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PSYCH 1200 > Chapter 8: Thought and Language > Flashcards

Chapter 8: Thought and Language Flashcards

1
Q

_____: the mental
representation of an object,
event, or idea

A

Concept

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2
Q

_____: clusters
of interrelated
concepts

A

Categories

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3
Q

Rule-based categorization
is… _______:
Membership in a category
is all-or-none and all
members are equal

A

Definition-based

ex: all birds are recognized as birds, no matter how different they may look

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4
Q

______:
Members of category
vary in typicality

A

Graded Membership

alters response time, may take longer to recognize more obscure members

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5
Q

what does high typicality mean? low?

A

high typicality means we automatically can place an object/thing (ex: an apple has high typicality as a fruit)

low typicality: more obscure objects, harder to place, takes more time (olives arent as recognizable as fruits)

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6
Q

______: mental
representations of an
average category
member

A

prototypes

explains graded membership

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7
Q

_____: categorization made by comparing stimulus to an
available example from memory (i.e., whatever comes to mind)

A

Exemplars

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8
Q

______ provide information about typicality, ______
provide information about variability within a category

A

Prototypes
exemplars

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9
Q

Categories and concepts organized from general
to more specific in a ______

A

semantic network

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10
Q

do semantic networks have hierarchial organization?

A

yes! subordinate, basic, superorindate

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11
Q

______: Language influences how we experience the world

A

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

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12
Q

________:
Faster and more accurate
discrimination of stimuli
that straddle a colour
boundary

A

Categorical Perception

if we have specific, different names for colours, our reaction time might be faster if we can separate the colours in our mind when given multiple shades of similar colours

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13
Q

_____: common repertoire of thought
and perception that then influences all languages

A

Universalist view
believes everyone is equal in same way

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14
Q

T/F: Languages guide what we pay attention to,
then attention shapes our cognition

A

true

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15
Q

T/F: Languages evolve along predictable lines

A

true!

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16
Q

what view is opposite from linguistic relativity?

A

universalist view

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17
Q

_____: strategies based on following a series of rules

A

Algorithms

trying EVERYTHING in a specific order, how a computer has to solve things

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18
Q

_____: strategies that rely on our prior experiences

A

Heuristics
mental shortcuts, educated guesses

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19
Q

what are our two approaches to solving problems?

A

algorithms and heuristics

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20
Q

_____: Can result from rote
learning during problem
solving with no deeper
understanding of problem
developed

A

mental set

when we’re stuck in our ways… believe/trust things that may not be accurate anymore

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21
Q

______: Occurs when an individual can only think of
an object’s most obvious function

A

functional fixedness

ex: people not recognizing they can use the box to help them stand a candle up against the wall

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22
Q

_______: mistaken belief that finding a
specific member in two overlapping categories is
more likely than finding any member of one of the
larger, general categories

A

Conjunction fallacy

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23
Q

_______: Making judgments of
likelihood based on how
well an example
represents a specific
category

explains gambling, law of small numbers

A

representative heuristic

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24
Q

explain base-rate neglect with doctor/lawyer question

A

Decided based on whether the person resembles their
conception of a lawyer or
engineer (when given a short description of person), rather than using
base-rate likelihood… if theres 70 lawyers in a room and 30 engineers, probs more likely they’re a lawyer

