PSYC 426 study guide for final exam part 2 Flashcards
What is decision-making? Compare and contrast the open-loop, closed-loop, and
naturalistic models of decision-making.
Decision-making is identifying the best choice and taking action. Higher order cognitive process among several alternatives.
Open loop model: Linear structure Presentation of alternatives/choice options, which form the “branches” of the decision tree. Beliefs about the probabilities of events in the world. Subjective evaluative reactions to outcomes of each decision. Involves heuristics and biases.
Closed loop model: Decision-maker collaborates with their environment in order to complete a task through repeated decisions. Information from the environment leads to a choice; an action is executed and results in changes in the environment.
Then, feedback is processed to reinforce (or not) the decision. Problem information, decisions, and outcome information all influence and reinforce one another. Goals/external events contribute problem information as well. I.e. “decisions from experience” of outcomes
Naturalistic Model: Naturalistic decision-making (NDM) → Lipshitz, Klein, Orasanu, & Salas (2001) Studies decision-making in the “wild,” e.g. where actual decision-makers draw conclusions from realistic situations & scenarios that are relevant to their specific experience/knowledge. Differs from traditional models Methods (field observations, interviews) Participants (actual decision-makers/situations; e.g., firefighters) Involves recognizing a situation as prototypical through cues, development of expectancies/goals, and identification of a typical course of action that can then be implemented to completion or generate further alternatives.
Firefighters and people who had to make decisions in emergency situations.
What is a cognitive heuristic? What purpose does it serve?
Mental “short cuts;” → i.e., mental strategies and processes that cognitive systems use to quickly make judgments, choices, and/or solve problems.
They are intended to find the choices/solutions that are most likely to be correct. Aim to maximize efficiency, i.e., minimize effort while ensuring the best outcome. However, not always accurate.
Describe three categories of cognitive heuristics. Give an example of some of the biases involved.
(1) Representativeness
Probabilities of outcomes are estimated by representativeness, i.e. similarity to prototypes in our mind. Biases: estimation that outcomes and protoypes are more similar than they actually are.
E.g., what is the gestational period of an African elephant?
(2) Availability
Probabilities of outcomes are estimated by how available they are to us; i.e. by how easily we can bring them up in our mind. Biases: estimation of outcomes based on our exposure to probabilities, rather than the actual values. E.g.,
Are we more likely to die from a falling coconut or be murdered by a serial killer?
(3) Adjustment and Anchoring
Probabilities of outcomes are estimated by starting with an initial value, which is then adjusted. Biases: estimation of outcomes is affected by the initial value.
E.g., haggling, salary negotiation. Come up with an estimate.
What are the duel processes involved in decision-making? Give some examples of how these manifest in real life.
Two different systems to make decisions. System 1 is much more quick with heuristics, such as a sound from a lion turn back quickly.
System 1 Unconscious reasoning. Automatic, bottom-up, fast-paced system. Involves short cuts (e.g., heuristics). E.g., orient toward a sudden loud sounds, detect anger in a face/voice, read a sign.
System 2 Conscious reasoning. Effortful, top-down, slow system. Thought to be specific to humans (and perhaps primates). E.g., do your taxes, remember directions, listen to a lecture.
The __________ model states that decision-making occurs through feedback loops
comprised of info about the problem, decisions, and subsequent outcomes.
closed-loop model
True or False: System 1 involves effortful, top-down, conscious reasoning (e.g., doing your taxes).
False.
After Hurricane Katrina in 2006, the number of new flood insurance policies purchased nationwide tripled, although flood risk remained unchanged. This is an example of which heuristic?
Availability
True or False: The naturalistic decision-making model (NDM) studies how decisions are made in the “wild;” i.e. by real people in real situations.
True.
What is linguistics? What sorts of questions does the field aim to address?
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Involves numerous subfields: Developmental linguistics. Neurolinguistics. Forensic linguistics. Applied linguistics. Computational linguistics.
