Chapter 9 Definitions Flashcards
language
a system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and to convey meaning
grammar
a set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages
Semantics
the meaning of words and sentences
Generativity
the symbols of language can be combined to generate an infinite number of messages that have novel meaning.
Displacement
language allows us to communicate about events and objects that are not physically present.
phoneme
the smallest unit of sound that is recognizable as speech rather than random noise
Morphemes
the smallest meaningful units of language
Syntax
how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences
3 characteristics of language development
- children learn language at an astonishing rate
- children make few errors while learning to speak
- children’s passive mastery develops faster than their active mastery
first words occur at what months of age for infants; this is referred to as what…
10- 12 months of age ; referred to as fast mapping
two word speech occurs at… what month age and what is this referred to as
24 months of age; telegraphic speech, overgeneralization
at what age does simple sentence structure start occurring?
3 years of age
broca’s area of the brain
left frontal cortex; language production
wernicke’s area
left temporal cortex; language comprehension (lined up with cerebellum and mid skull)
linguistic relativity hypothesis
the proposal that language shapes the nature of thought like colour and time
propositional thought
mental thoughts, statements,, or propositions (statements that express facts)
concepts
basic units of semantic memory
imaginal thought
images that we can see, hear, or feel in our mind
motoric thought
mental representations of motor movements thinking about movements
deductive reasoning
reason from general principles to a conclusion; useful process in forming hypotheses
inductive reasoning
start with specific facts and try to develop a genera principle
belief bias
the abandonment of logical rules in favor of personal beliefs
framing
the way information is presented can interfere with reasoning
4 stages to problem solvin
interpret and understand the problem
generate hypotheses for solution
test solutions, seeking to disconfirm one or more of them
evaluate results and if necessary revise
2 kinds of problems
ill defined problems vs. well defined problems
algorithms are either….
formulas or procedures
heuristics
means ends analysis, not optimal or perfect to solve problem but sufficient for immediate goals
representative heuristic
making a probability judgement by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event
conjunction fallacy (part of representativeness heuristic)
when people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event
priming function (part of representativeness heuristic)
primes us with info that might not be relevant
availability heuristic
items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occurred more frequently
5 major components of wisdom
rich factual knowledge about life
rich procedural knowledge about life
understanding of lifespan contexts
awareness of relativism of values & priorities
ability to recognize and manage uncertainty
metacognition
recognizing what you do and don’t know
metacomprehension
accuracy in judging what you do and don’t know
metamemory
awareness and knowledge of memory abilities
