Language and Thought

These flashcards cover key concepts related to language and thought, drawn from the lecture notes.

Language Instinct

The natural ability humans have to create language and convey complex thoughts through communication.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound that is recognized as part of speech.

Morpheme

The smallest meaningful unit of language; these can be whole words or parts of words.

Syntactic Rules

A set of rules that specifies how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences.

Deep Structure

The underlying meaning of a sentence, which can be expressed with different surface structures.

Surface Structure

The specific wording or form of a sentence as expressed in language.

Family Resemblance Theory

A theory suggesting that members of a category share common features, but not all members have to possess them.

Prototype Theory

The idea that categories are centered around a most typical example or prototype of that category.

Exemplar Theory

The theory that states we categorize new objects by comparing them to stored memories of other specific instances.

Functional Fixedness

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

Ill-defined Problem

A problem that does not have a clear goal or defined path to a solution.

Well-defined Problem

A problem with clearly specified goals and a defined path to reach those goals.

Means-Ends Analysis

A problem-solving method that involves reducing the difference between the current state and the desired goal.

Analogical Problem Solving

A technique that involves finding a similar problem with a known solution and applying that solution to a new problem.

Creativity

The ability to generate new and original ideas, approaches, and solutions to problems.

Insight

The sudden realization or understanding of a problem's solution, often after a period of contemplation.

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

The proposal that the language we speak influences the way we think and perceive the world.

Nativist Theory

The theory that humans have an innate capacity to acquire language rapidly through natural exposure.

Interactionist Explanations

The perspective that language development is influenced by both innate abilities and social interactions.

Behaviorist Explanations

The view that language acquisition occurs through reinforcement and learning processes similar to other skills.