9: Language and Thinking Flashcards
1
Q
What is language?
A
Language: a system of symbols (and rules for combining them) which can generate an infinite number of possible messages and meanings
2
Q
What is Psycholinguistics?
A
Psycholinguistics: The scientific study of the psychological aspects of language.
- includes how people understand, produce, use and learn language
3
Q
Why is it important to learn about language in a psychology class?
A
- Much of human cognition involve language
- e.g. thinking, reasoning, problem solving
- cognition/consciousness may depend on it
- inner voice (self-talking)
- Humans are social creatures
- language allows us to share thoughts, feelings, goals, intentions, etc.
- Language is universal
- all cultures, no matter how remote, have language
4
Q
What is the adaptive function of language in human evolution?
A
- Humans formed larger & larger social groups throughout evolutionary history
- bigger groups helped us survive & reproduce
- also posed problems:
- different sets of knowledge, customs
- division of labor, cooperation
- teaching
- Language was an adaptation to these new demands!
5
Q
Define and briefly describe the 5 properties of any language.
A
1. Symbolic
- Arbitrary symbols represent specific objects, actions
- i.e. words/sounds/signs don’t usually look or sound like the represented object
- e.g. “Dog”
2. Structured
- Rules for meanings, sound/word/phrase combinations
- ball boy girl green the the the to kicked
3. Conveys Meaning
- once people know symbols & rules, able to communicate ideas, thoughts
4. Generative
- symbols of language can be combined to generate an infinite number of messages
5. Permits Displacement
- can refer to objects or events that are not physically present
6
Q
What is the difference between phonemes and morphemes?
A
Language is hierarchical;
- sounds/letters→words→phrases→sentences→conversation/paragraphs/etc.
Phonemes:
- most basic unit of speech sounds
- specific sets of phonemes in each language
- English: ~45
- Hawaiian: ~11
- changing phoneme changes meaning of the word
Morphemes:
- smallest units of meaning in a language
- some are words, some are suffixes/prefixes
- eg. kitchen, bedroom, pig
7
Q
What do the terms syntax, semantics, and pragmatics refer to?
A
Semantics:
- meaning of words and sentences
Syntax:
- grammatical rules that govern how we organize words into sentences
- related to the fact that language is structured
- Grammar encompasses both syntax and morphology (study of how we create words by combining morphemes)
Pragmatics:
- knowledge of the practical application of language
- social rules (+context) that can affect understanding and word choice
- eg. *Do you have the time? * Yes.
- based on context, can infer what the question implies
- formal vs. informal situations
8
Q
What is the difference between surface and deep structure?
Can a phrase have the same surface and different deep structure (or vice versa)?
A
Surface structure:
- words that are actually spoken (or written/signed)
Deep structure:
- underlying meaning of the sentence
9
Q
Briefly describe the difference between bottom-up and top-down processing in language comprehension. Examples?
A
Bottom-Up Processing:
- combine very simple elements into more complex things
-
Spoken language:
phonemes→morphemes→words→phrases… -
Written language:
contours/line angles→letters→words→phrases… - Note: “letters→words” jump can happen directly (visually recognizing pattern of letters) or indirectly (when we sound the letters and recognize the sound of the word in our head)
-
Spoken language:
Top-Down Processing:
- context, attention, organization affects processing; knowledge of what’s likely…
- interpretation of letters on the context (other letters)
- similarly, context can influence whole words
10
Q
What information do humans use to segment speech into words? Does speech segmentation support bottom-up or top-down models?
A
- use of top-down knowledge; context helps us perceive speech in our own language
- perceive speech as a series of separate words…
- usually bigger decreases in energy output within words than there are between them
- phonemes overlap & affect each other; while saying one phoneme, your mouth is already starting to form the next one:
- need to know the previous/next phonemes (context) to figure out which phoneme someone was trying to say
11
Q
Language production/comprehension involve which brain areas?
A
Broca’s Area:
- located in the left frontal lobe
- responsible for language production
- involved in grammar, finding the right word
- necessary for articulating/producing words
-
Broca’s Aphasia: impairment in language production due to damage to Broca’s area
- can be temporary/permanent
- damage does NOT affect comprehension
Wernicke’s Area:
- located in the left temporal lobe
- responsible for language comprehension
- necessary for understanding
-
Wernicke’s Aphasia: impairment in language comprehension due to damage to Wernicke’s area
- can be temporary/permanent
- often characterized by “babbling”; words are pronounced correctly, but the meaning is not clear
- damage does NOT affect language production
12
Q
Describe how language is lateralized (including the functions of each hemisphere). Describe the sex difference in lateralization.
