Language and Cognition

Language

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

• Humans claim that language asserts our position over all other animals

linguistics

 the scientific study of language

phoneme

The small distinctive sound unit

Ex: BAT

• B

• A

• T

morpheme

• The smallest unit that carries meaning 

  • May be a word or a part of a word (such as prefix)

• Most are 2 or phonemes

  Ex:

• Boy (1)

• Boy-ish (2)

• Boy-ish-ness (3)]

grammar

A system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

semantics

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from language

ex: “bare arms vs. bear arms”

syntax

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from language

ex: adjectives before nouns - “white house”

babbling (4 months)

• Spontaneous various sounds unrelated to household language

• Mostly consonant-vowel pairs (ma-ma, ta-ta, da-da)

• By 10 months, phoneme sounds outside of the household language will disappear

one-word (1-2 years)

• Speaking mostly in single words

• Inflection of the word dictates meaning

• By 1.5 years, learning a word/day

two-word (2 years)

• Speaking mostly in two-word phrases

• “Telegraphic” speech - “want juice” or “go home” 

• Follows basic syntax rules, but not semantic

cognition

the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating  

schemas

A mental concept or grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

• Hierarchies - further dividing concepts into smaller groups

• Schemas help organize the world in our minds - prevents becoming overwhelmed

prototypes

A mental image or best example of a schema or category

Ex. people whose heart attack symptoms (shortness of breath, exhaustion, dull pain in chest) don’t match their prototype of a heart attack (sharp chest pain) may not seek help

algorithm

A methodological, logical rule or procedure that guarantees a solution for a particular problem

Ex. recipes, formulas

trail and error

Trying a number of different problem solving solutions and ruling our those that don’t work

heuristic

A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems quickly

• Based largely on what has been successful in the past for solving that particular problem

Ex. rule of thumb, common sense, educated guess

insight

A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

fixation

inability to see a problem from a new perspective

mental set

A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way

• Often a way that has been successful in the past

• Predisposes how we think

• Ex: if you couldn’t think in 3 dimensions

metacognition

Ex: Reflecting on best habits

Ex: How have i solved a similar problem before

Framing

 The way an issue is posed

• How an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements

• Those who understand the powers of framing questions can use framing to influence a particular viewpoint

representativeness heuristic

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent or match particular prototypes

Ex. Trucker Vs. Professor

availability heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory, if events come readily in mind, then we presume such events are common

Ex. 9/11 and flying

confirmation bias

A tendency for search for information that confirms ones preconceptions

belief perseverance

Clinging to one's initial conceptions even after being presented with contradictory information 

• Contradictory info often make people even more defensive of prior beliefs

overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident than correct

• To overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgements

functional fixedness

The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions

convergent thinking

• Thinking limited to available facts and working towards 1 correct solution

• Great for clear, concise problems

divergent thinking

• Thinking that attempts to generate multiple solutions to a problem

• Needed for real-world application of problem-solving practices

Intuition and Problem-solving

• Even though intuition is not always reliable, it allows us to make quick decisions and judgements that are born of experience

• Smart thinkers should, welcome intuition, but realize its limitations to overcome overconfidence and biased/illogical thinking

Skinner’s Operant Conditioning theory

We learn language through association, imitation, and reinforcement

Chomsky’s Inborn Universal Acquisition Device

Noam Chomsky believed language was learned too quickly to be acquired by conditioning alone

universal language acquisition device

proposed function of the brain that  biologically prepares humans to learn language using universal grammar

universal grammar

• Humans have language, “hard-wired” into the brain and naturally organize language with nouns, verbs, subjects, etc

• However, words and their grammar (semantics/syntax) must be learned from the environment

Critical periods

A window in development during which an organism is best suited to learn a specific thing

• Childhood is critical period for language development that gradually closes beginning at age 7

• Those no exposed to a spoken or signed language during the critical period will never be able to fully master any language

Thinking WITH Language

Whorf’s linguistic determinism

hypothesis stating that language determines the way we think

• Language influences thought - thought influences language

Thinking WITHOUT Language

• We often think in images or visualization, without language

• Power of imagining/visualization

  • Sports

  • Studying

Animal Thinking and Language

• Animals, especially great apes, show great capacity for thought

  • Wolfgang kohler - insight in chimps

  • Animal tools - cognitive abilities 

  • Customs and cultures

Case of the Apes

• Humans DNA most similar to apes/chimps

• Can be taught sign language to the apes/chimps

• Apes may be able to learn sign language well due to evolution