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From yesterday’s activity write down as many
words that you wrote down as you can
remember
What does this show about memories?
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A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat
costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does
the ball cost?
50 percent of Princeton students gave the
wrong answer of 10 cents
Answer: $1.05 for the bat and $0.05 for the ball
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A man bought a horse for $60 and sold it for
$70. Then he bought the same horse back for
$80 and again sold it, for $90. How much
money did the make in the horse business?
Most common answer: $10.00
Answer: Compare the total amount paid ($140)
with the total amount taken ($160)
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$20.00
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Jack is looking at Anne but Anne is looking at
George. Jack is married but George is not. Is a
married person looking at an unmarried
person? Is the answer yes, no, or it cannot be
determined?
Answer: yes, a married person is looking at an
unmarried person
If Anne is unmarried, Jack who is married is
looking at her. If Anne is married, she is
looking at George who is unmarried.
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Handout 7B-2
Reverse: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 16, and 17
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1 to 5
2 to 4
4 to 2
5 to 1
Add the numbers for a total score
Higher the score, the greater the need for cognition
Successfully discriminated between university faculty (people
who engage in and enjoy thinking for a living) and factory
workers on assembly lines (repetitive work)
Positively correlated: general intelligence, seek out issuerelevant information in forming their attitudes, open to
experience, more effective problem solvers, self-esteem,
masculine sex-role attitudes, curiosity, effective problem
solving
Unrelated: sociability, shyness, and years of formal education
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Think of a class you like and a class you dislike:
take time to write descriptions of those classes
comparing the two
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Cognitive complexity – how simple or elaborate a
person’s system of personal constructs is
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Scores ranged from 5 to 43 – mean of 16
Some use very limited number of constructs to make
sense of their social world while others use a large
number of constructs
Young children: limited number of constructs –
another child is either a “friend” or “not a friend” a
game is either “fun” or “not fun”
Respond to the categories with the very first example
that comes to mind
1.
A bird
2.
A color
3.
A triangle (drawing a picture is just fine)
4.
A motor vehicle
5.
A sentence
6.
A hero
7.
A heroic action
8.
A game
9.
A philosopher
10. A writer
Psychic? Can I predict many of your answers:
1.
A robin, sparrow, or eagle
2.
Red or blue
3.
A picture of an equilateral triangle
4.
A car
5.
A short declarative statement, e.g. “The boy ran
home.”
6.
Superman, Batman, or possibly a fireman
7.
A single act by a male, e.g., a rescue by a fireman
8.
Monopoly or some other board game
9.
Socrates or Aristotle
10. Stephen King
Why did I think I could guess some correctly?
We tend to think in terms of the “best example” of
a category or “prototype “
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Task: move the tower from the left peg to the middle
peg, moving only one disk at a time and never putting
a larger disk on a smaller one
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How did you solve the problem?
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Look at the pictures on the board – what do
you see?
Do you see a soldier and a dog passing an
archway?
Do you see a custodian cleaning mud off the
floor?
The maker doesn’t want it, the buyer doesn’t
use it, and the user doesn’t see it. What is it?
2. What number is next in this series: 10, 4, 3, 11,
15… ?
a. 14 b. 1 c. 17 D. 12
3. What is unusual about the sentence below?
“Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz”
4. How can you physically stand behind your
father while he is standing behind you?
1.
5. Something extraordinarily unusual happened on the 6th
of May, 1978, at 12:34 p.m. What was it?
6. Can you translate the following into a sentence?
100204180
7. What occurs once in every minute, twice in every
moment, yet never in a thousand years?
8. A man left home one morning he turned right and ran
straight ahead. Then he turned left. After a while, he
turned left again, running faster then ever. Then he
turned left once more and decided to go home. In the
distance he could see two masked men waiting for
him. Who were they?
9. Can you translate the following?
YYURYYUBICURYY4ME
The maker doesn’t want it, the buyer doesn’t use it, and the
user doesn’t see it. What is it?
1.
1.
Coffin
What number is next in this series: 10, 4, 3, 11, 15… ?
a. 14 b. 1 c. 17 D. 12
a. 14: when spelled out, each number in the series is longer
than the previous number by one letter
3. What is unusual about the sentence below?
“Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz”
Shortest sentence in the English language that includes
every letter of the alphabet
4. How can you physically stand behind your father while he is
standing behind you?
Stand back to back
2.
5. Something extraordinarily unusual happened on the 6th of May, 1978, at
12:34 p.m. What was it?
12:34, 5/6/78
6. Can you translate the following into a sentence?
100204180
I ought naught to owe for I ate nothing
7. What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a
thousand years?
The letter M
8. A man left home one morning he turned right and ran straight ahead. Then
he turned left. After a while, he turned left again, running faster then
ever. Then he turned left once more and decided to go home. In the
distance he could see two masked men waiting for him. Who were they?
The umpire and the other team’s catcher
9. Can you translate the following?
YYURYYUBICURYY4ME
Too wise you are, too wise you be, I see you are, too wise for me

