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Language and other cognitive capabilities of the human brain have traditionally been seen as the hallmark of what it is to be human. Empiricist philosophers argue that our experiences determine our thoughts and what we become. On the other hand, Kant acknowledges the significance of our experiences, but claims that they are organised in terms of innate fundamental concepts (i.e., concepts that are present in humans regardless of their particular experiences and perceptions), which are related to our language capabilities. It is not surprising then that the relationship between language and thought has attracted significant attention in psychology. The interaction of language and thought has previously been explored bilaterally. However, in the current literature review we shall focus only on the influence of language on thought. The Whorfian HypothesisEarly experiments (Smith, Brown, Toman, & Goodman, 1947) demonstrate that cognition can operate independently of language capacity. However, many scholars argue that the way we speak influences the way we think, even if they disagree on the extent of that influence. At one extreme, the Whorfian hypothesis (Whorf, 1956) asserts that the language we speak determines the thoughts we can have (linguistic determinism). In relation to this, Green (2010) suggests two criteria that the evidence for linguistic determinism should meet:In order to support efficiently linguistic determinism, one would need to provide evidence that speakers of one language cannot think or entertain thoughts that come naturally to speakers of another language and also that those differences in thinking involve higher cognitive processes, which are demonstrably caused by language. (pp. 366-367) In the following section, we will review the relevant literature against the above criteria. Language and colour perceptionEarly studies investigated colour perception and naming as a means of supporting the Whorfian hypothesis. Brown and Lennenberg (1954) found a positive correlation between recognition of a given colour and its ' codability' (i.e., its categorisation under a concept that is represented with a word). However, the researchers acknowledged that these results did not qualify as support for a causal link between language and thought. Instead, it seems that the codability of a colour facilitates the recognition of that colour, rather than conclusively determining the colours that we can recognise. Hence, if we teach someone how to label given colour hues with (new) language terms, this could make the future recognition of those colours easier. In other words, the language vocabulary an individual holds, or the colour terms available in the language an individual speaks, does not seem to decisively constrain the recognition of unlabeled colour variations. If the acquisition of new terms can readily facilitate recognition or even memorisation of the newly named colours, it seems implausible to argue that the language we speak disables us from entertaining thoughts produced within a differen...
This psychotherapy case study examines the brief therapeutic journey of a young woman presenting with academic anxiety and the flexible person-centred approach adopted by her therapist, the author. Application during therapy sessions of concepts from humanistic therapy and beyond, such as configurations of self and imagining future possible selves, enabled the client to unravel her anxiety and eventually discover the underlying tension existing between her internal versus external locus of self-evaluation and self-worth, leading her to contemplate her overall social identity and future life choices. The study aimed to stimulate in the client open reflection about how an internal dialogue between parts of the self may reveal underlying internal tensions and how envisaging possible future selves can help identify how self-criticism may be socially and culturally conditioned. This study, being a single-client study, was tailored for the specific therapeutic goals and personality of the client, and thus the generalisability of this therapeutic approach is limited. However, the study aims to shed light on how we may better support through psychotherapy and counselling students at elite universities with a working-class background, who commonly struggle to “fit in” to this environment and make sense of their changing present and future social identity.
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