A
Both Broca’s & Wernicke’s areas = left hemisphere
∴abilities specific to language are lateralized on left
Problems:
1. Some people are less laterlized
- women & left-handed people are less laterlized
- eg. women with L. hemisphere stroke show less language impairment than men w/ same damage
2. Recent studies shows that the right hemisphere has specific functions in language too!
-
left hemisphere:
- __heavily involved in speech perception
- more active when searching for word meanings, reading high-imagery sentences
-
right hemisphere:
- __involved in linking elements of a story together
- becomes activated to help resolve ambiguities
13
Q
Briefly outline the evidence that language has a biological foundation and the evidence for a social learning component.
Differentiate between the LAD and LASS.
A
Nature and Nurture:
Biological Foundations:
1. Innate ability for children to learn language
- young children are limited in terms of complex thought
- learn language quickly/easily
2. All children develop language
- progress through the same stages of language development - regardless of language
3. Chomsky suggested all languages share a “universal grammar” of noun & verb phrases
- Born w/ Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
- can be “programmed” for any specific language
Social Learning Process:
Social environment builds upon the biological foundation w/ a social suppot system for learning; Language Acquisition Support System (LASS)
1. Child-directed speech (“motherese”)
- high-pitched sing-song used all over the world
2. Direct teaching of vocabulary
- direct attention and say word “cat”
14
Q
Describe how children’s phoneme discrimination supports both aspects of both biological and social environments.
A
Phoneme discrimination:
- No language uses all of the possible phonemes
- HOWEVER, up to 6 months of age, *all *kids can discriminate ALL THE WORLD’S phonemes - even those that aren’t used in their language!
⇒ Biological ability - Between 6-12 months old, children lose this ability, and learn to focus only on the phonemes of their environment
⇒ Social influence
15
Q
Describe each stage of the developmental timeline for language learning, including the typical ages for each stage.
A
Children of all cultures go through the same stages when learning their 1st language:
1. Cooing; (1-3 mo.)
- able to distinguish speech from non-speech
2. Babbling; (4-6 mo.)
- able to vocalize in response to others
3. “Lalling” (7-11 mo.)
- begins to use tongue (“lalling”)
- phoneme discrimination narrows only to those phonemes of the others in the environment
4. First word (12 mo.)
- usually familiar person/object
5. Single-word requests (12-18 mo.)
- eg. “milk” or “out”
6. Telegraphic speech (18-24 mo.)
- “want cookie!” or “mommy drive car”
- non-essential words are left out
7. Vocabulary explosion! (2-4 yrs.)
- more complete sentences, w/ only fairly minor grammar violations
- eg. “Ginger is playing with two fishes!”
8. Complete sentences (4-5 yrs.)
- sentences complete w/ correct (basic) grammar
16
Q
Briefly outline the costs & benefits of learning a second language.
A
Pros:
- score higher in most performance tests than monolinguals = better grades
- higher self-esteem, controlling attention & thought - better at tuning out irrelevant info ∵ must inhibit one language while speaking the other
- tend to have lower incidences of demential & Alzheimer’s disease
Cons:
- tendency to have smaller vocabulary for each language than monolinguals
- adults have more tip-of-the-tongue experiences
- slower, less accurate in naming pictures or making word/non-word judgments
17
Q
Is there a critical (or sensitive) period for learning a second language?
A
Earlier is better:
- Childhood learning → better performance
- even with equal “years of exposure”
- Not an OFF-switch at a certain age, though
- learning before teens = better performance
- teens > 20s > 30s > 40s
- Suggested that there may be some kind of sensitive period for learning additional languages, which extends through adolescence
18
Q
Are there differences in the brain areas recruited by a second language?
A
People who are….
- highly proficient in both languages (esp. if they learned 2nd language early in life)
⇒use same brain areas for both languages - less proficient ⇒ less overlap of brain regions
- common area of difference:
bottom of the temporal lobe (inferior temporal gyrus)
- common area of difference:
19
Q
Briefly describe the Linguistic Relativity (Whorfian) Hypothesis. Outline some of the evidence that language influences how we think. Give an example.
