Cognitive Psychology Final Exam: Language, Imagery, Reasoning & Problem Solving

What is language?

A system of communication that uses arbitrary sounds or symbols to express feelings, thoughts, ideas, and experiences.

What are the unique features of human language?

Human language is characterized by its complex grammar and productivity.

Is language universal?

Yes, all cultures have a language, and humans are driven to communicate.

How many documented languages are there worldwide?

Over 5000.

What phenomenon occurs with deaf children regarding language?

Deaf children invent novel sign languages even without instruction.

What is phonology?

The study of the sound system of a language.

What are phonemes?

The shortest segments of speech that can distinguish meaning.

What are morphemes?

The smallest units of language that have meaning or function.

What is syntax?

The set of rules that governs the structure of sentences.

What is semantics?

The study of meaning in language.

What is discourse?

The use of language in a social context.

What is the phonemic restoration effect?

A phenomenon where missing phonemes are perceptually restored by the brain.

What is categorical perception of phonemes?

The ability to perceive sounds as belonging to distinct categories.

What is generativity in language?

The capacity to create an infinite number of sentences using a finite set of rules.

What is syntactic ambiguity?

When a sentence can be interpreted in multiple ways due to its structure.

What is the difference between global and local syntactic ambiguity?

Global ambiguity involves entire headlines, while local ambiguity occurs in garden-path sentences.

What is the role of background knowledge in sentence parsing?

It provides context that aids in understanding sentence structure.

What is aphasia?

A language disorder that affects communication abilities.

What is Broca's aphasia?

A type of aphasia characterized by non-fluent speech.

What is Wernicke's aphasia?

A type of aphasia characterized by fluent but nonsensical speech.

What is the nativist perspective on language acquisition?

The theory that humans are born with an innate ability to acquire language.

What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

The idea that language influences thought and perception.

What is deductive reasoning?

A logical process where conclusions are drawn from general premises.

What is inductive reasoning?

A logical process where generalizations are made based on specific observations.

What is the Wason four-card problem?

A task used to study conditional reasoning.

What is the utility approach in decision making?

A framework that evaluates decisions based on their expected outcomes.

What is confirmation bias?

The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms one's preconceptions.

What is functional fixedness?

The cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used.

What are the stages of creativity according to Wallas?

Preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification.

What is divergent thinking?

The ability to generate multiple solutions to a problem.

What is convergent thinking?

The ability to find a single, correct solution to a problem.

What is the role of working memory in problem-solving?

It allows for the manipulation and integration of information necessary to solve problems.

What is B.F. Skinner's view on language acquisition?

Language is learned through reinforcement.

What is Noam Chomsky's view on language acquisition?

Human language is coded in the genes and similar across cultures.

What are the topics of study in Psycholinguistics?

Comprehension, speech production, representation, and acquisition.

How is language organized hierarchically?

Discourse → Syntax → Words & Semantics → Morphemes → Phonemes.

What is a phoneme?

The shortest sound segment of speech.

What is a morpheme?

The smallest unit of language that possesses meaning or grammatical function.

What does phonology study?

How sounds are created by combining features like voicing, manner of production, and place of articulation.

What is speech segmentation?

The effortless process of identifying word boundaries in speech.

What is coarticulation?

The blending of phonemes at word boundaries.

What is top-down processing in speech perception?

Perception is constructed using prior knowledge.

What is categorical perception?

Filtering continuous sound variations to produce clear phonemes.

What are free morphemes?

Morphemes that can stand alone.

What are bound morphemes?

Morphemes that must be attached to a free morpheme.

What is lexical ambiguity?

The assignment of multiple meanings to one word.

What did Swinney's (1979) experiment demonstrate?

Both meanings of the word 'bug' are briefly primed after hearing it.

What are descriptive rules in language?

Rules that govern what English fundamentally is.

What are prescriptive rules in language?

Rules that dictate what English is 'supposed to be'.

What is global ambiguity?

Ambiguity that is not resolved by the sentence itself.

What is local ambiguity?

Temporarily ambiguous sentences that resolve by the end.

What is sentence parsing?

The process of determining the syntactic role of each word.

What is Broca's aphasia?

Non-fluent aphasia marked by difficulties in speech production.

What is Wernicke's aphasia?

Fluent aphasia characterized by meaningless speech and difficulty comprehending questions.

What is the nativist perspective on language learning?

Humans possess an innate language acquisition device.

What evidence supports linguistic relativity?