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25
what is the Monty Hall problem? what does it show?
The Monty Hall Problem shows that the best strategy is to always switch doors after Monty reveals a goat. While it might seem like a 50/50 situation after Monty opens a door, the correct probabilistic reasoning reveals that switching gives a 2/3 chance of winning, while staying with the original choice only gives a 1/3 chance. This counterintuitive result can be difficult to grasp at first, but it highlights the importance of understanding probability and how new information (Monty revealing a goat) affects the odds of different outcomes.
26
______: Estimating the frequency of an event based on how easily examples of it come to mind
availability heuristic Frequency information substituted with ease of examples coming to mind
27
what can impact our availability heuristic tendencies?
constant media exposure to certain events can provide an example that is ‘top of mind’... makes shark attacks seem likely, makes planes seem scary (their incidents are over-reported because they're so rare!)
28
T/F: Emotional memories are particularly influential for our availability heuristic
true! ex: nuclear power is our best option for climate change, but people emotionally remember chernobyl so they're innately scared of it... even though its now super safe!
29
Participants asked to provide either 6 or 12 examples from their life when they acted in an assertive manner, what were the results? how does availability heuristic have an impact?
when having to think of LESS answers, people come up with them quicker... convince themselves they MUST be more assertive as a person since they so easily came up with six examples opposite with 12, took more time = less assertive
30
how does framing a question affect our judgement?
we notice extremes more often, because we're constantly trying to justify our decisions we will pick things that can justify our thinking ex: if we frame things as a loss, people become more risk adverse because they don't want to be wrong/ruthless
31
how are two ways we use framing in the real world?
political polls- using names (ex: obamacare) sales and negotiating tactics: anchor people to original price, make them believe sale is so good they cant pass up!
32
______: Tendency to readily accept evidence consistent with our beliefs and to ignore information that refutes them
belief perseverance any counter evidence is resisted
33
______: Tendency to search only for evidence that will confirm our beliefs instead of for evidence that might disconfirm them
confirmation bias
34
what does the Four Card task work? "if a card has a vowel on one side, then it must have an even number on the other side"
people tend to only want to flip cards that are confirming of this theory, when we would really want to flip one card to confirm, one to disconfirm we tend to not seek out disconfirming evidence!
35
how does confirmation bias affect conspiracy theories?
Challenging information reinterpreted to fit with current beliefs its biased, people only internalize info they want to hear
36
how does belief perseverance affect file drawer problem and publication bias?
scientists only publish studies that confirm their beliefs, never those that contradict
37
______: Communication that involves spoken, written, or gestural symbols that are combined in a rule-based form
language
38
what are the four unique features of language?
semanticity productivity displacement socially learned
39
______: the most basic unit of speech sounds
Phonemes
40
T/F: Vocal tract capable of 400 different phonemes, english uses around 44
false! only about 200 different phonemes but english does only use around 44!
41
______: Young infants capable of discriminating all 200 phonemes, but lose this ability around 10 months
Experience-dependent plasticity they retain what they are taught/witness in these first 10 months
42
_______: the smallest meaningful units of a language
Morphemes
43
T/F: About 50,000 morphemes in English – includes root words, prefixes, and suffixes
true!
44
______: Often words are ambiguous and their meaning needs to be considered in the context of how they are being used (e.g., crash/accident vs crash/sound)
semantics how we derive meaning from words, we listen to how they are used! in what context!
44
how can we create new meaning by modifying morphemes?
by adding or subtracting them!
45
______: the rules for combining words and morphemes into meaningful phrases and sentences
Syntax we learn this implicitly, don't know we're actually learning it!
46
________: Sentence syntax evaluated on a word-by-word basis rather than once all the information is available
garden path sentences
47
T/F: Garden path sentences lead you to one misleading or unintended interpretation based on early words in the sentence The old man the boats
true!
48
______: Non-linguistic aspects of language § How context contributes to meaning § Prior knowledge, environment, tone of voice, gestures
pragmatics
49
pragmatics are the _______ of language
informal rules uses social assumptions (like slang!)
50
what is the Wernicke-Geschwind Model of Language?
classical model of language processing in the brain, primarily focused on the brain regions involved in language comprehension and production (Broca's Area and Wernicke's Area)
51
______: disorders of language (not thought) caused by damage to the brain structures that support using and understanding language
Aphasias
52
what happens in Broca’s aphasia?
can understand but not produce language
53
what happens in Wernicke's aphasia?
can produce but with no meaning
54
what are the problems with the Wernicke-Gershwind Model?
Brain damage rarely isolated to region of theoretical interest Isolated damage to Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas rarely produces lasting deficits Language functions more distributed; aphasias associated with widespread damage ■ Localization vs circuits
55
T/F: we're moving towards a circuit-based understanding of the brain