A
Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis suggests language determines how we think
Ex. Sexist language example (p. 317)
Language affects…
-
Colour Perception:
- different languages have different names for colours and divides the spectrum differently (or have different number of “basic” colours)
-
Categorization:
- Winawer et al. (2007):
- 3 coloured squares
- Gilbert et al. (2006):
- “oddball task”
- Winawer et al. (2007):
Language also affects how well we think:
-
Math skills:
- __Asian children score higher in basic math skills like addition/subtraction (by age 5) bc asian language makes it easier to learn base-10 system;
- ten-one, ten-two, ten-three vs. European languages “eleven”, “twelve”
- __Asian children score higher in basic math skills like addition/subtraction (by age 5) bc asian language makes it easier to learn base-10 system;
20
Q
Name and define the 3 modes of thought
A
Propositional
- Essentially the “inner speech” type of thought
Imaginal
- Images that we picture in our mind
Motoric
- Mental representations of motor movements
21
Q
What are concepts and propositions?
A
Concepts:
- Mental categories
- e.g. “professors” “birds” “books” “teach”
Propositions:
- Express ideas that link different concepts
- e.g. professors ARE boring; owls LIKE reading
22
Q
How is prototype theory different than classical categorization?
A
Classical Categorization (“Definitional Approach”):
- categorize according to specific rules/definitions
- eg. triangle = 3-sided polygon
-
Fuzzy Boundaries
- suggests category members have typical or characteristic features, rather than defining ones
-
Graded Membership
- some items are “better” members in their category
Prototype Approach:
- suggests that we categorize things based on their similarity to a category “prototype”
-
Prototype:
- mental representation of the typical/average member of the category
- can account for graded membership;
- items that better resemble the prototype are considered “better” members of the category:
High vs. Low “prototypicality”
- items that better resemble the prototype are considered “better” members of the category:
-
typicality effect:
- objects that are “more prototypical” are verified as vcategory members more quickly
-
sentence verification technique:
- say “yes” if the sentence is true
23
Q
What’s the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning? Give examples.
A
Deductive Reasoning:
- Taking general principles and reasoning about a specific case
- Typically involves syllogisms
-
sets of 3 statements: 2 premises stated as facts & logical conclusion
- premise 1: **all birds are animals;
premise 2: all animals eat food;
conclusion: therefore, all birds eat food
- premise 1: **all birds are animals;
-
sets of 3 statements: 2 premises stated as facts & logical conclusion
Inductive Reasoning:
- Taking specific cases and reasoning about a general principle
- generalize based on a limited # of observations
- conclusions are less certain; more about what’s likely
- observation: sun has risen every morning of my life
conclusion: it is likely that the sun will rise tomorrow
- observation: sun has risen every morning of my life
- Use inductive reasoning when past observations are used to predict future
24
Q
Describe how the belief bias, framing, and irrelevant information can affect reasoning using examples.
A
Belief Bias:
- Tendency to abandon logic when something contradicts our own personal beliefs
- Often confuse logical correctness (validity) with factual correctness (truth)
- validity: conclusion is logical, based on premises
- truth: conclusion is false, because premise 2 is false
Emotions & Framing:
- Tendency to abandon logic in favour of emotions, or the way info is presented (“framed”)
- Often used in advertising/lotteries
- group A being told winning rate is 50% vs. group B being told losing rate is 50% ⇒ group A more likely to buy
Irrelevant Info:
25
What are the 4 stages of problem solving? Briefly describe each.
1. _Frame the problem_
* how we think of (interpret/understand) the problem
* ie. *what am I being asked? How will I go about solving this?*
2. _Generate potential solutions_
* which solution *might* work, based on info given?
3. _Test solutions_
* can you come up with a test to see if 2 (equally good) solutions might be correct?
4. _Evaluate results_
* perform the test, and choose best solution
26
What is a problem-solving schema?
* What is a *mental set?*
* What is *functional fixedness?*
* Examples?
**Problem Solving Schemas:**
* Mental blueprint for how to go about solving a particular type of problem
* eg. "How to succeed in a university course" OR "How to pick up a cute guy"
**Mental Set:**
* Preconceived notions of how to solve a problem based on past experiences
* eg. Luchins' Water Jug Problem
**Functional Fixedness:**
* Specific type of mental set
* Restricting the potential uses of an object to its familiar functions
* eg. the 2 string problem
27
Distinguish between *algorithms* and *heuristics.*
Describe the *means-end* and *subgoal analysis* heuristics.
