13. Mental Processes of Speech

Lecture



Summary

General characteristics of speech. Speech and language. The lexical, grammatical and phonetic composition of the language. The word and its meaning. Speech is a process of verbal communication. Emotionally expressive side of speech. Meaning overtones. Speech development and phylogenesis: complex kinetic speech, manual kinetic speech, sound speech and polysemanticism, written speech.

Physiological basis of speech. Physiological systems of speech: peripheral and central. Centers Wernicke, Broca.

Theoretical problems of the origin of speech. The ratio of congenital and formed structures of speech. Theory of learning. Theory of the specific inclinations of N. Chomsky. The cognitive theory of J. Piaget. Theory of L. S. Vygotsky. Relationship problems of thinking and speech.

The main types of speech. Oral and written speech. Conversation and conversational speech. Monologue. Passive and active speech. Kinetic speech. The main functions of speech: expression, impact, message, designation.

The development of speech in the child. The main stages of the formation of speech. The role of an adult in shaping the child's speech. The development of speech in the process of learning a language.

One of the main differences of man from the animal world, the difference reflecting the laws of his physiological, mental and social development, is the presence of a special mental process, called speech. Speech is the process of communicating people through language. In order to be able to speak and understand someone else's speech, you must know the language and be able to use it.

In psychology, it is customary to separate the concepts of "language" and "speech." Language is a system of conditional symbols, with the help of which combinations of sounds that have a certain meaning and meaning for people are transmitted. Language is developed by society and is a form of reflection in the public consciousness of people of their social being. Language, being formed in the process of communication of people, at the same time is a product of social and historical development. And one of the phenomena of the language is that each person finds a ready-made language, which is spoken by others, and in the process of its development absorbs it. However, by becoming a native speaker, a person becomes a potential source of development and modernization of the language he speaks.

Language is a rather complicated education. Every language has first of all a certain system of significant words, called the lexical composition of the language. In addition, the language has a certain system of various forms of words and phrases, which is the grammar of the language, and also has a certain sound, or phonetic, composition, peculiar only to a specific language.

The main purpose of the language is that, being a system of signs, it ensures that each word is assigned a certain meaning. Any meaning of a word is always a generalization. If we say the word "machine",

This word unites a whole system of objects, for example, motor vehicles of all varieties and any models or any mechanical devices that perform certain operations. At the same time, this word can denote a specific object, and we are clearly aware of what subject we are talking about, which ensures the possibility of communication between people. For example, if you ask: “What kind of car is this?”, Then your interlocutor understands that you are asking about a particular car. At the same time, your interlocutor understands that you are interested in the make and type of this machine.

In contrast to language, it is customary to call the process of verbal communication itself, which can be carried out in the form of a message, instruction, question, command. From a psychological point of view, communication through language is no less complex than the language itself. In order to transmit any information using speech, it is necessary not only to select the corresponding words that have a certain meaning, but also to concretize them. Every word, as we said, is a generalization, so in speech it must be narrowed down to a certain level, or meaning. This is achieved through the introduction of the word in a specific context. So, in the example with the machine, we specified the notion of “machine”, pointing out the spatial-temporal characteristics of the subject of interest and showing with the question “What kind of machine is this?” That we are interested in the object itself. If we asked: “Whose car is this?”, Then it would be clear to the interlocutor that we are not interested in the subject itself, but in who it belongs to.

In addition to the content transmitted through verbal meanings, our emotional attitude to what we say is also expressed in speech. This phenomenon is called the emotional-expressive side of speech and is due to the tone of the sound of the words that we use to pronounce the phrase.

And finally, speech can also have a psychological side, since speech often contains semantic overtones that reflect the goal (or the motive of speech) with which one or another phrase was spoken. When we asked about the car, we showed to the interlocutor that we were interested in car brands and everything connected with them. However, not in any phrase semantic overtones are used as a specific information load. In certain cases, the semantic overtones may have the character of a latent (hidden) meaning. For example, we raised a question about the car, knowing about the interest of our interlocutor by cars, and thus made an attempt to change the topic of conversation or even more dispose of the interlocutor, showing him that we are interested in the same problems as his.

Thus, verbal communication is a complex and multifaceted process. And, as A. N. Leontyev writes, every act of speech "represents, as it were, a solution to a peculiar psychological task, which, depending on the form and type of speech and on the specific circumstances and goals of communication, requires its different construction and application of different speech means" *. Naturally, the same applies to the understanding of speech.

13. Mental Processes of Speech * Leontiev A. N. Speech. // Psychology. Ed. prof. K. N. Kornilov, prof. A. A. Smirnova, prof. B.M. Teplova. - Ed. 3rd, pererabot. and add. - M .: Uchpedgiz, 1948.

