Cognitive Psychology Exam 3

Language

A form of communication, that is productive, and governed by grammar

True

not all communication is language, but all language is a form of communication

False

language has a limit to the message it can communicate

arbitrariness

means there is no connection between a word’s meaning and what it looks like, lack of resemblance between a work and what it refers to

discreetness

system of language can be divided into specific parts that can be isolated, pieces can be oriented in different ways and form connections in different ways

True

language is both arbitrary and discreet

phonology

the study of the sound systems of languages

phonemes

distinct sound units that comprise a language

orthography

the written form of the language, includes letters

False

there is a 1 to 1 relationship between sounds and letters

morphology

the actual message being conveyed

morpheme

smallest unit to convey meaning and grammatical properties

maximize your expected utility

another name for AI mentioned by the guest speaker

True

Genie had reverse dominance in localization of hemispheres in dichotic listening tasks

Right hemisphere (left ear)

Genie’s dominant hemisphere for dichotic listening tasks

language acquisition

Genie’s case study caused significant debate regarding the critical period hypothesis for this process

4 or 5

at what age does lateralization take place

lateralization

the process by which certain cognitive functions become localized primarily in one hemisphere of the brain, typically occurring during early childhood.

False

If one hemisphere of the brain is damaged, the other hemisphere can not compensate for lost functions.

Wada Test

A neurological procedure used to determine the lateralization of brain function by temporarily anesthetizing one hemisphere, allowing assessment of language and memory capabilities.

right hemisphere

responsible for environmental sounds

left hemisphere

responsible for language

Critical Period

The idea that language acquisition only occurs during a specific time frame in early development. (2 years to puberty)

semantics

The study of meaning in language, including the relationship between words, phrases, and their meanings.

anomaly

unspoken rules and meanings that explain why certain language structures may not conform to expectations and may “break” the language.

Self-Contradiction

A statement that contradicts itself, such as "I always lie." It highlights the complexities and paradoxes in language and thought.

Ambiguity

The presence of two or more possible meanings within a word, phrase, or statement, leading to confusion or multiple interpretations.

Synonym

A word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word, often used to enhance clarity in language.

Entailment

A logical relationship where one statement necessarily follows from another, indicating that if the first statement is true, the second must also be true.

pragmatics

social rules of language that govern how context influences the interpretation of meaning, including tone and implied meanings.

syntax

the set of rules that govern the structure of sentences in a language, including word order and sentence formation, including word order

False

Syntax and Grammar are the same thing

Kuuk Thaayore

An Aboriginal language spoken in Australia, known for its unique grammatical structures and use of spatial orientation where time is organized from east to west and is centered around the landscape and not the body

True

Speech is continuous

allophones

Variants of a phoneme that occur in different contexts without changing meaning, the O in on vs the O in off

phonetic ambiguity

The phenomenon where a single phonetic expression can be interpreted in multiple ways, leading to different meanings or sounds in context.

lexical ambiguity

The situation where a word or phrase has multiple meanings or interpretations, depending on context. “I have to go to the bank.” river bank vs first national bank

syntactic ambiguity

The occurrence when a sentence can be parsed in multiple ways due to its structure, leading to different interpretations. For example, "I saw the man with the telescope" can mean either the man had a telescope or I used a telescope to see the man.

False

Typing notes is better for retention than handwritten notes

Garden Path Sentences

Sentences that lead readers to initially interpret them in one way, but require reanalysis to understand the intended meaning. For example, "The horse raced past the barn fell."

Broca’s Aphasia

A type of language impairment resulting from damage to Broca's area, characterized by difficulty in speech production while comprehension remains intact.

Wernicke’s Aphasia

A type of language impairment resulting from damage to Wernicke's area, characterized by fluent speech that lacks meaning and not being able to process language being spoken to them. Fast gibberish-like speech.

True

Only 20% of the US population is bilingual

False

Less than 50% of humans are bilingual

simultaneous bilingual

A person who learns two languages at the same time during early childhood, often achieving proficiency in both languages.

sequential bilingual

A person who learns a second language after establishing proficiency in their first language, typically during childhood or later.

polyglot

speaks multiple languages fluently

True

facilitating an immersion experience can enhance language acquisition by surrounding learners with the target language in real-life contexts.