true! things work in relation to eachother!
56
Newborns distinguish function and content words, then prefer the _____ words by 6 months
content they choose words that derive meaning!
57
______: a rapid increase in vocabulary size around 20-24 months aided by ‘fast mapping’
Naming explosion can map a concept when heard!
58
T/F: when experiencing the naming explosion from 20-24 months, babies have a Receptive vocabulary larger than productive vocabulary
true! they understand more words than they can say
59
when does overextension and underextension occur in childhood language development?
around two years over- calling anything round a "ball" under- calling only a tennis ball, "ball"
60
when does overgeneralization occur in childhood language development?
around 3-4 overgeneralization: apply rules of language when not supposed to (don't yet know exceptions) "i runned into the gooses"
61
______ awareness: understanding of how language is being used (puns, metaphors, etc.)
Metalinguistic
62
Between the ages of ____ years children can learn to understand irony and sarcasm (i.e., pragmatics)
6-8
63
______: a time during childhood during which children’s brains are primed to develop language skills
Sensitive period Ability fades starting seventh year ■ Same with sign language, and accents!
64
______: a time during development in which a child needs to be exposed to language or else language skills will not develop normally
Critical period Exposure needs to occur within first 12 years
65
which case study examined the critical period for language?
Genie case study genie wasn't talked to for first 12 years of life... she developed large vocabulary but never mastered more complex language skills.... she missed that critical period
66
what are the costs/benefits to bilingual brains?
Costs ■ Smaller vocabulary in bilingual children ■ Word access diminished in adulthood compared to unilingual adults Benefits ■ Executive functions improved ■ Potential health benefits
67
T/F: benefits often outweigh costs of being bilingual
very true! great for brain health and many of the "costs" go away with time... vocabulary increases during adulthood and might only experience some difficulty pulling words to front of mind
68
_______: children acquire sentence structure and syntax through imitation and operant conditioning - B.F. Skinner (1950s)
Behaviourist theory
69
T/F: Many aspects of language have a learned component (Accents are product of environment, not genetics) hep confirm behaviourist theory
true... but some children still make errors even when corrected... can't just be behavioural
70
______: assumes humans have a native (genetic) predisposition to develop language effortlessly - Noam Chomsky (1950s)
Nativist theory
71
T/F: Pace of language acquisition consistent across cultures what theory does this confirm
true! nativist theory of language
72
______: common grammatical building blocks present in all languages - Nouns/verbs, subjects/objects
Universal grammar
73
is the behaviourist or nativist theory of language better?
no better options, limitations to both... nature and nuture interact equally in all cases!
74
______: language development involves both biology and experience
Interactionist theory Special emphasis on the need for social interaction for proper language development ■ Balanced approach to nature-nurture debate- makes it the more modern (and probably correct) theory!
75
_____: individual raised as a member of a different species
Cross-fostering studies
76
what animal was used in the Cross-fostering studies?
viki (chimpanzee!) closest evolutionary relative to humans, thought they SHOULD learn english relatively easily (only learned four words... vocal apparatus is different! doomed from the start)
77
after viki, what was focus shifted to in animal language studies?
shifted to sign language ( so biology doesn't influence results) Washoe taught ~350 ASL signs Koko taught ~1000 GSL signs however, Nim study questioned all of it
78
why did the Nim study question everything about animals learning ASL and GSL?
Nim would only copy everything, didn't actually have an understanding of the language she used trainer thought other researchers came to care about their other gorillas, interpreted results where there were none
79
why was Koko the gorilla able to learn so many more words compared to Washoe?
Koko was taught GSL... made specifically for gorilla hands!
80
what was the lexigram approach in animal language studies?
Kanzi (bonobo) used Lexigram board comprised of symbols that represent various objects and ideas - Understood 350 symbols and 3,000 spoken words could measure/quantify responses with no subjectivity from researchers on meaning of words
81
T/F: Dolphins learn syntactic rules in an artificial gestural language
true
82
T/F: Chaser (border collie) learned over 3000 words
false, only 1000... could bring you any 1000 of its toys (individually named!)
83
T/F: Alex (African grey parrot) could say ~150 words to identify shapes, colours, numbers, etc
true!
84
what are the two ways animals can communicate?
by displacement- physically through semantics- context clues
85
whats an example of animal displacement communication?
honeybee waggle dance! communicating about things in different places using physical movement
86
whats an example of animal semantics communication?
Referential alarm calls function as primitive words monkeys use eagle alarms, leopard alarms, snake alarms... they can discern meaning from context clues
87
T/F: Like humans, some select animal groups also need to learn species- typical vocalizations to communicate properly
true! ex: transmission of whale songs! in different territories they have different songs... shared over time!
88
is human language unique?
yes and no All forms of animal communication, human or otherwise, exist along a continuum Evolutionary building blocks of language can be found in other species but may be what makes us dominant...

PSYCH 1200 (8 decks)

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