Language and Thought (Chapter 9)

Question 1

Language

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Grammar

Answer 2

Set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages

Question 3

Human language (is unique because)

Answer 3

We have words representing intangible things

Question 4

Phonemes

Answer 4

Smallest distinctive sound units in language (40-44 in English language)

Question 5

Morphemes

Answer 5

Smallest language unit that carry meaning

Question 6

Behaviorist explanations for language

Answer 6

It is easily learned through operant conditioning and imitation

Question 7

Nativist explanations for language

Answer 7

Language is innate, humans have universal grammar: collection of processes that facilitate language learning

Question 8

Interactionist explanations for language

Answer 8

Social interactions play a crucial role in language, along with innate language abilities

Question 9

Broca’s area

Answer 9

Controls language expression—an area of the left frontal lobe

Question 10

Wernicke’s area

Answer 10

Controls language reception —involved in language comprehension; left temporal lobe

Question 11

Linguistic relativity

Answer 11

Structure of a language affects its speakers’ worldview or cognition, and thus people’s perceptions are relative to their spoken language

Question 12

Cognition

Answer 12

The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, judging, problem solving, and remembering.

Question 13

Concepts

Answer 13

Mental category that groups objects, activities, abstractions, or qualities having a common properties

Question 14

Mental image

Answer 14

A representation in the mind that mirrors or resembles the thing it represents

Question 15

Prototype

Answer 15

A typical best example or cognitive representation of something within a certain category

Question 16

Dunning-Kruger Effect

Answer 16

a cognitive bias in which people assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is (invisible lemon man)

Question 17

Intuition

Answer 17

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

Question 18

System 1

Answer 18

Fast - operates automatically and involuntarily; unconscious, can’t be stopped, and runs continuously. 98%

Question 19

System 2

Answer 19

Slow - only called upon when necessary to reason, compute, analyze and solve problems. Confirms or corrects. 2%

Question 20

Trial and error

Answer 20

Random problem-solving by trying one solution after another

Question 21

Algorithm

Answer 21

Methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees a solution to a problem

Question 22

Heuristic

Answer 22

Simpler strategy that is usually speedier than an algorithm but is also more error prone. (mental rule-of-thumb)

Question 23

Insight

Answer 23

Not a strategy-based solution, but rather a sudden flash of inspiration that solves a problem. (insight-related activity is centered in the right temporal lobe)

Question 24

Confirmation bias

Answer 24

Tendency to gather evidence that confirms preexisting expectations

Question 25

Belief perseverance

Answer 25

Tendency to cling to beliefs in the face of contrary evidence

Question 26

Functional fixedness

Answer 26

Bias that limits a person to use an object only in the way it is traditionally used

Question 27

Mental set

Answer 27

Tendency to approach a problem with a mind-set that has worked successfully in the past

Question 28

Availability heuristic

Answer 28

Mental shortcut that involves judging the possibility of an event on the basis of how easily the event can be recalled from memory

Question 29

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 29

Mental shortcut that involves estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; which can lead us to ignore relevant information

Question 30

Framing effect

Answer 30

People decide on options based on whether the options are presented with positive or negative connotations; as a loss or as a gain

Question 31

Divergent thinking

Answer 31

Creative thinking that diverges in different directions. Expands the number of possible problem solutions (frontal lobe)

Question 32

Convergent thinking

Answer 32

Narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution (parietal lobe)

Question 33

Sunk-cost fallacy

Answer 33

People make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation

Question 34

Optimism bias

Answer 34

People believe that, compared with other individuals, they are more likely to experience positive events and less likely to experience negative events in the future

Question 35

Prospect theory

Answer 35

People choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains

Question 36

Prospect theory: certainty effect / expected utility

Answer 36

People simplify the available information / choose the prospect with the best value

Question 37

Illusory truth effect

Answer 37

Repeated exposure to a statement increases the likelihood that people will judge the statement to be true