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Psych 105 > Ch 9-Language and Thinking > Flashcards

Ch 9-Language and Thinking Flashcards

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1
Q

language

A

system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and to convey meaning

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2
Q

grammar

A

a set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages

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3
Q

semantics

A

the meaning of words and sentences

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4
Q

generativity

A

the symbols of language can be combined to generate and infinite number of messages that have novel meaning

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5
Q

displacement

A

language allows us to communicate about events and objects that are not physically present

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6
Q

phoneme

A

the smallest unit of sound that is recognizable as speech rather than random noise

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7
Q

morphemes

A

the smallest meaningful units of language

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8
Q

syntax

A

how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences

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9
Q

deep structure

A

what the words mean/convey

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10
Q

surface structure

A

syntax, how the words are arranged

-possible to have multiple surface structures with the same deep meaning

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11
Q

the three characteristics of language development

A
  • children learn language at an astonishing rate
  • children make few errors while learning (and more often than not, they’re errors stemming from learned patterns (goed instead of went))
  • children’s passive mastery develops faster than their active mastery (comprehension comes before production)
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12
Q

language milestones

A

first words: 10-12 months
-following this, fast mapping begins (learning words after only one exposure)
two-word/telegraphic speech: 24 months
-overgeneralization of the rules they are learning and picking up from the environment
complete simple sentences: 3 years

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13
Q

Behaviourist explanations (skinner)

A
  • language is learned through operant conditioning and imitation
  • problematically though, parents spend v little time formally teaching kids to talk, kids generate more than just what they hear, and the behaviourist approach cannot explain the common errors made by children
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14
Q

nativist explanation (Chomsky)

A
  • opposed the behaviourist view
  • everyone is born w an innate Language Acquisition Device which separates us from animals, helps us develop language and has to be used by a critical/sensitive period (usually before 10)
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15
Q

genetic dysphasia

A

inability to learn grammatical structure of language (not to be mistaken with low intelligence)

  • -a biological/genetic condition that runs in families
  • cause indv to have an impaired or absent LAD
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16
Q

social learning processing/interactionist approach

A
  • integrates both the language acquisition device of the nativist explanation and the observation/imitation aspect of the behaviourist explanation
  • idea that social interactions play a crucial role in language learning
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17
Q

broca’s area

A
  • left frontal lobe
  • responsible for language production
  • aphasia: difficulty in producing speech
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18
Q

wenicke’s area

A
  • left temporal lobe
  • responsible for language comprehension
  • apahsia: difficulty in understanding and producing comprehensible speech (word salad)
19
Q

kanzi

A

chimp who learned language indirectly while researchers were trying to teach his mother

  • could understand complex sentences and even use his own logic at times
  • limited; not much in the way of generativity of production or of displacement
20
Q

alex the parrot

A
  • much more complex language than seen in chimps (like kanzi)
  • expressed desires, not just following demands
  • abstract/displaced thinking (“I want to go back”)
  • responded, made observations/spoke with out prompting
21
Q

linguistic relativity hypothesis (Whorfian hypothesis)

A

proposal that language helps to shape the nature of thought

  • since innuit ppl have many words for snow, do they thinks abt snow differently?
  • the dani tribe, which only had 2 colour words had no trouble distinguishing btw a bunch of different shades, but the himba tribe, which had 5 colour words, seemed to only do well if they had a name for that colour
22
Q

propositional though

A

mental thoughts, statements, propositions
-can be thought or spoken
note that a proposition is a statement expressing facts, and needs concepts

23
Q

concepts

A

basic units of semantic memory

24
Q

prototypes

A

hypothetical typical or “best/ideal” member (concept) of a specific category

25
Q

imaginal thought

A

images we can see/hear/feel in our minds

26
Q

motoric thought

A

mental representations or thoughts of motor movement

27
Q

reasoning

A

ability to think logically about something and come to a logical conclusion

28
Q

deductive reasoning

A
  • top down process (from general principles to possible conclusions)
  • starts from a proposition and often involves if/then statements
  • useful in forming hypotheses
  • if both propositions are true, the conclusion is certainly true (but if the propositions are incorrect, the conclusion may be factually incorrect even if it is logically sound)
29
Q

inductive reasoning

A
  • bottom up process (from witnessed/observed behaviours to general principles)
  • starts with specific facts and tries to develop a general principle
  • not as good as deductive reasoning bc this conclusion is based on likelihood and probability
30
Q

stumbling blocks in reasoning

A
  • irrelevant info/failure to focus on relevant info
  • belief bias
  • framing
31
Q

belief bias

A
  • abandoning logical rules in favour of personal beliefs

- confusing factual correctness with logical correctness

32
Q

framing

A

when people arrive at different conclusions due simply to the way information is presented, which may interfere with reasoning

33
Q

stages in problem solving

A
  1. interpret (frame)/understand the problem
  2. generate hypotheses or possible solutions
  3. test the hypotheses/solutions, seeking to disconfirm
  4. evaluate results and revise previous steps as necessary
34
Q

algorithms

A

formulas or procedural steps that when followed to a T guarantee a solution to the problem, even if they may not be the most efficient

35
Q

heuristics

A

-general problem-solving strategies that we apply to certain classes of situations
-a form of means-end analysis
useful for problems like the tower of Hanoi

36
Q

representativeness heuristic

A

making a probability judgements by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event
-may fall prey to the conjunction fallacy or the priming function

37
Q

conjunction fallacy

A

when people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event (ex. is linda a bank teller who is also a feminist?)

38
Q

priming function

A

when a problem primes us with info that might not be relevant (if I have only blue and black socks, how many do I need to draw from the drawer to get a matched pair?)

39
Q

availability heuristic

A

items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occurred more frequently

40
Q

confirmation bias

A
  • a decision making error

- looking for way to prove a conclusion and overlooking things that might disprove it

41
Q

overconfidence

A
  • a decision making error

- tendency to overestimate correctness about factual knowledge, beliefs or decisions

42
Q

incubation (creativity and insight)

A
  • spontaneous restructuring/new way of looking at a problem

- use of unconscious processes to solve a problem

43
Q

functional fixedness

A

fixating on the way we normally use things to solve a problem
ex. the candle problem, the tie two strings together problem, the nine-dot problem

44
Q

metacognition

A
  • recognizing/understanding what we know and how well we know if
  • composed of metacomprehension (accuracy in judging what you do and don’t know) and metamemory (awareness and knowledge of memory abilites)

Psych 105 (8 decks)

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