Ch. 5- Cognition and Language Flashcards
information processing model
brain = computer, takes input to create output.
what psychologist is cognitive development associated with?
Jean Piaget
what are Piaget’s four cognitive developmental stages?
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational
behaviorism approach to cognition
focusing on measurable external outcomes with no attempt to directly determine internal states
what are some characteristics of the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development?
learning language, no object permanence, circular reactions, stranger anxiety
what age range is included in the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development?
birth - 2 yrs
what are some characteristics of the preoperational stage of cognitive development?
symbolic thought, egocentricism, centration, lack of conservation
what age range is included in the preoperational stage of cognitive development?
2-7 yrs
what are some characteristics of the concrete operational stage of cognitive development?
understanding of conservation, logical reasoning
what age range is included in the concrete operational stage of cognitive development?
7-11 yrs
what are some characteristics of the formal operational stage of cognitive development?
abstract logic, handle hypotheticals, abstract reasoning
what age range is included in the formal operational stage of cognitive development?
11- adulthood
schema
cognitive framework that organizes information about things that one perceives in the outside world. as you acquire more information, you can assimilate or accommodate your schema.
assimmilating a schema
preserving the old schema
accommodating a schema
expanding the schema to include a new piece of information
fluid vs. crystallized intelligence
fluid = problem-solving skills that can be applied to new situations
crystallized = using built-up knowledge and skills to solve problems
does cognitive performance improve or decline with age?
declines. severe cognitive decline = dementia
what causes dementia?
often Alzheimer’s, but many other options
what causes Down’s syndrome?
trisomy 21
what causes fetal alcohol syndrome?
prenatal alcohol exposure
trial-and-error problem solving
trying different options to see what works. best if you have time to kill.
algorithm problem solving
applying a set of steps to the problem, no underlying concept of how the thing works
deductive reasoning problem solving
top-down: starting with a specific thing and finding things to support it. depends a lot on validity of general principles.
inductive reasoning problem solving
bottom-up: starting with successive observations about a thing help identify general principles. vulnerable to generalizations.
analogy problem solving
this problem is similar to another problem I’ve seen before… I bet I can solve it the same way.
intuition problem solving
a gut feeling of how to do this thing. very possibly you have an analogy you’re using that you’re not consciously aware of.
insight problem solving
suddenly getting a moment of inspiration randomly?
mental set
our framework for conceptualizing a problem and trying to solve it
fixation
getting stuck in our old way of thinking about things
functional fixedness
tendency to see objects as only having a certain function (usually, what they were designed for). ie. the candle experiment, where a box of thumbtacks can also be a candleholder if you tack it to something.
belief perserverance
people’s tendency to maintain their belief even when there is contradictory evidence.
overconfidence
being too sure of yourself. you think there’s not a problem in the first place, but when you do see a problem, you jump in with a fast and sometimes unhelpful solution.
cognitive biases
systematic, generally subconscious patterns of thought that skew reasoning
confirmation bias
you disregard evidence that doesn’t fit your beliefs, interpret ambiguous data in a way that is favorable to you, and selectively recall only evidence that supports your side.
what are biases and heuristics used for?
to quickly make judgements, heuristics are used to problem-solve.
hindsight bias
looking back, you think things were a lot more predictable than they actually were in the moment.
causation bias
we infer cause-and-effect between two events in close proximity or that we already think are related, when in reality, it is not like that at all.
representativeness heuristic
we make decisions based on what we think is the prototypical example of a category. happens when we need to decide how probable something is
availability heuristic
we think that things that immediately come to mind first are the more likely options (med students thinking that any physical issues they experience is a rare disease)
what was Spearman’s theory of intelligence?
everyone has a general intelligence factor (g factor) that’s the baseline intelligence. you also have specialized intelligence (s factor)
is intelligence heritable?
to some degree. the g factor has a heritability range between 50-80% so it is possible.
Galton’s idea of hereditary genius
basis for the eugenics movement- sterilization of people with low intelligence.
who developed the theory of IQ?
Alfred Binet, because the French government told him to
what does IQ measure?
a child’s “mental age” relative to their chronological age
what type of distribution curve does IQ have?
normal bell curve.
Flynn effect
IQ scores readily increasing in developed countries and peaking in 1990s.
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences
8 subsets of intelligence: musical, visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, logic/math, body/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic.
who popularized the idea of emotional intelligence?
Daniel Goleman
emotional intelligence
recognizing one’s own emotions, other’s emotions, and emotional self-regulation.
what are the 6 levels of language from lowest to highest?
phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
phonetics
direct sounds we produce. intonation and sounds that don’t themselves affect meaning
phonology
sound structures affecting meaning, looking at the units of sound that affect the meaning of a word. ie. dip vs. deep.
morphology
word formation and construction, ie. eat vs. ate
syntax
phrases and sentences
semantics
literal meaning, on the level of words or sentences
pragmatics
real-world language use, nonliteral meaning
how does sign language compare to other linguistic systems?
sign language shares all components of a spoken language, are full linguistic systems as well.
learning theory of language
all language is learned behavior (environmental stimuli, conditioning)
nativist theory of language
humans have an innate, hardwired capacity to learn language
interactionist theory of language
emphasizes interactions with the environment, but there is an inborn capacity for language.
who was the pioneer of the learning theory of language?
Skinner
who was the pioneer of the nativist theory of language?
Noam Chomsky
generative linguistics
how we form abstract ideas into correct sentence frameworks
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
aka. linguistic relativity- the language we speak shapes our cognition
linguistic determinism
a strong version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis; language dictates thought.
Wernicke’s area
in the superior temporal lobe of the dominant hemisphere of the brain (usually left)
Wernicke’s aphasia
aphasia in which the person can still generate nonsense speech, but cannot comprehend speech. also known as fluent aphasia or receptive aphasia.
aphasia
blanket term for having an impaired ability to communicate
Broca’s area
in the frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere of the brain (usually left)
Broca’s aphasia
aphasia in which the person can comprehend speech but has extreme difficulty producing speech in return. also known as non-fluent aphasia.
how does information move between Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area?
through the arculate fasciculus
conduction aphasia
damage to the structure linking Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas (arculate fasciculus) which causes extreme difficulty for repeating words
regions in the temporal lobe handle language-processing functions, including …?
the auditory cortices
