Week 12 Readings

Question 1

What is lexicon?

Answer 1

Words and expressions.

Question 2

What is syntax?

Answer 2

Rules by which words are strung together to form sentences.

Question 3

What are situation models?

Answer 3

Situation models are representations about the topic of a conversation. So, if you are talking about Gary and Mary with your friends, you might have a situation model of Gary giving Mary a ring in your mind.

Question 4

What is the social brain hypothesis?

Answer 4

The hypothesis that the human brain has evolved, so that humans can maintain larger ingroups.

Question 5

What is the linguistic intergroup bias?

Answer 5

When people tend to describe positive actions of their ingroup members using adjectives (e.g., he is generous) rather than verbs (e.g., he gave a blind man some change), and negative actions of outgroup members using adjectives (e.g., he is cruel) rather than verbs (e.g., he kicked a dog).

“A tendency for people to characterize positive things about their ingroup using more abstract expressions, but negative things about their outgroups using more abstract expressions.”

Question 6

What effect does linguistically labeling one’s own emotional experience have on neural processes?

Answer 6

It alters neural processes, as labeling negative images activates the amygdala less than when they are not labeled.

Question 7

Which brain structure is involved in processing negative emotions like fear, and how does linguistic labeling affect it?

Answer 7

The amygdala is involved, and linguistic labeling reduces its activation during the processing of negative images

Linguistic labeling may provide a sense of control or distance from negative emotions, reducing the brain’s emotional response.

Question 8

What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

Answer 8

The hypothesis that the language that people use determines their thoughts.

Question 9

How does language affect memory and cognition, and how does this differ throughout different cultures?

Answer 9

Specific terms enhance memory (e.g., shì gù in Chinese), while pronoun use reflects cultural values—individualism in English and collectivism in pronoun-drop languages like Japanese. (Explicit pronoun use in English emphasizes individualism by highlighting distinctions between self and others.)

Question 10

On Monday morning, Chad asks Jason, “Did you see that amazing game yesterday?” Chad assumes that Jason knows which game he is talking about. This assumption of shared information is called ______in language.

Answer 10

common ground

Question 11

When he is talking to his best friend, Tom says, “Damon and I are going out for dinner.” When he is talking to a stranger, Tom says, “My partner Damon and I are going out to dinner.” Crafting what you say based on the knowledge of the person you are speaking to is called ______.

Answer 11

audience design

Question 12

The rules for how we arrange words and expressions together to communicate in a meaningful and understandable way are called the ______of language.

Answer 12

syntax

Question 13

Consider these two sentences: “The boy was sick from eating so much ice cream,” and, “That boy ate so much ice cream, it made him sick.” These sentences have similar ______but different syntax.

Answer 13

lexicons

Question 14

______occurs when thinking about one concept causes you to think about other related concepts.

Answer 14

Priming

Question 15

The basic notion that the language used by a given group of people has a significant impact on how they think is called the ______hypothesis, after its original founder(s).

Answer 15

Sapir-Worf

Question 16

What is the theory of minds?

Answer 16

The human capacity to understand minds, a capacity that is made up of a collection of concepts (e.g., agent, intentionality) and processes (e.g., goal detection, imitation, empathy, perspective taking).

Question 17

What is an agent?

Answer 17

An agent is a self-propelled entity that can act independently, often identified by features like eyes and systematic reactions (e.g., following gaze).

Question 18

How do humans recognize goals in agents?

Answer 18

By seeing systematic, predictable behaviors, such as pursuing and interacting with objects across various circumstances.

Question 19

What distinguishes intentionality from goal-directed behavior?

Answer 19

Intentionality requires a goal, beliefs about achieving it, and the skill to perform the action, unlike unintentional outcomes or luck.

Question 20

What is imitation and its subtle form?

Answer 20

Imitation is observing and copying others’ behaviors, even novel ones. Its subtle, automatic form is mimicry.

Question 21

What is synchrony in interactions?

Answer 21

Synchrony occurs when people unconsciously match gestures, posture, or tone, often enhancing interaction enjoyment.

Question 22

How are mirror neurons related to imitation?

Answer 22

Mirror neurons fire both when observing and performing actions, aiding selective imitation relevant to goals or states.

Question 23

What is automatic empathy?

Answer 23

It’s the process where observing others’ emotions triggers imitation and associated feelings, leading to empathy.

Question 24

How does synchrony affect interactions?

Answer 24

Increased synchrony strengthens rapport and enjoyment, creating a positive feedback loop in social interactions.

Question 25

What is joint attention?

Answer 25

Joint attention is when two individuals focus on the same object and are aware of each other’s focus, aiding learning of object meanings and names.

Question 26

What is visual perspective taking?

Answer 26

It’s the ability to adopt another person’s spatial viewpoint, overcoming one’s egocentric perspective.

