Unit 5 Vocab - Thinking & Language Flashcards
cognition
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
conception
the understanding of a subject/object retained in the mind from experience, reasoning, or imagination
prototype
a mental image/best example of a category
algorithm
a methodical, logical rule/procedure that guarentees solving a particular problem
heuristic
a simple thinking strategy that allows us to make judgements/solve problems efficiently
speedier but more error prone than an algorithm
insight
a sudden realization of a problem’s solution
confirmation bias
a tendency to search for info that supports our preconceptions and ignore/distort contradictory evidence
fixation
the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, an obstacle to problem solving
mental set
a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past
functional fixedness
cognitive bias that impacts an individuals ability to be creative, prevents us from thinking of novel/creative solutions to problems
representativeness heuristic
estimating the liklihood events in terms of how well they seem to represent/match particular prototypes
availability heuristic
estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory, if instances come readily to mind we presume such events are common
overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct, overestimating the accuracy of our beliefs/judgements
framing
the way an issue is posed, how an issue is worded can affect decisions and judgements
belief bias
over-relying on preexisting beliefs and knowledge when evaluating the conclusions of an argument
belief perseverance
clinging to one’s initial conception after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
language
our spoken/written/signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
phoneme
the smallest distinctive sound unit in language
morpheme
the smallest unit that carries meaning in language, may be a word or part of a word
grammar
a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others
semantics
the study of how meaning is stored in the mind
syntax
allows us to connect linguistic meaning with linguistic form
babbling stage
beginning around 4 months, stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds
one-word stage
the stage in speech development from ages 1-2 during which a child speaks in mostly single words
two-word stage
beginning around age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements
telegraphic speech
early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram using mostly verbs and nouns
linguistic determination
the strong form of Whorf’s hypothesis - that language controls the way we think and interpret the world around us