Psychology: Language, Memory, and Problem Solving

Practice flashcards covering language, visual imagery, problem-solving, thinking, and reasoning based on lecture notes.

Language

A structured system of communication that uses symbols, sounds, and rules to convey meaning, acting as a uniquely human ability central to cognitive processes.

Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke

Researchers who discovered the scientific study of language and identified brain areas responsible for language functions.

B.F. Skinner

Author of "Verbal Behavior" who argued that language is learned through reinforcement, where children are rewarded or punished.

Noam Chomsky

Author of "Syntactic Structures" who proposed that the ability in language is innate, genetically programmed, and shares a common underlying structure.

Psycholinguistics

The field focusing on how people acquire and process language, involving comprehension, speech production, representation, and acquisition.

Phonemes

The smallest units of sound that can change a word's meaning.

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning or grammatical function in a language.

Phonemic Restoration Effect

The phenomenon where people can "hear" missing sounds in speech when replaced by noise, such as a cough.

Word Superiority Effect

The finding that individuals recognize letters more accurately and faster when they are part of a real word rather than alone or in random strings.

Word Frequency Effect

The observation that people recognize, read, and understand high-frequency words faster and more accurately than low-frequency words.

Syntax

The study of rules for arranging words into grammatically correct sentences.

Semantics

The study of the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences, including literal denotation and emotional connotation.

Lexical Ambiguity

A situation where a word has multiple possible meanings.

Meaning Dominance

Refers to how frequent or likely a specific meaning of a word is, categorized as biased dominance or balanced dominance.

Linguistic Relativity

The theory that the structure of a language affects its speakers' cognition and perception, suggesting that speakers of different languages think differently.

Linguistic Determinism

A strong hypothesis arguing that language restricts and controls what individuals are capable of thinking.

Cognitive Universalism

The theory stating that thinking occurs first, and language serves simply as a way to express those pre-existing thoughts.

Inner Speech

The silent, internal dialogue individuals use for thinking, planning, problem-solving, and self-regulation.

Mental Imagery

The ability to recreate the sensory world in the absence of direct sensory input, often described as "seeing with the mind's eye."

Wilhelm Wundt

Founding psychologist who proposed that images were one of the three basic elements of consciousness along with sensations and feelings.

Mental Rotation

A concept studied by Shepard and Metzler where participants mentally rotate 3D objects; research showed that greater angles of rotation require longer response times.

Image Scanning

A task developed by Stephen Kosslyn where participants memorize a map and mentally "scan" from one location to another.

Spatial Representation

The idea from Kosslyn that different parts of a mental image correspond to specific locations in physical space.

Epiphenomenon

A term used by Pylyshyn to describe imagery as something that accompanies a mechanism but is not actually part of the mechanism itself.

Propositional Representation

A form of mental representation where relationships are expressed by abstract symbols.

Depictive Representations

Mental representations that are realistic and picture-like of an object.

Double Dissociation

A condition where a person can see normally but lacks the ability to imagine, or vice versa.

Unilateral Neglect

A condition where a person ignores one side of their visual space.

Visuospatial Interference

The reduction of the vividness of negative mental images by performing a visuospatial task, such as playing Tetris after a traumatic event.

Imagery Rescripting

The process of restructuring and changing a negative mental image into a more positive one.

Problem Solving

The process that occurs when there is an obstacle between a present state and a goal state, with no immediate obvious solution.

Gestalt Psychology

An approach to problem-solving that views it as a holistic process of perceiving and organizing a problem as a whole.

Restructuring

Representing a problem differently in the mind to achieve insight.

Insight

The sudden realization of a problem's solution, often involves breaking free from incorrect assumptions.

Functional Fixedness

The tendency to see objects only for their usual or typical function due to prior knowledge.

Mental Set

The tendency to approach a problem using a strategy or method that has been successful in the past.

Information-Processing Approach

A view of the mind as a computer that solves problems by searching through possible states in a structured way.

Means-End Analysis

A problem-solving strategy aimed at reducing the difference between the initial state and the goal state.

Analogical Transfer

The process of applying a solution from a previously encountered "source problem" to a current "target problem."

Thinking

A broad mental activity including processes such as perception, memory, imagination, and reasoning.

Concepts

Mental categories or groupings used to organize information, objects, or ideas that share common characteristics.

Prototypes

The most typical or best example representing a specific concept.

Propositions

Abstract statements expressing relationships between different concepts.

Mental Models

Representations of a situation or process that help simulate outcomes and solve complex spatial or causal problems.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning that starts with a general rule or principle and applies it to a specific situation to reach a conclusion.

Syllogism

A specific form of deductive reasoning consisting of two premises followed by a conclusion.

Inductive Reasoning

Reasoning that begins with specific observations to form a general conclusion.

Availability Heuristic

Judging the frequency or probability of an event based on how easily examples can be recalled.

Representativeness Heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of an event by comparing it to an existing mental prototype, sometimes ignoring base rates.

Belief Perseverance

Clinging to an initial belief even after the evidence that formed it has been proven false or discredited.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after an event has occurred, that one would have predicted it correctly; also known as the "I-knew-it-all-along" effect.

Framing Effect

The phenomenon where decisions and judgments are significantly influenced by how information is worded or presented.

Anchoring

The tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions.

System 1 (Intuitive Processing)

The automatic, rapid, and unconscious mental process for handling routine daily judgments.

System 2 (Rational Analysis)

The deliberate, slow, and effortful mental process used to resolve complex logical dilemmas or unfamiliar tasks.

Loss Aversion

A cognitive phenomenon where the psychological pain of losing is twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining.

Sunk Cost Fallacy

The irrational tendency to continue investing resources into a failing project because time or money has already been spent.

Groupthink

A psychological phenomenon in cohesive teams where harmony and conformity are prioritized over critical evaluation.

De-Biasing

The deliberate process of restructuring the mental environment to minimize the impact of cognitive errors.