Language, thought and communication
What's covered
Key facts
Darwin argued emotional expressions evolved because they aided survival and reproduction, so were naturally selected.
Human communication can refer to things that are not present, including past and future events; bee dances cannot.
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposes that the language a person speaks shapes the way they think and see the world.
Argyle found that when one person wore dark glasses, conversations had more pauses and interruptions, showing eye contact regulates conversational flow.
Serviceable habits: a behaviour that once had a purpose (e.g. baring teeth to bite) becomes an emotional signal of anger.
A round dance (rapid circular movements) signals that a food source is close to the hive.
Whorf claimed the Hopi language treats time differently from English, expressing it as an ongoing process rather than countable units.
Closed posture, such as crossing the arms, signals rejection, defensiveness or feeling threatened.
Darwin's evolutionary theory explains non-verbal communication as innate, adaptive and shaped by natural selection.
Karl von Frisch carried out the classic study showing that honeybees communicate the location of food through "dances".
Sample questions
A taste of the 52 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
According to Darwin, why did emotional expressions evolve in humans?
- ✓They aided survival and reproduction, so were naturally selected.
- •They developed randomly with no link to survival at all.
- •They were invented to replace spoken language over time.
- •They were taught by parents and copied through observation.
What does a honeybee's round dance signal about a food source?
- ✓It is close to the hive
- •It is far from the hive
- •Its exact direction from the sun
- •That the hive must move location
What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis propose about language and thought?
- •Everyone thinks identically regardless of the language they speak
- •Language and thought are entirely separate, unrelated systems
- ✓The language you speak shapes how you think and see the world
- •Thought develops fully before any language is learned
Which best defines non-verbal communication?
- •Communicating only through written text and symbols
- •Communicating using sign language as a full grammar
- ✓Communicating without words, e.g. eye contact and body language
- •Using tone of voice to change a spoken sentence's meaning
Which concept describes baring teeth (once used to bite) becoming a signal of anger?
- •Cultural display rules
- •Operant conditioning
- •Pupil dilation reflex
- ✓Serviceable associated habits
In the waggle dance, what tells other bees the direction of the food source?
- ✓The angle of the dance relative to the sun
- •The colour of paint marking the bee
- •The loudness of the buzzing during the dance
- •The number of waggle runs in a set time
Try it for four weeks. Free.
One school. Unlimited classes. No card limit. No teacher limit. If your students aren't practising daily by the end of the trial, you owe us nothing.