Chapter 13. Speech • 335

The modern state of speech as a universal means of communication was preceded by a long process of human phylogenetic development. It should be noted that speech is a specifically human activity. Speech, and along with it, language appeared for the first time only in human society. Perhaps the emergence of speech was associated with the ability of a person to work, as in the process of collective labor it became necessary to coordinate the joint efforts of the participants in the labor process.

Modern science has reason to believe that the first means of communication was complex kinetic speech. It is assumed that this form of speech, associated with primitive figurative thinking, already existed in people of the second interglacial era, that is, about half a million years ago. Under the complex kinetic speech refers to the simplest system of information transfer using body movements. This form of communication is very close to the language of communication of animals. With the help of such a language, a primitive person could manifest a threat or disposition towards his opponent, express his grievance and indignation, as well as a number of simplest states. Of course, communication was also used in the process of joint labor, but the movements of communication and movements associated with labor most likely did not have a clear differentiation.

The next stage in the development of speech was associated with the gradual separation of speech movements from labor actions and their specialization as a means of communication, that is, their transformation into gestures. Such a division of movements of speech and labor was caused by the complexity of the work activity of people. The result was a specialized manual language and manual (kinetic) speech.

Thus, the human hand was the main means of labor and communication. Her domination persisted for hundreds of thousands of years, until man began to use sound for communication, not gestures. However, it is indisputable that throughout all this time the human hand has received the maximum development and has become a universal human tool.

The transition to sound speech itself probably began more than 100 thousand years ago, in the fourth glacial epoch. Most likely, this was due to the development of production and the primary division of labor. There was a significant need for speech, with the help of which objects and phenomena could be designated much more accurately - in a system of dismembered concepts. Manual speech could no longer meet this requirement; therefore, the role of the sounds of voices associated with hand gestures began to grow.

It can be assumed that the development of voice sounds began long before the need to communicate using sounds. This was because, in the process of communication, hand gestures were accompanied by certain inarticulate voices. Gradually, speech sounds evolved and became more and more articulate. Over time, speech sounds were able to assume all the functions that the kinetic speech performed, and moreover, to ensure the further development of human speech. As a result, language and speech have risen to a new stage of development - a stage of sound articulate speech, which was a real revolution in the development of mankind, the essence of which was that sound speech and thinking could be separated from direct action.

Sound speech was not immediately as perfect as it is now. Most likely, after its appearance, the sound speech for a long time remained close, but its content to the kinetic speech. Originally, words, like hand gestures, had very general, vague meanings. The same word could be used to refer to objects of different content. A similar phenomenon was called primitive polysemantic, or polysemantic words.

With some confidence we can assume that the first words replaced whole sentences. Most likely, at the first stage of the emergence and development of sound speech there were neither verbs, nor nouns, or other parts of speech. Therefore, the first speech forms were very primitive. They contained neither a hidden meaning nor a context. Speech was used only to transmit any information and was not associated with the transfer of the emotional state of the speaker. Then, under the influence of labor, the development of word meanings occurred. Words not only acquired a more specific semantic meaning, but also differentiated according to grammatical forms. All this led to the formation of a language with a complex morphology and complex syntax.

The next stage in the development of speech was the creation of writing. Writing, like oral, in its development has gone through a number of stages. Initially, written signs arose and developed under the influence of kinetic speech, and later, with the appearance of sound speech, written signs began to reflect the meaning of sounds, which led to the emergence of a modern letter-phonetic writing.

Thus, human speech, as well as human thinking, is a product of social and historical development, during which speech began to perform a number of functions and occupied one of the most significant places in a person's mental and social life.

13.2. Physiological basis of speech

The development of organs of sound speech took place simultaneously with the general physical and mental development of man as a species. One of the biological prerequisites for the development of the ability to pronounce articulate sounds was the human mobility of ancestors much more than other animals, the mobility of the lips and tongue, which later increased more and more. The increase in the mobility of the lips and tongue was due to a number of anatomical changes: shortening and expansion of the lower jaw, so that its shape gradually transformed from acute to horseshoe; development of the mental protrusion (which is the site of attachment of some muscles involved in speech movements); reduction of canines, etc. Thanks to these changes, an increase in the free cavity of the mouth occurred, which, in turn, provided an increase in the mobility of the tongue and the possibility of more perfect resonance of the sound produced by the vibration of the vocal cords of the larynx, from which various sound vowels primarily depend.

