100_8.1_Thinking and language.pdf
Lecture 8.1: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
1. Thinking and Language
Involves concepts, problem solving strategies, decision making, and judgments.
2. Understanding Thinking
Definition: Cognition encompasses knowing, understanding, remembering, and communicating.
Cognitive Psychology Focus:
Concepts
Problem Solving
Decision Making
3. Building Blocks of Mental Activity
3.1 Concepts
Defined as mental groupings of similar objects, events, or people.
Examples:
Fruit
Birthday Party
Mother
3.2 Prototypes
The best examples representing features of a category.
3.3 Hierarchies
Organization of concepts into a ranked structure.
Example: Animals, divided into domesticated and wild.
Dog, Cat, Cow, etc.
4. Problem Solving Strategies
Includes:
Trial and Error
Algorithms
Heuristics
Insight
5. Detailed Problem Solving Strategies
5.1 Trial and Error
Involves trying different strategies until success is achieved.
Example: Learning to parallel park.
5.2 Algorithms
Comprehensive methods that explore all possibilities before finding a solution, can be time-consuming.
Example: Unscrambling the letters S P L O Y O C H Y G entails 907,200 possible combinations.
5.3 Heuristics
Simplified, efficient problem-solving strategies that are quicker and often more error-prone than algorithms.
Example: Identifying words by trial and making connections.
6. Types of Heuristics
6.1 Representativeness Heuristic
Categorizing based on similarity to prototypical examples.
6.2 Availability Heuristic
Making judgments based on immediate examples that come to mind.
7. Insight
Involves sudden realization of a solution, described as the "ah-ha" moment.
Example: Using boxes to access food.
8. Obstacles in Problem Solving
8.1 Confirmation Bias
Tendency to seek information that supports personal beliefs and biases.
Example: Views on police shootings.
8.2 Fixation
Inability to see a problem from new perspectives, impeding resolution.
Example: Dividing a cake into eight pieces with only three cuts.
8.3 Framing Effects
Presenting the same problem in different but logically equivalent ways impacting perception.
9. Language
Essential for communication; involves spoken, written, or gestured forms.
Components:
Language Structure
Language Development
10. Structure of Language
10.1 Phonemes
Smallest distinctive sound units in a language.
Examples:
Bat: b, a, t
Chat: ch, a, t
10.2 Morphemes
Smallest units that carry meaning, can be whole words or parts of words.
Examples:
Milk: milk
Unkind: un, kind
11. Grammar
System of rules that enable communication and understanding.
Two Key Areas:
Semantics: Deriving meaning from words and sentences.
Example: Adding –ed signals past tense.
Syntax: Rules for constructing sentences.
Example: In English, adjectives precede nouns.
12. Brain and Language
Aphasia: Language impairment while other mental abilities remain intact.
Broca’s Area: Involved in speech production.
Wernicke’s Area: Involved in understanding and meaningful sentence formation.
13. Language Development in Children
Rapid acquisition of language capabilities compared to mathematical skills.
Annual Vocabulary Growth: 3,500 words after age one, totaling approximately 60,000 by high school graduation.
14. Stages of Language Development
14.1 Babbling Stage
Begins at 4 months; infants produce various sounds spontaneously.
14.2 One-Word Stage
Around first birthday, children communicate using single words.
14.3 Two-Word Stage
Before age two, children start forming two-word sentences, termed telegraphic speech.
14.4 Longer Phrases
Children eventually develop longer, coherent phrases and humor in speech.
15. Critical Period of Language Learning
Difficulty in learning new languages increases with age.
Findings: Older age at immigration correlates with poorer mastery of a second language.
16. Language and Thinking
Thinking and language influence each other.
Linguistic Determinism: Concept that language shapes thought patterns and perception.
17. Examples of Language Influence on Thinking
Languages with limited color categories can impair color perception.
Numerical limitations in language impact quantity differentiation skills.
18. Conclusions
Dynamic relationship between language and thought; language affects the way we think and vice versa.