Unusual uses test: Have one minute to write
down as many uses as you can for the
following objects:
Toothpick
 Brick
 Paper cup
 Test is given in business organization to determine
‘inherent creative capacity’

 Average score is 4: 8 is unusually high score, 12 is very
rare, and 16 makes you better than one in thousand.
Another test: Consequences Test
Ask questions and see how many answers
someone can come up with
 Question: Try to think of four to eight things
that might happen if we suddenly had three
arms:
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When asked by their wives to bring home a case of
milk, a wheel of cheese, five gallons of paint, etc.,
men would say, “I’ve only got three hands.”
The millions of people unable to afford new threearmed wardrobes - dresses, shirts, suits, etc. –
would have to wear their extra arms under their
clothing. Thus, eventually, everybody would
become ashamed of having a third arm and
women would be arrested for showing them on
the beach.
The price of manicures would rise fifty percent
Assuming that each card has a triangle on one side
and a circle on the other, which card or cards need
to be turned over to test this statement:
‘Every card that has a black triangle on one side has a
red circle on the other’

‘Every
card that has a black triangle on one side has a red circle on the other’
Most people answer: “black triangle” or “black triangle and red circle”
attempting to confirm the rule
Correct answer: black triangle (which would confirm the rule) and black circle
(which would disprove the rule)

Linda is 31, single, outspoken, and very bright.
She majored in philosophy in college. As a
student, she was deeply concerned with
discrimination and other social issues, and she
participated in antinuclear demonstrations.
Which statement is more likely?
A. Linda is a bank teller
B. Linda is a bank teller and active in the feminist
movement
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Most people choose B – since feminism seems
more representative of Linda than being a bank
teller.
The probability of any two uncertain events
occurring together is always less than the odds of
either happening alone.
Judge the likelihood of things in terms of how well
they seem to represent or match a particular
prototype – works well much of the time, it leads
to error when its conclusions run counter of the
laws of chance.
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Answers:
All accidents (37.7) vs. strokes (51.1)
Suicide (10.9) vs. blood poisoning (11.2)
Homicide (5.9) vs. diabetes (24.5)
Motor vehicle accidents (15.3) vs. colorectal cancer (17.8)
Drowning (1.3) vs. leukemia (7.1)
Morocco (34 million) vs. Saudi Arabia (28 million)
Myanmar (47 million) vs. Australia (21 million)
Vietnam (86 million) vs. South Africa (48 million)
Sri Lanka (20 million) vs. Libya (6 million)
Tanzania (38 million) vs. Iraq (28 million)
Chicago (15.6) vs. Kansas City (26.1)
Las Vegas (11.3) vs. Stockton, CA (14.6)
Miami (13.9) vs. Phoenix (15)
Honolulu (1.7) vs. Raleigh (6.0)
New York (6.6) vs. Aurora, IL (9.5)
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How many answered all correctly?
Anyone get every question wrong?
Overconfidence?
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How many were more confident than correct?
Availability heuristic and overconfidence
The more quiet cause of death is actually more prevalent:
people perceive the more publicized and easily pictured
cause to be more common.
 Less familiar countries have greater populations but
respondents judge those that are familiar to them to be
more populous
 Larger and/or more familiar cities are judged to have a
higher crime rate
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
why is there a difference?
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Each pose the same alternatives
Framing decisions
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With person next to you share what you did on
Friday and Saturday using telegraphic speech.
Don’t know what that means? LOOK IT UP
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Handout:The Simple Language Device (SLD)
Rules: Choose one word or phrase form column A and combine it
with one word or phrase from columns B to F and you will
automatically produce a sentence
Total of only 54 alternatives: SLD has the capacity to produce
531,441 sentences
Sentence may not be very believable – they are grammatical
SLD has only a small number of words and one rule for
combining them: Adult language has a much larger number of
words and quite a few rules for combining them into acceptable
utterances
Challenge that confronts infants as they begin the long task of
becoming fluent speakers of the language spoken by those around
them
From book: 40 or so phonemes can be combined to form more
than 100,000 morphemes, alone/combined produce 616,500 words
in the English Dictionary – can use these words to create an
infinite number of sentence, most of which are original
Think turnitin.com