Question 27

What evidence supports perspective taking as a mental process?

Answer 27

Perspective taking takes longer when the other person’s viewpoint is farther away, suggesting mental “rotation” (Michelon & Zacks, 2006).

Question 28

What is simulation in perspective taking?

Answer 28

Simulation involves using one’s own mental states as a model to understand others’ thoughts or feelings.

Question 29

What is the “like-me” assumption?

Answer 29

It’s the tendency to assume others think, feel, or want the same as oneself, often leading to errors when common ground is lacking.

Question 30

How does egocentrism affect understanding others?

Answer 30

Egocentrism causes overestimation of shared knowledge, such as assuming sarcasm or personal concerns (e.g., a pimple) are more obvious to others than they are.

Question 31

How can egocentrism be overcome?

Answer 31

By actively taking others’ perspectives to understand their actual mental states, even when they differ from one’s own.

Question 32

What is a false-belief test?

Answer 32

An experimental procedure that assesses whether a perceiver recognizes that another person has a false belief—a belief that contradicts reality.

It measures the ability to understand that others can hold beliefs about the world that differ from one’s own, as demonstrated by Sally’s misplaced ball (Wimmer & Perner, 1983).

Question 33

What is explicit mental state inference?

Answer 33

It’s the ability to separate one’s own thoughts, feelings, and knowledge from those of another person to understand their perspective.

Question 34

How do humans make mental state inferences?

Answer 34

By using general knowledge, agent-specific knowledge, and perceived situational facts like behaviors and facial expressions.

Question 35

Why is understanding others’ perspectives challenging?

Answer 35

It’s difficult because people often use their own mental state as a model for others, but must consciously step outside their perspective to truly grasp someone else’s.

Question 36

What is a theory of mind?

Answer 36

A theory of mind is the ability to link observed behavior to inferred mental states, using tools like motion, faces, gestures, imitation, and mental-state inference.

Question 37

What processes are involved in understanding others’ minds?

Answer 37

Humans rely on automatic processes (e.g., imitation, joint attention, projection) and effortful ones (e.g., simulation, mental-state inference) to interpret others’ behavior.

Question 38

Why do people feel compelled to explain behavior?

Answer 38

People have an insatiable desire to understand behavior, from trivial to significant actions, in order to find meaning, even if the behavior doesn’t directly impact them.

Question 39

How do people explain intentional behavior?

Answer 39

People explain intentional behavior by inferring the agent’s desire, beliefs, and intention to perform an action, then using these inferences as reasons for the behavior.

Question 40

What happens when people struggle to explain extreme actions, like murder?

Answer 40

People may resort to causal history explanations (e.g., mental illness, extremist views) when they cannot directly infer the agent’s beliefs and desires.

Question 41

How does a theory of mind help explain behavior?

Answer 41

A theory of mind allows humans to simulate others’ perspectives, infer their mental states, and explain actions effortlessly and accurately, making even complex behavior seem trivial.

Question 42

Tomas uses a lot of hand gestures when he speaks with Cathy. Soon, Cathy unknowingly begins to use a lot of hand gestures in their conversation, too. This phenomenon is known as ______.

Answer 42

mimicry

Question 43

At what age do most people start to develop a theory of mind?

in early adulthood.
in the first year of life.
in late elementary school.
in adolescence.
in preschool

Answer 43

in the first year of life

Question 44

The false-belief test is a procedure for determining if a child has developed what?

• visual perspective taking.
• automatic empathy.
• autism.
• explicit mental state inference.
• imitation

Answer 44

explicit mental state inference

Question 45

Individuals need to understand others’ mental states in order to ______.

• self-actualize.
• learn new processes.
• interact with them.
• behave intentionally.
• create artistic works

Answer 45

interact with them

Question 46

What tool of theory of mind develops early in childhood and is automatic?

• mental state inference.
• projection.
• simulation.
• emotional perspective taking.
• assessing intentionality

Answer 46

assessing intentionality

Question 47

What is folk explanations of behavior?

Answer 47

People’s natural explanations for why somebody did something, felt something, etc. (differing substantially for unintentional and intentional behaviors).

Question 48

What is automatic empathy?

Answer 48

A social perceiver unwittingly taking on the internal state of another person, usually because of mimicking the person’s expressive behavior and thereby feeling the expressed emotion.

Question 49

What is the false-belief test?

Answer 49

An experimental procedure that assesses whether a perceiver recognizes that another person has a false belief—a belief that contradicts reality.

Question 50

What are mirror neurons?

Answer 50

Neurons identified in monkey brains that fire both when the monkey performs a certain action and when it perceives another agent performing that action.

Question 51

What is projection?

Answer 51

A social perceiver’s assumption that the other person wants, knows, or feels the same as the perceiver wants, know, or feels.