Module 14

Thought & Language

INTRODUCTION

• Definitions– Cognitive approach

• method of studying how we process, store, and use information and how this information, in turn, influences what we notice, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel

– Thinking• sometimes referred to as __________________;

involves mental processes that are used to form concepts, solve problems, and engage in creative activities

INTRODUCTION (CONT’D)

– Language• special form of communication in which we learn

and use complex rules to form and manipulate ___________________________________________ that are used to generate an endless number of meaningful sentences

FORMING CONCEPTS

• Concept– A way to group or classify objects, events, animals, or

people based on some features, traits, or characteristics that they _______________________

• Exemplar model– Form a concept of an object, event, animal, or person

by ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FORMING CONCEPTS (CONT’D)• Prototype theory

– Form a concept by creating a mental image based on the average characteristics of an object (prototype)

– To identify a new object, match to an already formed prototype of objects, people, or animals

• Functions of concepts– _____________________________________– ________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________

– _______________________________________________

SOLVING PROBLEMS• Problem solving

– Involves searching for some rule, plan, or strategy that results in reaching a certain goal that’s ____________________________________________________________________________________

• Different ways of thinking– Algorithms

• ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SOLVING PROBLEMS (CONT’D)

• Different ways of thinking– Heuristics

• rules of thumb, or clever and creative mental shortcuts, that reduce the number of operations to solve problems more easily and quickly

– Availability heuristic• says that we rely on information that’s more

prominent or easily recalled and overlook other information that’s available but less prominent or notable

SOLVING PROBLEMS (CONT’D)

• Different ways of thinking– Artificial intelligence

• means of programming machines (computers, robots) to imitate human thinking and problem-solving abilities

SOLVING PROBLEMS (CONT’D)

• Three strategies for solving problems– Changing one’s mental set

• functional fixedness; ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

– Using analogies• __________________________________________________

– Forming sub-goals• __________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THINKING CREATIVELY

• How is creativity defined?

– Creative thinking• combination of flexibility in thinking and

reorganization of understanding to produce innovative ideas and new or novel solutions

– Creative individual• someone who regularly solves problems, fashions

products, or defines new questions that make an impact on his or her society

THINKING CREATIVELY (CONT’D)• How is creativity defined?

– Psychometric approach• uses objective problem-solving tasks to measure

creativity, focuses on the distinction between two kinds of thinking (convergent and divergent)

– Convergent thinking• ______________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

– Divergent thinking• ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THINKING CREATIVELY (CONT’D)• How is creativity defined?

– Case study approach• analyzes creative people in great depth and thus provides

insight into their development, personality, motivation, and problems

– Cognitive approach• tries to build a bridge between the objective measures of

the psychometric approach and the subjective descriptions provided by case studies

• identifies and measures cognitive mechanisms used during creative thinking

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES• Language

– Special form of communication that involves learning complex rules to make and combine symbols (words/gestures) into meaningful sentences

• Word– ________________________________________________

____________________________________• Grammar

– ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT’D)• Four rules of language

1.Phonology• ______________________________________________

2.Morphology• system that we use to group ____________ into

meaningful combinations of sound and words– morpheme;

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT’D)• Four rules of language

3. Syntax, or grammar• set of rules that

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Semantics• ________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT’D)

• Understanding language

– Noam Chomsky’s theory of language• says that all languages share a common universal

grammar and that children inherit a mental program to learn this universal grammar

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT’D)

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT’D)

• Understanding language

– Mental grammar• allows us to combine nouns, verbs, and objects in

an endless variety of meaningful sentences• innate brain program• makes learning the general rules of grammar

relatively easy

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT’D)• Different structure, same meaning

– Surface structure• refers to the actual wording of a sentence, as it is spoken

– Deep structure• refers to an underlying meaning that isn’t spoken but is

present in the mind of the listener

– Transformational rules• procedures by which we convert our ideas from surface

structures into deep structures and from deep structures back into surface ones

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT’D)

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE

• Language stages

– Refers to all infants going through four different periods or stages: babbling, single words, two-word combinations, and sentences

1.____________________________• begins at about six months; the first stage in

acquiring language

2. ________________________• occurs at about one year of age• parentese (emphasizes tone of voice and words)

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT’D)

• Language stages

3. ________________________• occurs at about two years of age• strings of two words that express various actions

(“me play”)

4. ________________________________• occurs at about four years of age

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT.)• Telegraphic speech

– Distinctive pattern of speaking in which the child omits articles (the), prepositions (in, out), and parts of verbs

• Basic rules of grammar– Rules for combining nouns, verbs, adjectives, and

other parts of speech to form meaningful sentences

• Overgeneralization– Applying a grammatical rule to cases where it

shouldn’t be used

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT’D)

• What are innate factors?– _______________________

• genetically programmed physiological and neurological features that facilitate our making speech sounds and acquiring language skills

– _________________________________• special adapted vocal apparatus (larynx and

pharynx) that let us make sounds and form words– ________________________________

• left hemisphere of the brain is prewired to acquire and use language, whether spoken or signed

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT’D)

• What are innate factors?– Innate developmental factors

• _____________________________________• time from _________________________ when

language is easiest to learn• _______________________________________

_________________________________________

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT’D)• What are environmental factors?

– Interactions children have with parents, peers, teachers, and others who provide feedback that rewards and encourages language development, as well as provides opportunities for children to observe, imitate, and practice language skills

• Social cognitive learning– Emphasizes the acquisition of language skills through social

interactions, which give children a chance to observe, imitate, and practice the sounds, words, and sentences they hear from their parents or caregivers

DECISIONS, THOUGHT, & LANGUAGE

• Words and thoughts

– Theory of linguistic relativity• _______________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________