**Algorithms:**
* formulae or procedures guranteed to produce the correct solution (eventually)
**Heuristics:**
* General "this would be a good idea" strategies
* Educated guess - not guaranteed to solve the problem, but much less time-consuming
* "Special" Heuristics:
* *_Means-ends analysis:_*
* **What is the present state, and what is the goal state?
* Then, make changes to keep reducing the difference
* ex. 11 years ago, me & cute blonde:
* starting state: she barely knows me
* goal state: wedding bells
* Typically involves...
* *_sub-goal analysis:_*
* *__*Rather than just jumping from starting to goal state, identify smaller goals that will get you there
* ex. introduce self, trick her into dating you...
28
How are *creativity, divergent thinking, *and *incubation *related?
**Creativity:**
* ceating something new and valuable
* requires **Divergent Thinking:**
* ****coming up with new ideas that are different from the norm
* Sometimes solutions arise after **Incubation:**
* ****giving up or otherwise setting the problem aside (eg. resting)
* maybe because mental sets and biases dissipate and new solutions are able to come fwd
29
Describe the *Representativeness* and *Availability* heuristics. How do these heuristics distort our judgments of probability/likelihood?
**Availability Heuristic:**
* Events that are more easily remembered are judged to be more likely/probable/common
**Representativeness Heuristic:**
* Likelihood that A is a member of a particular group/category depends on how well A resembles the properties we typically associate with the group
* _Conjunction Rule:_ the probability of 2 events *cannot* be higher than the probability of either event alone
* need to know _base rate:_
* __relative proportions of different groups of items
30
Describe the relationship between *overconfidence* and *confirmation bias.*
**Confirmation Bias:**
* Tendency to seek, favour, and selectively attend to info that conforms to our beliefs - and ignore contradictory info
* Partially stems from **overconfidence** in our own level of knowledge and decision-makingabilities
* Example study: Lord et al (1979)
* Ppl in favour & against of capital punishment, both groups given descriptions of research studies on capital punishment - some articles showing decreased crime and others showing no effect
* Responses were in line with people's initial beliefs; "convincing" vs. "not" depended on prior beliefs!
31
What is the difference btween a schema and a script?
Knowledge = building schemas
**Schema:**
* mental framework or model of some aspect of the world
* +models of concepts/categories
* +frameworks to help solve problems
ie. algorithms, heuristics
**Script:**
* special type of schema for series of events
* eg. script for "going on a date" or "going out to dinner" or for "attending class"
32
Recall Chase & Simon's study of chess players. What was the study, and the outcome?
How do experts differ from novices?
Chase & Simon studied expert and novice chess players (10000 hrs vs. \<100 hrs. experience)
* 5 sec to encode chess board with ~24 peices on it
* try to remember the *exact* positions of the pieces
_Result:_
* Experts were much better at recalling mid-game arrangements
* Experts & novices were equally bad at remembering random arrangements
_Conclusion:_
* Experts did not have "better memory" overall
* experts used _schemas_ and _chunking_ to organize the meaningful board into patterns to aid encoding
* *stonewall attack vs. alekhine defense*
**Experts differ from novices in 2 main ways:
* developed more schemas as they gain expertise
* better at deciding when one schema vs. another should be applied
* choosing the correct strategy helps them solve problems in their domain much more efficiently
* novices either choose incorrectly, or must use more general problem-solving schemas
* tend to rely more on Working memory ⇒ errors
33
What is wisdom, and what are its 5 major components?
Wisdom = knowledge about the meaning & conduct of life
_Baltes' 5 Components of Wisdom:_
1. Rich factual knowledge about life
* Human nature, social relationships, major life events
2. Rich procedural knowledge about life
* Strategies for decisions, conflict resolution, giving advice
3. Understanding of lifespan contexts
* Life involves all of family, friends, work, leisure
4. Awareness of relativism of values/priorities
* Different priorities for different people/cultures
5. Can recognize & manage uncertainty
* Future cannot be fully known
34
What is a mental image? Are mental images only visual?
**Mental image:**
* representation of a stimulus that originates inside the brain, rather than from external sensory input
* most focus is on visual imagery
* auditory imagery is also relatively common
* can even have tactile, olfactory, gustatory imagery
35
What is the basic question of the imagery debate? Briefly describe the 2 major positions in this debate.
