Chapter 9 Definitions

Question 1

language

Answer 1

a system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and to convey meaning

Question 2

grammar

Answer 2

a set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages

Question 3

Semantics

Answer 3

the meaning of words and sentences

Question 4

Generativity

Answer 4

the symbols of language can be combined to generate an infinite number of messages that have novel meaning.

Question 5

Displacement

Answer 5

language allows us to communicate about events and objects that are not physically present.

Question 6

phoneme

Answer 6

the smallest unit of sound that is recognizable as speech rather than random noise

Question 7

Morphemes

Answer 7

the smallest meaningful units of language

Question 8

Syntax

Answer 8

how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences

Question 9

3 characteristics of language development

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

first words occur at what months of age for infants; this is referred to as what…

Answer 10

10- 12 months of age ; referred to as fast mapping

Question 11

two word speech occurs at… what month age and what is this referred to as

Answer 11

24 months of age; telegraphic speech, overgeneralization

Question 12

at what age does simple sentence structure start occurring?

Answer 12

3 years of age

Question 13

broca’s area of the brain

Answer 13

left frontal cortex; language production

Question 14

wernicke’s area

Answer 14

left temporal cortex; language comprehension (lined up with cerebellum and mid skull)

Question 15

linguistic relativity hypothesis

Answer 15

the proposal that language shapes the nature of thought like colour and time

Question 16

propositional thought

Answer 16

mental thoughts, statements,, or propositions (statements that express facts)

Question 17

concepts

Answer 17

basic units of semantic memory

Question 18

imaginal thought

Answer 18

images that we can see, hear, or feel in our mind

Question 19

motoric thought

Answer 19

mental representations of motor movements thinking about movements

Question 20

deductive reasoning

Answer 20

reason from general principles to a conclusion; useful process in forming hypotheses

Question 21

inductive reasoning

Answer 21

start with specific facts and try to develop a genera principle

Question 22

belief bias

Answer 22

the abandonment of logical rules in favor of personal beliefs

Question 23

framing

Answer 23

the way information is presented can interfere with reasoning

Question 24

4 stages to problem solvin

Answer 24

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

Question 25

2 kinds of problems

Answer 25

ill defined problems vs. well defined problems

Question 26

algorithms are either….

Answer 26

formulas or procedures

Question 27

heuristics

Answer 27

means ends analysis, not optimal or perfect to solve problem but sufficient for immediate goals

Question 28

representative heuristic

Answer 28

making a probability judgement by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event

Question 29

conjunction fallacy (part of representativeness heuristic)

Answer 29

when people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event

Question 30

priming function (part of representativeness heuristic)

Answer 30

primes us with info that might not be relevant

Question 31

availability heuristic

Answer 31

items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occurred more frequently

Question 32

5 major components of wisdom

Answer 32

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

Question 33

metacognition

Answer 33

recognizing what you do and don’t know

Question 34

metacomprehension

Answer 34

accuracy in judging what you do and don’t know

Question 35

metamemory

Answer 35

awareness and knowledge of memory abilities