Language and Thought Turning Thoughts into Words Problem solving: Solutions Decision Making: Choices/Chances

Phonemes- smallest unit of sound Morphemes- smallest unit of meaning The Structure of Language: symbols that convey meaning, plus rules for combining those symbols to create meaning. Phonemes- smallest unit of sound Morphemes- smallest unit of meaning Semantics-meaning of words and word combinations Syntax- rules about how words can be arranged Phonemes: Humans recognize about 100 basic sounds. Different languages use 20-80 sounds English about 40 Morphemes- fire-1, unfriendly-3 Syntax: the swimmer not swimmer the

Milestones in Language Development 1-5 months:cooing,laugh,cry 6-18 months: babbling (dada,mama,papa) 14months: ball 18 months: a pumpkin might be called a ball 25 months: my ball or big ball 38 months: I play ball.

Using Words 50 words by 18 months Receptive vocabulary larger than productive vocabulary Vocabulary spurt or naming explosion occurs about this time Fast Mapping- process by which children map a word onto an underling concept after only one exposure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aj3_4oayJQ Overextension- occurs when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a wider set of objects or actions than it is meant to.   Underextensions- when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a narrower set of objects or actions than it is meant to. Telegraphic speech- consists mainly of content words. Articles, prepositions omitted  ex. Give ball Overregulations- grammatical rules are incorrectly generalized to irregular cases where they do not apply.  ex. The girl goed home.  feet, then foots, then feet Metalinguistic awareness- ability to reflect on the use of language. (literal v implied meaning)

Bilingualism acquisition of two languages that use different speech sounds, vocabulary, and grammatical rules. Does learning 2 languages in childhood slow down language development? Does it effect Cognitive Processes and skills Modest body of research Bilingual students have smaller vocabularies than monolingual but when added together they are very similar or superior May facilitate the learning of a 3rd language Better language learners Older studies suggest yes but they had methodological flaws New studies advantages and disadvantages Disadvantage- processing speed and verbal fluency Advantage- better attentional control, working memory capacity, metalinguistic awareness, abstract reasoning and some types of problem solving May delay onset of dementia in old age

Can Animals Develop Language Washoe learned (ASL) Could be product of imitation or operant conditioning Kanzi – trained to use geometric symbols representing words on a computer-monitored keyboard Distinguished between being chased and chasing someone There capacity is dwarfed by a human toddler

Theories of Language Development Nature v Nurture Behaviorists Views Skinner – Verbal Behavior (1957) Imitation and reinforcement through process of conditioning Interactionists View Biological Predispositions Learning Both play a role in language development Nativist Theories (Nature) Chomsky- overregularization is not used by caretakers Goed, eated, thinked Language acquisition device (LAD) An innate mechanism or process that facilitates the learning of language Language  acquisition is similar across cultures

Culture Language and Thought Whorf (1956) LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY – the hypothesis that one's language determines the nature of one's thought. Eskimo language has many words for snow compared to English Critics challenge this assertion African languages do not have a boundary blue and green and this affects their color perception How people think about motion and shapes may also be affected by culture

Problem Solving: refers to active efforts to discover what must be done to achieve a goal that is not readily attainable Types of Problems  Problems of inducing structure- require people to discover the relations among numbers, words, symbols or ideas. (analogy, series completion) Problems of arrangement require people to arrange the parts of a problem in a way that satisfies some criterion. (string problem, anagrams) Problems of transformation require people to carry out a sequence of transformations in order to reach a specific goal. (hobbits and orcs, water jar problem)

Barriers to Effective Problem Solving Irrelevant Information – leads to people astray so decide what is relevant and what isn't Functional Fixedness – the tendency to perceive an item on in terms of its most common use.  Who suffers more from this? Young children, older children or adults Mental Set – exists when people persist in using problem solving strategies that have worked in the past.  (rigid thinking)  Unnecessary constraints- don't assume constraints exist   Insite occurs when people suddenly discover the correct solution to a problem after struggling with it for a while.  also called Aha moment

Approaches to Problem Solving Allen Newell and Herbert Simon used the term problem space to refer to possible pathways to a solution considered by the solver Trial and Error – try all possible solutions Algorithm- methodical step-by-step procedure for trying all possible alternatives in searching for the solution Heuristic – is a guiding principle or "rule of thumb" used in solving problems or making decisions Forming subgoals- example tower of Hanoi/ analogies – find relations Working Backward- lilly pond problem

Working Backward- Lilly pond problem Changing the representation of the problem- use lists, tables, equation, graph etc. When researchers compare experts and novices they find experts do a better job of getting rid of irrelevant details,  so you try this if you don't get an answer right away   Bird and train problem Incubation – taking a break- don't consciously think about the problem for minutes, hours or days.  It is believed the unconscious continues to work on the problem

Culture, Cognitive Style, and Problem Solving Nisbett and his colleagues argue that people from East Asian cultures display a holistic cognitive style which focusses on context and relationships among elements in the field Western Cultures exhibit analytic cognitive style that focuses on objects and their properties rather than context   Easterners se wholes Westerners see parts Westerners independence and individual v Eastern interdependence and group

Decision Making: Choices and Chances Herbert Simon Nobel Prize winner 1978 – theory of bounded rationality asserts that people tend to use simple strategies in decision making that focus on only a few facets of available options and often result in "irrational" decisions that are less than optimal. More choices is not always better, we can have too many! Deciding between two alternatives? Additive strategy – use points +3-3 on several factors and then add Elimination strategy Intuition may be better than careful deliberation Read Feature Study

Heuristics in Judging Probabilities Availability heuristic basing the estimated probability of an event on the ease with which relevant instances come to mind Ex. Are there more words that start with the letter k or have it as the 3rd letter   (also done with L, N, R, V) Representativeness heuristic basing the estimated probability of an event on how similar it is to the typical prototype of that event Base Rates – don't ignore the percentages Conjunction fallacy- when people estimate that the odds of two uncertain events happen together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone.(ex. College teacher or college teacher who is also a politician)

Pitfalls The Gamblers Fallacy – odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently Overestimating the Improbable – Asthma or Tornadoes cause more deaths? Confirmation Bias- seek information that supports our opinions  MSNBC v Fox News The effects of Framing:  200 people saved or 400 will die Loss aversion – generally speaking losses loom larger than gains of equal size.

Shaping Thought with Language Semantic Slanting – deliberately choosing words to create specific emotional responses Ex. Pro Life and Pro Choice   Better to be for than against something Name Calling – religious zealots   knee-jerk liberals Implied Threat – you take on the name if you agree Any that you can come up with????