Week 8 Flashcards
Language
Communication of information through symbols arranged according to rules
* Central to communication, also closely tied to the way we think and understand the world!
* Language acquisition follows similar patterns cross culturally
How does language develop ?
In the absence of formal instruction
Phonemes: the ingredients
Categories of sound our vocal apparatus produces
Most words made of 2+
Can be spelled differently (e.g., bait, weight, plate)
In English, 26 letters, 40 - 45 phonemes
Phonemes
Cross-linguistic differences
Hawaiian language has few phonemes
Japanese has a single sound category that encompasses both L & R sounds
Morphemes: the menu items
Smallest unit of meaning in a language
Most morphemes are words
Some aren’t words but modify the meaning of other words (e.g., re)
Syntax: putting together the meal
Set of rules of a language by which we construct a sentence
“Pizza ate I for dinner” – doesn’t follow English syntax (but does for other languages)
Critical period in language acquisition
Proficiency at acquiring language is maximal early in life.
Being deprived of language during this period impedes full acquisition and use.
Genie case study
Cases like “Genie” support the critical period theory, but are complicated by other factors.
“Less is more” theory
The younger you are, the better you will learn a new language.
Babbling (3 months – 1 year)
Initial babbling includes all sounds.
Specialization in own language by 6-8 months.
Phoneme recognition
Born with the ability to recognize all phonemes.
Brain eventually prunes away unnecessary sounds.
age 2
Vocabulary Expansion
By age 2, children have around 50 vocabulary words.
6 months later, several hundred words.
Words & Phrases Development (Age 1-2)
Start combining words to create simple two-word phrases.
Examples: “More juice,” “Mommy help!,” “All gone!”
Telegraphic Speech
Example: “I show book”
Simple, concise sentence structure typical in early language development.
Language Development (Age 3)
Make plurals and use past tense.
Overgeneralize: e.g., “he runned,” “the fishes.”
Language Rules Acquisition (Age 5)
Acquire all basic language rules.
Learning-Theory Approaches to Language Acquisition
Follows principles of reinforcement & conditioning.
Children are praised for using language.
The more parents speak to children, the more proficient they become.
Does not fully explain language rules (children reinforced for using grammar incorrectly).
Nativist Theory of Language Acquisition
Children born with basic knowledge of language.
“Language organ” – Language Acquisition Device (LAD) – pre-programmed.
Gene related to development of language abilities.
Difficult to falsify.
Interactionist Theory of Language Acquisition
Pre-programmed with hardware, develop software through exposure & environment.
Adults act as directors for language acquisition (not pure imitation).
Example: “Look at that dog over there! No, this is a puppy not a bunny!”
Environment produces differences in language (e.g., shoes that you would wear for a run are called…?).
Guugu Yimithirr Language
Traditional language of the Guugu Yimithirr people of Far North Queensland (indigenous).
No words for left or right.
Communicate using cardinal directions (north, east, south, west).
Example: “Pick up that item with your west-facing hand.”
Linguistic Relativity (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis)
The language we speak influences how we think, understand, and perceive the world.
Egocentric vs. Geocentric
Egocentric: Using self as reference point (e.g., left, right).
Geocentric: Using cardinal directions (e.g., north, south).
Time Perception & Metaphors
Different languages use different metaphors for time, which affects how speakers perceive time.
Flashcard 4
Language & Blame
How language structures blame affects perception and understanding of responsibility.
Thinking
Manipulation of mental representations of information.
Cognitive economy/cognitive misers.
Top-down Processes
Streamlines cognitive functioning by utilizing pre-existing knowledge to fill in the gaps.
Less cognitive effort! Speeds up cognitive processing, helps reduce complexity of new experiences.
Concepts
Our knowledge and ideas about a set of objects, actions, and characteristics that share core properties.
Prototypes
Best or most typical example of a concept.
Example: Think of a table… A bird… what comes to mind first?
Can lead to bias judgments, reinforce stereotypes, overlook information that doesn’t match.
Algorithms
A rule that, if applied appropriately, guarantees a solution to the problem.
Only works for well-defined problems.
Time consuming.
Obstacles in Problem Solving
Cognitive biases: Heuristics that can lead to errors in thinking.
