Chapter 9 & 10 Vocabulary - Gen. Psychology

Language

A form of communication whether spoke, written, or signed, that is based on a system of symbols

Infinite Generativity

The ability to produce an endless number of meaning

Phonemes

The basic and smallest speech sounds

Morphemes

The smallest, meaningful units of language

Grammar

Tells us how to use phonemes and morphemes

Syntax

The grammatical rules for ordering words in sentences

Semantics

The meaning

Crying

Earliest form of communication

Smiles

Second form of communication we have as humans

Reflexive smile

First types of smiles in infants; not in response to any external stimulus

Social cry

The response to some type of external stimulus

Holophrase

A single word that conveys a sentence-worth of meaning

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Developed by Noam Chomsky, biological endowment that all children have; a neurological thing that allows children to detect elements of language without being instructed

Intelligence

Verbal ability, problem solving skills, and the ability to adapt to and learn from everyday experiences

Crystalized Intelligence

Knowledge and skills that are gained through experience and education; continues grow throughout the lifespan

Fluid Intelligence

Reasoning abilities, memory, and speed of information processing

Analytical

The ability to analyze, evaluate, compare, and contrast

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Analytical, creative, practical

Albert Binet

Came up with a way to assess how successful students will be in school

Mental Age (MA)

An individual’s level of development compared to others of the same age

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test

Designed to evaluate IQ in children roughly between the ages of 3 and 16 (4 areas: verbal reasoning, quantitively reasoning, abstract visual reasoning, and short-term memory)

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

For children, the most widely used intelligence tests; they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests (2 areas: verbal score and performance score)

Standardization

Involves developing uniform procedures for admitting and scoring a test as well as creating norms or performance standards for the test

Reliability

Measuring the relationship between what we’re measuring and some other criteria

Validity

How well the test measures what is intended to measure

Intellectual Disability

Someone who typically has an IQ of less than 70 and has significant deficits and adapting functioning to everyday life

Organic causes

Caused by genetic disorder or some type of brain damage

Cultural-familial environment

Based off of environment or culture, no evidence of organic causes

Savant Syndrome

Someone of low IQ who has an exceptional ability in a kind of arts, rapid calculation, and/or memory

Giftedness

People of special needs who an IQ of 135 or higher