Chapter 7B: Language and Thought (2015-16)

Objective

I will be able to apply what I learned from this review about Cognition (Thinking and Language) on the review test and on the AP Exam.

The Cognitive Revolution

Cognitive Psychology looks at language, problem solving, decision making, reasoning, memory

*Metacognition

• Knowledge about the principles and workings of cognition

The Hierarchical Structure of Language

• Phonemes = smallest units of sound– about 44 in English language from the 26 letters

(ed=d and to =tew sound)• Morphemes = smallest unit of meaningful sound

– 50,000 in English, can be words such as A and But or root words, prefixes, suffixes

• Semantics = meaning of words and word combinations

• Syntax (grammar) = a system of rules for arranging words into sentences– Different rules for different languages

Language Development/Language Acquisition

• Initial vocalizations similar across languagesAnd are considered Prelinguistic Events:

– Crying, cooing, babbling, laughing• 1 year – first word, speak in single words,

called holophrasic stage or one word stage– similar cross-culturally – words for parents

(dada, mama, papa)

Language Development:Milestones Continued

• 18-24 months – vocabulary spurt– fast mapping a word into vocab. after one

exposure– overentensions (ball for any round object) and

underextensions (use doll only to refer to a single, favorite doll)

• End of second year – combine words – Telegraphic speech (“Give doll”)

• End of third year – complex ideas, plural, past tense– Overregularization or overgeneralization=rules

are incorrectly generalized (“I hitted the ball”)

Controversies:

• In Language Acquisition=how do we acquire language?

Theories of Language Acquisition 1. Behaviorist

– Skinner • learning of specific verbal responses were due to

environmental Factors (nurture): imitation, reinforcement and conditioning

2. Nativist theory of language acquisition (or Nature argument):– Noam Chomsky

• learning the rules of language is innate as seen with “goed,” “eated”

• Language Acquisition Device (LAD)= innate process that lets children learn language quickly

• He felt there was a Critical Period (a window of opportunity for learning or else our development will suffer) for language acquisition

3. Current View : combo of learning and inborn tendency for language

More Chompsky

• Surface Structure : the actual spoken sentence-sound of sentence.

• Deep Structure : underlying meaning of the sentence- semantics.

Language and Cognition*Linguistic Relativity/Determinism

Hypothesis• Benjamin Whorf -the language we use

might control or limit our thinking. Language changes what we can think about.

Describing Thought• Components of thought:Schema-mental framework that helps organize info.

based on experiencesScript- personal view on how an event will be played

out based on experience (my first day of class each semester; a blind date)

Mental Model-mental representation of a situation, event, object based on experience (every dog I met growled, a new dog will growl as well)

Cognitive Map-mental representation of an environment/ mental map (the school)

Describing Thought

Concepts-similar to schemata/may base these concepts on info. that shares similar features –DOG

Components of a concept:Prototypes-the most typical example of a particular

concept-differs from person to person and is based on experience-POODLE

Effective Problem Solving

• Barriers to effective problem solving: -Irrelevant Information-say a math word problem

– Functional Fixedness-perceive an item only in terms of its most common use (not using a screw driver as a weight)-young children less vulnerable to this

– Mental Set-using only problem solving strategies that have worked in the past-thinking gets into a rut Ex: I only study for a test a certain way, even though I fail all tests

Nine Dot Problem

Nine Dot Problem

Approaches to Problem SolvingFor others, we use:Algorithms

– Systematic trial-and-error– Guaranteed solutionFinding apple juice in a store-go down every isleFind another word using all the letters in

LSPOYOCHYG (907,200 results generated)

Approaches to Problem Solving• Heuristics-a “rule of thumb” for solving

problem/making decision; a simple thinking strategy that allows us to make judgments and solve problems– They are shortcuts –speedier/more error prone Representativeness Heuristic-judging a situation

on how similar it is to a prototype (similar to schema) or sample a person has in her mind

Ex: you are a college student, so you are probably drinking. Your pants sag, you must be a “thug”

rep. heuristics lead us to not consider other factorsAvailability Heuristics-judging a situation based on

examples of similar situations that initially come to mind (All police officers abuse minorities )

Recent, vivid or distinctive info. Is more likely to “pop into mind” (I can’t fly; planes crash into buildings; All police are racists)

Problem Solving

Anchoring Heuristics-using information as a reference for evaluating or estimating some unknown value or information…the value may be incorrect

:Examples someone try to sell car to you. They give you a price-an anchor; you use this price on which to base your counter offer

Using the full price as an anchor to decide how “great” the sale price is

Understanding Pitfalls in ReasoningAbout Decisions

The gambler’s fallacy-belief that the odds of an event increases if the event hasn’t occurred recently-overestimating the improbable

Confirmation Bias=tendency to seek info. that supports one’s decisions/beliefs while ignoring disconfirming info (A reporter may only interview experts that support her or his views on an issue).

Overconfidence in our beliefs results in:Belief bias=we make illogical conclusions to confirm

our preexisting beliefs Belief perseverance=we maintain a belief even after the evidence

we used to form the belief is contradicted-EX: on a high protein diet, read that low cal diet better, high protein diet remains

Understanding Pitfalls in ReasoningAbout Decisions

• The overconfidence effect=due to intuitive heuristics (intuition-get belief), we are eager to confirm beliefs we have and explain away failures (Bush going into Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction)

• Framing=the way an issue is posed or framed can affect decisions and judgments (10% chance of dying vs 90% survival rate)

More on Reasoning• deductive reasoning=from a general assumption to

particulars Ex: all birds fly-a penguin must fly. All my teachers hate me; Mrs. Merlino must hate me

• Inductive reasoning=reasoning by going from particular facts or observations to a general conclusion Ex: penguins don’t fly; birds don’t fly. A dog bit me; all dogs bite

Creativity (not correlated with intelligence) is associated with being original/novel and using divergent thinking (searching for multiple answers) rather than convergent thinking (thinking pointed towards one solution)

Conjunction FalacyTwo events that can occur together or separately are seen as

more likely to occur together than separatelyExample:Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She

majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.

Which is more probable?• Linda is a bank teller.• Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

the probability of two things being true can never be greater than the probability of one of them being true, since in order for both to be true, each must be true.