Ch. 10 AP Psych Test Review - Thinking and Language

Algorithm

step-by-step process that guarantees an eventual solution

Confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Heuristics

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently, usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

Grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Prototype

a mental image of the best example of a category. Matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category (like comparing unknown feathered creatures to a prototypical bird like a robin)

Telegraphic speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram -”go car”- using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words

Linguistic determinism

Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Fixation

According to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage in which conflicts were unresolved ??

Morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word like a prefix

Washoe, the Chimpanzee

a chimp that researchers taught sign language, challenged idea of humans being only species to communicate with language (debate over whether he really understood language or if it was a result of operant conditioning)

Noam Chomsky

children can inherently acquire language due to a universal grammar that helps them understand all languages

Syntax Acquisition

learning of the part of grammar that sets rules for how to arrange/order words in a sentence

Divergent thinking

through process used to produce creative ideas by considering many possible solutions (imagination)

Convergent thinking

thought process used to find one concrete answer to a problem (logic)

Deductive reasoning

reasoning beginning with a theory that is then supported by observation to arrive at a conclusion or to confirm the hypothesis (general to specific)

Inductive reasoning

reasoning beginning with observation that is supported by a pattern that arrives at a theory or hypothesis (specific to general)

Analogy

an earlier solution is used to help produce a solution to a current problem

Syllogisms

two premises and a conclusion based on these premises to assign the property of something

Logical reasoning

mental processes that produce valid conclusions

7 ways of problem solving

Trial and error, algorithm, insight, artificial intelligence, incubation/pigeon holing, working backwards, heuristics

Trial and error

aka mechanical solution, trying random solutions until something works

Algorithm

step-by-step process that guarantees an eventual solution

Insight

“aha” moment, when you suddenly figure out a problem, as if your brain reaches a moment of unexplained clarity

Artificial Intelligence

use of computers and other devices to use artificial knowledge and programming to provide the solution

Incubation/pigeon holing

putting a problem aside for now to ponder it, and adjust to problem parameters (ex/ sleep on it)

Working backwards

starting with what you know is a possible outcome and then trying to see if you can work back to the beginning of the problem

Heuristics

a mental shortcut that allows an individual to make a decision, pass judgment, or solve a problem quickly and with minimal mental effort

3 types of heuristics

anchoring, availability, representativeness

Anchoring heuristic

aka anchoring bias, it is when someone relies most heavily on the first piece of info learned when making a choice, even if not the most relevant (we become anchored to that info)

Availability heuristic

the easier it is to remember an example of something, the more prevalent, frequent, or large we think it is. If the information can be easily recalled, it must be important! (People tend to overestimate the probability of plane crashes, homicides, and shark attacks because examples are easily remembered and information is made readily available to us)

Representativeness heuristic

Categorizing objects/people/events based on similarity to previous prototypes, or outcome probabilities

*allows for snap judgments

2 things that can interfere with problem-solving

confirmation bias and fixation

Confirmation bias

trying to confirm one’s own ideas (no open mind), looking only to support your own beliefs (Bush attached Iraq b/c he though they had WMD, they didn’t)

Fixation

Inability to see fresh perspective

Types of fixation

Mental sets- approaching problems in the same manner that you did previously, leading to no answer

Functional fixedness- being trapped in a limited way of thinking (ex/ spending time searching for a screwdriver when a coin would have been able to unscrew something)

reasoning

analysis of info to reach a calculated conclusion

types of reasoning

deductive, inductive, general abductive

phonemes

a set of basic sounds for a language (English has about 40-44)

Graphemes

the smallest units of written language that represent individual sounds or phonemes

Semantics

set of rules used to devise meaning from morphemes

Syntax

the set of rules used to order words into sentences

Pragmatics

social “niceties” of a language, a valued element (taking turns in conversations, gestures, intonation)

Language

the most tangible indication of advanced thinking power, language creates a framework that allows us to form conscious thought and allows our brains to process info in a consistent way

Examples of inductive reasoning

Causal inferences, generalizations, false analogies/equals

causal inferences

the process of determining cause-and-effect relationships between variables or events (if you hear piano music, you assume someone is playing piano nearby)

Generalizations

applying your knowledge of one specific case to all of that category

False analogies/equals

a flawed comparison between two things that are not truly similar. It occurs when the similarities between the two things being compared are not relevant to the conclusion being drawn. This can lead to faulty reasoning and incorrect conclusions.

