1.
2.
Language and Thought
The Late 19 th Century
a. Theorists focused on the mind
i.
Introspection
(1) Wundt
3.
The Early 20th Century
a. Early 20th Century behaviorists rejected “inner” phenomena and focused on overt responses
b. From 1912 through 1960 Behaviorism was king.
i.
Watson
ii.
Skinner
iii.
Hull
iv.
Even Bandura
c. It dominated psychological thinking is a way that is hard to understand today.
4.
The Late 20th Century
a. The Cognitive Revolution dates from a 1956 conference on the Empirical Study of Cognition
i.
Simon and Newell
(1) Problem solving
5.
ii.
Chomsky
(1) New model of language
iii.
Miller
(1) Memory
Cognitive Psychology
a. Seeks to study how people think, problem solve, make decisions, communicate, understand
concepts and access memory
b. Concepts
i.
Cognition
(1) Mentally processing information; thinking; information processing
ii.
Internal Representation
(1) Mental expression of a problem or situation
iii.
Concept
(1) Generalized idea representing a class of related objects or events
iv.
Language
(1) Words or symbols, and rules for combining them, that are used for thinking and
communication
v.
6.
Thought
(1) Mental activity associated with understanding, processing, and communicating
Language
7.
Characteristics
a. Defined
i.
Symbolism used to communicate ideas and concepts and problem solve
b. All Language share three things in common
i.
Semanticity
(1) True language conveys thoughts in a meaningful way with symbols
ii.
Generativity
(1) The ability to combine words in new ways
iii.
Displacement
(1) Ability to talk about objects that are not present
8.
Linguistics
a. Phonology
i.
Sound
b. Morphology
i.
Meaningful unit
c. Semantics
i.
Word
d. Syntax
i.
Sentence
e. Pragmatics
i.
Context and culture
9.
Sound Meaning Words
a. The phoneme is the smallest unit of sound.
b. The morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit.
i.
Cat
Undo
(1) 1
2, Un do
c. The first word is at about 1 year.
(1) About 50 words in six months
(2) Then 8,000-14,000 words by six years
10.
Syntax
a. The rules for making sentences out of words
i.
Noam Chomsky
(1) Surface structure
(2) Deep structure
(3) Transformational grammar
(4) http://www.hfac.uh.edu/COGSCI/lang/Entries/transformational_grammar.html
11.
Pragmatics
a. A Functionalist Approach
i.
Language use in context and as communication.
b. Speech Acts
i.
A linguistic behavioral unit
c. Discourse
Cats
2, Cat s
i.
Conversation
d. Social Referential Communication: Social conventions
i.
Learn specific forms that specify gender, age, or status.
e. Indirect requests
i.
Egocentrism and Knowledge
12.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Development
Initial vocalizations
Babbling
The first word
The vocabulary spurt
The combination of words
The expression of complex ideas, plural, & past tense.
13.
Initial Vocalizations
a. Similar across languages
b. Crying, cooing
14.
Babbling
a. 4 Months
i.
Babbling always appears
b. 6 Months
i.
Sounds begin to resemble surrounding language
15.
First Word
i.
One year of age
ii.
Similar cross-culturally
(1) Words for parents
iii.
Receptive language exceeds expressive language
16.
The Vocabulary Spurt
a. Begins at around 18–24 months with individual variation.
i.
Fast mapping
ii.
Over and underextensions
17.
Combine Words
i.
End of second year
ii.
Telegraphic speech
iii.
Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)
18.
Complex Ideas
a. End of third year
i.
Plural, past tense
ii.
Overregularization
19.
Bilingualism
a. Research findings:
i.
Smaller vocabularies in one language, combined vocabularies average
ii.
Higher scores for middle-class bilingual subjects on cognitive flexibility, analytical
iii.
iv.
v.
20.
reasoning, selective attention, and metalinguistic awareness
Slight disadvantage in terms of language processing speed
Second languages more easily acquired early in life
Greater acculturation facilitates acquisition
Can Animals Develop Language?
a. Dolphins, sea lions, parrots, chimpanzees
i.
Vocal apparatus issue
(1) American Sign Language
b. Allen and Beatrice Gardner (1969)
i.
Chimpanzee - Washoe
(1) 160 word vocabulary
c. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
i.
Bonobo chimpanzee - Kanzi
(1) Symbols
(2) Receptive language – 72% of 660 requests
21.
Theories of Language Acquisition
a. Behaviorist
i.
Skinner
(1) learning of specific verbal responses
b. Nativist
i.
Chomsky
(1) learning the rules of language
(2) Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
c. Interactionist
i.
Cognitive and Social communication theories
22.
Brain and Language Disorders
a. Broca's Area
i.