It should be noted that the systems providing speech can be divided into two groups: peripheral and central. The central ones are

Chapter 13. Speech • 337

13. Mental Processes of Speech

13. Mental Processes of Speech

structures of the brain, and peripheral - vocal apparatus and organs of hearing.

Fig. 13.1. The structure of the peripheral organs of speech. Explanations in the text

Voice unit (Fig. 13.1) | consists of three main systems: the respiratory system, larynx, mouth and nose. Respiratory organs provide air flow, which causes the vocal chords of the larynx to vibrate, the sound of which *** creates a sound wave. The respiratory organs include the lungs and the muscles that drive them, including

including the diaphragm (chest ventricle), which, arching domed up, presses down on the lungs and produces individual expiratory pushes of different strengths, which ensures the pronunciation of syllables of speech. The same system includes the bronchi and respiratory neck, through which air is supplied to the larynx.

The larynx (A) is a continuation of the respiratory throat (B). It is formed by four cartilages, in the space between which the vocal cords are located in the horizontal plane . The vocal cords (B) are two elastic muscles, which are given in an intact movement of air flowing out of the respiratory throat. The vocal cords, due to their location and mobility of the cartilages to which they are attached, can make changes of two kinds. First, the vocal cords may be slack or loose. Secondly, they can be closed between themselves or diverge at their ends so that between them a space is formed, called the glottis. Due to these features, the following occurs: if the vocal cords are stretched and close together, i.e., the glottis is closed, the exhaled air, breaking through between the edges of the ligaments facing each other, leads them in a collective movement that forms a voice wave ; if the ligaments are not stretched and the glottis is not closed, the air passes freely, without causing any sound.

Passing through the larynx, the flow of air generates a sound wave. It enters the mouth and nose, which act as a resonating tube. ] The mouth cavity is the main resonator of sound waves originating in the larynx. By changing the size and shape of the oral cavity, various sounds of vowel sounds are formed. The oral cavity is also the organ that creates barriers to the flow of air, which, overcoming these barriers, produces sounds called consonants.

The nasal cavity acts as an additional resonator, the passage to which can be opened or closed by a *** curtain (the back of the movable part of the palate). In the first case, the so-called nasal sounds are obtained - m, n. In the second case, the sounds are not nasal.

The development of the ability to pronounce articulate sounds is associated with the development of the ability to perceive them. It is unlikely that a person would be able to achieve such a level of proficiency in the vocal apparatus when he can speak articulately if the organs of hearing did not develop at the same time. Learning to speak articulately, a person learned and understood what he was saying. Speech activity is always under control, and necessary adjustments can be made to it only through hearing. The development of human hearing occurred due to the development of the central apparatus, which is expressed in the complication of the cerebral cortex.

If we compare the monkey brain and the human brain, then we find that the auditory zone of the human cortex is relatively larger than the analogous zone of the monkey brain. However, these differences are expressed not only in quantitative terms - an increase in the area of ​​the auditory zone. The person in this zone are specific speech centers (Fig. 13.2).

The nerve pathways connecting the brain to the eardrum of the organ of Corti ends in the curvatures of Geschl. If there is a violation of the functions of one or another part of these convolutions, then the person will experience a corresponding hearing loss. For example, the defeat of their internal parts entails a loss of hearing in relation to high sounds, and a violation of their external parts - a loss of hearing in relation to low sounds. Thus, this area is a projection of the organ of Corti and is the center with which the auditory sensations are primarily associated. The integration of these sensations occurs in adjacent areas of the temporal lobe, located in the first and partially in the second temporal gyrus. It is here that the specific auditory center of speech is located in the left hemisphere - the center of Wernicke. При нарушении деятельности этого центра человек теряет способность различать (узнавать) слова, хотя отдельные слуховые ощущения у него остаются ненарушенными. Такое явление получило название сенсорной афазии. Поэтому мы с полной уверенно-

13. Mental Processes of Speech

Fig. 13.2. Центральные органы речи (по В. В. Крамеру). Explanations in the text

стью можем утверждать, что именно этот нервный центр обеспечивает различение звуков речи. При этом следует отметить, что подобный нервный центр отсутствует у животных, что еще раз доказывает справедливость высказывания о том, что речь — это специфически человеческая функция.

Слуховой центр Вернике связан с другим специфическим речевым центром коры — центром Брока, который находится в задней части третьей лобной извилины левого полушария. Это двигательный центр речи. Нарушение нормального функционирования данного центра выражается в том, что человек теряет способность произносить слова. Внешне у него остается способность произносить какие-либо звуки, сохраняется способность двигать языком, поскольку центр, отвечающий за движения голосового аппарата, находится в передней центральной извилине, но он как бы теряет «память приемов произнесения слов», т. е. нарушается интеграция отдельных звуков в слова. Следовательно, центр Брока является также продуктом исторического развития человека и тесно связан с процессом речи. Этот нервный центр также присутствует только у человека, а болезнь, связанная с нарушением его функций, называется моторной афазией.

