Thinking & Language
Mental activities
- Mental images
- Concepts: mental grouping of things that have similar features
- Prototype: typical example of concept
- Ex) Professor vs. truck driver
- Creativity: come up with something that is unique and useful
- Divergent thinking: expanding number of possible solutions
- Problem solving
- Making judgements
- Making decisions
Problem solving strategies
- Trial and error
- Algorithms: step-by-step formula with guaranteed solution
- Heuristics: shortcuts to solve problem, less time consuming than algorithm but more prone to error
- Insight: aha!
Impediments to problem solving
- Confirmation bias: looking for/remembering information that agrees with what they already believe but not searching for opposing evidence
- Belief perseverance: maintaining beliefs even with contradictory evidence
- Mental set: approaching a problem using a method that worked in the past
- Functional fixedness: only thinking of familiar functions of an object
- Misuses of heuristics
- Representative heuristic: making quick judgment based on how well something matches prototype for the thing
- Availability heuristic: making judgment based on what comes to mind first
- Overconfidence
- Framing: decisions are influenced by how problem is framed (presented)
Elements of language
- Phonemes: smallest unit of sound
- Babies can recognize all phonemes of all languages until about 10 months
- Morphemes: smallest unit of meaningful sound
- Grammar
- Syntax: structure
- Semantics: meaning
- Prosody: tone
Language acquisition stages
- Babbling (4-12 months)
- One-word stage (12-18 months)
- Two-word stage (18-24 months)
- Sentences (24 months)
Overgeneralization: applying grammar rules inappropriately
How language is acquired
- Behavioral perspective:
- Reinforcement
- Observational learning
- Cognitive perspective:
- Biologically programmed
- Language Acquisition Device (Noam Chomsky)
Critical period: if child is not exposed to language before age of 7, they will never acquire language
Linguistic Determination Hypothesis (Benjamin Whorf): languages determines how you think (wrong)
- Actually is language influences thought