Language Flashcards
Q: What are the two closely linked cognitive processes discussed?
A: Language and thought.
Q: What does cognitive psychology focus on?
A: The inner workings of the human brain and thought processes (cognition).
Name three aspects of cognitive processes.
A: Attention, reasoning, and decision-making.
Q: Why are language and cognition important for humans?
A: Human language is highly evolved and supports efficient cognitive processes like problem-solving, decision-making, and reasoning.
Q: What are the primary components of thought processes?
A: Thinking, planning, and problem-solving.
Q: What are the two types of concepts?
A: Logical concepts and natural concepts.
Q: What is a prototype in cognitive psychology?
A: The best example of a natural concept.
: What is visual thinking?
A: The use of mental imagery to form, recreate, and place items in their proper relation.
Q: What are the two visual imagery systems?
A: Visual spatial imagery (“Where”) and visual object imagery (“What”).
Q: What is the visuospatial sketchpad used for?
A: Scanning and briefly storing visual information.
Q: What did Roger Sheppard’s mental rotation task reveal?
A: The greater the orientation difference between two shapes, the longer it takes to determine if they are the same.
Q: Name three cognitive processes involved in decision-making.
A: Reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Q: What is formal reasoning?
A: Reasoning where all necessary information is provided, such as in a math test.
Q: How does everyday reasoning differ from formal reasoning?
A: It involves modifying plans based on experience or new information.
Q: What is confirmation bias in decision-making?
A: The tendency to confirm what you already know.
Q: Define the representative heuristic.
A: Matching evidence or information to the most likely explanation.
Q: What is the base-rate fallacy?
A: Reaching the wrong conclusion based on faulty assumptions of event likelihood.
Q: What is the base-rate fallacy?
A: Reaching the wrong conclusion based on faulty assumptions of event likelihood.
Q: What are the five steps in problem-solving?
A: Identifying the problem, proposing solutions, evaluating solutions, selecting the best solution, and testing it.
Q: What is an algorithm in problem-solving?
A: A systematic procedure that investigates all possible solutions.
Q: Define heuristics in problem-solving.
A: Rules or strategies that limit the number of possible solutions.
Q: What is the availability heuristic?
A: Decisions are based on how common or available an event is believed to be.
Q: What is functional fixedness?
A: The inability to see an object as having a use other than its intended purpose.
Q: What does risk-aversion refer to?
A: The tendency to avoid risks and seek the best outcome, especially in money matters.
Q: How does decision-making influence financial judgment?
A: Poor decision-making can lead to accepting initial losses and continuing faulty reasoning.
Q: What is the hindsight effect?
A: The tendency to claim accurate prediction of an event after its occurrence.
Q: What is lateral thinking?
A: Approaching problems from different perspectives or directions.
Q: What is language?
A: A system of symbols used to communicate thoughts, ideas, and meanings effectively.
Q: What are the three forms of language?
A: Speech, writing, and sign language.
Q: How do animals use communication?
A: For food, reproduction, marking territories, warning of predators, and indicating prey.
Q: What are phonemes?
A: The basic sounds of speech.
Q: What are morphemes?
A: The smallest units of speech that carry meaning.
Q: What aids speech perception?
A: Context of speech and expectancies formed from previous words.
Q: Why are the first five years critical for language development?
A: Neural connections and language skills rapidly develop during this period.
Q: What is babbling in infants?
A: An early process that prepares the vocal tract for speech production.
Q: What is telegraphic speech?
A: Two-word sentences used by toddlers to convey meaning with few words.
Q: What is Noam Chomsky’s view on language acquisition?
A: Children are biologically predisposed to learn language.
Q: Why is social interaction important for language development?
A: It helps children generate language rules and associate symbols with stimuli.
Q: What are the three properties of language?
A: Productive, structured, and referential.
Q: How are vocal sounds produced?
A: By expelling air through the lungs, vocal cords, and mouth or nose cavities.
Q: What is the relationship between phonemes and morphemes?
A: Phonemes combine to form morphemes, which carry meaning.
Q: How do humans process speech?
A: By identifying phonemes and forming expectancies based on prior language input.
Q: What is the role of grammar in language?
A: It organizes words and facilitates meaning and understanding.
Q: What are the key functions of language in human communication?
A: Expressing ideas, organizing thoughts, and transmitting knowledge.
Q: What are mental sets in problem-solving?
A: Fixed approaches to problems that hinder finding new solutions.
Q: What is the illusory-knowledge effect?
A: Overestimating one’s knowledge about a topic.
Q: Define anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic.
A: Using an initial anchor point to make decisions or adjustments.
Q: What is means-ends analysis in problem-solving?
A: Breaking down a problem into smaller parts to reach the solution.
Q: What is visualization’s role in performance?
A: Visualizing tasks can improve actual performance.
Q: What influences decision quality?
A: The type of information considered and the strategy utilized.
Q: What are the challenges in reasoning?
A: Feelings, beliefs, and faulty assumptions can impact reasoning effectiveness.