Наиболее ярко взаимосвязь анатомических структур мозга и функций речи проявляется при повреждениях или нарушениях соответствующих участков мозга. Как было сказано выше, речь тесно связана со слуховой (центр Вернике) и моторной (центр Брока) зонами, обеспечивающими ее осуществление. Повреждение любого из этих участков приводит к одной из разновидностей афазии. Для характеристики данных нарушений воспользуемся описаниями больных, которых наблюдал Гарднер в 1975 г .

Так, при афазии Брока у больного наблюдается прерывистость речи. Ниже приведено интервью, взятое у больного врачом. Фразы интервьюера обозначены буквой «И», а фразы пациента — буквой «П».

И. Вы служили в береговой охране?

П. Нет, мм, да, да,... корабль... Массачу...чуссеттс... береговая охрана... лет. (Поднимает руки дважды, показывая на пальцах «19»)

И. А, вы служили в береговой охране девятнадцать лет.

П. А... ох... верно... верно.

И. Почему вы в больнице?

П. (Показывает на парализованную руку.) Рука нехорошо. (Показывает на рот.)

Речь... не могу сказать... говорить, понимаете.

И. Что случилось, из-за чего вы потеряли речь?

П. Голова, упал, господи, я нехорошо, уд..., уд... о, Боже... удар.

И. Не могли бы вы рассказать мне, что вы делали в больнице?

П. Да, конечно. Мне идти, ээ, мм, девять часов, речь... два раза... читать... пи... рва, мм, сар, мм, писать... занятия... становится лучше.

Как мы видим, речь больного очень неплавная. Даже в простых предложениях много пауз и замешательств. В отличие от этого у пациента с афазией Вернике речь беглая. Ниже приведена речь такого больного:

«Уф, я потею, я ужасно нервничаю, знаете, как-то я подхватился. Не могу упоминать про таррипои, месяц назад совсем немного, я здорово сделал, я наложил много, при этом, с другой стороны, знаете, что я имею в виду, мне надо сделать круг, осмотреть, тре***н и все такое».

Помимо беглости есть другие примечательные различия между афазиями Брока и Вернике. Речь пациента с афазией Брока состоит в основном из знаменательных

of words. В ней мало сложных предложений, и вообще ей свойствен телеграфный стиль, напоминающий двухсловную стадию приобретения языка. У пациентов с афазией Вернике, наоборот, речь сохраняет синтаксис, но заметно лишена содержания. У них явные проблемы с подбором нужного существительного, и время от времени слова изобретаются по случаю (например, «таррипон» и «тре***н»). Эти наблюдения указывают, что при афазии Брока нарушение происходит на синтаксическом уровне, а при афазии Вернике нарушение происходит на уровне слов и понятий.

Со слуховыми центрами речи связана также и письменная речь. Обнаружено, что в ситуациях нарушения функций слуховой речи нарушается и письменная речь. Конечно, это не значит, что письменная речь зависит только от центров слуховой речи. Для процессов письма необходима также нормальная работа центров интеграции тонких движений руки, в том числе находящихся в затылочных долях центров интеграции зрительных восприятий; отвечающих за соотнесение зрительного восприятия со звуковыми образами центров височных долей; регулирующих движения глаз центров лобных долей. Это говорит о том, что все формы речевой деятельности регулируются не отдельными мозговыми центрами, а их сложной системой, объединяющей многие участки коры головного мозга.

Таким образом, способность к звуковой речи является специфическим свойством психики человека. Возникнув при наличии более развитого, чем у животных, мозга, в условиях коллективного труда, речь оказала существенное влияние не только на человеческий труд, но и на развитие самого человеческого мозга.

13.3. Теоретические проблемы возникновения речи

В настоящее время существует большое количество разнообразных теорий, пытающихся объяснить возникновение и развитие речи. Суть данной проблемы состоит в том, что сегодня достаточно трудно дать однозначный ответ в отношении того, является ли человеческая речь врожденной или она формируется в процессе развития человека. Кажется, что на этот вопрос существует только один ответ: речь не является врожденной, а формируется в процессе онтогенеза. Существуют примеры, подтверждающие истинность данного вывода. Например, у детей, выросших в изоляции от людей, не существует никаких признаков членораздельной речи. Только у человека, выросшего среди людей, может появиться вербальная понятийная речь. Так, в США, в Калифорнии был обнаружен ребенок в возрасте около 14 лет, с которым никто не общался с помощью человеческой речи с двухмесячного возраста. Естественно, он не владел речью, и усилия обучить его языку оказались бесполезными.

