Language through Emotion Flashcards
Metacognition
thinking about thinking
Stroop effect
ex: hard to say “red” if the word is written in blue ink
shows that many of the steps of reading become automatic –dont need to worry about the mechanics
Nonanalog representation
don’t have things in common with what they represent
ex: the sound “cow” doesnt have anything to do with an actual cow
Nonanalog representation
don’t have things in common with what they represent
ex: the sound “cow” doesnt have anything to do with an actual cow
Nonanalog representation
don’t have things in common with what they represent
ex: the sound “cow” doesnt have anything to do with an actual cow
symbolic representation
also known as nonanalog representation
representation has nothing in common with what it represents
Indeterminacy of translation
inability to ever fully translate the meaning of a word from one language to another
demostrated by the gavagai (quine) problem
Gavagi (quine) problem
hunting with natives and they point to a rabbit and yell “gavagi” how do you know the semantic (actual meaning) of the word?
the word could mean many different things
Representation
transformation process from physical energy to sensation to perception to high level information which leads to “meanings”
Language
the expression and communication of thoughts and feelings by means of vocal sounds or any other symbolic coding system
Can other species obtain language?
evidence suggests that only humans can attain language
animals can learn words and rudimentary preposition thought, but cannot create syntactic structures like humans
How does language differ from communication?
it is arbitrary
flexible (infinite ways to piece together words)
creativity (novel meanings)
interpersonal (construct language together)
In development what comes first babies understanding language or communicating it?
Babies understand language first
What are the building blocks of language?
Language consists of a hierarchy of units
List the building blocks on language in order
Units of sound Morphemes Words Phrase Sentence
Phonenmes
smallest significant unit of sound in a language
How many phonenmes does English have?
40
Morphemes
smallest significant unit of meaning in a language
Content morphemes
a morpheme that carries the main semantic and referential content of a sentence
ex: nouns, verbs, adjectives, “talk” or “bat”
Functional morphemes
a morpheme that while adding content such as time, mode, etc. also has a grammatical purpose
ex: “-ed” or “-s” or “and”
Rules of syntax
the regular principles governing how words can be arranged into sentences
Universal learner
after 6-8 months babies lose the ability to discriminate between phonemes in other languages besides your own
Definitional theory of word meaning
the theory that mental representations of words consist of a necessary and sufficient set of semantic features
semantic feature
a basic semantic category or concept that cannot be decomposed into smaller or more specific categories
prototype theory of word meaning
a theory in which concepts or word meanings are formed around average or typical values
Symbolic capacity
an important step in development where a person can use or respond to a system of significant symbols
the reality of an organization is socially constructed through communication
perceptual narrowing
we narrow down to only detect details that are important
ex: universal learner dissappears around 12 months
What do infants rapidly learn in language?
the boundaries between morphemes and words
babies are sensitive to the frequencies that follow certain sounds
What order do children learn language?
learn basic word like “dog” before subordinates like “boxer” or superordinates like “animal”
What helps children learn language?
other people and an understanding of syntax
Overregulation errors and what they show
language rules are applied too generally, rather than learning the idiosyncracies
shows that we learn language through rules not just straight intimation
Sign language
has morphenmes and grammatical rules similar to a spoken language
Whorfian hypothesis
language determines how one thinks
can be used to draw our attention to certain concepts
Abnormal language development examples
Blind children - learn language just as rapidly
Bilingual children - pick up both languages during the sensitivity period
No exposure to language - if goes past the sensitivity period, it is hard to learn a language
How can we test infant speech comprehension?
head-turn response to sound
will the infant turn their head in anticipation to the sound?
general intelligence (g)
a mental attribute that is hypothesized as contributing to the performance of virtually any intellectual task
Hierarchy of intelligence
places g-factor at the top of the hierarchy
at the next level, g is split into verbal, numerical, and spatial ability
g-factor
the overlap between intelligent abilities
overlap between verbal, numerical, and spatial ability
*according to Spearman
Fluid intelligence
the ability to deal with new and unusual problems
Crystallized intelligence
accumulated knowledge and skills
IQ
IQ scales performance to compare an individual to a bell shaped distribution
Flynn Effect
a worldwide increase in IQ scores over the last several decades
Does aging have a bigger affect on fluid or crystallized g?