What are three theoretical approaches to linguistics? Compare and contrast them
(1) Externalism:
Relevant Phenomena: Actual written/spoken material from real language users.
Subject Matter: Language use; structural properties of observable languages.
Aim/Question: Describe structure and relational properties of language expressions; predict properties based on observations.
Explanation: Properties of languages are derived, allowing for descriptive power and predictive ability.
(2) Emergentism
Relevant Phenomena: Social cognition; communication, interaction, etc.
Subject Matter: Language as it relates to communication and interaction between systems.
Aim/Question: To explain the structural properties of language by the cognitive mechanisms involved & communicative functions.
Explanation: A system for linguistic communication based on cultural context and factors.
(3) Essentialism.
Relevant Phenomena: Intrinsic properties of language; the intuitive, universal components.
Subject Matter: Abstract principles/rules that govern properties of different languages
Aim/Question: To identify abstract linguistic principles that are present across languages & innate.
Explanation: Set of abstract, internalized rules that explain linguistic expression regardless of specific language.
What are some of the components involved in language/the field of linguistics? Name
and describe them.
Phonetics: How do human make/perceive sounds? I.e. the mechanics.
Phonology: Phonemes, sound units that distinguish words from one another.
Morphology, Morpheme: smallest unit in a language that has meaning.
Syntax: Rules, that govern sentence structure, namely word order.
Semantics, What does it actually mean?
Pragmatics, How does the context affect/contribute to the meaning?
Is language an innate or learned ability? What evidence supports each view?
Emergentist vs. Essentialist view
Emergentist: language acquisition is dependent on interactions with the environment and learning.
Essentialist: language acquisition has a strong, dominant genetic component; i.e. there are syntactic rules that are innate, with which we are born.
Contemporary view More general cognition is at play; children utilize general cognitive principles and experience to gradually acquire language capabilities.
Emergentist evidence:
Children learn language through observation and reinforcement; as certain sounds and structures elicit desired outcomes, they pair this communication process with these outcomes. E.g., Behaviorism (Skinner, 1957). Child says “milk,” mother provides praise and brings milk, child learns to associate word with favorable outcome (Ambridge & Lieven, 2011). Child expects an incorrect grammatical structure, it doesn’t happen, negative reinforcement leads to learning (Michael Ramscar). → error-driven process. Thus, language is entirely the product of our experiences and interactions.
Essentialist evidence
Universal grammar (Chomsky, 1965) We are born with a set of rules about the structure of language; these rules govern our language use irrespective of cultural background, specific native language, etc. These rules have a genetic basis and do not depend on experience/learning. As we are exposed to our environment, we adopt specific syntactic rules that are in line with UG and our specific linguistic environment. “Genetic endowment, external data, principles not specific to Faculty of Language.” E.g., “held” vs. “holded” E.g., pidgin/Creole language
True or False: Chomsky advocated for the emergentist view of language and believed that we gradually acquire the ability to communicate using cultural cues and our experience in the world.
False.
___________ are the smallest units in a language that have meaning.
Morphemes
____________ studies the mechanics of how we produce units of sounds.
Phononetics
True or False: Externalism is more concerned with defining language by its communicative properties, while emergentism is more concerned with the language itself.
False.
True or False: The idea of evolution and how our linguistic capabilities evolve supports Chomsky’s idea of a universal grammar.
False.
What is AI? What are some of the considerations in defining and approaching this field?
Endeavor of replicating human/animal intelligence in non-biological systems (i.e. machines).
Key concepts Knowledge, representation, Learning, Reasoning, Language processing.
What are some of the ways that AI approaches have been conceptualized, according to Russell and Norvig (2009)?
Human-based and Ideality Rationality
What is the Turing Test? Has a machine been able to beat it?
Can a machine be linguistically indistinguishable from a human? Machine and human respond, have another human decide whether answer was machine or not.
If human judge cannot do better than 50/50 at correctly identifying information, then the machine has passed the test. No machine has been able to do it.