С другой стороны, существуют факты, позволяющие говорить о врожденности речи. Например, многие высшие животные обладают средствами коммуникации, по многим своим функциям напоминающими речь человека. Более того, предпринимались относительно успешные попытки научить животных (обезьян) примитивному языку знаков, похожему на язык глухонемых. Также существуют доказа-

тельства того, что дети с рождения способны отличать речь человека и выделять ее из множества звуков. Еще одним доказательством врожденности речи является то, что стадии развития речи и их последовательность у всех детей одинаковы. Причем эта последовательность одинакова у всех детей независимо от того, где они родились и в условиях какой культуры они развивались.

Однако, как уже было отмечено, однозначного ответа на вопрос о происхождении речи не существует. Споры и исследования по данной проблеме продолжаются.

Кроме этого существует целый ряд теорий, пытающих объяснить или описать процесс формирования речи. Среди наиболее известных из них находится теория научения. Исходным положением, на котором строится данная теория, является постулат о том, что ребенок обладает врожденной потребностью и способностью подражать. К важнейшим формам способности подражать сторонники данного подхода относят способность подражать звукам. Предполагается, что, получая положительное эмоциональное подкрепление, подражание ведет к быстрому усвоению сначала отдельных звуков человеческой речи, затем слогов, слов, высказываний, правил их грамматического построения. Таким образом, в рамках данной теории овладение речью сводится к научению всем ее основным элементам, а механизмами формирования речи являются подражание и подкрепление.

Однако данная теория не может полностью объяснить процесс усвоения языка. Так, необъяснимой остается быстрота усвоения речи, наблюдаемая у детей в раннем детстве. Кроме того, для развития любых способностей, в том числе и речевых, необходимы задатки, которые сами но себе не могут быть приобретены в процессе научения. Далее, в развитии речи ребенка существуют моменты (в основном связанные с детским словотворчеством), которые не могут быть объяснены подражанием речи взрослых. Следующий факт, вызывающий сомнение в истинности данной теории, состоит в том, что взрослые обычно подкрепляют одобрением не правильные, а умные и рассудительные высказывания детей. Поэтому в рамках теории речевого научения очень трудно объяснить быстрое формирование правильной грамматики речевых высказываний у детей.

Следующей теорией, рассматривающей проблему формирования речи, является теория специфических задатков. Ее автором является Н. Хомский. Он утверждает, что в организме и мозге человека с рождения имеются некоторые специфические задатки к усвоению речи и ее основных атрибутов. Эти задатки начинают проявляться и окончательно складываются примерно к годовалому возрасту и открывают возможность для ускоренного развития речи с одного года до трех лет (имеется в виду прежде всего усвоение самой речи, развитие же речи как средства мышления продолжается до периода половой зрелости). Данный возраст называется сензитивным для формирования речи. В течение этого периода развитие речи обычно происходит без осложнении, по вне его язык усвоить или трудно, или вообще невозможно. Именно этим объясняется то, что дети иммигрантов усваивают незнакомый язык быстрее, чем сами взрослые, а дети, воспитывавшиеся вне человеческого общества, т. е. не имевшие в этом возрасте необходимых условий для овладения языком, не могут приобрести навыки человеческой речи в более позднем возрасте.

Следующая наиболее известная и популярная теория усвоения языка и формирования речи — когнитивная теория Ж. Пиаже. Согласно данной теории, развитие речи зависит от присущей ребенку с рождения способности воспринимать и

It is interesting

Могут ли другие биологические виды овладеть человеческим языком!

Some researchers believe that the ability to language is innate and specific to humans. Animals can not speak the language. Although, of course, no one denies that some species of animals have communication systems, but it is believed that these systems are qualitatively different from ours. Is it so?

For example, in chimpanzees, the number of sounds and gestures is quite large, and the productivity of their communication system is very low compared to human speech, which allows you to combine a relatively small number of sounds in thousands of words, and these words are then combined into an uncountable number of sentences.

Another difference is that human language is structured on several levels, but chimpanzees do not have communication. In particular, in human language there is a clear distinction between the level of words and the level of sounds (at which the elements of speech do not carry meaning). Chimpanzees have no signs of such a dual division of the structure of a language, since each character carries a meaning. Another difference is that chimpanzees do not change the order of their characters to change the meaning of messages, as a person does.

