Studied by 9 people
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 meaningÂ
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”Â
Follows basic syntax rules, but not semantic
cognition
the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating Â
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 informationÂ
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 abilitiesÂ
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
Note 
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