Developments may proceed through personal appreciation of the arts and art works on a very general level . . . . or may proceed specific to a discipline [i.e., Oil Painting, Photography, Intaglio, etc.] or disciplines . . . . or may proceed with focus upon categories of visual arts experience [i.e., aims and objectives involved with visual elements and relationships] . . . . or may proceed specific to a Historic, Cultural, Practical, Theoretical, or Topical focus.
C O N S I D E R A T I O N S
Impart
Make known
Make common
Give
Transmit
Share
Express
Partake of
Take part, participate
Administer
Interchange
Passage
Means
Routes
Connection
Language: As we have seen, thinking sometimes takes place without language. Everyone has had the experince of searching for a word to expresss an idea that exists as a vague image or feeling. Nevertheless, most thinking leans heavily on language, because it allows the world to be encoded into symbols that are easy to manipulate. [Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology, Exploration and Application. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1989. Chapter: Learning & Cognition]
Semantics. The study of the meaning of words and language. It is here that the link between language and thought becomes most evident. For example, the subtle change in meaning caused by a reordering of words. Semantic problems often arise when a word has dual, or unclear, meaning: Does the sentence "Tom was seated by the waiter" mean that the waiter gave Tom a seat or that Tom was seated beside the waiter? Choice of words may directly influence thinking by shifting meaning: Has one country's army "invaded"another? Or "effected a protective incursion"? Is the city reservoir "half full" or "half empty"? Would you rather eat "prime beef" or "dead cow"?! [Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology, Exploration and Application. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1989. Chapter: Learning & Cognition]
The Structure of Language. [Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology, Exploration and Application. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1989. Chapter: Learning & Cognition]
1. Symbols. First, a language must provide symbols that can stand for objects and ideas. The symbols we call words are built out of:
2. Grammar. Secondly, a language must have a grammar, or set of rules, for making sounds into words and words into sentences. One part of grammar, known as syntax, consists of rules for word order in sentences. Syntax is important because rearranging words almost alwyas changes the meaning of a sentence. Traditional grammar is concerned with "surface" language--the sentences we actually speak.
3. Productive, meaningful arrangement. The third, perhaps most essential charactaeristic of language is that it is productive. The great strength of any true language is that it can produce new thoughts or ideas. Because words do not resemble the things they represent, words can be rearranged to produce an infinite variety of meaningful sentences. It is the productive quality of language that makes it such a powerful tool for thought. The cries, gestures, and mating calls of animals have broad meanings immediately understood by other animals of the same species, but for the most part natural animal communication is quite limited (no variations on a theme for instance). More importantly, animal communication seems to lack the productive quality of human language. Interchanges can be impressive, but communication and actual language use are two different things. [Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology, Exploration and Application. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1989. Chapter: Learning & Cognition]
R E F E R E N C E S
Communication 1. the act or process of communicating. 2. the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, etc. 3. something imparted, interchanged, or transmitted. 4. a document or message imparting information, opinion, etc. 5. a passage or means of passage between places. 6. communications, a. the means of sending messages, orders, etc., including telephone, telegraph, radio, and couriers. b. routes an transportation for moving troops and supplies from a base to an area of operations....
Communicate 1. to impart knowledge of; make known. 2. to give to another; impart; transmit. 3. to administer the Eucharist to. 4. Archaic. to share in or partake of. -v.i. 5. to give or interchange thoughts, information, or the like, by writing, speaking., etc.: They communicate with each other every day. 6. to express one's true thoughts, feelings, and moods easily. 7. to have or form a connecting passage. 8. to partake of the Eucharist. 9. Obs. to take part or participate. [< L commúniát(us) (ptp. of commúnicáre to impart, make common) = commún(is) common + -ic(us) -IC + -átus -ATE1] -Syn. 1. divulge, announce, disclose, reveal.
Impart 1. to make known; tell; relate. 2. to give; bestow; transmit. 3. to grant a part or share of. [Late ME < L impart(íere) (to) share] -Syn. 1. disclose, reveal, divulge. 2. grant, cede, confer. -Ant. 1. conceal.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
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