Mental activities

1. Mental images

2. Concepts: mental grouping of things that have similar features

3. Prototype: typical example of concept

• Ex) Professor vs. truck driver

3. Creativity: come up with something that is unique and useful

• Divergent thinking: expanding number of possible solutions

4. Problem solving

5. Making judgements

6. 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

1. Phonemes: smallest unit of sound

• Babies can recognize all phonemes of all languages until about 10 months

2. Morphemes: smallest unit of meaningful sound

3. Grammar

• Syntax: structure

• Semantics: meaning

4. Prosody: tone

Language acquisition stages

1. Babbling (4-12 months)

2. One-word stage (12-18 months)

3. Two-word stage  (18-24 months)

4. 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