Week3/4/5 Flashcards
Overview of Language areas of Brain –>
Language involves several distinct areas in the brain (left side)
What are the 4 interrelated developmental processes for language?
- Phonological Development : learning to segment speech into meaningful units of sound (identifying phonemes- elementary units of sound that distinguish meaning) Rake vs. Lake
- Semantic Development: learning the system for expressing meaning in a language (beginning with morphemes, which are the smallest unit of meaning in a language)
- Syntactic Development : learning the syntax, the rules to combining words, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives.
- Pragmatic Development: acquiring knowledge of how language is used, which includes understanding a variety of conversational conventions (how close we stand while speaking, how long we talk, how loud we speak to each other)
What is meant by grammar?
comprising the entire set of rules for combining symbols to speak and write a language
What area of the left hemisphere is responsible for speech code?
Speaking –> Speech Code generatedin ‘Broca’s area –>signals to motor cortex –> muscles of mouth move
What cortex area is responsible for listening to speech?
Auditory cortex.
Listens to speech –> cortex processes sound waes and creates ‘auditory code’ –> Wernicke’s area interprets auditory code as language
Which two brain areas are involved with reading?
Visual Cortex & Wernicke’s area.
Reading –> visual cortex processes printed words –> Angular gyrus produces an auditory code that gets sent to the Wernicke’s area for understanding
What does this area do:Broca
What does this area do:Wernicke’s
If damaged, what can ppl NOT do?
-
Speech Production: Speaking words/generates speech code (damage here doesn’t affect singing or comprehension of others’ speech)
damage: “a person would struggle to speak words, yet could sing familiar songs and comprehend speech or write their conversation down on paper” -
Speech Comprehension: Interprets auditory code as language
damage : “people were unable to understand others’ sentences and could speak only meaningless sentences”
Function of each of these 6?
- Visual Cortex:
- Wernicke’s Area:
- Angular Gyrus:
- Motor Cortex:
- Broca’s Area:
- Auditory Cortex:
- processes written words and creates visual representation
- interprets auditory code as language
- turns visual representations into an auditory code
- moves mouth muscles to pronounce words
- generates speech code and controls speech muscles via the motor cortex
- processes sound waves and creates an auditory code
What are phonemes?
The smallest distinctive sound units in a language. There are 869 phonemes in in the 500 languages identified, but not every language uses all the sounds.
English uses only 40.
ex: pronouncing bat – b, a, t
ex: pronouncing that – th, a, t
ex: pronouncing mercedes - 3 different ‘e’ phonemes
What are morphemes?
Smallest language units that carry meaning. Can be a whole word or parts of a word
In English, a few morphemes are also phonemes -
ex: the article ‘a’
ex: the word ‘readers’ – read + er (indicates a person) + s (not one, but multiple ppl)
ex: prefixes such as re-, pre, un-.
ex: suffixes such as conjugating verbs
Every word in a language contains one or more morphemes
How many people live with disabling hearing loss worldwide?
360 million
What is ‘aphasia’?
An impairment in language
Define semantics
derives meaning from sounds
When one adds ‘s’ to the word ‘apple’, that person is referring to more than one apple. This is an English language rule.
Define syntax
ordering words into sentences
Language Development:
Around 4 mos of age?
Around 10 months of age?
Around 1 yrs age ?
Around 1 1/2 yrs age?
After 2 yrs of age?
Babbling of any sounds (can distinguish between sounds made in all languages) ex: cooing, then babbling occurs
Babbling of household sounds heard from parents(even if da-da, kit-ty, mama, and regardless of any language, kids start mostly with nouns in language learning) – By 10 mos, infants have lost the ability to distinguish all sounds from any language.
one-word sentence stage
two-word sentence stage (‘telegraphic speech’ - Want juice)
rapid development of speech and sentences and understanding small jokes
Good info to look over:
What does it mean language has ‘generativity’?
our ability to use the finite set of words in our vocabulary to put together an infinite number of sentences to express an infinite set of ideas
Can you understand this sentence? Yes? Bizarre but understandable:
“the giraffe took off in a rocket ship and several days later, landed on the moon, whereby it skipped frivolously over the alien sandy dunes”
Define ‘Universal Grammar’?
an example?
ex: a baby’s parents move to another country, baby then starts speaking the parents’ language, but simultaneously learns the local language of the country.
