Chapter 9: Language and Thought

Question 1

What is the main point of the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis?

Answer 1

that language can filter our perception of the world

Question 2

Name and describe the three aspects of language structure.

Answer 2

phonology: rules for word sounds
syntax: rules for combining words
semantics: rules for communicating meaning

Question 3

Define phoneme and morpheme.

Answer 3

phoneme: smallest unit of sound in speech
morpheme: smalles units of language that carry meaning

Question 4

How does top-down knowledge affect our language perception?

Answer 4

Our knowledge of words in a language can help us fill in gaps or locate word boundaries to interpret language.

Question 5

Syntax has two levels of structure. What are they?

Answer 5

surface: literal order of words in a sentence
deep: underlying meaning of the order of words

Producing sentences requires translation of deep structure to surface structure.

Question 6

Define pragmatic rules of language comprehension.

Answer 6

Pragmatic rules are how practical knowledge is used to interpret what a speaker is saying.

Question 7

True or False: Nonhuman animals can communicate, but it may not necessarily be language.

Answer 7

True (Washoe the chimp, Koko the gorilla)

Question 8

What is a category?

Answer 8

class of objects that most people agree belong together

Question 9

How are categories defined? (2 possible ways)

Answer 9

(1) by features that all members share, in full or at least in part
(2) by comparing a given object to a representative prototype

Question 10

What is the hierarchy, in order or increasing specificity, of categories?

Answer 10

basic-level, superordinate, subordinate, individual

Question 11

What is the usefulness of categories?

Answer 11

(1) allow us to infer properties

(2) allow us to make predictions about the future

Question 12

What are the three components of problem solving?

Answer 12

initial state
goal state
rules/constraints

Question 13

What is functional fixedness, and how does it relate to problem solving?

Answer 13

Functional fixedness is seeing an object with only one function in a fixed and typical way.

Question 14

What are the two strategies for problem solving?

Answer 14

(1) algorithms: step by step procedures that guarantee a solution
(2) heuristics: shortcuts that are efficient but do not guarantee a solution

Question 15

What is a mental set?

Answer 15

a preconceived notion of how to solve a problem based on experience or what has worked in the past

Question 16

What are common heuristics for problem solving?

Answer 16

(1) means end analysis - finding ways (means) to reach an established goal (end)
(2) working backward
(3) searching for analogies

Question 17

Which decision making bias involves how alternatives are presented?

Answer 17

framing

People tend to choose options where gain is emphasized rather than loss. This can lead to irrational choices.

Question 18

Which decision making bias involves the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our current belief?

Answer 18

confirmation bias

Question 19

Which decision making bias is described by the tendency to cling to initial beliefs even when confronted with conflicting evidence?

Answer 19

belief persistence

Question 20

Describe the concept of representative bias.

Answer 20

Representative bias occurs when we compare the similarity of something to other members of its class and generalize it accordingly. An example is Linda, a woman who majored in philosophy and is concerned with social justice being assumed to be involved in the feminist movement.

Question 21

Describe and give an example of availability bias.

Answer 21

The availability bias occurs when we make choices based on the ease of which other examples come to mind. For example, we may think diseases like ebola kill the most people because their victims are publicized much more than those of the flu, heart disease, etc.

Question 22

What is anchoring? Where is it most commonly used strategically?

Answer 22

Anchoring is setting a fixed parameter for people to base their assumptions on. For example, asking “what percent of african countries belong to the US?” If people are given the option “more or less than 65%”, they tend to guess a higher percentage. If they are presented with “more or less than 10%”, they tend to guess lower values.

This is commonly used in advertising during promotions like “limit 12 per customer”.