Chapter 8 - Thinking, Reasoning, and Language Flashcards
Thinking
any mental activity or processing of information, including learning, remembering, perceiving, communicating, believing, and deciding
Cognitive Miser
one who invests little mental energy as possible unless necessary to do more
When can cognitive economy get us in trouble?
when it leads us to oversimplify and draw faulty conclusions
Heuristic
mental shortcut
What does cognitive economy allow?
us to keep decision making information to a minimum
Cognitive Bias
systematic error in thinking
Representativeness Heuristic
heuristic that involves judging the probability of an event by its superficial similarity to a prototype
Example of Representativeness Heuristic
making an assumption that a shy, awkward, tournament chess player is a math major rather than psychology major
Representativeness Heuristic involves…
stereotypes
Base Rate
generally how common a behaviour or characteristic is
Availability Heuristic
heuristic that involves estimating the likelihood of an occurrence based on the ease with which it comes to our minds
Example of Availability Heuristic
when asked if there are more trees on your campus or downtown you’d probably say your campus more often
Availability Heuristic is a major factor in… Why?
estimating risks of dangerous activities because the media covers more dramatic risks than real ones
Hindsight Bias
our tendency to overestimate how well we could have predicted something after it has already occurred
Hindsight Bias aka “___________” effect
I knew it all along
Example of Hindsight Bias
reading a poem and realizing it fits well with a topic after being told which topic suits it
Conformation Bias
our tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypotheses and deny or dismiss evidence that doesn’t
What helps us overcome bias in research?
scientific methods
Top-Down Processing
filling in the gaps of missing information using our experiences and background knowledge
Bottom-Up Processing
our brain processes the information only it receives to construct understanding through experience
Concepts
our knowledge and ideas about a set of objects, actions, and characteristics that share core properties
Schemas
concepts we’ve stored in memory about how certain actions, objects, and ideas related to each other
Linguistic Determinism
view that all thought is represented verbally and that, as a result, our language defines our thinking
Linguistic Relativity
view that characteristic of language shape our thought processes
Higher-Order Cognition
aspects of thinking that require us to integrate the basic aspects of cognition (perception, knowledge, memory, language, reasoning) into a plan of action
Decision Making
the process of selecting among a set of possible alternatives
When making small decisions we often weigh the considerations…
quickly and below conscious awareness
Small decision making involves system __ thinking which is…
1; rapid and intuitive
Large decision making involves system __ thinking which is…
2; slow and analytical
Paralysis by Analysis
when our brains become overwhelmed by excessive information, like making a pros and cons list
Framing
the way a question is formulated that can influence the decisions people make
Neuroeconomics
study of how the brain works when making financial decisions
Problem Solving
generating a cognitive strategy to accomplish a goal
Algorithm
step-by-step learned procedure used to solve a problem
When are algorithms useful?
in problems that require the same basic steps to solve them (ie. making a PB & J sandwich)
Algorithms are inflexible meaning…
when something changes you would likely get stuck
Subproblems
a problem-solving strategy that involves breaking the problem down into easy to solve chunks
Reasoning from related examples
a problem-solving strategy that involves using prior information to fill in gaps
Analogies
used to solve problems with similar structures using comparison
Salience of Surface Similarities
focusing our attention on surface level properties of a problem and solving that problem the same way we did one similar
Salience
how attention grabbing something is
Focusing on underlying reasoning makes solving problems more ________.
challenging
Mental Set
phenomenon of becoming stuck in a specific problem-solving strategy, inhibiting our ability to generate alternatives (THINKING IN THE BOX)
Breaking free of the mental set involves which parts of the brain?
frontal and parietal lobes which inhibit previous responses and allow new strategies to be formed
Functional Fixedness
difficulty conceptualizing that an object typically used for one purpose can be used for another
What can humans do that computers can’t?
account for contexts and draw subtle inferences (top-down processing difficulty)
Computer Model of the Mind
model adopted to explain how the mind processes information like running data through a computer program
Embodiment Model of the Mind
shows that the brains sensory areas become activated when people think about objects, actions, and events
Language
largely arbitrary system of communication that combines symbols (words or gestures) in rule-based ways to create meaning
Arbitrary
a characteristic of language that means sounds, words, and sentences have no clear relation to their meaning
What do we mean when saying language is automatic?
using and interpreting requires little attention and we can often multi-task without speech getting in the way
What are the four levels of language analysis?
phonemes, morphemes, syntax, extralinguistic information
Phoneme
category of sounds our vocal apparatus (lips, teeth, tongue, vocal cords, etc.) produces
Morpheme
smallest unit of meaningful speech
Syntax
grammatical rules that govern how words are composed into meaningful strings
Extralinguistic Information
elements of communication that aren’t part of the content of the language but are critical to interpreting its meaning (facial expressions, tone)
How many phonemes exist worldwide? How many in English language?
