psych100 -- ch 9

thinking

processes that underlie the mental manipulation of knowledge and ideas

• increases chances of survival

cognition

all activities that underlie all forms of thought

thinking is used to:

1. reach a goal

2. solve a problem

3. understand and communicate with others

language

gives us the ability to communicate our thoughts, feelings, and needs to other

• powerful and can create vivid thought processes

linguistic relativity hypothesis states

suggests that language not only shapes how we think but also influences how we perceive the world but does not completely determine thought

structure of language

to qualify as a language, communication system but have grammar

grammar

the rules of language that enable the communicator to combine symbols to convey meaning

grammar — phonology

rules of combining sounds to make words

grammar — syntax

rules of combining words to make sentences

grammar — semantics

rules used to communicate meaning

morphemes

the smallest language units that have meaning, including suffixes and prefixes

• ex. english has 50,000-80,000

• ex. “students” = 3 morphemes ← students = study + -ent + -s

phonemes

the basic sounds of speech, the building blocks of language

• produced through a complex coordination of the vocal cords, lungs, lips, tongue, and even teeth

• ex. english has about 40-45

• ex. unaspirated /p/ and aspirated /p^h/ are the same phoneme

• ex. in thai and hindi, park vs. apple are different phenomes

surface structure

noam chomsky, 1957

• literal ordering of words in a sentence

• ex. “visiting relatives can be a nuisance” ← same surface structures

• ex. “stephanie kissed the crying boy” vs. “the crying boy was kissed by stephanie” ← different surface structures

deep structure

noam chomsky, 1957

• underlying meaning of the sentence. more abstract

• ex. “visiting relatives can be a nuisance” ← different deep structures

• ex. “stephanie kissed the crying boy” vs. “the crying boy was kissed by stephanie” ← same deep structures

language comprehension

ability to derive meaning from written or oral language

language comprehension — factors that facilitate quick comprehension

• past knowledge

• shared knowledge among speakers

• anticipation at our communication partner’s next words (top-down processing)

pragmatics

practical knowledge used to comprehend the intentions of a speaker and produce an appropriate response

• ex. “can you close the window?”

paul grice (1975)’s four maxims of conversation

1. be informative (quantity)

2. tell the truth (quality)

3. be relevant (relation)

4. be clear (manner)

paul grice (1975)’s four maxims of conversation — be informative (quantity)

• say enough information but not too much

• “make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the exchange)”

• “do not make your contribution more informative than is required.”

paul grice (1975)’s four maxims of conversation — tell the truth (quality)

• be truthful

• do not give false or unsupported information

• “try to make your contribution one that is true”

• “do not say what you believe to be false”

• “do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence”

paul grice (1975)’s four maxims of conversation — be relevant (relation)

• stay relevant to the topic & pertinent to the discussion

paul grice (1975)’s four maxims of conversation — be clear (manner)

• be clear, brief & orderly

• avoid obscurity and ambiguity

• “avoid obscurity of expression”

• “avoid ambiguity”

• “be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity)”

• “be orderly”

maxim of quantity example

“there are at least four students in the room”

aphasia

a language disorder that results in deficits in language production and comprehension

broca’s area

located in the frontal lobe in left hemisphere of brain and associated with language production

wernicke’s area

an area of the left hemisphere where the temporal and parietal lobes meet, involved in speech comprehension

learning phonemes

• the language or languages spoken by mothers during pregnancy influences listening preferences in newborns

• newborns suck on a pacifier at a different rate when hearing their mother’s voice compared to a stranger’s voice, indicating recognition of the familiar voice (decasper & fifer, 1980)

pattern of language development — 3-5 weeks

• cooing

• linguistic highlights: repetition of vowel sounds such as “ooh” and “aah”

• interpretation: vocalization milestone that occurs before formal language development

  • similar across cultures

  • highlights the universality of language

pattern of language development — 4-6 months

• babbling

• linguistic highlights: reptition of vowel-consonant combinations such as “kaka” or “baba”

• interpretation: vocalization milestone that occurs before formal language development

  • similar across cultures

  • highlights the universality of language

pattern of language development — 6-18 months

• first word

• linguistic highlights: vocalizations become specific to the native language

  • the first word is spoken by the end of the first year

• interpretation: experience plays a role in vocalization as a baby’s babblings are shaped into language-specific sounds

  • language comprehension is rapidly developing

pattern of language development — 24 months

• telegraphic speech

• linguistic highlights: vocabulary of at least 200 words

  • the child shows telegraphic speech

  • grammatical two-word combinations

• interpretation: speech reflects knowledge of syntax, as words are almost always combined in the proper order

pattern of language development — preschool years

• full sentence production

• linguistic highlights: ability to produce and comprehend sentences

• interpretation: the child is now showing most of the important features of adult syntax

developmental milestones — 3 months

cooing and gurgling

developmental milestones — 6 months

babbling

developmental milestones — 12 months

first words

developmental milestones — 18 months

knows 5-40 words

developmental milestones — 2 years

• 150-300 words

• knows 2-3 sentences

developmental milestones — 3 years

• 900-1000 words

• asks short questions

developmental milestones — 4 years

• 2000 words

• 5+ word sentences

developmental milestones — 5 years

• identifying letters

• creating longer sentences

overgeneralizations

as children begin to use language in more sophisticated ways, one relatively rare but telling error they make is to over apply new grammar rules they learn

