Problem solving and language acquisition Flashcards

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1
Q

algorithm

A

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier— but also more error-prone—use of heuristics

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2
Q

aphasia

A

impairment of language, usually caused by left-hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding).

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3
Q

availability heuristic

A

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common.

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4
Q

babbling stage

A

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.

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5
Q

belief perseverance

A

clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

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6
Q

Broca’s area

A

controls language expression—an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle move- ments involved in speech.

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7
Q

Cognition

A

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

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8
Q

concept

A

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

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9
Q

confirmation bias

A

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

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10
Q

convergent thinking

A

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.

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11
Q

creativity

A

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

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12
Q

divergent thinking

A

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions).

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13
Q

framing

A

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

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14
Q

grammar

A

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. In a given language, semantics is the set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.

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15
Q

heuristic

A

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

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16
Q

insight

A

a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions.

17
Q

intuition

A

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

18
Q

language

A

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.

19
Q

linguistic determinism

A

Whorf’s hypothesis that language deter- mines the way we think.

20
Q

mental set

A

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.

21
Q

morpheme

A

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix).

22
Q

one-word stage

A

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.

23
Q

overconfidence

A

the tendency to be more confident than correct— to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

24
Q

phonemene

A

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

25
Q

prototype

A

a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin).

26
Q

representative heuristic

A

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular pro- totypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information.

27
Q

telegraphic speech

A

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—“go car”—using mostly nouns and verbs.

28
Q

two-word stage

A

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech develop- ment during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements.

29
Q

Wernicke’s Area

A

controls language reception—a brain area in- volved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.