Ch. 8: Thought, Language, and Intelligence

Cognitive psychology

the scientific study of mental activities and how they operate

mental representation

an internal mental symbol that stands for some object, event, or state of affairs in the world

prototype

a best example or average member of a concept that incorporates most of the features commonly associated with it

Insight learning

a sudden conscious change in a person's understanding of some situation or problem

Subliminal messaging study

when given a hint, people understood the riddle faster than

Old-school theories

we use rationality to make all decisions (slow thinking)

Bounded rationality

rational decision making is constrained by limitations in people's cognitive abilities, available info, time

Dual-processing theory

people have two types of thinking that they can use to make judgements and decisions

Parts of language

Phonemes, morphemes, grammar, pragmatics

Phonemes

the smallest unit of language; the individual sounds that make up speech

Morphemes

the smallest unit of language that carries meaning (prefixes and suffixes)

Grammar

a system of rules that governs the way that language parts are put together so that people can understand each other

Syntax

grammatical rules that govern how words and phrases combine into sentences (learned implicitly)

Pragmatics

rules that govern the practical aspects of language use, using intonation and gestures, and talking to different types of people

Linguistics determinism hypothesis

different languages impose different ways of understanding the world that can shape our thinking

Sensitive period

early period of life during which it is especially sensitive to and able to learn from specific information in its environment

age 1-2 months

recognize differences in phonemes

12 months

only hear speech differences that are relevant to their home langauge

6-9 months

learn meaning of many common nouns by tracking a speaker's eye gaze

3 years

starting to use sentences

5 years

speaking words similarly to adults in vocabulary and grammar

overregularization error

extending rules of words formation incorrectly to irregular exceptions

Lower vocal tract

allows for more range of vocal sounds; more risk of choking

Nature vs. nurture

B.F. Skinner vs. Noam Chomsky

Language acquisition device

activated by language exposure and guides language development with little to no explicit teaching from adults

General intelligence

Charles Spearman; argued that most of our intelligence is made of a single "factor", but we have some intelligence that is in specific areas

Multiple direct intelligences

Robert Sternberg; analytical, creative, and practical intelligences

Eight intelligences

Howard Gardner

Achievement tests

a test that is designed to measure how much a person has learned over a certain period of time

Aptitude tests

a test designed to measure a person's potential to learn new skills