Language and Thinking Flashcards
phonemes
sound that can distinguish one word from another
ex: the P and B in pat and bat
morphemes
smallest meaningful unit in the grammar of a language
ex: “In” “come” “ing” in “incoming”
syntax
arrangement of words in a well-formed sentence
semantics
the study of meaning in language
ex: the way “destination” and “last stop” technically mean the same thing but studying what makes them different
overextension
tendency to extend the use of a word beyond its specific meaning
under-extension
incorrect restriction of a word
telegraphic speech
two word sentences that is developed by toddlers at a young age
ex: “i hungry”, “kitty sleeping”
overregularization
grammatical errors that start in early ages
behaviorist theory (skinner)
explains that a person’s environment is crucial to how they behave
nativist theory of language (chomsky)
idea that humans have an inbuilt capacity to acquire language
language acquisition device
hypothetical module of the human mind
whorf’s theory of linguistic relativity
particular language one speaks influences the way they think
functional fixedness
not being able to think of using an object for something besides its original purpose
mental set
only using solutions that have been successful in the past
trial and error
randomly trying solutions and trying again if it fails
algorithm
step by step process that guarantees a solution
ex: a formula
heuristic
mental shortcut, rule of thumb, stereotype
availability heuristic
making judgements based on how recent it is in our mind
representative heuristic
making decisions based on how well the thing matches our prototype
conjunction fallacy
error in decision making where people judge that a conjunction of 2 possibilities is more likely than 1 or more conjucts
gambler’s fallacy
mistaken belief about sequences of random events
confirmation bias
only seeking information that supports your beliefs and disregarding other contradicting information
framing
the way data is presented after decision making
belief perseverance
people hold onto their beliefs even when you show them evidence that disproves it
incubation effect
tendency to arrive at a solution after a period of time away from the problem
insight
sudden realization of the solution to a problem
divergent thinking
thinking of more than one way of something
convergent thinking
thinking of only one way of something
tolman’s study on latent learning
learning that is not readily apparent until reinforcement is received
apply latent learning to humans
not raising your hand until the teacher says it’s for extra credit
rescorola’s study signal relations/contingency theory
response is better when the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus is closer together
