Chapter 8_ Thinking, Reasoning, and Language

Question 1

What is problem solving?

Answer 1

The mental process of finding an appropriate way to attain a goal when the goal is not readily available.

Question 2

What 2 points does the problem solving process rely on?

Answer 2

1. How it is represented in the mind
2. Changing the representation

Question 3

What is insight?

Answer 3

A sudden knowledge of the solution to a problem

Question 4

What is functional fixedness and its issue?

Answer 4

The tendency to only think of the usual function of objects. Individuals fail to look at a problem from a fresh new perspective

Question 5

What is a mental set?

Answer 5

When an individual becomes stuck in a specific problem-solving strategy

Question 6

What is a heuristic?

Answer 6

a mental shortcut to solve a problem but does not guarantee a correct solution. EX: rounding numbers

Question 7

What is an algorithm?

Answer 7

a procedure that will always yield the solution to a problem if it is followed exactly. EX: Area = length x width

Question 8

What is the means-ends analysis (subgoals) method of solving problems?

Answer 8

Minor problems are solved to put the individual in a better position for reaching the final goal or solution.

Question 9

What is the working backwards method of solving problems?

Answer 9

Starting at the goal and moving backwards toward the starting point. EX: You lose your phone and trace back to when you last had it.

Question 10

What is decision making and how is it different from problem solving?

Answer 10

Decision making means choosing from among a set of alternatives, while problem solving involves coming up with a solution instead of choosing.

Question 11

What is the framing effect?

Answer 11

Decisions are biased by the way the decision is presented.

Question 12

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 12

Seeking information that confirms your existing beliefs.

Question 13

What is the representativeness heuristic?

Answer 13

Judging the probability of an event based on a pattern of previous experiences or beliefs about that event, or stereotypes

Question 14

What is the availability heuristic?

Answer 14

Events with easily remembered examples are seen to be more probable than harder to remember examples. EX: After winning 10 games with your Smash Ultimate main, you start believing that this character always guarantees a win.

Question 15

What is the conjunction error?

Answer 15

Wrong belief that two or more events are more likely than one. EX: You learn that someone is a soccer player who practices every day. When asked which is more likely: They are a soccer player. They are a soccer player and the captain of the school soccer team. You choose option 2 because his dedication and skill match the image of a team captain, even though it is statistically more likely that Sam is just a soccer player.

Question 16

Why are humans bad at decison making?

Answer 16

Gigerenzer’s “fast and frugal” hypothesis: heuristics allow quick decisions with minimal energy

Question 17

What two scenarios explain how we think about probability?

Answer 17

1. insensitivity to sample size: we fail to consider the reliability of results, failing to understand that small samples are more likely to produce extremes (outliers).
2. non-regressive judgment: we incorrectly assign causal explanations (e.g., pressure, bad luck) to events that can simply be explained by regression to the mean.

Question 18

What is regression to the mean in probability?

Answer 18

Tendency for extremely low or high scores to be followed by scores that are closer to the mean

Question 19

How long does babble and vocabulary spurt last in an infant’s language development?

Answer 19

Babble: 6 months to about 18 months
Vocabulary spurt: 16-24 months. 10,000 words by gr 1 to 40,000 by gr 5. Many words are learned after just hearing them once.

Question 20

What is a metalinguistic awareness?

Answer 20

The ability to reflect on the nature of language during middle childhood.

Question 21

What is extralinguistic information?

Answer 21

during middle childhood. The ability to understand non-verbal language (body language)

Question 22

What are pragmatics?

Answer 22

Set of rules concerning social rules of language. EX: “do not interrupt another speaker”

Question 23

What is overextension in language development?

Answer 23

Using a word to describe a wider set of objects or actions than it is meant to. EX: using “ball” for anything round (oranges, apples, the moon, etc.)

Question 24

What is underextension in language development?

Answer 24

Using a word to describe a narrower set of objects or actions than it is meant to. EX: using “dog” only for the child’s own dog.

Question 25

What is telegraphic speech?

Answer 25

Less critical words are omitted. EX: Infants may speak with more content words to make statements like “give food,” or “want play.”

Question 26

What is overregularization?

Answer 26

Grammatical rules incorrectly generalized to irregular cases where they don’t apply. EX: I brang it to school

Question 27

What is linguistic determinism?

Answer 27

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis called linguistic determinism says thinking is what gives you evergy

Question 28

What is the linguistic relativism?

Answer 28

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that says that language affects thought. This has been proven as framing can affect episodic memory.

Question 29

What are the 2 main ways of thinking about where things are in space?

Answer 29

1) egocentric perspective: position of an object, landmark, etc., is relative to me – “left”, “right”, “front”, “back”
2) allocentric perspective: position of an object, landmark, etc., is relative to another object or landmark

Question 30

What 2 points challenge the view that we can “nurture” view of language?

Answer 30

1) learning does not account for generativity (behaviour to protect the well-being of future generations)
2) infants are aware of syntax (“rules of language”) when they start speaking

Question 31

What is the nativist view of language?

Answer 31

infants “come into the world with some basic knowledge of how language works.”