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PSYA01 > chapter 9: language & thought > Flashcards

chapter 9: language & thought Flashcards

1
Q

language

A

the grouping of spoken, written, or gestured symbols used to convey information

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2
Q

productivity

A

the creation of new messages, humans can connect unrelated information to form new ideas or messages

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3
Q

Koshik the elephant

A

mimics sounds (Korean) that he overheard, doesn’t have meanings to him

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4
Q

tonal languages

A
  • rely on changes in pitch to alter a word’s meaning (Mandarin)
  • children become skilled at detecting pitch differences and are more likely to exhibit perfect pitch then those exposed to intonation language
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5
Q

intonation languages

A

uses pitch to convey feelings (English)

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6
Q

stages of language acquisitions

A
  • 3 months old, narrowing of perception, show the ability to connect speech sounds with objects
  • 8 months old, babies show a declined ability to distinguish between sounds not commonly used in their native language
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7
Q

grammar

A

refers to the systematic rules of a language

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8
Q

syntax

A

structure and consistent ordering of words within a language

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9
Q

birth to 3 months

A

babies would have started orienting to sounds in the environment, making cooing and gurgling sounds, and crying due to needs

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10
Q

4 to 6 months

A

babies crying expressively, responding to name and making early vowel and consonant sounds, starting to mimic sounds

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11
Q

7 to 18 months

A

able to copying hand gestures with meanings, responding to simple commands, mimic words not just sounds, able to use simple one-word phrases, less sensitive to non-native vowel and consonant sounds

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12
Q

2 to 3 years

A

able to match objects to names, to use 2-4 word sentences to communicate, to follow multi-step instructions and prepositions

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13
Q

4 to 5 years

A

correctly using simple grammar rules, memorized and recited simple songs, using full sentences to tell stories, able to draw pictures and elaborate on meanings behind image

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14
Q

how is grammar and syntax different

A

the rules of grammar include the meaning of words, the internal structure of words, and the arrangement of words
syntax rules are only concerned with the order of words

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15
Q

B.F. Skinner

A
  • major figure for championing the study of observable behaviours
  • argued that environmental influences strongly dictated language development
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16
Q

Noam Chomsky

A

urged for the consideration of biological constraints on language development

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17
Q

verbal behaviour

A

ideas from B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning are applied to language to focus on language as a form of behaviour, posits that language is formed from a series of reinforcements (strengthened and weakened based on consequences)

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18
Q

when do babies become “expert” in language

A

as early as 3 years old

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19
Q

what are some environmental factors that affect the development of language

A

rewards and punishments, tone adults use, parental behaviour and styles

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20
Q

nativism

A

the belief that certain abilities are built into our brains

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21
Q

language acquisition device (LAD)

A

a hypothetical mechanism in the brain responsible for the faculty of language

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22
Q

critical period

A

a theoretical stage in development when it is necessary for children to receive environmental stimulation in order to promote healthy development

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23
Q

language learning curve

A

relatively slow period of acquisition until the age of 7-12 months, and shift to absorb words at a lightning pace until around age 5

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24
Q

sensitive period

A

throughout development, the neurological system is more malleable during early development but is still modifiable later in life with the proper environmental stimulation

