Thinking & Language

Algorithm

Step by step procedure that guarantees a solution

Heuristic

Simple thinking strategy; a “rule of thumb” prone to error

Availability Heuristic

Estimating likelihood based on memory availability

Representativeness heuristic

Judging things based on how well they match prototypes

Confirmation bias

Tendency to search for info that supports our preconceptions

Mental Set

tendency to approach a problem in one particular way

Framing

The way an issue is posed; can affect decisions and judgements (perspective of which you see the problem)

Concepts

Basic idea of something

Prototypes

Mental image that best represents our concepts

“when I think “ball” a b”basketball” comes to mind (basketball is the prototype)

Fixation

Being stuck in doing things one way

Functional Fixedness

Looking at an object and limiting its function to one thing

Phoneme

Smallest distinctive sound unit in language

Morpheme

Smallest unit that carrie meaning (prefix)

Syntax

Rules for combing words into grammatically sensible sentences

Theories of language development

• Infants are taught (B.F Skinner, Behaviorism)

• Infants Teach Themselves

• Social Compulsion theory

• Hybrid Approach

• Infants Teach Themselves

• (Noam Chomsky, LAD (Language acquisition device: innate neurological structure that helps children learn language (due to brain maturation)

Social Compulsion Theory

Humans are social beings and communicating is a normal part of being a part of society, language is seen as a useful tool