The absolute view originally proposed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, asserting that language strictly dictates thought, has been criticized by later psychologists for its lack of empiricism. This absence of early empirical backing has fueled ongoing debates and further research into the precise relationship between language and cognition.

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The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposes that language shapes thought. Its strong form, linguistic determinism, which claims language *dictates* thought, is now largely dismissed. A more accepted moderate version, linguistic relativity, suggests language *influences* thought. Evidence for this weaker claim comes from various domains. For instance, differences in how English and Mandarin speakers describe time correlate with cognitive performance on related tasks. Conversely, studies on color perception, such as with the Dani people of Papua New Guinea, have shown that having fewer color terms does not necessarily limit color discrimination, challenging the stronger claims of the hypothesis.

Linguistic Determinism (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis)

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

The conceptualization of time differs between English and Mandarin Chinese speakers, impacting their cognitive processing. English speakers predominantly use horizontal metaphors for time, such as "I'm running behind schedule." Mandarin Chinese speakers, however, use both horizontal and vertical metaphors, where the past can be described as "up" and the future as "down." This linguistic difference translates to performance on cognitive tests; when primed with vertical cues, Mandarin speakers recognize temporal relationships between months more quickly, demonstrating how language can shape abstract thought.

Example of Linguistic Influence: Time Perception

To investigate how language influences thought, researchers compared the color terminology and perception of English speakers, who have 11 color words, and the Dani people of Papua New Guinea, who have only two words for color (one for light and one for dark). Despite the hypothesis that having fewer color terms might limit their conceptualization of color, the Dani could distinguish colors just as effectively as English speakers. This finding demonstrates that having fewer words at their disposal does not necessarily restrict perceptual abilities (Berlin & Kay, 1969).

Dani Color Perception Study

Empirical Criticisms of Linguistic Determinism

An example of how language might shape thought is the vocabulary available for concepts like love. In some languages, there are many different words for love, whereas in English, the single word 'love' is used for all types. This raises the question of whether the number of available words for a concept affects how speakers of different languages think about that concept.

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