The fact that chimpanzee communication is poor compared to ours does not prove that they do not have the ability to build a more productive communication system. Therefore, a number of attempts were made to teach the monkey the human mode of communication. In one well-known study on the training of speech monkeys, conducted in 1972. B.T. and R. A. Gardner, a female chimpanzee named Woshi was trained on adapted signs from the American Sign Language. Sign language was used because chimpanzees do not have a voice apparatus capable of generating human sounds. Training began when Woshi was about one year old, and lasted until five pts. During this time, Gardners communicated with Woshi only with the help of sign language. First, they taught her signs using the method of formation:

waited for her to make a gesture similar to the sign, and then reinforce her. Later, Woshi taught signs, just by observing and imitating people. By the age of four she could generate 130 different characters, and she understood even more. She could also generalize a sign from one situation to another. For example, at first she learned the sign corresponding to the request “still” in the context of the desire to “still tickle”, and then summed it up to the indication “still milk”.

Other chimpanzees who mastered comparable vocabulary volumes were also studied. Some studies have used methods of manual communication that are different from sign language. For example, a chimpanzee named Sarah taught us how to use plastic icons as words and to communicate by manipulating these icons. In another study, F. G. Peggerson taught the sign language the gorilla named Coco. Training began when the monkey was one year old. By the age of 10, Coco’s vocabulary included over 400 characters.

13. Mental Processes of Speech Do these studies prove that monkeys can be taught human language? There is almost no doubt that the signs in monkeys are equivalent to our words and that the concepts behind some of these signs are equivalent to ours. But there are serious doubts that these studies demonstrate the ability of monkeys to learn to combine signs in the same way as

intellectually process information. According to the author of this theory, children's spontaneous word creation is confirmation of the child’s intellectual ability to process information. Therefore, the development of speech is associated with the development of thinking. It is established that the first statements of the child relate to what he already understands, and the progressive development of thinking in the period from one to three years creates the prerequisites for the child’s successful mastery of speech.

Another theory considers the development of speech from a psycholinguistic position. From this point of view, the process of speech development is a cyclically repetitive transition from thought to word and from word to thought, which are becoming more and more consciously and meaningfully rich. At first, the thought is

13. Mental Processes of Speech It is interesting

people combine words into sentences. So, people can not only combine any words, but also combine these same words in a different order, creating a sentence with a different meaning. Studies show that even the simplest signs of a monkey can not unite the way people do. As data accumulated, it became apparent that, unlike human sentences, the expressions of monkeys often have high repeatability. Thus, the expression “You are a banana to me, you are a banana” is typical of monkeys owning signs, but it would be extremely unusual for a human child. When a monkey’s expression resembles a sentence, it may turn out that the monkey simply imitates the sequence of characters created by its human teacher. So, some of Washy's expressions, most similar to sentences, appeared when she answered the question; for example, the teacher makes the signs “woshi eats?”, and in response woshi makes signs:

"Washy is eating time." Here the combination of signs created by Washy may be a partial imitation of the sign combination of her teacher. In turn, human children are not at all learning how to combine words. Thus, it can be assumed that animals cannot master the language of man. However, one relatively recent study at first glance calls this conclusion into question.

The researchers worked with a new type of test subject - a pygmy chimpanzee, whose behavior, they believe, is more similar to human than the behavior of the more widely studied common chimpanzees. A seven-year-old test subject named Kantzi communicated by manipulating symbols denoting words. Unlike previous studies, Kanzi learned to manipulate these characters in a relatively natural way, for example, by listening to his guardians, while they spoke English words and at the same time pointed to symbols. Most importantly, after several years of learning the language, Kantsi showed some ability to change the word order in order to change the meaning of the message. For example, if Kantzi was going to bite his half-sister Mulika, he gave the signal to "bite Mulika"; but if the sister bit him, he signaled "Mulika bite." So Kantsi, apparently, possessed some syntactic knowledge, approximately corresponding to the knowledge of a two-year-old child. These are intriguing results, but you need to treat them with caution. First, Kantzi is still one of the few chimpanzees who showed any syntactic abilities; so the question remains how common are these results. Secondly, although Kantsi may have the language abilities of a two-year-old child, it took him much longer than a person to achieve this; moreover, we still do not know whether Kantsi or any other chimpanzee can go much further than this point. But perhaps the main reason for the skepticism that any monkeys developed speech abilities comparable to human ones was called by N. Chomsky: “If any animal had such a biologically perfect ability as speech, but for some reason did not use it until now, it would be an evolutionary miracle like the discovery of an island whose inhabitants could be taught to fly. ”

By; R. Atkinson, R. Atkinson, E. E. Smith, et al. Introduction to psychology: A textbook for universities / Trans. from English under. ed. V.P. Zinchenko. - M .: Trivola, 1999

It fits into a word that simultaneously acts both as a phrase and as a sentence. Then, the given word is expanded in whole phrases. As a result, the same thought can be expressed both in word and in whole phrase.