Statistical Learning
Statistical aspects of human speech – breaking down
syllables to create meaning and breaks in sentences
 Evidence?
 8 month infants: recognize three-syllable sequences
that appeared repeatedly (measuring attention)
 7 month infants: recognize different
sequences/language patterns – ABA verse ABB
pattern (li-na-li/wo-fe-fe)
 What does this show? Nature or Nurture?
 Built in ability to learn grammatical rules
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No exposure to language (spoken or signed) before age
seven: lose ability to master ANY language
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Second languages?
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As adult no accent
Sign language?
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No stimulation to a brain early on = language learning capacity
never fully develops
Not present from birth = only master the basic words and
comprehending subtle grammatical differences
Late learners = less brain activity in right hemisphere regions
(active during sign for native speakers)
Conclusion? Is there a critical period of language?
There is a critical period for language

Never fully learn it if deprived from language early on
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Benjamin Lee Whorf:
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Linguistic determinism hypothesis
Language determines thought
Evidence? Culture differences
 Different sense of self in different languages
 How many positive statements? What/who/where do your values align with?
 English (vs. Spanish) score higher on measures of extraversion,
agreeableness, and conscientiousness

How many words a culture has to describe something will change our
thoughts on it
 Book example: Papua New Guinea Berinmo tribe: distinguish between
two shades of yellow
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Bilingual advantage:
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Bilingual children are better at focusing to irrelevant information
Canadian program: increased aptitude scores and creativity

Write down the difference between Pepsi and
Coke

Typically our responses are not very useful: vague
and general comments about sweetness or level of
carbonation – only an expert taster will pick up on
the subtle nuances that distinguish these soft drinks

Book Blink

Expert food tasters: vocabulary to describe reactions to foods
 Mayonnaise is evaluated along 6 dimensions of appearance
(color, color intensity, chroma, shine, lumpiness, and bubbles)
 10 dimensions of texture: adhesiveness to lips, firmness,
denseness, etc.
 14 dimensions of flavor spilt among 3 subgroups
 Aromatics: eggy, mustardy, etc.
 Basic tastes: salty, sour, and sweet
 Chemical-feeling flavors: burning, pungent, and astringent
 Each factor is evaluated on a 15-point scale
 Example: Oreos – 90 attributes of appearance, flavor, and texture
 11 attributes that are probably critical
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Without the right words we can’t make ourselves clearly
understood
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Tax increase
Lies
Greeting cards
Acid rain
Newspaper carrier
Toothbrush
Death
Elevator operators
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Recession
Neutron bomb
Car mechanic
First strike/invasion
School desk
Cemetery plot
Thermometer
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Helps! How?
Someone who has learned a skill just watching
the activity will activate the brain’s internal
stimulation of it
Imagining pain activates neural networks
active during actual pain
Mental practice and basketball foul shooting:
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52% to 65%
Visualizing studying
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Daily process stimulation resulted in + 8 points
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Which comes first? Thought or Language?
Thinking affects our language, which then affects
our thought
-Would not develop language
without the thought first –
would not have the thought
without the language to express it!
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Part 1: Create a timeline demonstrating the
development of language structure but also
incorporating important concepts into a
cohesive timeline. Must include: ages,
examples of each stage/concept, and pictures.
Part 2: Compare B.F. Skinner and Noam
Chomsky’s theory of language development
Examples
Picture for each