Mental sets: Sticking to what has worked in the past.
Functional fixedness: Inability to see new uses for familiar objects.
Heuristics
General problem-solving framework (shortcuts, rules of thumb).
Faster, but not always guaranteed to find the best solution.
Why are heuristics useful
*Impossible to always consider all information
* Reduce mental effort needed to make decisions
* Simplify the decision-making process
* Are often correct!
But they can lead to errors
What is representativeness heuristics and base rate fallacy
The representativeness heuristic is a cognitive bias where people make judgments about the likelihood of an event based on how much it resembles an existing stereotype or typical case. Instead of using logical reasoning or statistical analysis, we rely on how similar something is to a particular prototype we have in our minds.
For example, if you meet someone who is very organized and detail-oriented, you might assume they are more likely to be an accountant than an artist, simply because these traits fit your mental image of what an accountant is like. (Can lead to errors)
Base rate fallacy: base rates aren’t sufficiently taken
into account
Real world applications of the representativeness heuristics
- Jury decisions when evaluating the guilt of a defendant/credibility of a
victim - Doctor giving you a diagnosis (e.g., COVID vs. the flu)
- Choosing a restaurant!
- Stereotyping in social interactions
What is availablity heuristic
Essentially, people judge the frequency or likelihood of an event based on how easily instances of it can be recalled from memory. (example plane crash)
Anchoring heuristics
Relying on a single piece of information (the anchor) to
inform decision-making
Downside of heuristics
- Can lead to costly errors & bias, especially in high-stakes
circumstances - E.g., pursuing the wrong person in a criminal investigation
(representativeness) - Stereotypes and prejudice
- E.g., racialization of crime in news media (availability)
Accuracy-effort trade off
Guy Paul Morin
- Wrongfully convicted of murdering a
9-year-old girl - Fixated on Morin as a suspect
because he was a “weird guy”
“…wrongful convictions most often
occur when somebody is an outlier -
someone who seems strange to the
rest of us; a loner; part of an unusual
family; a ‘weird type guy,’ as one of the
police investigators so artfully
described Morin in their notes”
Framing
The way a question/statement is formulated can influence decisionmaking
* Gain vs. loss framing,survival vs. mortality framing
”We can treat your cancer with surgery, which has a 90% post-procedure
survival rate and a 34% five-year survival rate”
“We can treat your cancer with surgery, which has a 10% post-procedure fatality rate and a 66% 5-year fatality rate”
Covid 19 & framing
Loss vs. gain-framed messages
* Loss-framed increased anxiety, no impact on policy attitudes,
behavioral intentions, or information seeking (across 84 countries!)
* Emotional toll of loss-framed messages
Obstacles to problem solving
Mental sets
* Becoming stuck in a specific problemsolving strategy, inhibiting our ability to generate alternatives
Functional fixedness
* Difficulty conceptualizing that an object typically used for one purpose can be used for another
NAme other biases that lead to errors in judgment and decision making
Hindsight bias
confirmation bias
tunnel vision
Hindsight bias
- Our tendency to overestimate how well we could have
predicted something after it has already occurred - People think their judgement is better than it is!
- Disconnect clouds judgment & ability to learn from past mistakes
Monday morning quarterback phenomena
Someone who says how an event/problem should have
been dealt with by others after it has already been dealt with
Confirmation bias and tunnel vision
The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall
information that supports a person’s prior beliefs (and
distort what doesn’t fit)
Tunnel vision: focus on information that supports a particular point of view
Confirmation bias & tunnel vision in police investigations
Confirmation bias: detective believes a suspect is guilty, focuses only on evidence that points toward them, downplays or disregards evidence that exonerates them
Tunnel vision: detective becomes fixated on one suspect because of behaviour or initial circumstantial evidence (e.g., suspect seems detached) – focuses investigation on this person
Amanda knox
*In 2007, Knox was accused of murdering her
roommate while on exchange in Perugia, Italy
* Knox & her boyfriend were arrested and
convicted in 2009, based on circumstantial
evidence
* Media coverage speculating about Knox’s character based on her behaviour after the
murder – media portrayed her as
uncooperative, “weird”, etc.
* Italian courts overturned conviction in 2011 – highest court acquitted in 2015