Color naming studies show different speeds of discrimination based on linguistic boundaries.

What is the role of the left hemisphere in language?

Language tends to be left-lateralized in the brain.

What is the significance of the 'wug' test?

It demonstrates children's ability to apply novel syntax capabilities.

What is the role of imagery neurons?

They are involved in both imagery and perception.

What did Kosslyn's scanning task results suggest?

Prior knowledge does not influence response time in mental scanning.

What is the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning?

Deductive reasoning leads to certain conclusions from premises, while inductive reasoning leads to probabilistic conclusions.

What is a categorical syllogism?

An argument that describes relations between two categories using 'all,' 'no,' or 'some'.

What is the difference between permission schema and familiarity in performance?

Performance increases due to an evolutionary ability to detect cheaters (permission schema) rather than just simple familiarity with the rule.

What does the strength of an argument depend on in inductive reasoning?

It depends on the representativeness, number, and quality of observations.

What are heuristics in decision-making?

Quick, best-guess solutions that offer efficiency at the expense of more potential errors.

What is availability heuristic?

Judging probability based on the ease with which examples come to mind.

What is representativeness heuristic?

Judging the probability that A comes from B by how well A resembles the properties of B.

What is base rate neglect?

Using descriptive information while disregarding factual base rate data.

What is the conjunction rule?

The probability of two events cannot be higher than the probability of the single constituents.

What does the law of large numbers state?

The larger the sample drawn, the more representative the group will be of the entire population.

What are System 1 and System 2 in decision-making?

System 1 refers to fast, automatic thinking using heuristics, while System 2 is slower, effortful, and more likely to be correct.

What influences the use of System 1 or System 2?

It depends on time available, attention, working memory, problem format, and whether statistical concepts are primed.

What is the utility approach in decision-making?

It assumes people are rational and will choose to maximize expected utility.

What are examples of illogical decisions?

Casino gambling, the gambler's fallacy, and driving to avoid the danger of flying.

How do expected emotions affect decision-making?

People inaccurately predict their emotions, particularly overestimating negative responses to losing money.

What is framing in the presentation of choices?

Decisions are heavily influenced by how choices are stated.

What is the impact of opt-in vs opt-out procedures?

Changing procedures to opt-out drastically increases participation.

What is the role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in thinking?

Essential for planning, problem-solving, and making connections.

What happens when the orbitofrontal cortex is damaged?

It leads to risky decisions.

What is the Gestalt approach to problem-solving?

Focuses on representing a problem in the mind and restructuring it to find a solution.

What is analogical transfer?

Using a solution to a similar problem to guide the solution to a new problem.

What are the stages of Wallas' creativity model?

Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, Verification.

What is the difference between divergent and convergent thinking?

Divergent thinking is open-ended with many potential solutions, while convergent thinking finds one correct answer.

What is the significance of expert problem solvers?

Experts solve problems faster and with a higher success rate in their specific domain.

What is the impact of background knowledge on decision-making?

It increases the likelihood that participants will pay attention to base rates.

What is the role of emotions in decision-making?

Immediate emotions can alter decisions, such as feeling sad leading to paying more for goods.

What is the significance of Tversky & Shafir's study?

Participants waited for exam results before deciding to buy a vacation to have a clear justification.

What is the importance of analogical encoding?

Comparing two cases that illustrate a principle helps participants pay attention to structural features.

What is the analogical paradox?

Participants in lab experiments focus on surface features, while people in the real world use structural features.

Which statement is NOT true of the means-end analysis heuristic?

It starts with the goal state and works backwards towards the current state.

What are some characteristics of the working memory system?

Working memory is composed of three parts: central executive, visuospatial sketchpad, and phonological loop.

What form of reasoning will Alex use to determine if the macarons are ready to put in the oven?

Conditional syllogism.

Which technique is most essential in ascertaining the localization of functionality in the brain?

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

Which statement best describes the propositional explanation of visual imagery?

Imagery is abstract/verbal in experience and in the underlying process.

Which explanation best represents the Behaviorist view on how infants acquire language?

Infants imitate what they hear and are rewarded for correct speech.

What is true about heuristics?

All of the above are true.

When using bottom-up processing, what is someone MOST likely to do?

Take sensory input and then integrate it.

Broadbent's Filter Model could NOT explain which phenomenon?

Cocktail party phenomenon.

For which category would the exemplar approach likely work better than the prototype approach?

None of the above.

Which statement is NOT true regarding perception?

If vision in one eye is lost, then all depth perception will be lost as well.