chapter 9: language & thought Flashcards

1
Q

language

A

the grouping of spoken, written, or gestured symbols used to convey information

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2
Q

productivity

A

the creation of new messages, humans can connect unrelated information to form new ideas or messages

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3
Q

Koshik the elephant

A

mimics sounds (Korean) that he overheard, doesn’t have meanings to him

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4
Q

tonal languages

A
  • rely on changes in pitch to alter a word’s meaning (Mandarin)
  • children become skilled at detecting pitch differences and are more likely to exhibit perfect pitch then those exposed to intonation language
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5
Q

intonation languages

A

uses pitch to convey feelings (English)

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6
Q

stages of language acquisitions

A
  • 3 months old, narrowing of perception, show the ability to connect speech sounds with objects
  • 8 months old, babies show a declined ability to distinguish between sounds not commonly used in their native language
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7
Q

grammar

A

refers to the systematic rules of a language

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8
Q

syntax

A

structure and consistent ordering of words within a language

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9
Q

birth to 3 months

A

babies would have started orienting to sounds in the environment, making cooing and gurgling sounds, and crying due to needs

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10
Q

4 to 6 months

A

babies crying expressively, responding to name and making early vowel and consonant sounds, starting to mimic sounds

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11
Q

7 to 18 months

A

able to copying hand gestures with meanings, responding to simple commands, mimic words not just sounds, able to use simple one-word phrases, less sensitive to non-native vowel and consonant sounds

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12
Q

2 to 3 years

A

able to match objects to names, to use 2-4 word sentences to communicate, to follow multi-step instructions and prepositions

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13
Q

4 to 5 years

A

correctly using simple grammar rules, memorized and recited simple songs, using full sentences to tell stories, able to draw pictures and elaborate on meanings behind image

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14
Q

how is grammar and syntax different

A

the rules of grammar include the meaning of words, the internal structure of words, and the arrangement of words
syntax rules are only concerned with the order of words

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15
Q

B.F. Skinner

A
  • major figure for championing the study of observable behaviours
  • argued that environmental influences strongly dictated language development
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16
Q

Noam Chomsky

A

urged for the consideration of biological constraints on language development

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17
Q

verbal behaviour

A

ideas from B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning are applied to language to focus on language as a form of behaviour, posits that language is formed from a series of reinforcements (strengthened and weakened based on consequences)

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18
Q

when do babies become “expert” in language

A

as early as 3 years old

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19
Q

what are some environmental factors that affect the development of language

A

rewards and punishments, tone adults use, parental behaviour and styles

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20
Q

nativism

A

the belief that certain abilities are built into our brains

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21
Q

language acquisition device (LAD)

A

a hypothetical mechanism in the brain responsible for the faculty of language

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22
Q

critical period

A

a theoretical stage in development when it is necessary for children to receive environmental stimulation in order to promote healthy development

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23
Q

language learning curve

A

relatively slow period of acquisition until the age of 7-12 months, and shift to absorb words at a lightning pace until around age 5

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24
Q

sensitive period

A

throughout development, the neurological system is more malleable during early development but is still modifiable later in life with the proper environmental stimulation

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25
Q

innate factors that influence language development

A

brain appear “ready” to acquire language at birth, noun bias, grammar, gesturing order

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26
Q

SOV and SVO

A

subject-object-verb and subject-verb-object order that seems to be innate in humans

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27
Q

development of Nicaraguan Sign Language

A

used to examine a genetic predisposition to create language, but its advancement highlights the impact of environmental influences

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28
Q

what we learned from the nature-nurture debate

A

human language is a dynamic interaction between inherited biology, environmental factors, and social pressures

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29
Q

emergentist perspective

A

attempts to integrate the nativist and environmentalist approaches to explain the complexities of language

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30
Q

nativist approach

A

focus heavily on how an inherited speech bias and early flexibility prepare us to learn language

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31
Q

environmental perspective

A

emphasize that our development of speech is dependent on our exposure to, and familiarity with, our native language

32
Q

Broca’s area

A

located in the frontal lobe that is responsible for motor production of speech

33
Q

Wernicke’s area

A

located in the temporal lobe that is responsible for comprehension of language

34
Q

aphasia

A

the inability, or difficulty, to produce speech (early signed of degenerative dementia)

35
Q

Broca’s aphasia

A

difficulty with the motor production of language, also known as non-fluent aphasia

36
Q

Broca’s discoveries

A
  • there may be a module in the brain controlling speech
  • language production is predominantly controlled by the left hemisphere, which helped explain hemispheric lateralization
37
Q

hemispheric lateralization

A

certain functions, such as language, are more dominantly controlled by one hemisphere of the brain compared to the other

