Ch 9 Flashcards
Language
The grouping of written, spoken, or gestured symbols used to convey information
Properties: symbolic, semantic, generative, structured
Phonemes
Smallest speech units ( a single sound)
Eg. /s/i/t/
Morphemes
Smallest unit of meaning (root words, prefixes, suffixes) that cannot be further divided
Eg. In, come, -ing forms incoming
Semantics
Meaning of words and word combinations
Eg. “Destination”can be described by the words “last stop” as well
Syntax
A system of rules for arranging words into sentences
Grammar
The systematic rules of a language
Behaviourist theory of language
- Language is verbal behaviour (reinforcement is mediated by other people)
- Learning to talk is the same as learning any other skill
-This theory is limited because it does not account for the rapid development of language in childhood
-Operant conditioning
Eg.
Speaker gets what they ask for = speaker is more likely to ask for something
Speaker is punished for saying something = speaker is less likely to say the same thing
Nativist theory of language
-Brains are evolved to produce language (language-learning capacities are built into the brain)
-Language acquisition device (theoretical structure in our brain that helps us acquire language)
-Critical period/sensitive period: window in which humans are primed to learn language more quickly (demonstrates a biological constraint; as humans grow and mature there is less flexibility for learning language)
-Similarities across the human language regarding the process of language development
Interactionst/emergentist theory of language
Bridges the gap between nativist and behaviourist approaches (biological capacity for language combines with environmental experience)
Aphasia
Inability or difficulty in producing speech
Broca’s area (located at the left frontal cortex): plays a role in deciding certain speech and how the speech will be conveyed; speech production
- patients with broca’s aphasia understand language relatively well (increased comprehension difficulty) but struggle producing it
Wernicke’s area (located at the left temporal cortex): involved in language comprehension; provides meaning to the speech that is heard
- patients with wernicke’s/ fluent aphasia were able to produce speech but it tends to be meaningless (not understanding a question will produce an answer that doesn’t make sense)
Mental lexicon
Storage of words and related concepts
Bilingualism and the brain
People who are bilingual tend to be better at prioritizing information and flexibly focusing attention
Theory of resemblance
Object classification based on connections and representations (deciding the meaning of a word based on overlap between certain characteristics; eg. Having feathers and wings classifies something as a bird)
Prototype: most common/ typical form a word incurs when it is thought of (e.g. “ bird” correlates with a robin more than it does with a penguin)
Exemplar:comparing a new form with stored memories of other forms in that category ( eg. Categorizing an animal as a dog because it resembles other dogs you’ve seen)
Sapir-whorf hypothesis/linguistic relativity hypothesis
A theory in which structural differences in language can alter one’s perception and understanding of reality; language shapes the nature of thought
Category-specific deficit
The inability to recognize objects belonging to a particular category even if the recognition of objects outside the category is undisturbed; this is caused by trauma to the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex
Mental set
Expectation of how to solve a problem; can lead to fixations (past experience or expectations can influence the way problems are approached)
Rational choice theory
The theory in which decisions are made by determining how likely something will occur, judging the value of the outcome, and multiplying the two
Conjunction fallacy
The theory that people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event
Sunk-cost fallacy
A framing effect in which people make decisions based on what they have previously invested in the situation
Functional fixedness
Tendency to view an object as only having one function (most common use) and neglecting to see other possible uses
Algorithm
Precise set of rules applied in order to solve a problem
Trial and error
Applying a sequence of possible strategies until the solution is reached
Heuristics
Short cut rules that are applied to solve problems quickly and efficiently (may not lead to accurate solutions)
Availability heuristic: rule of thumb that items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occurred more frequently
Means-end heuristic: keeping the end goal in mind and taking necessary measures to attain that goal
Representativeness heuristic: a mental shortcut in which a probability judgement is made by comparing an object/event with a prototype of that object/event (assumes something belongs to a category because it seems like the prototype)
Framing effect
The way information is presented influences the choices people make; people give different answers to the same problem depending on how the problem is framed
