Chapter 8

Question 1

Thinking

Answer 1

Any mental activity or processing of information, including learning, remembering, receiving, communicating, believing, and deciding

Question 2

Cognitive bias

Answer 2

Systematic error in thinking

Question 3

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 3

Heuristic that involves judging the probability of an event by its superficial similarity to a prototype

Question 4

Base rate

Answer 4

How common a characteristic or behavior is in the general population

Question 5

Availability heuristic

Answer 5

Heuristic that involves estimating the likelihood of an occurrence based on the ease with which it comes to our minds

Question 6

Hindsight bias

Answer 6

Our tendency to overestimate how well we could have predicted something after it is already occurred

Question 7

Concept

Answer 7

Our knowledge and ideas about a set of objects, actions, and characteristics that share core properties

Question 8

Linguistic determinism

Answer 8

Do that all thought is represented verbally and that, as a result, our language defines our thinking

Question 9

Linguistic relativity

Answer 9

View that characteristics of language shape our thought process

Question 10

Decision making

Answer 10

The process of selecting among a set of possible alternatives

Question 11

Framing

Answer 11

The way a question is formulated that can influence the decisions people make

Question 12

Problem solving

Answer 12

Generating a cognitive strategy to accomplish a goal

Question 13

Algorithm

Answer 13

Step by step learn to procedure used to solve a problem

Question 14

Mental set

Answer 14

Phenomenon of becoming stuck in a specific problem solving strategy, inhibiting our ability to generate alternatives

Question 15

Functional fixedness

Answer 15

Difficulty conceptualizing that an object typically is used for one purpose can be used for another

Question 16

Language

Answer 16

Largely arbitrary system of communication that combine symbols and rule-based ways to create meaning

Question 17

Phoneme

Answer 17

Category of sounds are vocal apparatus produces

Question 18

Morpheme

Answer 18

Smallest meaningful unit of speech

Question 19

Syntax

Answer 19

Grammatical cues that govern how words are composed into meaningful strings

Question 20

Extralinguistic information

Answer 20

Elements of communication that aren’t part of the content of the language but are critical to interpreting its meaning

Question 21

Semantics

Answer 21

Meaning derived from words and sentences

Question 22

Dialect

Answer 22

Language variation used by a group of people who share geographic proximity or ethnic background

Question 23

Babbling

Answer 23

Intentional vocalization that lacks specific meaning

Question 24

One word stage

Answer 24

Early period of language development when children use single word phrases to convey an entire thought

Question 25

Bilingual

Answer 25

Proficient influent at speaking and comprehending two distinct languages

Question 26

Metalinguistic

Answer 26

Awareness of how language is structured and used

Question 27

Homesign

Answer 27

System of signs invented by children who are deaf and born of hearing parents and therefore receive no language input

Question 28

Sign language

Answer 28

Language developed by members of a deaf community that uses visual rather than auditory communication

Question 29

Generative

Answer 29

Allowing an infinite number of unique sentences to be created by combining words in novel ways

Question 30

Nativist

Answer 30

Account of language acquisition that suggests children are born with some basic knowledge of how language works

Question 31

Language acquisition device

Answer 31

Hypothetical organ in the brain in which nativists believe knowledge of syntax resides

Question 32

Social pragmatics

Answer 32

Account of language acquisition that proposes that children infer what words and sentences mean from context and social interactions

Question 33

Whole word recognition

Answer 33

Reading strategy that involves identifying common words based on their appearance without having to sound them out

Question 34

Phonetic decomposition

Answer 34

Reading strategy that involves sounding out words by drawing correspondence between printed letters and sounds