thought and language Flashcards
information-processing system
mechanisms for recieving information, representing it with symbols, and manipulating it
thinking
the manipulation of mental representation
reaction time
the time between the presentation of a stimulus and an overt response to it
concepts
categories of objects, events or ideas that have common properties
prototype
a member of a natural concept that possesses all of our most of its characteristic features
propositions
a mental representation that expresses a relationship between concepts
schemas
generalizations about categories of objects, places, events and people
scripts
mental representations of familiar sequences of activity
mental models
sets of propositions that represent people’s understanding of how things look and work
images
mental representations of visual information
cognitive map
a mental model that represents familiar parts of the environment
reasoning
the process by which people generate and evaluate arguments and reac conclusions about them
formal reasoning
a set of rigorous procedures for reaching valid conclusions
algorithm
systematic procedures that cannot fail to produce a correct solution to a problem
logic
a system of formulas for drawing valid conclusions
informal reasoning
the process of evaluating a conclusion based on the evidence available to support it
heuristic
mental shortcut or rules of thumb
anchoring bias
a shortcut in the thought process that involves adding new information to existing information to reach a judgment
representativeness heuristic
a mental shortcut that involves judging whether something belongs in a given class on the basis of its similarity to other members of that class
availability heuristic
a mental shortcut through which judgments are based on information that is most easily brought to mind
mental set
the tendency for old petterns of problem solving to persist
functional fixedness
the tendency to think about familiar objects in familiar ways
confirmation bias
the tendency to pay more attention to evidence in support of one’s hypothesis about a problem than to evidence that refutes that hypothesis
artificial intelligence
the field that studies how to program computers to imitate the products of human perception, understanding and thought
creativity
the capacity to produce original solutions or novel compositions
divergent thinking
the ability to generate many different solutions to a problem
convergent thinking
the ability to apply the rules of logic and what one knows about the world to narrow down the possible solutions to a problem
utility
in decision making, any subjective measure of value
expected value
the total benefit to be expected of a decision if it were repeated on several occasions
language
symbols that are used as a means of communicating
grammar
a set of rules for combining the symbols, such as words, used in a given language
phoneme
the smallest unit of sound that effects the meaning of speech
morpheme
the smallest unit of language that has meaning
syntax
the set of rules that govern the formation of phrases and sentences in a language
semantics
rules governing the meaning of words and sentences
surface structures
the order in which words are arranged in sentences
deep structure
an abstract representation of the underlying meaning of a given sentence
infanct vocalization
early sounds, such as babblings, made by babies
babbling
repetitions of syllables; the first sounds infants make that resemble speech
