Chapter 8 Flashcards
(27 cards)
Psycholinguistics
Scientific study of psychological aspects of language-understanding, learning etc.
5 properties of language
- Symbolic-Arbitrary symbols represent specific objects
- Structured-Rules for meanings, sound/word/phrase combos
- Conveys Meaning
- Generative-Symbols of language can be combined to generate an infinite number of messages-expresses ideas that have never been expressed before
- Permits Displacement-Can refer to objects or events that are not physically present.
Non-Human Language Characteristics
Symbolic, conveys meaning, but little generativity and displacement.
Phonemes vs Morphemes
Phonemes-Most basic unit of speech sounds: English has 44-Changing a phoneme changes meaning of word
Moprhemes-Smallest unit of meaning in language. ex: pig vs pigs (pigs has 2 morphemes, pig and s-s is a different unit of meaning).
Semantics
Meanings of words and sentences-can change over time
Syntax
Grammatical rules that govern how we organize words into sentences-related to fact that language is structured. Grammar encompasses both syntax and morphology.
Pragmatics
Knowledge of the practical application language. Social rules and context of language. Formal vs informal situations.
Surface Structure
Words that are actually spoken (or written/signed)
Deep Structure
Underlying meaning of sentence
Prosody
Its not what you say, but how you say it. Language is strongly related to music in rhythm and emphasis. Emphasis communicates different meanings.
Deductive Reasoning
Taking general principles and reasoning about a specific case-involves syllogisms- 3 statements, 2 given facts, and a logical conclusion. Syllogism can also take an if then format.
Inductive Reasoning
Taking specific cases and reasoning about a general principle. Conclusions are less certain, more about whats likely-anytime we use past to predict future, is automatic (probabilities).
Heuristics
Rules of thumb that usually provide correct answer, b not fool-proof.
Availability Heuristic
Events that are more easily remembered are judged to be more likely/probably/common
Mckelvie Experiment
Gave participants 26 names, Group A had 12 famous male names and 14 non-famous female names. Group B had the opposite. Asked if list had more male or female names-77% of group A said me male, 81% of group B said more females. Readily remember famous names but not non-famous names.
Representativeness Heuristic
Likelihood that A is a member of a particular group/category depends on how well A resembles properties we typically associate with the group. Ignores the conjunction rule-probability of 2 events cannot be higher than 1 event alone. Ignores base rate-Relative proportions of different groups oof items.
Belief Bias
Tendency to abandon when something contradicts our own personal beliefs. Often confuse logical correctness (validity), with factual correctness (truth). Does conclusion make sense if we assume 2 premises are correct?
Emotions and Framing
Tendency to abandon logic in favour of emotion or the way information is presented (or “framed”)-Asked people to give opinions on new cancer treatment, group A was told it was effective 50% of the time, group B was told it failed 50% of the time. Recommendations for the drug varied based on what they’d been told.
Confirmation Bias
Tend to selectively attend to information that conforms to our beliefs and ignore contradictory issues. Lord et al (1979)-death penalty articles, people responses to them aligned with their initial beliefs, whether the article was for death penalty or not.
Framing
How we think of, interpret, or understand a problem
Problem solving schemas
Mental blueprint for how to go about solving a particular problem.
Algorithms
Formulae or procedure guaranteed to produce correct answer (eventually).
Means-end Analysis
What is the present state and what is the goal state? Steps to achieving this goal effectively.
Mental set
Preconceived notion on how to solve a problem based on past experiences.