Fluid g
decreased ability to respond to new situations
Nature versus nurture and intelligence?
Genetics do play an important role in intelligence
See much higher levels of correlation in intelligence between biological parents and children than adopted children
Analytical intelligence
the ability typically measured by intelligence tests and crucial for academic success
Practical intelligence
the ability to solve everyday problems through skilled reasoning that relies on tacit knowledge
Emotional intelligence
the ability to understand your own and other’s emotions and to control your emotions appropriately
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences
Gardner theorized that there are 6 forms of intelligence
Savant syndrome
supports Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences since some people are severely disabled in some intelligences, but might have exceptional musical talent
Psychometric approach to intelligence
seeks to understand intelligence by scrutinizing patterns among test scores
examining how different aspects of the test are correlated and suggest subcategories of intelligence
Building blocks of intelligence
mental speed and working memory capacity
Stereotype threat
people conform to stereotypes about their social group
ex: women may perform poorly on a math test because of stereotypes that women are bad at math
Motivation
motivation deals with what drives behavior
Human sexual response cycle
1) excitement 2) plateau 3) orgasm 4) resolution
Sexual behavior
is shaped by a mix of biological and cultural factors
Differences in sexual behavior between men and women
Men tend to place more emphasis on physical attractiveness while women place more emphasis on social/financial status
Drives
motivate us to reduce unpleasant tension states
but there are other types of motives beyond drives!
Two common motivations beyond drives
1) motive to belong
2) motive to achieve
Thermoregulation
homeostatic control determines some behaviors
What is something that homeostatis heavily controls?
Eating habits
mechanisms maintain a set point
Leptin
hormone that causes an organism to stop eating
Response to threat
heavily control by biological mechanisms
autonomic nervous system’s sympathetic branch increases heart rate and respiration
kicks in fight or flight system
Human aggression
aggression is triggered by complex beliefs and symbol systems
humans very highly in level of aggression due to personality, cultural setting, and evolutionary determinants
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
people strive for higher order needs only when lower level needs are satisfied
highest need: living to full potential
lowest need: physiological (shelter, food, sleep)
Why are there so many signals to control for one thing like “eating’?
Create a backup system in case one system fails
Difference between emotions and feelings/affects
Emotions are what we express to the outside world
Feelings
states that are perceived
Affects
general mood (ex: depression and love lingers)
6 basic human emotions that are universally expressed
Joy, surprise, disgust, sadness, fear, and anger
Emotional development
switch from primary to secondary emotions at around 14 months
Secondary emotions
pride, hubris, self-consciousness are examples
Regulate our emotions
1) Cognitive reappraisal
2) Suppression
Cognitive reappraisal
top-down emotional regulation
we rationalize about a situation and calm ourselves down
How does culture influence our emotions?
it changes our display rules
Display rules
cultural groups norms about how to properly display emotions
Different theories for the underlying mechanisms of emotions
1) James-Lange
2) Cannon-Bard
3) Schacter-Signer
James Lange Theory of emotion
Emotions arise from our bodily reactions
ex: if a bear attacks us, first we have a physiological response and then we produce an emotion
(arousal and then emotion)
Cannon-Bard Theory of emotion
Both emotions and bodily reaction are caused by brain activity triggered by a stimulus
Schacter Signer
emotion arises from the way we interpret our bodily reactions (arousal then interpretation then emotion)
Emotions and attention
emotions can change our attention
joy can broaden our attention
negative emotions makes us focus in on things
Emotions and memory
Strong emotions promote memory
ex: flashbulb memory
Affective neuroscience
a field that uses cognitive neuroscience research methods to study emotion and related processes
Garden path
ambiguity in sentence construction that leads a reader towards a meaning that seems familiar at first, but in reality is conveying something different
