為什麼語言可以被視為是有結構的想法？語言決定論的邏輯。

Bloom (2000) 提供了我們一些語言決定論的想法：

請想像一個水平線，最左邊三分之一的部分我們叫它「zoop」，剩下的部分則是「moop」。一開始，我們對這條水平線沒有任何想法，但是經過上面的過程後我們對這條水平線有了結構。這就是認知的結果。例如：你可以知道這條線被平均地分為三等分，然後可以概據這樣子的線索，知道兩個zoop就和一個moop是一樣的。

或者再想像有人在你面前放在50個不同顏色、不同材質的小東西，然後有個人指著所有紅色、則質地柔軟的東西叫作「doops」。這會使你將紅色、柔軟的東西通通視為一個特殊的類別，而且這個類別會影響你看待事物的方式，而且使你回想其它物品的組合，即使這並不是在一個要求溝通的情境下。

也可以想像看到一個亂七八糟的房間，東西散落在各個角落。人們透過語言，可以描述當時所看到的情景；但是，對於沒有語言的動物而言，這樣子的景象，只有視覺輸入的記憶。兩者在儲存資訊上就存在很大的差異。

從邏輯上，有了語言似乎使我們的想法更有結構。那麼，在沒有語言前，人們就沒有任何想法了嗎？

References

Bloom, P. (2000). Words and Concepts. In (), How children learn the meanings of words. The MIT Press.
Bowerman, M. & others (1996). Learning how to structure space for language: A crosslinguistic perspective. In Peterson, L. Nadel & M. Garrett (Ed.), Language and space (pp. 385-436). MIT Press.
Carruthers, P. (1998). Language, thought and consciousness: An essay in philosophical psychology. Cambridge University Press.
Davidson, N. S. & Gelman, S. A. (1990). Inductions from novel categories: The role of language and conceptual structure. Cognitive Development, 5(2), 151-176.
De Villiers, J. & De Villiers, P. (1997). Linguistic determinism and theory of mind. , , .
Dehaene, S. (2011). The number sense: How the mind creates mathematics. OUP USA.
Dennett, D. C. (1996). Kinds of minds: toward an understanding of consciousness. Basic Books.
Fodor, J. A. (1975). The language of thought (Vol. 5). Harvard University Press.
Gelman, S. A. & Coley, J. D. (1990). The importance of knowing a dodo is a bird: Categories and inferences in 2-year-old children.. Developmental psychology, 26(5), 796.
Gelman, S. A. & Markman, E. M. (1986). Categories and induction in young children. Cognition, 23(3), 183-209.
Gelman, S. A. & Markman, E. M. (1987). Young children's inductions from natural kinds: The role of categories and appearances. Child development, , 1532-1541.
Gentner, D. & Boroditsky, L. (2001). Individuation, relativity, and early word learning. In (), Language, culture and cognition. Cambridge University Press.
Goldstone, R. L. (1994). Influences of categorization on perceptual discrimination.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 123(2), 178.
Goodglass, H., Denes, G. & Calderon, M. (1974). The absence of covert verbal mediation in aphasia. Cortex, 10(3), 264-269.
Gopnik, A. & Meltzoff, A. (1987). The development of categorization in the second year and its relation to other cognitive and linguistic developments. Child development, , 1523-1531.
Gopnik, A., Meltzoff, A. N. & Bryant, P. (1997). Words, thoughts, and theories (Vol. 1). Mit Press Cambridge, MA.
Leslie, A. M. (1994). ToMM, ToBy, and Agency: Core architecture and domain specificity. In (), Mapping the mind: Domain specificity in cognition and culture. Cambridge University Press.
Levinson, S. C. (1996). Frames of reference and Molyneux’s question: Crosslinguistic evidence. In (), Language and space (Vol. 109). MIT Press.
Lucy, J. A. & Gaskins, S. (2001). Grammatical categories and the development of classification preferences: A comparative approach. In (), Language acquisition and conceptual development. Cambridge University Press.
Markman, E. M. & Hutchinson, J. E. (1984). Children's sensitivity to constraints on word meaning: Taxonomic versus thematic relations. Cognitive Psychology, 16(1), 1-27. doi:10.1016/0010-0285(84)90002-1
Murphy, G. L. & Lassaline, M. E. (1997). Hierarchical structure in concepts and the basic level of categorization. In (), Knowledge, concepts, and categories. MIT Press.
Perner, J., Leekam, S. R. & Wimmer, H. (1987). Three-year-olds' difficulty with false belief: The case for a conceptual deficit. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 5(2), 125-137.
Solomon, G. E. (1997). Conceptual change and wine expertise. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 6(1), 41-60.
Tajfel, H. & Wilkes, A. L. (1963). Classification and quantitative judgement. British journal of psychology, 54(2), 101-114.
Waxman, S. & Thompson, W. (1998). Words are invitations to learn about categories. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21(1), 88-88.
Waxman, S. R. & Markow, D. B. (1995). Words as invitations to form categories: Evidence from 12-to 13-month-old infants. Cognitive psychology, 29(3), 257-302.
Wimmer, H. & Perner, J. (1983). Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children's understanding of deception. Cognition, 13(1), 103-128.