Language
Elements of language
Phonemes
Morphemes
Acquisition of language
Babbling, telegraphic speech, overgeneralization
Chomsky – language acquisition device (nativistic theory of language dev’t)
Skinner – learned through reinforcement
Whorf’s linguistic relativity hypothesis
Thinking
Concepts (schemas) – based on categorization, prototypes
Problem-solving
Algorithm
Heuristic
Availability
Representativeness
Problems in thinking (bias)
Belief bias
Overconfidence
Belief perseverance
Confirmation bias
Framing
Rigidity (mental set)
Functional fixedness
Creative thinking
Divergent thinking – multiple possible answers
Convergent thinking - synthesis
Memory
Memory (learning has persisted over time)
Information–processing model (three-box) – encoding necessary to begin
Sensory – Short-Term – Long-term
Sensory – Split-second holding
Sperling (flashed grid of 9 letters)
Iconic memory
Echoic memory
visual, acoustic, semantic
Based on selective attention
Short-term – working memory
Temporary, fade in 10-30 sec. – 7 items
Increased by chunking, mnemonic devices, rehearsal
Long-term – relatively permanent
Episodic
Semantic
Procedural
Forgetting – relearning happens quickly
Proactive interference
Retroactive interference
Brain – hippocampus important
Anterograde amnesia – hippocampal damage
Retrograde amnesia
Long-term potentiation – strengthened connections
Reconstructive memory – Loftus
Misinformation effect
Unreliability of eyewitness reports