Chapter 9 - Language and Thinking Flashcards
mental representations
cognitive representations of the world, that are the foundations of thinking and problem-solving
language
A system of rules for combining certain symbols to generate messages and meanings
psycholinguistics
The scientific study of the psychological aspect of language
what do some evolutionary theorists believe is the reason for language evolving?
as social environments become more complex, the need arised to:
create divisions of labour and cooperative social systems
develop social customs and communicate thoughts
to pass or knowledge and wisdom
what are the five properties of language
symbolic Structured Conveys meaning Generative Permits displacement
what are symbols in language?
sounds, written characters, hand signs, etc.
what does it mean when we say that symbols in language are arbitrary?
The word “dog” doesn’t sound or look like a dog, but we all agree on the meaning of the word.
grammar
The rules about how symbols can be combined
syntax
The rules about how symbols can be ordered
semantics
The meaning of words and sentences, beyond just literal meaning
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 stuff that is it physically present
you can discuss the past, the future, people, objects, events, imaginary situations, etc.
surface structure
The symbols that are used, and their order
deep structure
The underlying meaning of the combined symbols
is it possible for two sentences to have different surface structure, but the same deep structure?
yes
ex: “Sam ate the cake” “the cake was eaten by Sam”
is it possible for two sentences to have the same surface structure, but different deep structure?
yes
ex: “The police must stop drinking after midnight”
in what order do we use surface structure and deep structure in the following situations:
1) when first hearing speech
2) a while after hearing speech
3) when speaking/writing to others
when you read or hear speech, you are moving from surface structure to deep structure
after time, you may forget the surface structure, but will remember the deep structure
when you want to express your thoughts to other people, you must transform deep structure into surface structure
phenome
A unit of speech sound in a language
morphemes
The smallest units of meaning in a language
how many morphemes are in the word “players”? What are they?
three
play - indicates the action
er - indicates the person is doing the action
s - indicates that it is plural
what is the hierarchy of language?
Phenomes Morphemes Words Phrases Sentence
discourse
sentences are combined into paragraphs, articles, books, conversations, and so forth
bottom up processing in language
analyzing the hierarchy of language, using phonemes to create morphemes to create words
top down processing
sensory information is interpreted in light of existing knowledge, concepts, ideas, and expectations
speech segmentation
perceiving where each word within a spoken sentence begins and ends
why is speech segmentation a top down process?
The auditory breaks that we hear in speech often don’t correspond to the physical breaks produced by the spaces and written sentences
pragmatics
The knowledge of the practical aspects of using language
why are pragmatics a top-down process
it uses social context to interpret language
where is Broca’s area?
left frontal lobe
function of broca’s area
Word production and articulation
Hand motor – control system
where is Warnicke’s area?
back temporal lobe
function of Warnicke’s area
speech comprehension
aphasia
what is it
Is it permanent or temporary
impairment in speech comprehension and/or production
Can be permanent or temporary
what sex differences exist in the brains language processing?
men used the left hemisphere for language function moreWomen used both hemispheres
what are biological factors that influence language acquisition
human children master language early in life without formal instruction
All adult languages have common structural characteristics
Young infants can perceive the entire range of phonemes
language acquisition device
an innate biological mechanism that contains the general grammatical rules common to all languages
are parents more likely to correct grammar or deep structure as their children’s language skills are developing?
deep structure
language acquisition support system
factors in the social environment that facilitate the learning of a language
telegraphic speech
A noun and a verb
does language acquisition have a sensitive period?
