chapter 9

Question 1

Thinking -> concepts

Answer 1

concepts:
- mental groupings of objects, events, ideas….
- “common ground” for communication

Question 2

concepts -> prototype

Answer 2

• mental image of best example of a category

Question 3

prototypes and categories

Answer 3

• as ideas/experiences shift from the prototype our memory drifts away

Question 4

problem solving -> How do we use concepts?

Answer 4

• what routes/strategies do people follow?
  
  • trial and error approaches

Question 5

algorithms and heuristics

Answer 5

• algorithm: each letter combination (thousands of permutations)
  - step-by-step procedure that guarantees and solution
• heuristic common linguistics used. (cognitive manner)
  - an informal method or guideline
  - “rule of thumb”

Question 6

insight

Answer 6

• abrupt, true-seeming, and often satisfying solution

Question 7

neural basis of insight

Answer 7

• testing insight -> Kounis et al.
  - find one word that will turn simple words into compound nouns (like “horsepower”)

Question 8

neural basis insight -> AHA moment

Answer 8

• before AHA! moment; the frontal lobe is active and suppresses dominant ideas of the problem
• During AHA! moment; the right temporal lobe allows for distant relations to be considered

Question 9

functional fixedness

Answer 9

• tendency to only use objects in a customary way

Question 10

functional fixedness -> mental set

Answer 10

mental set:
- a pre-determined approach to a problem

Question 11

confirmation bias

Answer 11

• tendency to search for support for our intuitions

Question 12

decision making

Answer 12

intuition: instinctive reasoning
- guides our daily decisions
- useful when:
- there is too much information for systematic deliberation
-

Question 13

decision making errors

Answer 13

• availability heuristic
  
  • estimate how likely events are based on how mentally available they are
    - ease of retrieval
    - example: likelihood of being in a plane crash

Question 14

the availability heuristic

Answer 14

• difficult to reason with less available information:
  - COVID-19 precautions
  - climate change

Question 15

overconfidence

Answer 15

• decisions can be wrong because of overconfidence
  
  • overestimate accuracy of our knowledge and judgments
  • inaccurate budgeting of money for the future
  • inaccurate budgeting of time

Question 16

belief perseverance

Answer 16

• tendency to cling to beliefs when counterevidence is present
• take a personal stance on topics
• ignore out tendencies to be wrong
• ignore source information

Question 17

use of intuition

Answer 17

• intuition is analysis “frozen into habit”
  
  • practice and expertise lead to accurate use of intuition
  • a foundation for quick judgment is present
  • experience and “chicken sexers” - not intuition, but shaped by years of experience of pattern recognition

Question 18

misuse of intuition: police detection

Answer 18

• police investigators are often no more accurate than others in detecting deception (Bartol & Bartol, 2019, p. 102)
  
  • extremely confident in their own ability to tell who is lying
  • this confidence comes from their years of experience and from specialized training
  • but this training only improves their accuracy to the just-better-than-chance odds

Question 19

use of intuition

Answer 19

• intuition can be adaptive
  
  • allows for quick reactions
  • can be helpful with little information
  • gut reaction to new spouse can predict marital happiness

Question 20

beware of intuition

Answer 20

• “intuition” is sometimes just shorthand for prejudice
  
  • be aware of your prejudices and blind spots
  • be willing to consider information that is unsettling
  • engage in reality testing

Question 21

concepts

Answer 21

• neural activation changes with these concepts
  - apes like seeing “catlike” or “doglike” photos

Question 22

Wolfgang Kohler

Answer 22

• gestalt psychology
  - “insight learning”

Question 23

anthorpomoprphism

Answer 23

• attribute human characteristics or behavior to non-human entities
  -pro: can promote wildlife conservation
  -con: may cause a misunderstanding of animal behaviors

Question 24

language

Answer 24

• spoken, written, or signed words and their combination
• the purpose is to communicate meaning

Question 25

defining language

Answer 25

• three principles for constituting language:
  
  • symbolic units that stand for meaning or reference
  • symbol system is shared by all in the language culture
  • language must enable communication

Question 26

language -> universal human capacity

Answer 26

• “biologically primary”
• “core competence”
  every human society has a language

Question 27

linguistics

Answer 27

• study of language as proper discipline
• Chomsky (linguist) used language as a argument against behaviorism (nature instead of nurture)

Question 28

psycholinguistics

Answer 28

• the study of language as it is used and learned by people

Question 29

Language structure

Answer 29

• phonemes
  - smallest distinctive sound units
  
  • BAT -> b, a, t

Question 30

how many phonemes does English have?

Answer 30

around 40

Question 31

morphemes

Answer 31

• smallest language units that carry meaning
  
  • Readers -> Read, -er, s

Question 32

how many morphemes does English have?

Answer 32

100,000

Question 33

how many word forms are in the dictionary

Answer 33

around 616,500

Question 34

Grammar

Answer 34

• system of rules that enables communication
  - semantics and syntax

Question 35

Noam Chomsky

Answer 35

• universal grammar
• all languages share basic features