What is the difference between ‘receptive’ & ‘productive’ language?
ex: when a baby reaches a milestone where he starts to pay attention to his parent’s faces when they speak
T or F: Children who are taught in a bilingual class, have higher creativity AND academic performance
–as opposed to a 1-language school
TRUE
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis:
What is linguist Benjamin Whorf’s idea on language?
Sapir’s idea on language?
Linguistic Determination (strong version)
Hypothesis that language determines the way we think and our perceptions.
ex:The Hopi have no past tense for their verbs, and it is very difficult for them to readily think about the past
Linguistic Relativism (weaker version)
Hypothesis that language we speak merely influences how we think and view the world.
Define what heuristics are?
Define what an algorithm is?
Heuristic : a simple thinking strategy—a mental shortcut—that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems quickly & efficiently; (speedier but more error-prone)
Algorithm : A systemic approach that exhausts all possibilities to arrive at a solution (slow but accurate)
Barriers to Effective Reasoning:
Two scientists, Kahneman & Tversky, explored how we use heuristics to make judgements and decisions…and how it may lead us astray.
Define Representativeness Heuristic
Judging the likelihood of some event in terms of how well it represents or matches some prototypical instance.
ex: if we meet a slim person wearing glasses, we think he must be a professor. What about a truck driver? Logically, the probability is higher that he is a trucker because there are far more truckers than professors.
When we estimate the likelihood of events based on the ease with which we retrieve them from memory, we are demonstrating:
Availability Heuristic
judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common. (p. 329)
If we think of it quickly, it must be significant! (sometimes incorrectly)
What is the Framing Effect
The tendency for people’s choices to be affected by how a choice is presented or framed (how it’s worded)
Good to Review
How is creativity defined?
the ability to produce of ideas that are novel & valuable
Define metacognition.
cognition about our cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes. (p. 327). Basically, ‘beyond thinking’ and thinking about our own thinking process.
What is meant by prototype?
We often form our concepts by developing a prototype—a mental image or best example of a category
Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a crow)
Difference between convergent & divergent thinking?
Convergent: narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution
Divergent: expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions
What are 4 ways to boost creativity?
- develop expertise: develop knowledge and be an expert at something
- allow time for incubation (The extra time allows the unconscious to form new associations between novel connections. Think hard on it, then set it aside - REM sleep on the problem!)
- allow ‘defocused attention’ (mind to roam freely with no phone or tv distracting. A walk or a run is better to foster creativity)
- experience other cultures and ways of thinking: travelling or even getting out of your own neighbourhood allows your brain to integrate others perspectives
An obstacle to problem solving is fixation. What is this?
(1) in cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving.
[(2) in psychoanalytic theory, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved. (pp. 328, 520)]
What is our intuition?
an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning. (p. 328)
fast, automatic, unreasoned feelings & thoughts
In 1988, Dr Sternberg identfied 3 fundamental types of intelligence:
Critiques of Sternberg: Sternberg’s theory of intelligence found to be empirically lacking. Gottfredson carefully reviewed the evidence on ‘practical intelligence’ and found evidence lacking and claims ‘g’ intelligence is still best predictor
AND
Wen-Tank Chooi found this Triarchic Ability Test to be highly correlated…meaning that it is more like the ‘g’ model.
STERNBERG Triarchic Theory: (know 3 things below)
- Practical (when components are applied in daily life to help us adapt/shape/select environments –> skills included motivating others, delegating to others correct tasks, promoting oneself)
- Analytical (when components are applied to familiar problems from daily life)
- Creative(when components are applied to new kinds of situations and tasks)
Sternberg argued that Gardner’s multiple intelligences could be reduced to 3 basic forms of intelligence.
Early dissenter from the psychometric approach. Argued for ‘Theory of Successful Intelligence’.
1. ability to achieve one’s goals despite socioeconomic context
2. capitalize on one’s strengths while correcting for ones’ weakness’s
3. adapt and shape and select environments
4. exercise a combo of analytical and creative and practical abilities
There are 2 components: METACOMPONENTS (executive processes (planning/monitoring/evaluating actions) + PERFORMANCE COMPONENTS (execute instructions from above) + KNOWLEDGE-ACQUISITION COMPONENTS (allow us to learn new info so we can plan and execute actions)
‘INTERPERSONAL’ IS NOT ONE OF THEM
Define ‘s factors’
specific forms of intelligence that support distinct mental abilities
(emphasized by the theories of Thurstone and Gardner)
Primary Mental Abilities
Difference between Multiple Intelligences & Primary Mental Abilities?
