cognition and language chapter 7. building blocks of thought language –a flexible system of...
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Cognition and Language
Chapter 7
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Building Blocks of Thought
•Language–A flexible system of symbols that enables
us to communicate our ideas, thoughts, and feelings
–Nonhumans communicate primarily though signs
–Human language is semantic, or meaningful
– It is also characterized by displacement in that it is not limited to the here-and-now
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Structure of Language • Phonemes
– Basic sounds (ph, t) • Morphemes
– smallest meaning unit (words, prefixes)• Surface structure
– Phrases of sentence• Deep structure
– Underlying meaning of a sentence• Grammar
– Rules of how sounds combine
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Building Blocks of Thought
• Images–Nonverval mental representations of
sensory experiences•Concepts–Mental categories for classifying
people, objects, or experiences–Prototype•Mental model containing the most typical features of a concept
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Language, Thought and Culture
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Language and Cognition
•Linguistic determinism– Idea that patterns of thinking are
determined by the specific language one speaks
–Research only mildly supports the idea
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Culture and Cognition
•All known cultures use categories to form concepts
•Culture has an effect on–What information is included in a
category–How categories are shaped by
experience
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Nonhuman Thought and Language
•Animal cognition–Animals can form concepts–Apes have demonstrated
sophisticated problem-solving skills
–Chimpanzees and orangutans show signs of self-awareness
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Nonhuman Thought and Language
•The question of language–Chimpanzees have been taught to
use American Sign Language–Chimpanzees have been observed
using telegraphic speech (two-word combinations)
–Some chimps have learned to use keyboard symbols to communicate even without formal training
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Problem Solving Steps
•Problem representation– Interpreting or defining the
problem
•Deciding the category a problem belongs to
•Selecting a solution strategy•Evaluating progress toward goal
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Possible Solution Strategies• Trial and error
– Works best with limited number of choices• Information retrieval
– Retrieve from memory information about how such a problem has been solved in the past
• Algorithms– Step-by-step methods that guarantees a
solution– Math problems are an example of the type
best solved using an algorithm• Heuristics
– Rules of thumb that may help simplify a problem, but do not guarantee a solution
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Heuristic Methods• Hill climbing
– Move progressively closer to goal without moving backward
• Subgoals– Break large
problem into smaller, more manageable ones, each of which is easier to solve than the whole problem
• Means-end analysis– Aims to reduce the
discrepancy between the current situation and the desired goal at a number of intermediate points
• Working backward– Work backward from
the desired goal to the existing condition
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Obstacles to Solving Problems
•Motivation–Desire to solve a problem
•Mental sets–Tendency to perceive and
approach problems in certain ways•Functional fixedness–Tendency to see only a limited
number of uses for an object
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Creative Problem Solving
• Brainstorming– Produces many ideas– Very popular in business– Ideas are not judged when generated
• The creative process– People often become more creative
when exposed to creative peers
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Becoming a More Skillful Problem Solver
• Eliminate poor choices• Visualize a solution• Develop expertise• Think flexibly
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Decision Making
• Decision making is a special case of problem solving in which possible solutions or choices are already known
• Logical decision making– Compensatory model
•Rational decision-making model in which choices are systematically evaluated on various criteria
•Example: buying a car– Good when issues are well-defined
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Decision-Making Heuristics• Heuristic processes are used when
decisions involve a high degree of ambiguity
• Representativeness heuristic– New information is compared to our model of
the typical member of a category (prototype)• Availability heuristic
– Decision is based on information that is most easily retrieved from memory, even if incomplete
• Confirmation bias– Tendency to notice evidence that supports our
beliefs and to ignore evidence that contradicts them
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Framing
• How information is presented (or framed) can have an effect on the outcome of decision-making
• Research has demonstrated that framing can have very dramatic effects on decision-making
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Decisions Under Pressure
• When decisions are required quickly, experience plays a key role
• With increased pressure in an emergency situation, decision making often deteriorates and can end in panic
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Explaining Our Decisions
•Hindsight bias– Tendency to view the outcomes of
decisions as inevitable and predictable after we know the outcome
•Counterfactual thinking– Thinking about alternative realities and
things that never happened– Often takes the form of “If only…”
constructions dealing with causes and consequences