• “look! i growed up!”

uniqueness of human language — creativity

humans can create new expressions, but animals can’t

uniqueness of human language — arbitrariness

no natural or necessary connection between a word’s sound or form and its meaning

• animal communication is highly symbolic

• ex. the longer a bee’s waggle run, the farther away the food source is

uniqueness of human language — productivity

the syntax of language allows an infinite number of sentences to be produced

• animal communication systems don’t have this ability

language is an adaptation

language capacity has been beneficial to humans evolutionarily

• the answers to why and how language developed is still controversial

evidence that language is a product of evolution (ex. steven pinker, 1994)

1. language is associated with particular brain regions

2. language is learned very quickly by children

3. the human ear and vocal tract are well-suited for hearing and producing speech

4. some people inherit tendencies to make certain types of grammatical errors

   1. ex. omitting grammatical endings, using incorrect verb tense, etc.

      1. certain aspects of grammar processing are at least partially encoded in out genes

category

a class of objects (people, places, things) that most people agree belong together

• ex. animals, vegetables, cities, birds, etc.

• allow us to inger invidible properties about objects

  • ex. kite and doll are both children’s toys

• can make predictions about the future once you know an object’s category

  • ex. “junk food” likely to have poor health outcomes

defining features

set of features necessary to make objects acceptable members of a category

• the object must have all of the defining features

• problematic because ← does not fit for all categories (like natural objects)

  • works well for mathematical categories (ex. square vs. triangle)

family resemblance

rosch & mervis, 1975

• the core feature that category members share

• a given member of the category may have some but not necessarily all of the features

  • defined by the collection of core features that an object possesses

  • establishes good and poor members of a category

    • ex. car vs. elevator

prototype

the best/most representative member of a category

• ex. bird → robin, fruit → apple

• some cognitive psychologists suggest that we store protypes in long-term memory and use them to help determine category membership ← similar to Piaget’s principles of assimilation and accommodation

category exemplars

specific examples of category members that are stored in long-term memory (favored theory)

hierarchical structure of categories

most structures have a built-in hierarchical structure

• the more general the level = the more inclusive it is

basic-level categories

the category level of the hierarchy that offers the most useful information ← just the right amount of information

• ex. cat

development of categorization

• ability to make predictions

  • ex. come across a snake = you know how it might behave and the dangers

• some categories can be specific to particular cultures, age groups, or professions

Special Categories

more universal categories

• ex. living things vs. non-living things

• makes sense from an evolutionary perspective

well-defined problems

• well-stated goal

• clear starting point

• relatively easy way to tell when a solution has been reached

  • ex. “i will dedicate 1 hour each day to learn a new language”

ill-defined problems

• no well-stated goal

• no clear starting points

• no effective mechanisms for evaluating progress

  • ex. finding the secret of happiness

problem representation

we must first understand the information we have and how it can be used

• oftentimes, our preconceptions can offer an incorrect view of the problem

functional fixedness

the tendency to see objects and their functions in certain fixed ways

• this can get in the way of problem solving effectively

algorithms

step-by-step rules or procedures that if applied correctly, guarantee a solution

• ex. solving mathematical problems

• not useful for ill-defined problems

  • ex. how to get a job

heuristics

rules of thumb to solve problems but do not offer a guaranteed solution

• ex. knowledge-based guesses

types of heuritstics

1. means-end analysis

2. working backwards

3. searching for analogies

types of heuristics — means-end analysis

devising “means” or actions to lessen the distance between starting point and the “end” or goal

types of heuristics — working backwards

starting at the goal and trying to move backwards towards the starting point

types of heuristics — searching for analogies

working to find a connection between the current problem and a previously solved task

another problem-solving strategy: mental set

tendencies t rely on particular problem-solving strategies that were successful in the past

insight

the moment a problem solution pops into one’s mind

• colutions can come in all or non fashion

• not in a slow, steady manner

• not all solutions come along by trial and error

• the process is not well understood but problem representation is important

brain areas associated with insight

• temporal cortex

• limbic system including hippocampus

decision making

thought process involved in evaluating and choosing from among a set of alternatives ← usually involving some sort of risk

framing

the manner that alternatives in a decision making situation are presented

• ex. medical decisions, military risks, advertising

confirmation bias

the tendency to seek out information that confirms a prior decision or belief

• ex. research on the double standards for men and women related to sexual behavior

belief persistence

the tendency to stick to one’s own beliefs despite contradictory evidence

• ex. staying in a toxic relationship

availability heuristic

over reliance on “top of mind” information because it’s recent, frequent, or stands out

• estimate the odds of some event occurring on the basis of how easily examples come to mind

anchoring and adjustment heuristics

• tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions or estimates

• anchor = initial information

  • serves as reference point from which we then adjust to reach our final judgement

representative heuristics

arrive at decision by comparing the similarity of the object or event to the average member of each class