Cognitive Psychology Assignment: Gardner's Theory and Language Debate

This assignment delves into two key areas of cognitive psychology: Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and the process of language acquisition. It explores how Gardner's theory can be applied in practical situations, such as understanding a tribe's values to ensure survival, by recognizing different forms of intelligence like visual-spatial or musical intelligence. Furthermore, the assignment discusses the interplay of nature and nurture in language acquisition, highlighting the innate ability to learn languages alongside the crucial role of environmental factors. The stages of language acquisition and the influence of the environment on language development and retention are also examined. Desklib offers this assignment as a resource for students studying cognitive psychology, providing insights and solutions to complex topics. You can find more solved assignments and past papers on the Desklib platform.

Running Head: COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
1
Cognitive Psychology
Name of the Student
Name of the Instructor
Course Code
University
Date

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2
Answer 7.
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences helps us in determining the different forms
of intelligences that human beings have. In case I get lost in the jungle of Amazon and meet
the tribe who adore people with intelligence and eat them that are foolish then I would surely
try to understand them. In order to save myself I would be using my visual abilities to
determine the things that they consider to be intelligent. Observing the surrounding would
help me in understanding whether they prefer Visual-Spatial Intelligence or not. Their way of
talking would ensure the amount of verbal intelligence that they have (Cherry, 2018). The
leisurely practices would allow me to have a better understanding of the activities that they
think to be undertaken by intelligent people. Musical Intelligence is another form of
intelligence put forward by Gardner and this would be easier for me recognize within this
tribe. If they prefer such things as intelligent then it would become easier for me to cope with
the situation. Hence, I would be utilizing these skills in order to save myself from the tribal
people.
Answer 8.
In the process of language acquisition both nature and nurture has an equal amount of
effect. It is believed that the ability to acquire languages is innate within every individual. A
child acquires language from his surroundings and in this process environment or nature
takes up the major space. While the rate at which the language would be learnt is decided
through the amount of maturity that the individual has gained. There are a number of stages
of language acquisition that a child needs to pass through before reaching perfection (Lidz &
Gagliardi, 2015). The language or languages acquired during childhood gets perfection as
they attain maturity. In addition to this there are a number of other things that is dependent on
this environmental factor. The environment in which a child grows up decides the language

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 3
that the child would be picking up. The way and frequency in which the language is spoken
decides the rate at which the language might be developed. While the process of nurturing too
is important as it makes a difference in the way the language is retained in the later part of the
individual’s life. These two factors act with one another and help in proper acquisition of
language.

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 4
References
Cherry, K. (2018). Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Verywellmind. Retrieved
from: https://www.verywellmind.com/gardners-theory-of-multiple-intelligences-
2795161
Lidz, J., & Gagliardi, A. (2015). How nature meets nurture: Universal grammar and
statistical learning. Annu. Rev. Linguist., 1(1), 333-353.