**1. Perceptual Position**
* Suggests that imagery involves many of the same processes as physical perception
* Specifically, mental images retain visuospatial info (distance/direction)
**2. Propositional (Language) Position**
* Suggests that the mental representation of something is stored as language (not as a picture)
* may *feel* like seeing a mental picture, but what is seen is just a *byproduct* of the deeper, linguistic representation
* So, mental images have no true visuospatial component;
* Imagery processes are NOT similar to perceptual processes
36
Describe the mental rotation task, the predictions of the 2 sides of the imagery debate, and the result of the study.
**Mental Rotation Task** (Shepard & Metzler (1971))
* “Are the objects below the same object that has simply been rotated?”
* Measured accuracy, and reaction time
* SAME objects differed by 0, 20, 40, 60…. 180 deg.
_1. Perceptual Position:_
* If a mental image is like a physical object or picture, then people should make judgments about the mental picture just like they do for the physical object
* i.e. it will take longer to make larger rotations
_2. Propositional Position:_
* Would predict similar reaction times, no matter the degree of angular difference
* Language-like description wouldn’t vary with rotation
_Result:_
* Greater the angular difference, longer rxn time
* Near perfect linear trend
* Just like it would be if you were turning the objects in "real life"
* Supports the **Perceptual Position**
* Showed ppl are capable of using mental imagery to help solve problems
* Showed that "private" cognitive processes could actually be studied scientifically;
* objective data, NOT subjective reports (or introspection)
37
Describe Kosslyn's Mental Scanning task and results.
Kosslyn's **Mental Scanning Task:**
* Person creates a mental image of something, then scans it in their mind's eye
* eg. "Memorize this map"
* 7 locations on island
* 21 "trips";
eg. *"Focus on the beach...now scan the map until you reach the rocks. Once you've found them, press the button"*
_Result:_
* Longer the distance between points, more time to scan
* just like "real" distances takes time to travel
38
Briefly outline the neuroscience research on Imagery Debate. Specifically, are the same neurons/brain regions that are involved in perception also involved in mental imagery?
**Imagery & Neurons**
Kreiman et al. (2000):
* Seizure patients with electrodes in brain
* Certain neurons respond to **seeing** specific objects
eg. baseball, but not faces
* **Same neurons active when imagining the object!**
* ****Supports perceptual position
LeBihan et al. (1993):
* Compared activation in the visual cortex for perception vs. imagery of the same objects
* **Activation in higher-order visual areas increased under *both* conditions!**
* ****Supports perceptual position
39
What is unilateral (visual) neglect? Do the same symptoms occur for imagery as for perception?
"*Does brain damage affect perception and visual imagery in the same way?"*
**Unilateral Spatial Neglect (Visual Neglect)**
* Unilateral damage → Ignore opposite side
* eg. woman who ate food on one side of her plate
Recall studies (ie. mental rotation, mental scanning..etc):
* Studies showed that perception and mental imagery are **very** similar, and there are LOTS of overlap in the brain regions, suggesting that there is much similarity in the mechanisms of imagery and perception (ie. spuport perceptual position)
40
What is metacognition, and why is it so important to university success?
## Footnote
**Metacognition:**
* Understanding of your own (personal) cognitive abilities
* How accurately you judge your own level of knowledge
("I understand this well" or "not at all")
* Critical ability when studying ⇒ allows you to focus on material you don't understand very well
41
Describe the study by Thiede & Anderson and their results. Which group showed the most accurate metacomprehension?
## Footnote
Thiede & Anderson (2003)
* Intro Psych students read 6 passages of text material
* Assigned to one of 3 groups:
* No Summary (control)
* Immediate Summary
* Read passage A, summarize; read B, summarize…
* Delayed Summary
Results:
* No differences in test scores overall;
* All groups' beliefs were in line with performance
* i.e. positive correlations show they were somewhat OK at guaging comprehension
* BUT Delayed Summary group's beliefs were much more accurate
* knew which sections they needed to study more.
42
What are 3 suggestions for improving metacomprehension (and therefore university success)?
_Practice Tests & Study Guides_
* Help identify broad areas of strength/weakness
* Can also help if you rate your confidence when you give you answers
* You may score 100% on a practice exam, but have guessed for every single answer…
_Summarize the chapter/section/lecture_