Since we are talking about the relationship of thinking and speech, it is impossible not to dwell on the research conducted by L. S. Vygotsky. We have already spoken about the meaning of speech for thinking and concluded that speech is an instrument of thinking. The problem of the relationship of speech and thinking is constantly interested and continues to interest many scientists. Vygotsky made a significant contribution to the development of this problem. He showed the meaning of the word for the mental development of man and his consciousness. According to his theory of signs, at higher levels of development, visual-figurative thinking turns into a verbal and logical

thanks to the word, which summarizes in itself all the signs of a particular object. The word is the “sign” that allows human thinking to evolve to the level of abstract thinking. However, the word is also a means of communication, so it is part of the speech. In this case, a specific feature of the word is that, being devoid of meaning, the word no longer belongs to thought or speech, but, acquiring its meaning, it immediately becomes an organic part of both. Considering this feature of the word, Vygotsky believed that the meaning of the word is the unity of speech and thinking. At the same time, the highest level of such unity is speech thinking.

We should note that speech and thinking are not identical processes, do not merge with each other, although both these processes are inseparable from each other. Thinking and speaking have different genetic roots. Initially, they developed separately. The initial function of speech was communication, and speech itself as a means of communication probably arose from the need to organize joint activities of people. In turn, there are types of thinking that, in general, are not related to speech, for example, visual-effective, or practical, thinking of animals. But the further development of thinking and speech proceeded in a close relationship. Moreover, at different stages of the development of thinking and speech, their interrelations appear in various forms. So, in the early stages of development, when people's thinking proceeded in the form of practical intellectual activity in relation to objects capable of satisfying human needs, it reinforced knowledge about these objects, expressing them in the form of titles.

At these early stages of historical development, the speech consisted of separate speech units that were not yet differentiated in form, which had very general, broad, and at the same time somewhat different meanings. Therefore, verbal communication could take place only in a specific situation, where practical action was the process in which words acquired specific meanings. Therefore, at these stages of development, speech has always been included in practical activities. Such speech is called sympraxical.

In the future, with the complication of language, thinking is gradually freed from its direct fusion with action and more and more acquires the character of an inner, “ideal” activity. As a result of such a dynamic of development, a period comes when thinking begins to flow in the form of an internal process of reflecting reality, using verbal concepts. This level of development of thinking required a different, more developed speech, corresponding to the level of development of thinking. This kind of speech is called inner speech. Thus, speech and thinking form a complex unity with each other.

13.4. The main types of speech

Human speech is very diverse and has a variety of forms. However, whatever form of speech we use, it will relate to one of two main types of speech: oral or written (fig. 13.3). In addition, both species have

13. Mental Processes of Speech

Fig. 13.3. General characteristics of speech

a certain similarity. It consists in the fact that in modern languages ​​written speech, like oral, is sound: signs of written speech do not express immediate meaning, but convey the sound composition of words.

The main source of oral speech is speech, proceeding in the form of a conversation. This speech is called colloquial, or dialogic (conversational). Its main feature is that it is a speech actively supported by the interlocutor, i.e., two people participate in the process of conversation, using simple language turns and phrases. Consequently, speaking in psychological terms is the simplest form of speech. It does not require a detailed expression of speech, because the interlocutor in the process of conversation well understands what is being said and can mentally complete the phrase uttered by another interlocutor. In such cases, one word can replace the whole phrase.

Another form of speech is speech delivered by one person, while listeners only perceive the speaker’s speech, but do not directly participate in it. Such speech is called monologue, or monologue. Monological speech is, for example, the speech of a speaker, lecturer, speaker, etc. Monological speech is psychologically more complex than dialog speech. It requires the speaker's ability to consistently, strictly consistently express their thoughts. At the same time, the speaker should evaluate how the information transmitted by him is assimilated by the audience, that is, he must watch not only his speech, but also the audience.

When characterizing these two types of oral speech — dialogical and monologic speech — one must bear in mind not their external, but psychological difference. In their external form, these two types of speech can be similar to each other. So, for example, a monologue can be constructed in its external form as a dialogic speech, i.e. the speaker addresses periodically either to the audience or to an imaginary opponent.

