Chapter 4—Cognition and Language

Question 1

Cognition

Answer 1

Process by which our brains acquire knowledge and understanding of that knowledge through experience, sensations, and thought

Question 2

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Answer 2

1. Sensorimotor Stage (birth-age 2)—we experience the world exclusively through sensing our environment; develop object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist even though we are not looking at or touching them
2. Preoperational Stage (age 2-age 7)—develop symbolic thinking, in which we learn that things and ideas can be represented through symbols (e.g. words, gestures, pictures); we tend to focus on a single aspect of a experience (centration); inability to comprehend conservation; we don’t understand that other people have thoughts and perceptions different from our own (egocentric)
3. Concrete Operational Stage (age 7-age 11)—we develop an understanding of conversation and the ability to begin to grasp mathematics; we become less egocentric, gaining the ability to consider that other people have different perspectives; we can think logically about concrete events and objects, but cannot think abstractly
4. Formal Operational Stage (age 12-adulthood)—we develop the abilities of abstract and moral reasoning

Question 3

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Answer 3

Insisted that there are substantial difference in the cognitive abilities of children and adults

When we encounter new experiences, we either assimilate those experiences into our existing schemas or we accommodate to them by adjusting our existing schemas

Question 4

Schemas

Answer 4

Patterns of thought that serve to organize information gained from our personal experiences and beliefs into categories

Question 5

Deductive Reasoning

Answer 5

Process of solving a problem by beginning with a set of rules and drawing conclusions and solutions from those rules

Also known as top-down reasoning

Question 6

Inductive Reasoning

Answer 6

Process of solving a problem by beginning with particular instances or information and drawing conclusions and solutions from them

Also known as bottom-up reasoning

Question 7

Representativeness Heuristic

Answer 7

Tendency to make decisions about actions or events based upon our standard representations of those events

Question 8

Availability Heuristic

Answer 8

Tendency to make decisions about how likely an action or event is based upon how readily available similar information is in our memories

Question 9

Belief Bias

Answer 9

Tendency to make judgements based upon personal beliefs rather than logic

Question 10

Confirmation Bias

Answer 10

Tendency to focus on information that is in agreement with the beliefs we already have, rather than the information that is contrary to those beliefs

Question 11

Overconfidence

Answer 11

Occurs when an individual overestimates the accuracy and validity of their judgements and knowledge

Question 12

Belief Perserverance

Answer 12

Tendency to stick with one’s initial beliefs about something even after receiving new information that disproves or nullifies that initial belief

Question 13

Intuition

Answer 13

Ability, developed by experience, to make choices or decisions based on ideas or perceptions that are not evident based on available information

Question 14

Emotion

Answer 14

Instinctive state of mind based upon mood, circumstances, and relationships

Question 15

Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Answer 15

Developed by Howard Gardner

Accounts for seven distinct types of intelligence—bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, and visual-spatial

Question 16

Language Acquisition

Answer 16

Refers to the way in which infants rapidly develop a capacity for their native tongue

Question 17

Learning Theory

Answer 17

Developed by B. F. Skinner (also known as Behaviorist Theory)

Suggests that since language use is a form of behavior, language acquisition is a direct result of operant conditioning, which results from an infant behaving in a particular way and its parents positively reinforcing their behavior, causing the infant to continue behaving in that particular way

Question 18

Nativist Theory

Answer 18

Developed by Noam Chomsky (also known as the Biological Theory)

Centered around the language acquisition device, an innate element of the brain that allows us to gain a mastery of language simply through limited exposure during sensitive developmental years

Question 19

Social Interactionist Theory

Answer 19

Suggests that language develops from the relationship between biological and social phenomena

Language acquisition is motivated by a child’s desire to communicate and behave socially

Question 20

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

Answer 20

Developed by Benjamin Whorf (also known as the Whorfian Hypothesis)

Suggests that our perception of reality is dependent upon the content of the language that we speak

Question 21

Broca’s Area

Answer 21

Responsible for the production of speech

Located in the left hemisphere of the frontal lobe

Question 22

Wernicke’s Area

Answer 22

Responsible for the comprehension of speech and written language

Located in the back of the temporal lobe