9 - Language

Question 1

Language

Answer 1

System of communicating according to rules of grammar. Complex and representational.

Question 2

Grammar

Answer 2

Set of rules to specify how words combined to produce meaning

Question 3

Three characteristics of language development

Answer 3

• Children learn extremely fast
• Make few errors while learning
• Passive mastery develops fastest (comprehension before production)

Question 4

Behaviorist theory

Answer 4

Belief that language is learned via operant conditioning; imitation. But this is dubious because parents don’t spend time teaching; kids can generate more than what they hear; errors cannot be explained via imitation

Question 5

Nativist explanation

Answer 5

Belief that language is innate. Language acquisition device - processes that facilitate language learning. Genetic dysphasia - inability to learn grammatical structure despite having otherwise normal intelligence

Question 6

Interactionist explanation

Answer 6

Social interactions play crucial role in language. Social experiences interact with innate biological abilities

Question 7

Broca’s area

Answer 7

Left frontal cortex; involved in language production

Question 8

Wernicke’s area

Answer 8

Left temporal cortex; involved in language comprehension

Question 9

Bilingualism and the brain

Answer 9

Monolingual and bilingual children do not differ in language development. Second language seems to increase left parietal lobe’s ability to handle linguistic demands

Question 10

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

Answer 10

Whorfian hypothesis. Proposes language shapes the nature of thought. Newer studies cast doubt on this.

Question 11

Linguistic relativity and color

Answer 11

Indication that language does effect color perception in one visual field. (??)

Question 12

Concept

Answer 12

Mental representation that groups or categorizes shared features of related objects, events, stimuli.

Question 13

Prototype theory of gategories

Answer 13

Make category judgments by comparing new instances to the prototype (best or most typical member of category)

Question 14

Exemplar theory of categories

Answer 14

Make category judgments by comparing new instance with stored memories for other instances in that category.

Question 15

Rational choice theory

Answer 15

We make decisions by determining likelihood, judging value of outcome, and multiplying the two. (However note that we are good at estimating frequency but not probability)

Question 16

Heuristics

Answer 16

Efficient quick strategy facilitating decision making; may not guarantee a solution. Availability bias - items more available in memory judged as more frequent. Conjunction fallacy - believed that two events are more likely to occur together than individually. Representativeness heuristic - probability judgment by comparing object or event to prototype of object or event.

Question 17

Framing effects

Answer 17

People give different answers to same question depending on how it is phrased. Sunk-cost fallacy - making decisions based on previous investments in the situation

Question 18

Prospect theory

Answer 18

People take on risk when evaluating losses and avoid risks when evaluating gains. Simplify available information and choose prospect with greatest expected utility

Question 19

Frequency format hypothesis

Answer 19

Minds evolved to notice how frequently things occur, not how likely they are to occur. Perhaps because probability is a recent tool

Question 20

Prefrontal lobe and risk-taking

Answer 20

People with prefrontal lobe damage do not show emotional reaction when making risky decision. Insensitivity to consequences. Similar to substance-dependent individuals

Question 21

Analogical problem solving

Answer 21

Solve problem by finding similar problem with known solution and applying solution to current problem

Question 22

Insight

Answer 22

The spontaneous restructuring of problem or unconscious incremental processes.

Question 23

Functional fixedness

Answer 23

Aspect of framing effects that can limit insightful problem solving. View functions of objects as fixed, when in fact knowledge from diverse areas can be applied to solve a problem.

Question 24

Reasoning

Answer 24

Organizing information or beliefs into series of steps to reach conclusions

Question 25

Belief bias

Answer 25

Judgments of whether to accept conclusions depends more on how believable the conclusions are rather than whether arguments are valid.

Question 26

Active brain regions in reasoning

Answer 26

Belief-neutral reasoning - upper parietal lobe. Belief-laden reasoning - front left temporal lobe.