General abductive reasoning

guesses

4 things that impact reasoning

-framing

-belief bias

-belief perseverance

-overconfidence

Framing

wording effects, or phrasing of a question that elicits a certain answer (higher confidence if told 75% of students pass an exam that if told 25% fail)

Overconfidence

overestimating our abilities (thinking we’ll finish hw faster than we will despite constantly proving ourselves wrong, or Hitler trying to invade Russia in the middle of winter)

Belief bias

the tendency to view info that supports your point as logical and info that counters your point as illogical

Belief perseverance

tendency to cling to beliefs in the face of contrary evidence (9/11 attacks being an inside job)

Concepts

mental groupings of similar objects, events, and people

Mental images

cognitive tools to help us form and remember concepts (ex/ mental rehearsal can help reach goals)

Tools to form and organize concepts

hierarchies, prototypes, subordinates

Hierarchies

creation of concepts by classifying via schemas

Prototypes

mental images and examples that incorporate all features associated with the idea (apples come in many colors, but are prototypically red)

Subordinates

subclassifications of concepts (ex/ being sick means different illness names, which have different treatments and symptoms)

Language-connected imagery

mental imagery is based on analog code in the brain

Shepard and Metzler

found that it took people longer to mentally rotate an object 180 than only 20 using spatial cognition, shown by the Kosslyn Island test

BL Whorf

language determines the way we think (linguistic determinism)

-differences in vocabulary among cultures shows variation in how we think (Japanese have more words to describe interpersonal emotion, English has more self-focus)

Sapir/Whorf Hypothesis

suggests that the quality of thoughts are controlled/relative to language

1) Linguistic determinism- language affects non-linguistic cognitive processes and behavior

2) Linguistic relativity- cognitive processes are different for different languages OR people who speak different languages see the world differently

Animal thinking capacity

animals show thinking ability, especially primates. They problem-solve and make tools, such as using rocks to crack open nuts

Animal language

Washoe (chimp) and Koko (gorilla) were taught 181 and 500 different signs, respectively. Debate over whether they truly understood language or if it was the effects of operant conditioning

Allen and Beatrix Gardner

Taught Washoe sign, heavily criticized for the experiment because many people believed Washoe was not using language, but reproducing symbols due to operant conditioning. Many people also disliked the suggestion that humans were not the only ones to use language as it blurred the line between animals and humans.

Elementary schoolers can learn roughly ____ words per day, or ____ words per year.

10, 3500

stages of language development

1- babbling

2- one-word stage

3- two-word stage

4- phrase-to-sentence stage

receptive language

babies can match sounds to mouth formation around 4 months, and learn language initially by mimicking and cooing

Babbling stage

begins after 4 months, infants utter sounds, try out vocal chords, by 10 months, babbling resembles language of household (before 10 mo., babies babble in phonemes that occur in languages outside of their household language, supporting Chomsky’s idea that they have an inborn universal grammar). Most infants also prefer woman’s over man’s voice

One-word stage

by 9 months, babies understand “no” and “bye-bye”, and by one year most have said first words and begin to say words like “mama”, “dada”, or “ball”

Two-word stage

in this stage from 18 months to 2 years, toddler language resembles telegraphic speech- “come now”, “sissy gone”. They often leave off endings or beginnings of words like “daw” for dog, and show abstract ideas such as “mine”

Phrase-to-sentence stage

still telegraphic, but slightly longer sentences and semantic and syntax acquisition begins. Children discover relevant info and categorize and combine it

Debate over how infants can possibly learn language at such a fast rate, lead by ____ and ____.

BF Skinner and Noam Chomsky

BF Skinner

behaviorist who believed language is acquired conditioning only, through principles like association, reinforcement, and imitation

Noam Chomsky

believed in “universal inborn grammar” and that our brains have a “language acquisition device” upon birth to grasp phonemes and morphemes and words while learning language structure. Said we are unique among animals to do this.

Language acquisition debate resolution

today, most people side with Chomsky.

Evidence to his point includes:

infants’ use of phonemes outside of those from their household language

young people’s ability to learn language faster than older people (both would respond equally to conditioning)

young kids pick up language too quickly and with too much complexity to be conditioned

creativity

devising novel ways of solving problems

perceived control

the belief that we can influence our environment in ways that determine whether we experience positive or negative outcomes

Intuition’s dozen deadly sins

hindsight bias, illusory correlation, memory construction, representativeness and availability, overconfidence, belief perseverance and confirmation bias, framing, interviewer illusion, mispredicting our own feelings, self-serving bias, fundamental attribution error, mispredicting our own behavior