Thinking, Language and Intelligence (Modules 31-35) Flashcards
Cognition
The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating
Concepts
Mental grouping (schemas) based on prototypes; mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas or people
Prototypes
Ideals of thought; a mental image or best example of a category (Ex. Comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin.)
Algorithms
A rule that guarantees the right solution to a problem, usually by using a formula (Ex. the Quadratic Formula)
Heuristics
A rule of thumb that generally but not always can be used to make a judgment to solve a problem; quick, but prone to error (Ex. Checking the drink aisle for fruit juice instead of checking every single aisle)
Insight
A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy based solutions.
Confirmation Bias
We look for evidence to confirm our beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts them; tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore/distort contradictory evidence. (Ex. Being presented with 2-4-6 and believing the pattern is counting by 2’s when the rule is actually any sequence of ascending numbers.)
Mental Set
Established thought patterns we are hesitant to break, aka rigidity. Ex. Functional fixedness – the inability to see a new use for an object.
Representative Heuristic
Judging a situation based on how similar the aspect are to the prototypes the person knows in their mind. (Ex. A short, slim person who likes to read poetry would better fit our preconceived notion of an Ivy League professor more so than a truck driver.)
Availability Heuristic
Judging a situation based on things that “pop into mind” based on recency, vividness, or distinctiveness. Vivid examples in media are often the cause of this. (Ex. Labeling all Muslims as terrorists after the Paris attacks)
Overconfidence
The tendency to be more confident than correct – to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements (Ex. George W. Bush marched into Iraq to eliminate supposed WMDs.)
Belief Perserverance
Maintaining a belief even after it’s been proven wrong
Intuition
An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
Framing
The way statement are presented – can drastically affect the way we view and react to it
Language
Spoken, written or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning – crown jewel of cognition and what sets humans apart from other animals
Phonemes
Smallest distinctive sound unit in language (Ex. ch, a, t)
Morphemes
Smallest unit that carries meaning; a word or part of the word, like a prefix
Grammar
Rules for language that enable us to communicate with and understand others
What is receptive language? How old are babies when they understand that?
Ability to comprehend speech; 4 months old
What is productive language?
Ability to produce words, matures after receptive language
Babbling Stage
Beginning at about 4 months, stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
One-Word Stage
Around age 1, speaking in single words
Two-Word Stage
Around age 2, speaking mostly 2 word sentences
Telegraphic Speech
Speaking like a telegraph; understandable speech but not necessarily proper grammar (ex. give cookie)
What does Noam Chomsky believe about language development?
We are born with the ability to learn language, and all languages have the same grammatical building blocks (concept of universal language). Ex. Children learn to say things that they are never taught.
What happens to children who have not been exposed to any speaking language before their critical period ends?
They will likely never be able to speak with proper grammar.
Aphasia
Impairment of language, usually caused by the left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s Area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s Area (impairing understanding)
Broca’s Area
Controls language expression – an area, usually in the left frontal lobe, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech
Wernicke’s Area
Controls language reception – a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe