Chapter 10 - Thinking and Language Flashcards
concept
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
Proto type
The mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category (as when comparing feathered creatures to A Proto typical bird, such as a robin)
algorithm
A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrast with the usually speedier - but also more error-prone – use of heuristics
heuristics
simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms
insight
The sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; a contrast with the strategy based solutions
confirmation bias
tendency to search for information that confirms ones preconceptions
fixation
inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem-solving
mental set
tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often away that has been successful in the past
functional fixedness
The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem-solving
representativeness heuristic
judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular Proto types; may lead one to ignore other relevant information
availability heuristic
estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common
overconfidence
tendency to be more confident than correct – to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments
framing
The Way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments
Belief bias
The tendency for one’s pre-existing beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid
belief perseverance
clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
language
our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combined them to communicate meaning
phoneme
in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
morpheme
in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; maybe a word or part of the word (such as a prefix)
grammar
in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others
semantics
The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also the study of meaning
syntax
The rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language
babbling stage
beginning at about four months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
one-word stage
stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words
two word stage
beginning at about age 2, the stage and speech development during which a child speaks mostly 2 word statements
telegraphic speech
early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram – “go car” – using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words
linguistic determinism
Whorfs hypothesis that language determines the way we think
cognition
mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
