Chapter 8 Flashcards
Thinking
Any mental activity or processing of information
Cognitive Bias
Systematic error in thinking
Representativeness Heuristic
Heuristic that involves judging the probability of an event by its superficial similarity to a prototype
Base Rate
How common a characteristic or behaviour is in the general population
Availability Heuristic
Heuristic that involves estimating the likelihood of an occurence based on the ease with which it comes to our minds
Hindsight Bias
Our tendency to overestimate how well we could have predicted something after it has occured
Concept
Our knowledge and ideas about a set of objects, actions and characteristics that share core properties
Decision making
The process of selecting among a set of possible alternatives
Framing
The way a question is formulated that can influence the decisions people make
Problem Solving
Generating a cognitive strategy to accomplish a goal
Algorithm
Step-by-step learned procedure used to solve a problem
Mental Set
Phenomenon of becoming stuck in a specific problem solving strategy, inhibiting our ability to generate alternatives
Functional Fixedness
Difficulty conceptualizing that an object typically used for one purpose can be used for another
Language
Largely arbitrary systom of communication that combines symbols in rule based ways to create meaning
Phoneme
Category of sounds our vocal apparatus produces
Morpheme
Smallest meaningful unit of speech
Syntax
Grammatical rules that govern how words are composed into meaningful strings
Extralinguistic Information
Elements of communication that aren’t of the content of language but are critical to interpreting its meaning
Semantics
Meaning derived from words and sentences
Dialect
Language variation used by a group of people who share geographic proximity or ethnic background
Babbling
Intentional vocalization that lacks specific meaning
One-word stage
Early period of language development when children use single-word phrases only to convey an entire thought
Sign Language
Language developed by members of a deaf community that uses visual rather than auditory communication
Bilingual
Proficient and fluent at speaking and comprehending two distinct languages
Metalinguistic
Awareness of how language is structured and used
Homesign
System of signs invented by deaf children of hearing parents who receive no language input
Generative
Allowing an infinite number of unique sentences to be created
Nativist
Account of language acquisition that suggests children are born with some basic knowledge of how language works
Language Acquisition Device
Hypothetical construct in the brain in which nativists believe knowledge of syntax resides
Social Pragmatics
Account of language acquisition that proposes that children infer what words and sentences mean from context and social interactions
Linguistic Determinism
View that all thought is represented verbally and that, as a result, our language defines our thinking
Linguistic Relativity
View that characteristics of language shape our thought processes
Whole Word Recognition
Reading strategy that involves identifying common words based on appearance
Phonetic Decomposition
Reading strategy that involves sounding out words by drawing correspondences between printed letters and sounds