Thurstone
- Multiple Intelligences: Gardner’s theory that there are 8 or 9 distinct intelligences, each controlled by a section of the brain. He also came to the idea (along with Sternberg) that the psychometric approach was too limited and intelligence was more than ‘g’.
Evidence: savants can be profoundly lacking in many areas but extremely smart in a couple.
Critiques: lack of studies…due to a lack of assessment strategies. Also found they are correlated (maybe meaning the ‘g’ factor) BUT it has found widespread application in EDUCATION. Gardner’s wants to see the educational system support a spectrum of intelligences, helping and benefitting all potentials.
- Primary Mental Abilities: Thurstone’s name for 7 (down from 56!) specific forms of intelligence (word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial visualization, number facility, associative memory, reasoning, & perceptual speed. **These were later found to be correlated and could be accounted for in terms of Spearman’s ‘g’ intelligence factor.
#2 is aka as ‘s factors’ -Gardner built on Thurstone’s views
What characterizes these 8 types of intelligence?
GARDNER’S Multiple Intelligences:(know this list)
- Logical - math smart (see intelligence in numbers and logic, chains of reasoning and recognize patterns and order)
- Naturalist - nature smart
- Musical - music smart
- Intrapersonal - self smart (emotional life, oneself and others, discriminate emotional states of self and others)
- Interpersonal - People Smart (understand ppl and relationships, perceive and respond to moods, personalities, intentions, desires of others)
- Kinesthetic - Body smart (use body skillfully and handle objects adroitly, hands-on ppl with tactile sensitivity)
- Spatial - art smart (perceive world accurately, recreate aspects of the world accurately, sensitivity to details, orientation is 3-D space)
- Linguistic - word smart (can argue, persuade, entertain, instruct effectively with language)
SYNOPSIS
What is the WAIS (Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale)?
Wechsler was most interested in measuring the separate strengths involved in intelligence
```Most widely used individual intelligence test.
Provides separate scores for verbal intelligence (information, similarities, arithmatic, vocabulary, comprehension, digit span) and nonverbal intelligence (picture completion, picture arrangement, block design, object assembly, digit symbol)
What is ‘reliability’ ?
How about ‘test-retest reliability’?
How consistent a measure is &
ability of a measue to yield the same result every time it is used
Difference between
1. Self-Schemas
2. Person Schemas
3. Group Schemas
4. Role Schemas
5. Event Schemas
- Self & Person : general knowledge and beliefs about consistent characteristics and traits of ourselves and others. (ex: I think I am honest, reliable, dependable, friendly etc.)
- Group : (stereotypes) general knowlege and beliefs about consistent characteristics and traits of particular social groups
- Role : “ “ about how a person playing a particular role is supposed to act (ex: a waitress is supposed to be friendly and be attentive while working)
- Event : (scripts) “ “ about what usually happens and when it happens in particular situations (ex: visiting a doctor)
Eleanor Rosch has 3 hierarchical categories for how we organize our concepts
- Super-Ordinate Category: a dog would be an ‘animal’
- Basic-Level Category: people were quickest at this level in categorizing stuff ( such as ‘dog’). Most differentiated at this level and prototypes can be made at this level.
- Subordinate Category: dog would be a ‘German Shepherd’
What is** behavioural genetics**?
study of relative contributions that genes and environment make to various human characteristics
KNOW THIS
Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory?
P-FIT
intelligence tasks seem to congregate in the parietial & frontal brain regions
FOUR STAGES:
1. Occipital & temporal regions proces sensory
2. Parietal integrate and abstracts sensory info (angular gyrus, super marginal gyrus, superior parietal lobule)
3. Parietal area interacts with Frontal. Enables problem solving, evaluation, hypothesis testing
4. Anterior Cingulate - arcuate fasciculus for reliable communication between regions
MOST EMPIRICALLY VALIDATED NEUROLOGICAL MODEL OF INTELLIGENCE. with patterns of activation in the P-FIT areas and white matter
sex differences – quick reference
- Evolutionary Explanatiion - hunter gathering
- Biological Explanations : woman more greymatter, men more white matter, men more grey in left. Not for women.Men rely on left more for verbal and spatial, woman both sides.
- Sociocultural Explanations:
- Biopsychosocial Explanations:
