CH 8: THINKING, DECISIONS, INTELLIGENCE, AND LANGUAGE

Define cognition

mental content and processes - includes memory and

representation

problem solving

intelligence

language

Define analog/sensory representation and example

Representing info through sensory features

apple —> imaging what an apple looks/smells like

Define proposition/symbolic representation and example

representing info through meaning, words, or concepts

understanding the word fairness without needing sensory info

understanding the word “fairness” without needing sensory info

Define prototype and example

best, idealized version of a concept

bird —> envision a perfect bird/ perfect apple

Define exemplar and example

an actual example of a concept that you’ve personally experienced

exemplar can shape a prototype

envision a bird that YOUR bird

Define schemas and example

group information about common concepts, situations, and roles

our brain likes to group things that are common to eachother

farm (barn, animals, hay)

schema: plan that organized things together

Define scripts and example

schemas that also include the expected order of behaviors in a situation

eating at a restaurant sit—>order—>eat—>pay

Information that doesn’t fit our expectations are more likely to…

forgotten and altered when we reconstruct memories, and we may use prototypes to fill in missing details

exception: if something is unusual it gets automatically encoded

Define representation

how we think/understand something

how we represent objects can affect our ability to solve problems

Define functional fixedness

when we only think of one use for an object, making it harder to solve problems

to fix think of less rigid ways to make problem solving easier

Define mental set and example

when you get stuck solving a problem in a familiar/habitual way

similar to functional fixedness but focuses on habitual actions instead of objects function

Define insight

when the correct solution to a problem suddenly comes to you

happens when you think of a problem in a diff way

Define typical problem solving

uses trial and error but insight problem solving because clear without trial and error

Insight for left hemisphere

fine coding, strong activation but narrowly focused

Insight on right hemisphere

weak activation of many diff related ideas but allows more passive connections between ideas, plays role in insight

Define intelligence

ability to reason and use knowledge to solve problems

Define Spearman’s theory

believed intelligence comes from one mental ability called “g”

Define g (general intelligence)

related to speed of processing (how quickly you process info) and working memory (how much info you can temporarily hold and use)

faster processing + better working memory = increased intelligence

Catel’s Theory

claimed two types of intelligence

fluid intelligence and crystalized intelligence

Define Fluid Intelligence

ability to process info and solve new/unfamiliar problems

begins to decline after 20s

similar to Spearman’s g

Define Crystalized Intelligence

knowledge and skills you’ve already learned

helps you solve familiar problems using past knowledge

continues to grow with age (associated with nurture/environment)

Gardner’s Theory

proposed 7-8 types of intelligence

logic/math

linguistic

spatial

musical

bodily kinesthetic

interpersonal/social

intrapersonal

8th naturalistic

Define Growth Mindset

belief that intelligence and other abilities can improve through learning and effort

better problem solver, intelligence can be changed and improve

Define Entity/Fixed Mindset

Believed intelligence and abilities are stable and cannot easily change

you believe people are naturally good or bad at certain things

Define decision making

when you pick from a list of options

think about what matters to you and compare your choices

you don’t know the outcome so it’s driven by emotions, habits, or mental shortcuts

Define Problem Solving

when something is blocking you from reaching a goal and you need to figure out how to get past it

Why are we biased in thinking

people actually decide not calm or logical

we are biased, we use info that doesn’t really matter and emotions push us towards choices we might not otherwise think

Define heuristics

instead of carefully thinking through every decision, we use quick informal rules to decide fast

using mental shortcuts saves us mental energy and frees up to focus on other things

can lead to biased or mistaken ways

Define confirmation bias

paying attention to info that matched what they believed in, ignoring signs that pointed another way

Define confirmation bias

paying attention to info that matched what they believed in, ignoring signs that pointed another way

Define hindsight bias

the tendency to see past events as more predictable than they actually were

Define anchor

reference point in decision making

Define anchoring

in making judgements, people rely on first piece of info they encounter or info that comes most quickly to mind

info that comes most quickly to mind

when you estimate something, your brain latches onto first # it sees and adjusts from there

Define anchoring effect

influences decisions

where people rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive (the "anchor") when making decisions, estimates, or value judgments

Designing car starting with good points and then following it with bad side

Define framing and example

way choice is worded changes how you feel about something

Ex. 70% pass 30% fail

shows that people tend to care more about avoided loses than gaining something good

Define loss aversion

the fear of losing feels stronger than the excitement of winning

Define availability heuristics

mental shortcut where you go with whatever answer pops into your head most easily

Your brain tends to trust info that feels familiar/ easy to remember, even if it's not accurate

Define representativeness heuristics

mental shortcut where you categorize someone/something based on how closely it matches your idea of a typical example of that category

Define base rate

when we ignore an important fact

ignore general statistical information (the base rate) and focus instead on specific, vivid, or anecdotal details about a single case

What did Janet Werker discover

discovered that whatever language mom speaks during pregnancy shapes what baby refers to listen to after birth

Age progression with language

3-5 months: cooing and laughing

5-7 months: babbling, making consonants and vowels

7-8 months: repeat syllabus and say first few words

18-24 months: combing words and vocabulary increases

Define telegraphic speech

using fewest words possible while still following basic grammar rules

Define overgeneralized and example

when toddlers over apply a new rule they learned

Ex. kids learning past tense, start applying to every word

Define surface structure

what sentence looks and sounds like

Define deep structure

what sentence is acc saying

Define language acquisition device

a brain structure that gives us head start on learning new language

Lauren-Ann Petititto about ASL

found that deaf babies learn ASL just as natural as talking babies

Define creole

full languages that develops when 2 or more languages blend together over time

Define pidgin

a simple mix of words from different languages that people use to get by without grammar rules

a rough draft before creole

Define phonics

learning what sound each letter makes

Define whole language

approaches learning meaning of words and understanding how words connect in sentences

Define dylexia

makes reading, spelling, and writing difficult

nothing to do with IQ

can be genetic

Define IQ (intelligence quotient)

test score used to estimate intelligence

imperfect measure of fluid intelligence

Define Reaction Range

range of possible IQ scores you inherit genetically

Define reaction range

range of possible IQ scores you inherit geneticaly

environment can increase or decrease IQ within that inherited range

What did adoption studies show about IQ scores

found that children IQ scores were significantly correlated with biological parents IQ scores

children IQ also correlated with adoptive siblings

Howard Skeel’s Orphanage Experiment

babies lived in orphanage and care givers took good care of physical needs but didn’t play/socialize with them

as babies developed, IQ decreased

tranferred children= increased IQ by 20 points after 1 year

Define language

symbols that convey meaning, along with rules combining symbols

allows us to represent (out thoughts) and share info

language allows us to pass down knowledge

how we can learn from other people

All language is

symbolic: simpler than objects they rep

Semantic: meaningful

Generative: we can use a limited number of words and rules to create an unlimited number of new sentences.

Structured: rule bound (rules of grammar)

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

idea that language determines how we think

Weak Saprir-Whorf Hypothesis

language does not completely determine our thoughts

language can influence/nudge how we think

the language you speak influences and shapes your cognitive habits, attention, and perception, without strictly limiting or trapping what you are capable of thinking. [1, 2, 3]

diff cultures affect different ways on understanding world

Russian Speakers and colors

Russian seperates two seperate words for light and dark blue

can decipher shades more easily

Pormpuraaw

Speak certain languages and uses more than 80+ words for cardinal directions

Define Dead Reckoning

ability to keep track of your position and direction as you move

Animal communication

almost all social specifies communicate with eachother

many animals can communicate through:

emotions

commands/requests

warnings

names and objects

Prarie Dogs

the one nonhuman species that demonstrate symbolic, semantic, generative, and rule bound

communicate through sounds

very small changes in sound allow communication

Define phonemes

basic sounds used in language

the smallest unit of sound in speech that can distinguish one word from another

diff languages uses diff phenomes

Ease of Production

how easily sound is to make

Ease of perception

how easy sound is to hear and recognize

The vowel triangle

consists of three vowel sounds

almost every language with only 3 vowel sounds uses these three

languages with only 2 vowel sounds typically choose sounds from this triangle

Mama

different languages use diff phonemes for most words but some words have similar sounds across many languages

Categorical perception and example

ability to recognize diff sounds as belonging to same meangingful phoneme

Accent when they say word —> brain recognizes same phonemes

makes language more efficient because we don’t treat diff sounds as something new

Within category discrimination

hard

Between category discrimination

easy

Define dental stop

tip of tongue touching back of teeth

Retroflex stop

tongue curled so tip is behind alveolary ridge

Hvular

tongue raised against velum

Velar

tongue raised behind velum

future “english speaking” infants can hear distinction in both vindi and salish until about 8-10 months

Define critical period

period for language

infants babble, practicing sounds of their language before they are even old enough to speak

deaf parents babble with their hands same as voices

deaf infants of hearing parents will never be fully fluent even after learning ASL

Explain Bilingual households

baby will multiple phonemics

shows more flexible thinking and decrease cognitive decay with aging