yes
when is the sensitive period for language acquisition
between infancy and puberty
T/F there is a sensitive period for language acquisition for deaf children, when learning sign language
true
speech characteristics from 1 to 3 months
can distinguish from speech sounds and nonspeech sounds, prefers speech sounds
Undifferentiated crying
Cooing when happy
speech characteristics from 4 to 6 months old
babbling
Child vocalizes in response to verbalizations of others
speech characteristics from 7 to 11 months
loses perception of phenoms not in language
Child moves tongue with vocalizations
Discriminate between some words
Begins to imitate words sounds
speech characteristic at 12 months
first recognizable words
Usually one word
speech characteristics from 12 to 18 months
Child increase his knowledge of work meetings
Use single words to express phrases or requests
Primarily uses nouns
speech characteristics from 18 to 24 months
vocabulary expands
Rudimentary, two word sentences
Telegraphic speech
speech characteristics from 2 to 4 years old
vocabulary expand rapidly
Longer sentences with a basic syntax
speech characteristics from 4 to 5 years old
Child has learned basic grammatical rules for combining symbols into meaningful sentences
when is a second language learned best?
during the sensitive period of childhood
which aspect of language is harder to learn at a later age: vocabulary, syntax, grammar
syntax and grammar
One concern with early learning of multiple languages is that children will confuse the two languages
Is this an issue?
no, they learn to differentiate between the two languages at a young age
how do you bilingual speakers score on performance test compared to monolingual’s?
recent research finds bilingual children show superior cognitive processing
how does early learning a second language affect thinking?
superior cognitive processing
Better reading
Better at perceptual tasks/focusing
greater flexibility in thinking
evidence that there is a critical period for learning a second language
in one study of American immigrants:
if they immigrated by age 7, had mastery of English grammar
between 8 to 16, had progressively worse understanding of grammar
after 17, had the poorest understanding of grammar, with 30 year olds performing the same as 17-year-olds
evidence that there isn’t a critical time for learning a second language
a study found that the better grammar proficiency of early arrivals is due to greater amount of formal education in English, not a biologically-based critical time
linguistic relativity hypothesis
The idea that language influences and determines what we are capable of thinking
is the linguistic relativity hypothesis correct?
no
what is a reason that English-speaking children score lower than children from Asian countries in math skills?
The Asian language numbering system is easier to learn than the English language numbering system
is the sign language of chimpanzees language?
not exactly
It’s symbolic and conveys meaning
But they don’t follow grammar
Little evidence for generativity and displacement
propositional thought
thoughts that we say or hear in our minds
it expresses a proposition or a statement
imaginal thoughts
images that we see, hear, or feel in our mind
Motoric thought
mental representations of motor movements
propositions
statements that express ideas
what do propositions consist of
concepts combined in a particular way
concept
Basic units of semantic memory
Mental categories into which we place objects, activities, abstractions, and events that have essential features in common
Prototypes
The most typical and familiar members of a category or a class
When asked for examples of a concept, we usually say a prototype
T/F children’s early concepts are based on Proto types
true
deductive reasoning
using general principles to form a conclusion about a specific case
inductive reasoning
using specific facts to develop a general principle
what type of reasoning is the following:
If all humans are mortal, and if Socrates is a human, then Socrates must be mortal
deductive reasoning
what type of reasoning is the following:
If dogs in the laboratory begin salivating when approached by the researcher who fed them, there is a type of learning called classical conditioning
inductive reasoning
what type of reasoning has more certainty of the results?
deductive reasoning
what are some stumbling blocks in reasoning
distraction by irrelevant information
Belief bias
Emotions and framing
belief bias
The tendency to abandon logical rules in favour of our own personal beliefs
T/F factual correctness and logical correctness are the same thing
false
framing
how the information is structured and presented to us
four stages of problem-solving
understand and frame the problem
Generate potential solutions
Test solutions, seek to just confirm one or more
Evaluate results, revise steps if necessary
mental set
The tendency to stick to solutions that have worked in the past
problem-solving schemas
mental blueprints or step-by-step scripts for selecting information and solving specialized classes of problems
algorithms
formulas or procedures that automatically generate correct solutions
heuristics
General problem-solving strategies that we apply to certain classes of situations
examples of types of heuristics
means ends analysis
subgoal analysis
representativeness heuristic
availability heuristic
means – ends analysis
identify differences between present situation and the desired state, then make changes that will reduce those differences
subgoal analysis
formulating subgoals, or intermediate steps toward a solution
representativeness heuristic
used to infer how closely something or someone fits our prototype for a particular concept,
availability heuristic
causes us to base judgements and decisions on the availability of information in memory, since we tend to remember events that are most important and significant to us.
