Chapter 7: Language and thought

Question 1

Aphasia

Answer 1

Difficulty in producing or comprehending language.

Question 2

Language

Answer 2

A system for communicating with others using signals that convey meaning and are combined according to rules of grammar.

Question 3

Lexicalization

Answer 3

The process whereby the thoughts underlying the words are turned into sounds.

Question 4

Phoneme

Answer 4

The smallest unit of sound that is recognizable as speech rather than as random noise, for example ‘ba’ or ‘pa’.

Question 5

Phonological rules

Answer 5

A set of rules that indicate hox phonemes can be combined to produce speech sounds.

Question 6

Morphemes

Answer 6

The smallest meaningful units of language.

Question 7

Grammar

Answer 7

A set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages.

Question 8

Morphological rules

Answer 8

A set of rules that indicate how morphemes can be combined to form words.

Question 9

Syntactical rules

Answer 9

A set of rules that indicate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences.

Question 10

Alignment

Answer 10

The process whereby speakers share a reciprocal arrangement to exchange information.

Question 11

Inference

Answer 11

Speakers generate deeper conceptual understanding based on what has been said.

Question 12

Routine expression

Answer 12

Unambiguous conventions that facilitate language.

Question 13

Speech monitoring and repair

Answer 13

Speakers interact to understand what others are sying by seeking clarification.

Question 14

Fast mapping

Answer 14

The process by which children map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure.

Question 15

Telegraphic speech

Answer 15

Speech that is devoid of function morphemes and consists monthly of content words.

Question 16

Nativist theory

Answer 16

The view that language development is best explained as an innate, biological capacity.

Question 17

Language acquisition device (LAD)

Answer 17

A collection of processes that facilitate language learning.

Question 18

Genetic dysphasia

Answer 18

A syndrome characterized by an inability to learn the grammatical structure of language despite having otherwise normal intelligence.

Question 19

Lexicon

Answer 19

Our mental dictionary.

Question 20

Grapheme

Answer 20

Units of written language that corresponds to a phoneme.

Question 21

Dual-route models

Answer 21

Propose that there are essentially two pathways to the lexicon.

Question 22

Direct lexical route

Answer 22

One where the grapheme maps directly onto the phoneme.

Question 23

Indirect sublexical route

Answer 23

One that does not involve the lexicon at all but maps the grapheme directly onto the pronunciation.

Question 24

Dyslexia

Answer 24

A disorder involving difficulty with reading and writing.

Question 25

Dyslexia

Answer 25

A disorder involving difficulty with reading and writing.

Question 26

Surface dyslexia

Answer 26

People with this disorder are unable to read irregular words.

Question 27

Phonological dyslexia

Answer 27

People with this disorder are unable to read pronounceable non-words.

Question 28

Semantics

Answer 28

Meaning of a word.

Question 29

Semantic priming

Answer 29

The meaning of a word influences the processing of other words that are conceptually related.

Question 30

Deep dyslexia

Answer 30

Readers cannot retrieve the meaning of words.

Question 31

Linguistic determinism hypothesis

Answer 31

Language shapes the nature of thoughts.

Question 32

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

Answer 32

The proposal that language may influence the way we think and perceive.

Question 33

Concept

Answer 33

A mental representation that groups or categorizes shared features of related objects, events or other stimuli.

Question 34

Category-specific deficit

Answer 34

A neurological syndrome characterized by an inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category while leaving the ability to recognize objects outside the category undisturbed.

Question 35

Family resemblance theory

Answer 35

Members of a category have features that appear to be characteristic of category members but may not be possessed by every member.

Question 36

Prototype theory

Answer 36

Our psychological categorization is organized around the properties of the most typical member of the category.

Question 37

Exemplar theory

Answer 37

A theory of categorization that argues that we make category judgement by comparing a new instance with stored memories of other instances of the category.

Question 38

Base rates

Answer 38

The actual likelihood of events occuring.

Question 39

Rational choice theory

Answer 39

The classical view that we make decisions by determining how likely something is to happen, judging the value of the outcome, and then multiplying the two.

Question 40

Availability bias

Answer 40

Items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occurred more frequently.

Question 41

Heuristics

Answer 41

Faster and efficient strategies that may facilitate decision making but do not guarantee that a solution will be reached.

Question 42

Algorithm

Answer 42

A well-defined sequence of procedures or rules that guarantees a solution to a problem.

Question 43

Conjunction fallacy

Answer 43

Thinking that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event.

Question 44

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 44

A mental shortcut that involves making a probability judgement by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event.

Question 45

Framing effects

Answer 45

People give different answers to the same problem depending on how the problem is phrased (or framed).

Question 46

Sunk-cost fallacy

Answer 46

A framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation.

Question 47

Prospect theory

Answer 47

Proposes that people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gain.

Question 48

Frequency format hypothesis

Answer 48

The proposal that our minds evolved to notice how frequently things occur, not how likely they are to occur.

Question 49

System 1 decision making

Answer 49

Operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control.

Question 50

System 2 decision making

Answer 50

Allocates attention to more taxing and mental activities and is often associated with a subjective experience of making choices.

Question 51

Means-ends analysis

Answer 51

A process of searching for the means or steps to reduce the differences between the current situation and the desired goal.

Question 52

Analogical problem solving

Answer 52

Solving a problem by finding a similar problem with a known solution and applying that solution to the current problem.

Question 53

Functional fixedness

Answer 53

The tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed.

Question 54

Reasoning

Answer 54

A mental activity that consists of organizing information or beliefs into a series of steps to reach conclusions.

Question 55

Practical reasoning

Answer 55

Working out what to do, or reasoning directed towards action.

Question 56

Theoretical reasoning

Answer 56

Reasoning directed towards arriving at a belief.

Question 57

Belief bias

Answer 57

People’s judgements about whether to accept conclusions depend more on how believable the conclusions are than on whether the arguments that are assumed to be true.

Question 58

Syllogistic reasoning

Answer 58

Determining whether a conclusion follows from two statements that are assumed to be true.