Aphasia
b. Wernicke's Area
i.
Aphasia
c. Dyslexia
23.
Problem Solving
24.
Mental Chronometry
a. Reaction Time
(1) Complexity
(2) Stimulus-response compatibility
(3) Expectancy
(4) Speed-accuracy tradeoff
b. Evoked Potentials
25.
Concepts
a. Defined
i.
Mental representation of a group of objects, people, events, etc.
b. Function
i.
Help us to order our world into categories and to communicate with fewer words
26.
Schemas and Event Scripts
a. Types of concepts
i.
Artificial concepts
(1) Clear (invented) definition
ii.
iii.
Natural concepts
(1) Share a set of characteristics
Fuzzy concepts
b. Prototypes
i.
Our best example of a concept
ii.
When you hear the word “dog” what dog comes to mind?
c. Scripts
i.
Mental representation of an event
27.
Types of Problems
a. Problems of inducing structure
i.
Series completion and analogy problems
b. Problems of arrangement
i.
String problem and Anagrams
c. Problems of transformation
i.
Hobbits and orcs problem
ii.
Water jar problem
28.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
29.
Problem Solving
Describe
Elaborate
Decision
Plan
Act
Problem Solving Methods
a. Trial and error
i.
Trying one solution after another in no particular order
b. Algorithms
i.
A systematic procedure used to solve a problem
c. Heuristics
i.
Using a rule of thumb strategy to problem solving that comes from our past experience in
decision making and problem solving
d. Hypotheses Testing
i.
30.
Using a control group and an experimental group to determine a working solution to a
problem
Algorithms & Heuristics
a. Algorithms
i.
Systematic trial-and-error
ii.
Guaranteed solution
b. Heuristics
i.
Shortcuts
ii.
No guaranteed solution
(1) Forming subgoals
(2) Working backward
(3) Searching for analogies
(4) Changing the representation of a problem
31.
Barriers to Problem Solving
Well defined versus ill defined problems
Irrelevant information
Functional fixedness
Mental Set
Unnecessary Constraints
32.
Well-Defined versus Ill-Defined Problems
a. Initial state, goal, and constraints are explicit
b. One or more of the above is unclear
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
33.
Irrelevant Information
a. Fixating on information that does not aid the solution
i.
The Thompson family and the unlisted phone numbers
34.
Functional Fixedness
a. The inability to use familiar objects in new ways
i.
The string problem
ii.
(ex: A screwdriver can be used to pry open a can.)
35.
Mental Set
a. Continuing to use strategies that have worked in the past
36.
Unnecessary Constraints
a. The inability to solve a problem because we place limits on the solution that really do not exist.
i.
Assumptions
(1) “The root of all evil.”
ii.
The dot problem
37.
Culture, Cognitive Style, and Problem Solving
a. Field dependence
i.
Relying on external frames of reference
ii.
Focus on the total context
b. Field independence
i.
Relying on internal frames of reference
ii.
Focus on specific features
c. Western cultures inspire field independence
38.
Evaluating Alternatives and Making Choices
a. Simon (1957)
i.
Theory of bounded rationality
b. Making Choices
i.
Additive strategies
(1) Compensatory decision models
(a)
Additive strategies
(i) Box Score
(2) Noncompensatory decision models
(a)
Elimination strategies
(i) Must have, can’t have
ii.
Risky decision making
(1) Expected value
(2) Subjective utility
(3) Subjective probability
39.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Heuristics in Judging Probabilities
The availability heuristic
The representativeness heuristic
The tendency to ignore base rates
The conjunction fallacy
The alternative outcomes effect
40.
Representativeness
a. Base a decision based on how much a new situation or object resembles our old prototypes
41.
Availability
a. Base a decision on what we have most available in our memory
42.
Water Lilies
43.
$20
44.
How many pets?
45.
Numbers
46.
Anagram
47.
Solutions to Insight Problems
48.
Pitfalls in Decision Making
a. The gambler's fallacy
b. Overestimating the improbable
c. Confirmation bias and belief perseverance
d. The overconfidence effect
e. Framing
49.
The Gambler's Fallacy
a. The belief that the odds of a change event increase if the event has not occurred recently
50.
Overestimating the Improbable
a. This represents the operation of the availability heuristic
51.
Confirmation Bias and Belief Perseverance
a. The tendency to seek confirmation rather than discomfirmation.
b. The tendency to maintain beliefs in the face of evidence.
52.
The Overconfidence Effect
a. The belief in our predictions and judgements
53.
Framing
a. This reflects how decision issues are structured.
b. When people seek gains they tend to take sure things.
c. When people seek to avoid loss they tend to take risks.