confirmation bias
tending to look for evidence that will confirm what we already believe, rather than looking for evidence that could just disconfirm what we believe
T/F it is better to confirm ideas than to disconfirm them
false
better to disconfirm
overconfidence
tendency to overestimate ones correctness in factual knowledge, beliefs, and decisions
schema
A mental framework, and organize pattern of thought about some aspect of the world
what are types of schemas
concepts Categories Algorithms Heuristics script
script
mental framework concerning a sequence of events that usually involves a regular order.
creativity
ability to produce something that is both new and valuable
divergent thinking
The generation of novel ideas that depart from the norm
functional fixedness
The tendency to be so fixed in your perception of the proper function of an object that you are blinded to new ways of using it
incubation
when creative solutions to problems seem to pop out of the blue, after temporarily giving up
inuit definition of wisdom
someone who has lots of cultural knowledge, and passes this knowledge down to younger people
textbook definition of wisdom
System of knowledge about the meaning and conduct of life
five major components of wisdom
rich factual knowledge about life
Rich procedural knowledge about life
Understanding of lifespan contexts
Awareness of the relativism of values and priorities
Ability to recognize and manage uncertainty
mental image
representation of a stimulus that originates inside your brain
what did the mental rotation study find?
The greater angle of rotation, the longer it took participants to reach a decision
what did Stephen Kosskyn’s study of mental imagery as perception find?
The greater the distance between the two locations on the mental image of the map, the longer it took participants to scan and find the second location
Supports the view that mental images involve a special representation
if mental imagery is based on perception, do brain damaged people with perceptual difficulties show impairments in forming mental images?
sometimes
metacognition
your awareness and understanding of your own cognitive abilities
types of metacognition
meta-comprehension
Metamemory
meta-comprehension
knowing whether you do or do not understand the concept
Metamemory
your awareness and knowledge of your memory capabilities
Brocas aphasia symptoms
can understand speech
Can’t produce speech
Frustrated
Can sing fine
Wernickes aphasia symptoms
can produce nonsensical speech
Unclear if they understand what’s being spoken
less frustrated
T/F bilingual people can have aphasia in one language but not the other
true
T/F people with aphasia can’t write
false
code mixing
making errors due to confusion between two languages
what are the two major kinds of problems
ill-defined
Well-defined
ill-defined problems
don’t have clear goals
well defined problems
clearly specified goals and a path to a solution
conjunction fallacy
when people think the probability of two things happening together is more than one thing happening on its own
what part of the brain is activated when making risky decisions
pre-frontal cortex
what did Henry Goddard believe
immigrants coming into America should receive intelligence tests and be labelled feeble minded if they didn’t do well
their offspring would also be feebleminded, draining society
when did sexual sterilization happened in Alberta
1930s
Koori test
what did it show?
showed how it’s difficult for people from different cultures to score well on intelligence test made for other cultures
T/F if your sibling has a higher IQ, you are likely to have lower income
false
Sibling higher IQ, you have greater income
in a study, participants were showing videos of job interviews, and asked to judge whether the interviewee was intelligent
What variable determined intelligence?
eye contact
More eye contact = more intelligent
prodigy
percent of normal intelligence,
Very gifted in just one area
savant
person of low intelligence
Very gifted in one area
heritability coefficient
A statistic describing the proportion of differences between people scores that can be explained by differences in their genes
shared environment
factors that are experienced by all people living in that household
nonshared environment
factors that are not experienced by all members of the household
relative intelligence
relative to other people’s intelligence
When you compare one individual to another, things are relatively stable for a long period of time
absolute intelligence
intelligence over the course of a lifetime