38
Q

primary progressive aphasia

A

a type of dementia that addresses patients that primarily present with language impairments, such as forming coherent sentences, remembering correct words to use, or understanding words

39
Q

Wernicke’s aphasia

A

also referred to as fluent aphasia, a type of aphasia with poor comprehension, speech is effortless but the meaning is impaired

40
Q

prosody

A

speech patterns, or melody, of speech

41
Q

early models of language suggested

A
  • auditory information is first processed by the auditory cortex and sent to Wernicke’s area to be processed for meaning
  • when we are thinking of what to say, Wernicke’s area organizes speech and projects that comprehensible message to Broca’s area for motor output and production
42
Q

backmasking

A

when songs are played backwards, comprehensible messages can sometimes be constructed, it becomes easier to comprehend these messages after we know the lyrics and what to expect

43
Q

mental lexicon

A

the storage of words and related concepts (50,000 to 100,000 words)

44
Q

phonemes

A

the smallest unit of language (the sound a letter represents)

45
Q

morphemes

A

the smallest unit of a word that conveys meaning (smallest standalone portion of a word)

46
Q

semantic

A

the meaning of a word

47
Q

semantic network of stored information

A

allows us to put a word in context, retrieve relevant responses, and detect errors in usage

48
Q

item-by-item comparison

A

time consuming and inefficient

49
Q

family resemblance theory

A

argues we classify things based broadly on its similarity or dissimilarity to other members of the category

50
Q

prototype

A

the most common, or typical, form a word assumes when we imagine it

51
Q

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

A

also referred to as linguistic relativity, posits that the structural differences in language can alter one’s perception and understanding of reality

52
Q

dual-task interference

A

occurs when a person is attempting to simultaneously complete tasks that complete for mental or physical resources

53
Q

Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST)

A

requires participants to match cards of different coloured and grouped shapes by a designated rule, the rule is learned by trial and error

54
Q

language deficits in Wernicke’s area

A

decreases one’s ability to logically solve the rules and interfered with their ability to integrate the feedback given

55
Q

problem solving

A

commonly viewed as a sequential process involving this initial motivational state and the desired end-goal state

56
Q

mental set

A

one’s expectation of how to solve a problem (prior experience narrows our focus and decreases ability to try new strategies)

57
Q

functional fixedness

A

the tendency to view an object as only having one function, the one that is commonly used for, and neglecting to see other possible uses

58
Q

algorithms

A

a precise set of rules applied in order to solve a problem

59
Q

trial-and-error

A

commonly used when there are limited number of available options

60
Q

brute-force tactic

A

exhaustive technique that requires the program to go through every possible solution, one at a time

61
Q

heuristics

A

short-cut rules that are applied to solve problems, may not lead to accurate solutions but work to provide quick and efficient solutions

62
Q

means-end heuristic

A

a problem-solving strategy which involves the problem solver to envision the desired, goal-state, and take whatever measures necessary to attain that goal

63
Q

representative heuristic

A

a problem-solving strategy which involves the problem solver mentally comparing something to our stored prototype of an event, object, or person (help us intuitively solve problems quickly but ignore the base-rate information or probabilities)

64
Q

availability heuristic

A

a problem-solving strategy which predicts we make judgments based on how easily instances of the same events are to retrieve from our memory, or how available those memories are

65
Q

preparation stage

A

the first step to a creative process that involves gathering knowledge and proficiency with a topic

66
Q

expertise

A

allows us to focus on important aspects of a task and not become inundated with irrelevant details

67
Q

incubation stage

A

second stage of creativity that requires the idea to sit in the back of your mind while you consciously work on something unrelated, it is suggested that memory helps you process the information and makes helpful connections, which is implicated in sleep)

68
Q

illumination stage

A

“aha moment”, the third stage of creativity known to follow a period of slight pre-awareness but often come as a surprise

69
Q

evaluation stage

A

the final stage of creativity when you evaluate your inspired idea and assess whether it is a creative and worthy solution

70
Q

confirmation bias

A

the tendency to seek out information that already confirms our ideas or beliefs and ignore information that says otherwise

71
Q

framing

A

when our decisions are influenced by the way information is presented (positive or negative)

72
Q

biases

A

created by our tendency to use heuristics to find efficient solutions to problems

73
Q

intuition

A

using semantic network to make assumptions about the world around us and better predict what we’ll encounter

74
Q

system 1 thinking

A

predominantly relies on emotional systems and stored experiences to guide thinking (help us make faster, more intuitive decisions)

75
Q

the cognitive reflection test

A

used to assess the likelihood that a person will overrule our initial, heuristic-based decisions

76
Q

system 2 thinking

A

“logical thinking”, relies on logical, rational thinking, which counteracts those initial, intuitive thought processes