chapter 9 Flashcards
language
a system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and that convey meaning. Allows individuals to exchange info about the world, coordinate group action, and form strong social bonds
grammar
a set of rules that specify how the units of a language can be combined to produce meaningful messages
phoneme
the smallest unit of speech that distinguish one word from another. ex. p, d, and t in the words pad, bad, pat, bat
phonological rule
a set of rules that indicate how phonemes can be combined to produce words . typically people learn these rules without instruction, and if rules are violated, resulting speech sounds off.
morphemes
the smallest meaningful units of language. Formed by combining morphemes . Ex. incoming = [in] [come] [ing]
morphological rules
indicate how morphemes can be combined to form words
content morphemes
refers to things or events. ex cat, take, dog, run
function morphemes
serve grammatical functions , such as tying sentences together. ex. and, or, but
syntactic rules
indicate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences
telegraphic speech
speech that is devoid of function morphemes and consists mostly of content words often made by children around 24 months . ex “more milk”, “throw ball”
behaviorist explanation of language development
language is learned through reinforcement, shaping, interaction, and other basic principles of operant learning
nativist theory of language development
the view that language development is best explained as an innate, biological capacity
universal grammar
a collection of processes that facilitate language learning.
interactionist explanation of language development
although infants are born with an innate ability to acquire language, social interactions play a crucial role in language
aphasia
difficulty in producing or comprehending language often caused by damage to Wernicke’s or Broca’s areas
broca’s area
located in left frontal cortex and is involved in the production of sequential patterns in vocal and sign language
broca’s aphasia
caused by damage to broca’s area,. Individuals can understand language relatively well, but struggle to produce coherent language
wernicke’s area
located in the left temporal cortex. Involved in the comprehension of language
wernicke’s aphasia
caused by damage to Wernicke’s area. Individuals can produce grammatical speech but it tends to be meaningless and have issues comprehending language
linguistic relativity hypothesis
the idea that language shapes the nature of thought. developed by whorf
concept
a mental representation that groups shared features of related objects, events, or other stimuli
necessary condition
something that must be true of the object for it to belong to a category. ex, if you were trying to determine if an animal was a dog, it would be necessary for that animal to be a mammal because all dogs are mammals
sufficient condition
something that, if is true of the object, proves that it belongs to a category. ex. if an animal is a German Shepard, you know that it is most definitely a dog
prototype theory
the concept that we classify new objects by comparing them to the “best” or most typical member of a category
exemplar theory
the concept that we make category judgements by comparing a new instance with stores memories of other instances of the category
category specific deficit
a neurological syndrome characterized by an inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category , even when the ability to recognize objects outside the category is undisturbed
rational choice theory
the classical view that we make decisions by determining how likely something is to happen, judging the value of the outcome, and then multiplying the two
availability heuristic
a rule of thumb that items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occurred more frequently
heuristic
a fast and efficient strategy that may facilitate decision making but does not guarantee that a solution will be reached
algorithm
a well defined sequence of procedures or rules that guarantees a solution to a problem
representativeness heuristic
a mental shortcut that involves making a probability judgement by comparing an object or event with a prototype of the object or event
conjunction fallacy
thinking that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event alone
framing effects
a bias whereby people give different answers to the same problem depending on how the problem is framed
sunk cost fallacy
a framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation on the basis of what they have previously invested in the situation
optimism bias
a bias whereby people believe that, compared with other individuals, they are more likely to experience positive events and less likely to experience negative events in the future
prospect theory
theory that people choose to take on risk when evaluation potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains
ill defined problem
problem that does not have a clear goal or well defined path(s) to solution
well defined problem
problem with clearly specified goals and clearly defined solution paths
analogical problem solving
solve a problem by finding a similar problem with a known solution and applying that solution to the current problem
functional fixedness
the tendency to perceive the functions of objects as unchanging
reasoning
mental activity that consists of organizing info or beliefs into a series of steps in order to reach outcomes
belief bias
the idea that people’s judgements about whether to accept conclusions depend more on how believable the conclusions are rather than on whether the arguments are logically valid
syllogistic reasoning
determining whether a conclusion follows from 2 statements that are assumed to be true
illusory truth effect
an error in reasoning that occurs when repeated exposure to a statement increases the likelihood that people will judge that statement to be true
illusion of explanatory depth
an illusion that occurs when people overestimate the depths of their understanding.
properties of language
symbolic, structure, meaning, generativity, displacement
language acquisition device (LAD)
a hypothetical mechanism within the human brain that enables children to rapidly learn and understand language by providing an innate capacity to acquire grammatical rules and structures from limited exposure to speech
language acquisition support system (LASS)
the network of people, primarily caregivers and adults, who interact with a young child and actively support their language development through social interactions
propositional thought
involves manipulation of propositions (statements that are either true or false)
imaginal thought
involves mental images, pictures, or sensory experiences rather than words or propositions.
motoric thought
mental processes closely tied to bodily movement and action
schemas
how are knowledge is organized. It is mental structures or frameworks that help us organize and interpret info
semantic networks
a way of representing knowledge in the mind, specifically how different concepts or info are related to each other
priming
exposure to one stimulus influences how a person responds to a related stimulus. Works by activating certain associations or concepts in the brain, which then effect how we process new info
inductive reasoning
make generalizations based on specific observations or evidence
deductive reasoning
starts with a general principle/ premise and works its way down to a specific conclusion. If the premise are true, the conclusion must also be true
belief perseverance
cognitive bias that refers to the tendency for people to hold onto their beliefs even in the face of contrary evidence
belief laden reasoning
a type of mental reasoning that is influenced by a person’s beliefs. activated left temporal lobe
belief neutral reasoning
a type of reasoning that is not influenced by a person’s beliefs about the world. activates parietal lobe
right hemisphere and language
involved in language comprehension
genetic dysphasia
syndrome characterized by an inability to learn the grammatical structure of language despite having otherwise normal intelligence
means end analysis
problem-solving strategy in which an end goal is identified and then fulfilled via the generation of subgoals and action plans that help overcome obstacles encountered along the way