Both dialogic and monologue speech can be active or passive. Both of these terms are, of course, conditional and characterize the activities of the speaker or hearer. The active form of speech is the speech of the person speaking, but the speech of the person listening is a passive form. The fact is that when we listen, we repeat to ourselves the words of the speaker. At the same time, this does not appear outwardly, although speech activity is present. It should be noted that in children the development of active and passive forms of speech does not occur simultaneously. The child first learns to understand someone else's speech, and then begins to speak himself. However, even in more mature age, people differ in the degree of development of active and passive forms of speech. It often happens that a person understands the speech of another person well, but does not convey his own thoughts well. Conversely, a person can speak well enough, but he does not know how to listen to another.

Another type of speech is writing . Writing differs from oral speech not only in that it is depicted graphically using written signs. There are more complex psychological differences between these types of speech.

One of the most important differences between oral and written speech is that in oral speech the words strictly follow one another, so that when one sounds

the word preceding it is no longer perceived either by the speaker himself or by the listeners. In writing, the situation is different - both the writer and the reader have a series of words in their field of perception at the same time, and in cases where there is a need, they can go back a few lines or pages back. This creates certain advantages of writing over oral. Written speech can be built more arbitrarily, since writing is always before our eyes. For the same reason, written language is easier to understand. Writing, on the other hand, is a more complex form of speech. It requires a more thought-out construction of phrases, a more accurate statement of thoughts, because we cannot give an emotional touch to a written speech, accompany it with necessary gestures. In addition, the process of formation and expression of thought takes place in oral and written speech differently. This can be indicated by the fact that it is often easier for some people to express their thoughts in writing and for others - orally.

It should be noted that there is another type of speech - kinetic speech. This type of speech has been preserved in humans since ancient times. Initially it was the main and probably the only kind of speech, it performed all speech functions:

designations, expressions, etc. Over time, this kind of speech has lost its functions and is currently used mainly as emotional-expressive elements of speech - gestures. Very often we accompany our speech with gestures, which gives it additional expressiveness.

Nevertheless, there are quite large groups of people for whom kinetic speech still remains the main form of speech. This refers to people who are deaf from birth or who have lost the ability to hear or speak as a result of an accident or illness. However, in this case, the kinetic speech is significantly different from the kinetic speech of the ancient man. It is more developed and has a whole system of sign signals.

There is one more general division of speech types into two main types: internal and external speech. External speech is associated with the process of communication, information exchange. Inner speech is primarily concerned with the process of thinking. This is a very difficult psychological phenomenon, which provides the interconnection of speech and thinking.

Следует отметить, что любой вид речи, в том числе устная и письменная речь, имеет свое предназначение, т. е. выполняет определенные функции. Основными функциями речи являются выражение, воздействие, сообщение, обозначение.

Функция выражения заключается в том, что с помощью речи человек высказывает свое отношение к определенному предмету, явлению и к самому себе. Как правило, при высказывании нашего отношения к чему-либо речь имеет определенную эмоциональную окраску, что способствует пониманию окружающими нашего отношения к предмету, о котором идет речь.

Функция воздействия заключается в том, что с помощью речи мы пытаемся побудить другого человека или группу людей к определенному действию или формируем у слушателей определенную точку зрения на что-либо. Как правило, данная функция речи осуществляется через приказ, призыв или убеждение. Физиологической основой осуществления данной функции речи является особое положение второй сигнальной системы в структуре психической регуляции организма

и поведения человека. Так, с помощью суггестии врач-психотерапевт может вызвать у человека определенные ощущения, в том числе связанные с лечебным эффектом". Например, внушение чувства тепла часто позволяет снять приступ астмы. С помощью внушения также можно помочь человеку отказаться от табако-курения, употребления алкоголя и др.

Функция сообщения заключается в обмене мыслями и информацией между людьми с помощью слов. Данная функция обеспечивает осуществление контактов между людьми. В процессе этих контактов мы организуем не только обмен информацией, но и наше взаимодействие. Можно предположить, что именно данная функция в историческом плане явилась основным первоисточником развития речи человека.

Функция обозначения заключается в способности давать названия предметам и явлениям. Благодаря данной функции мы в состоянии мыслить отвлеченно с помощью абстрактных понятий, а также вести обмен информацией с другим человеком. Можно предположить, что данная функция является высшей функцией речи, осуществление ее стало возможным лишь на высших ступенях речевого развития.

13.5. Развитие речи у

продолжение следует...

Продолжение:


Часть 1 13. Mental Processes of Speech
Часть 2 test questions - 13. Mental Processes of Speech


Comments


To leave a comment
If you have any suggestion, idea, thanks or comment, feel free to write. We really value feedback and are glad to hear your opinion.
To reply

General psychology

Terms: General psychology