False

Bilingual people have a worse expertise in their first language

True

Bilingual individuals score higher on concept formation tasks and visual pattern reorganization tasks

False

Bilingual individuals get lower scores on problem solving tasks requiring inhibition of irrelevant information

true

bilingual individuals have a later onset age for dementia

true

bilingual individuals may process language slower than monolinguals

True

there is no difference in learning new vocabulary between children and adults

True

those who learn new words in childhood are more likely to pronounce the words as a native language speaker

false

Adults learning a new language are less likely to have a noticeable accent

Graphemes

smallest written units of a language; letters

Lexical decision task (LD)

A psychological test used to measure how quickly and accurately individuals can classify words as real or non-words.

lexicon

mental dictionary

sublexical systems

how often the letter combination occurs and the regularity for the corresponding sounds, how we are able to sound out new words and pronounce non-words

dual route model

A theory in cognitive psychology that proposes two distinct pathways for reading: a direct route for familiar words (lexicon) and an indirect route for unfamiliar words or non-words (sublexical system).

Parallel distributed processing model

A cognitive model that explains how information is processed in the brain through interconnected networks of simple units, allowing for simultaneous processing of information.

Semantics

knowing the meaning of bass (the fish) and bass (the musical instrument), highlighting the importance of context in understanding language.

reasoning

drawing inferences or conclusions from given information

analogical reasoning

reasoning used in situations that require inferences, yet logical principles do not apply

Inductive reasoning

allows for a conclusion to be false even if the first statement is true

True

Inductive reasoning is usually used by scientists to create hypotheses

deductive reasoning

a logical process where conclusions are drawn from general premises that are known to be true.

abductive reasoning

a form of reasoning that seeks the simplest and most likely explanation for observations.

syllogistic reasoning

A form of deductive reasoning involving drawing conclusions from two or more premises that are asserted to be true. It often follows a specific structure, such as 'All A are B; All B are C; therefore, all A are C.'

propositional reasoning

A type of reasoning that involves logical operations on propositions or statements, typically using connectives like 'and', 'or', 'not', and 'if...then'. It focuses on the relationships between propositions rather than their content.

heuristic

A mental shortcut that allows for problem-solving and decision-making more efficiently, often at the expense of accuracy.

self-serving attribution bias

success is from your abilities and efforts, but failure is blamed on external factors

fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overemphasize personal characteristics and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behaviors, often leading to misjudgments.

reactive devaluation of new information

The tendency to devalue information or proposals when they come from an opposing viewpoint or group, often due to bias.

naive realism

The belief that we see the world objectively and that those who disagree with us must be uninformed, irrational, or biased.

True

generally, people believe others are more biased, even after being notified of their biases

True

teens are more likely to make risky decisions due to their ventromedial prefrontal cortex development still being underway

right temporal lobe/ frontal lobe

the part of the brain involved in problem solving

thinking

going beyond the information given

True

Thinking is divided into focused and unfocused thinking

Focused thinking

clear starting point thinking with a specific goal in mind

unfocused thinking

daydreaming, thinking occurring that is not relating to a specific goal

false

mind wandering is a developed topic in the world of research

define a problem

first step in problem solving

problem solving

the process of developing a solution or set of solutions designed to change the state of affairs from the current state to the goal state

functional fixedness

only considering the standard function and use of resources at your disposal as a means to solve your problem, if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail

Anderson’s Problem Solving Model

The 4 characteristics of problem solving are goal directness, sequence of operations, cognitive operations, and setting sub-goals

Problem Space

the different states surrounding a problem; initial state, current state, goal state

SOAR Model

State Operator And Result; represents a universal cognitive architecture that can model a variety of human cognitive phenomena

True

The SOAR model and Anderson’s model both include a problem state

SOAR model

this model can learn and develops action preferences

strong AI

a machine indistinguishable from humans

Applied AI

a smart machine capable of advancing information processing, like the alpha fold, solving complex problems

Cognitive Replication

trying to replicate the human brain using AI

algorithms

basis for AI, rules and if/then statements

True

Google maps is a form of AI

logical systems

include theorem provers and question answering systems that can reason through premises and derive conclusions.

theorem provers

software that automatically proves mathematical theorems by deriving conclusions from premises.

question answering

systems that automatically respond to questions posed in natural language, often using information retrieval techniques.