100, 40-45
Phonemes = _________
ingredients to construct words
Morphemes are created by…
stringing phonemes together
Morphemes are usually _____
words
Morphemes =
menu items
What type of information do morphemes convey?
semantics (meaning)
Syntax =
putting the meal together
Morphological Markers
grammatical elements that modify words by adding sounds to change meaning (ie. run vs. running)
Extralinguistic Information =
overall dining experience
What can arise from error in extralinguistic information?
misunderstanding (ie. in a text)
Dialects
language variation used by a group of people who share geographic proximity or ethnic background
Language must offer a survival _______ to offset its many disadvantages
advantage
What is an advantage of language being arbitrary?
flexibility to express complex ideas
Onomatopoeia
an example of non-arbitrary language that uses words to resemble sounds
When does the process of learning language begin for children?
before they start talking, usually even before they are born
When do infants ability to recognize mothers voice begin?
5 months
High-Amplitude Sucking Procedure
way to test newborns ability to distinguish sounds using operant conditioning
How does high-amplitude sucking procedure work?
two-day old infants suck more on a pacifier when hearing mothers native language over foreign language
What rules out the possibility that all babies prefer english?
bilingual mothers
Year 1 Infant Language
Begin to figure out phonemes and how to use their vocal apparatus to make sound
Babbling
intentional vocalization that lacks specific meaning
By what age are infants phoneme categories similar to adults of their native language?
10 months
Comprehension precedes production
children learn to recognize and interpret words before they produce them
What age do children begin to formulate words with meaning?
around 12 months
What age do most children have a vocabulary of between 20-100 words?
12-18 months
Overextension of Words
ie. referring to all flying objects as birds
Underextension of Words
ie. thinking the word ‘cat’ only applies to their pet cat
One-Word Stage
early period of language development when children use single-word phrases to convey an entire thought
Sign Language
language developed by members of a community with hearing loss that uses visual rather than auditory communication
Sign-space
space immediately in front of the signer
What is a general misconception about sign language?
it is like charades acting out a sentence, when it really has its own phonemes, syntax, extralinguistic information
4 Misconceptions About Sign Language
- It is just acting out like charades
- People who can lip read don’t need sign language
- Learning to sign slows down ability to learn to speak
- ASL is English translated word for word
Skilled lip readers only pick up ___% of what is actually being said
30-35%
ASL roots are actually…
French sign language, not English
Signed English
translates English sentences word for word
Babies who learn sign language pass through the same developmental stages as…
babies who learn spoken language
Bilingual
proficient and fluent at speaking and comprehending two distinct languages
Metalinguistic Insight
awareness of how language is structured and used
Bilingual individuals who acquired their second language early in development use ____ brain areas for both languages. Later developed second languages use _____ brain areas.
similar; different
Critical Periods
windows of time in development during which an organism must learn the ability if it is going to learn it at all
Age of exposure effects are more dramatic for ____ and ____ than vocabulary.
syntax and pronunciation
Homesign
system of signs invented by children with hearing loss of hearing parents who receive no language input
Sensitive Period
interval where people are more receptive to learning
Generative
allowing an infinite number of unique sentences to be created by combining words in novel ways
Pure Nature and Nurture Accounts
simplest explanation of language learning through imitation
Nativist Account
says children come into the world with some basic knowledge about language
Language Acquisition Device
Hypothetical construct in the brain in which nativists believe knowledge of syntax resides
Social Pragmatics Account
proposes that children infer what words and sentences mean from context and social interactions
General Cognitive Processing Account
proposes that children’s ability to learn language results from skills children apply across a variety of activities
Broca’s Area
Speech production
Wernicke’s Area
Speech comprehension
Reading must be _____ and _______
taught and practiced
Stroop Colour-Naming Task
requires participants to identify the colour of ink used to print words, but the words are colour names that contradict the ink colour
What does the Stroop task show?
reading is automatic and hard to inhibit
What two skills need to be mastered to become expert readers?
- learning to recognize familiar words
- phonics
Whole Word Recognition
reading strategy that involves identifying common words based on their appearance without having to sound them out
Phonetic Decomposition
reading strategy that involves sounding out words by drawing correspondences between printed letters and sounds
What suffers with ‘speed reading’?
comprehension
Average reading rate:
200-300 words/min
At what rate does comprehension fall below 50%?
reading faster than 400 words/min
6 Principles of Scientific Thinking: Ruling out Rival Hypotheses
Have important alternative explanations for the findings been excluded?
6 Principles of Scientific Thinking: Correlation vs. Causation
Can we be sure A causes B?
6 Principles of Scientific Thinking: Falsifiability
Can the claim be disproved?
6 Principles of Scientific Thinking: Replicability
Can the results be duplicated in other studies?
6 Principles of Scientific Thinking: Extraordinary Claims
Is the evidence as strong as the claim?
6 Principles of Scientific Thinking: Occam’s Razor
Does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well?
