Cognition_language_1

thinking/ cognition

• category- collection of instances which are treated as if they were the same (people, objects, events, ideas)

  • boundaries begin to blur as movement from prototype occur

    concept- all the knowledge of that one has about a category

    • simplify thinking through mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas

prototype

mental representation of an object or concept that people use to categorize and understand the world

dual-track information processing model

“fast thinking”

• automatic, unconscious

• routine decisions

problem solving- strategies

• algorithm- methodical, logical rule that guarantees a solution to problem

  • provide correct answer every time, time consuming

• heuristic- mental shortcut, error prone

• trial-and-error- trying different number of solutions and ruling out those that don’t work; good strategy if less options

• insight- not a conscious, strategy-based solution; sudden flash of inspiration that solves a problem

problem-solving: obstacles

• confirmation bias: tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall info that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs

• fixation: inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective

  • functional fixedness: tendency to think of things in terms of their typical functions; using a hammer when a brick would do

  • mental set: tendency to approach a problem in one way, often when it has been successful- pushing vs pulling door

• other obstacles

  • irrelevant/ misleading information

  • making assumptions about constraints of the problem, impede certain solutions

forming good and bad decisions and judgements

• availability heuristics- mental shortcut people use to make decisions by relying on information that is most easily recalled

  • qualities that makes thing/ event seem common pop up; vividness, recency

  • based on mental availability

forming good and bad decisions and judgements

• overconfidence- can impact decisions when confidence outweighs correctness; humans overestimate their performance

• belief perseverance- cling to our beliefs and ignore evidence that proves these are wrong

  • once formed, take more energy to change

• framing- way we present an issue, influencing way issue is posed

  • word effect

  • doctor’s with unnecessary tests

Why we fear the wrong things

• fear what our ancestral history has prepared us to fear

• we fear what we cannot control

• we fear what is immediate

• we fear what is most readily available in memory

thinking creatively

• ability to produce new and valuable ideas

  • aptitude/ ability to learn

  • intelligence

  • working memory

  • divergent thinking

    • expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking diverges in different directions)

    • convergent thinking- narrows available solutions to a single best one

language

• spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

• used to connect humans and transmit human knowledge

• 3 building blocks to spoken language

  • phonemes- smallest distinctive sound units in language

  • morphemes- smallest language unit that carry meaning

    • replay- 2

    • cheap- 1

  • grammar- system of rule that enables humans to communicate

    • semantics- deriving meaning from words

    • syntax- ordering words into sentences

when do we learn language?

• receptive language- infant ability to understand what is said to them around 4 months

• production language- infant ability to produce words begins around 10 months

Brain regions involved with hearing and speaking words

• Broca’s area

  • speaking words

  • motor cortex

  • Broca’s aphasia

• Wernicke’s area

  • hearing words

  • auditory cortex

  • Wernicke’s aphasia