piaget underplays the part language plays in helping thinking develop. Vygotsky argued that language and social interaction actively shape children's thinking.
- 6
What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis claim?
Model answer
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis claims that thinking depends on language. The language a person speaks shapes how they see and think about the world.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Language, Thought and Communication revision questions
- What does Language, Thought and Communication cover in AQA GCSE Psychology?
- 4 subtopics: language, thought and the sapir-whorf hypothesis, animal communication and von frisch's bee study, non-verbal communication and explaining non-verbal behaviour: darwin and yuki. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Language, Thought and Communication organised?
- By the AQA 8182 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Language, Thought and Communication, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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