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25
innate factors that influence language development
brain appear "ready" to acquire language at birth, noun bias, grammar, gesturing order
26
SOV and SVO
subject-object-verb and subject-verb-object order that seems to be innate in humans
27
development of Nicaraguan Sign Language
used to examine a genetic predisposition to create language, but its advancement highlights the impact of environmental influences
28
what we learned from the nature-nurture debate
human language is a dynamic interaction between inherited biology, environmental factors, and social pressures
29
emergentist perspective
attempts to integrate the nativist and environmentalist approaches to explain the complexities of language
30
nativist approach
focus heavily on how an inherited speech bias and early flexibility prepare us to learn language
31
environmental perspective
emphasize that our development of speech is dependent on our exposure to, and familiarity with, our native language
32
Broca's area
located in the frontal lobe that is responsible for motor production of speech
33
Wernicke's area
located in the temporal lobe that is responsible for comprehension of language
34
aphasia
the inability, or difficulty, to produce speech (early signed of degenerative dementia)
35
Broca's aphasia
difficulty with the motor production of language, also known as non-fluent aphasia
36
Broca's discoveries
- there may be a module in the brain controlling speech - language production is predominantly controlled by the left hemisphere, which helped explain hemispheric lateralization
37
hemispheric lateralization
certain functions, such as language, are more dominantly controlled by one hemisphere of the brain compared to the other
38
primary progressive aphasia
a type of dementia that addresses patients that primarily present with language impairments, such as forming coherent sentences, remembering correct words to use, or understanding words
39
Wernicke's aphasia
also referred to as fluent aphasia, a type of aphasia with poor comprehension, speech is effortless but the meaning is impaired
40
prosody
speech patterns, or melody, of speech
41
early models of language suggested
- auditory information is first processed by the auditory cortex and sent to Wernicke's area to be processed for meaning - when we are thinking of what to say, Wernicke's area organizes speech and projects that comprehensible message to Broca's area for motor output and production
42
backmasking
when songs are played backwards, comprehensible messages can sometimes be constructed, it becomes easier to comprehend these messages after we know the lyrics and what to expect
43
mental lexicon
the storage of words and related concepts (50,000 to 100,000 words)
44
phonemes
the smallest unit of language (the sound a letter represents)
45
morphemes
the smallest unit of a word that conveys meaning (smallest standalone portion of a word)
46
semantic
the meaning of a word
47
semantic network of stored information
allows us to put a word in context, retrieve relevant responses, and detect errors in usage
48
item-by-item comparison
time consuming and inefficient
49
family resemblance theory
argues we classify things based broadly on its similarity or dissimilarity to other members of the category
50
prototype
the most common, or typical, form a word assumes when we imagine it
51
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
also referred to as linguistic relativity, posits that the structural differences in language can alter one's perception and understanding of reality
52
dual-task interference
occurs when a person is attempting to simultaneously complete tasks that complete for mental or physical resources
53
Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST)
requires participants to match cards of different coloured and grouped shapes by a designated rule, the rule is learned by trial and error
54
language deficits in Wernicke's area
decreases one's ability to logically solve the rules and interfered with their ability to integrate the feedback given
55
problem solving
commonly viewed as a sequential process involving this initial motivational state and the desired end-goal state
56
mental set
one's expectation of how to solve a problem (prior experience narrows our focus and decreases ability to try new strategies)
57
functional fixedness
the tendency to view an object as only having one function, the one that is commonly used for, and neglecting to see other possible uses
58
algorithms
a precise set of rules applied in order to solve a problem
59
trial-and-error
commonly used when there are limited number of available options
60
brute-force tactic
exhaustive technique that requires the program to go through every possible solution, one at a time
61
heuristics
short-cut rules that are applied to solve problems, may not lead to accurate solutions but work to provide quick and efficient solutions
62
means-end heuristic
a problem-solving strategy which involves the problem solver to envision the desired, goal-state, and take whatever measures necessary to attain that goal
63
representative heuristic
a problem-solving strategy which involves the problem solver mentally comparing something to our stored prototype of an event, object, or person (help us intuitively solve problems quickly but ignore the base-rate information or probabilities)
64
availability heuristic
a problem-solving strategy which predicts we make judgments based on how easily instances of the same events are to retrieve from our memory, or how available those memories are
65
preparation stage
the first step to a creative process that involves gathering knowledge and proficiency with a topic
66
expertise
allows us to focus on important aspects of a task and not become inundated with irrelevant details
67
incubation stage
second stage of creativity that requires the idea to sit in the back of your mind while you consciously work on something unrelated, it is suggested that memory helps you process the information and makes helpful connections, which is implicated in sleep)
68
illumination stage
"aha moment", the third stage of creativity known to follow a period of slight pre-awareness but often come as a surprise
69
evaluation stage
the final stage of creativity when you evaluate your inspired idea and assess whether it is a creative and worthy solution
70
confirmation bias
the tendency to seek out information that already confirms our ideas or beliefs and ignore information that says otherwise
71
framing
when our decisions are influenced by the way information is presented (positive or negative)
72
biases
created by our tendency to use heuristics to find efficient solutions to problems
73
intuition
using semantic network to make assumptions about the world around us and better predict what we'll encounter
74
system 1 thinking
predominantly relies on emotional systems and stored experiences to guide thinking (help us make faster, more intuitive decisions)
75
the cognitive reflection test
used to assess the likelihood that a person will overrule our initial, heuristic-based decisions
76
system 2 thinking
"logical thinking", relies on logical, rational thinking, which counteracts those initial, intuitive thought processes

PSYA01 (8 decks)

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