PSY101 - Chapter 9: Thinking and Language Flashcards Preview

PSY > PSY101 - Chapter 9: Thinking and Language > Flashcards

Flashcards in PSY101 - Chapter 9: Thinking and Language Deck (29)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

Cognition

A

All the mental activites associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, communication.

2
Q

Problem Solving

A

Algorithms: methodical, step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution.
Heuristics: simple thinking strategies that allow us to solve problems efficiently, speedier but more error prone.

3
Q

Obstacles to Problem Solving

A
  1. Confirmation Bias: the tendency to seek out info that should confirm out theory and to not seek out or ignore info that might falsify our theory.
  2. Falsification: (Popper) we can show that the consequences of a theory/idea are not empirically supported. - If P, then Q. If not Q, then not P.
  3. Fixation: our inability to see a problem from a new perspective, employing a different mental set.
  4. Functional Fixedness: our tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions.
4
Q

The Representativeness Heuristic

A

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent/match particular prototypes.

5
Q

The Availability Heuristic

A

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory (how readily they come to mind).

5
Q

Intuitive Heuristics

A

Representative and availability.

6
Q

Overconfidence

A

Tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge and judgments. (brought on my intuitive heuristics and eagerness to confirm the beliefs we already hold)

7
Q

Belief Perseverance

A

Our tendency to cling to our initial concepts even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.
–Capitol punishment

8
Q

Framing

A

The way an issue is posed significantly affects decisions and judgments.
– condom failure rate

10
Q

Anchoring

A

Final judgments and behaviors are assimilated or become more similar to an initial anchor value.
–nuclear war probability.

11
Q

Language

A

Refers to our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them as we think and communicate.
–arbitrary: sounds produced to resemble a word do not reflect the meaning of the word.

12
Q

Phonemes

A

Smallest distinctive sound unit in language.

13
Q

Morphemes

A

The smallest unit that carries meaning in language, including words such as “bag,” and parts of words, such as prefixes.

14
Q

Grammar

A

System of rules that enables us to communicate, including rules for deriving meaning from morphemes (semantics), and rules for ordering words to form sentences (syntax).

15
Q

Language Development

A

Children learn their native languages much before learning to add 2+2.
After age 1, we learn ~3,500 words a year, 60,000 by the time we graduate high school.

15
Q

Language acquisition device

A

Neurological system which allows us to understand and produce language.

16
Q

Babbling

A

4 months: the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds, first unrelated to household language, then related.

17
Q

One-word Stage

A

Around first birthday: stage of speech development in which the child speaks mostly in single words.

18
Q

Two-word Speech

A

Around second birthday: the stage of speech development during which a child speaks mainly in two-word statements.

19
Q

The Speaker

A

The stage of speech development in which a child begins uttering longer phrases.

20
Q

Language Processing

A

Understanding and producing language.

21
Q

Damage to Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas

A

Broca’s: inability to produce speech.

Wernicke’s: inability to understand speech.

22
Q

Language Influence on Thinking

A

People express different profiles of personality traits depending on the language in which they take the test.
Expanding vocabulary expands your ability to think - read good writing.

23
Q

Tetsuro Matsuzawa

A

Studied chimps’ ability to remember and relate numbers.

24
Q

Difference Between Human and Animal Communication Systems

A
  1. Apes have difficulty acquiring even their limited vocabularies, unlike human children.
  2. May be a result of behavior shaping.
  3. Lack human syntax.
25
Q

Nondeclarative (Procedural) Memory

A

Thinking of something in images rather than in words.

26
Q

Outcome Simulation

A

Mentally visualizing an outcome.

27
Q

Process Simulation

A

Mentally visualizing a process/action.

28
Q

Effect of Thinking on Language

A

Thinking affects our language, which then affects our thought.