Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY (6th Ed) Chapter 10 Thinking and Language James A. McCubbin, PhD Clemson University Worth Publishers

Thinking zCognition ymental activity associated with processing, understanding, and communicating information zCognitive Psychology ythe study of these mental activities xconcept formation xproblem solving xdecision making xjudgement formation ystudy of both logical and illogical thinking

Thinking zConcept ymental grouping of similar objects, events, or people xaddress country, city, street, house zip codes zPrototype ythe best example of a category xmatching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin.)

Thinking zAlgorithm ymethodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem ycontrasts with the usually speedier – but also more error-prone use of heuristics

Thinking zHeuristic yrule-of-thumb strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently yusually speedier than algorithms ymore error-prone than algorithms ysometimes we’re unaware of using heuristics

Thinking Unscramble S P L O Y O C H Y G zAlgorithm yall 907,208 combinations zHeuristic ythrow out all YY combinations yother heuristics?

Thinking zInsight ysudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem ycontrasts with strategy-based solutions zConfirmation Bias ytendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions zFixation yinability to see a problem from a new perspective yimpediment to problem solving

Thinking- Insight zWolfgang Kohler’s experiment on insight by a chimpanzee

The Matchstick Problem zHow would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?

The Three-Jugs Problem zUsing jugs A, B, and C with the capacities shown, how would you measure out the volumes indicated?

The Three-Jugs Problem ProblemABC Given jugs of these sizes:Measure out this much water:

The Candle-Mounting Problem zUsing these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

Thinking zMental Set ytendency to approach a problem in a particular way yespecially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem

Thinking zFunctional Fixedness ytendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions yimpediment to problem solving

The Matchstick Problem zSolution to the matchstick problem

The Three-Jugs Problem zSolution: a) All seven problems can be solved by the equation shown in (a): B-A-2C= desired volume. zb) But simpler solutions exist for problems 6 and 7, such as A-C for problem 6.

The Candle-Mounting Problem zSolving this problem requires recognizing that a box need not always serve as a container

Heuristics zRepresentativeness Heuristic yrule of thumb for judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes ymay lead one to ignore other relevant information

Heuristics zAvailability Heuristic yestimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory yif instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common yExample: airplane crash

Thinking zOverconfidence ytendency to be more confident than correct ytendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgements

Thinking zFraming ythe way an issue is posed yhow an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements yExample: What is the best way to market ground beef- As 25% fat or 75% lean?

Thinking zBelief Bias ythe tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning ysometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid zBelief Perseverance yclinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Artificial Intelligence zArtificial Intelligence ydesigning and programming computer systems xto do intelligent things xto simulate human thought processes intuitive reasoning learning understanding language

Artificial Intelligence zArtificial Intelligence yincludes practical applications xchess playing xindustrial robots xexpert systems yefforts to model human thinking inspired by our current understanding of how the brain works

Artificial Intelligence zComputer Neural Networks ycomputer circuits that mimic the brain’s interconnected neural cells yperforming tasks xlearning to recognize visual patterns xlearning to recognize smells

Language zLanguage your spoken, written, or gestured works and the way we combine them to communicate meaning zPhoneme yin a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Language zMorpheme yin a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning ymay be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix) zGrammar ya system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Language zSemantics ythe set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language yalso, the study of meaning zSyntax ythe rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

Language zWe are all born to recognize speech sounds from all the world’s languages Percentage able to discriminate Hindi t’s Hindi- speaking adults 6-8 months 8-10 months months English- speaking adults Infants from English-speaking homes

Language zBabbling Stage ybeginning at 3 to 4 months ythe stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language zOne-Word Stage yfrom about age 1 to 2 ythe stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Language zTwo-Word Stage ybeginning about age 2 ythe stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements zTelegraphic Speech yearly speech stage in which the child speaks like a telegram – “go car” – using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting “auxiliary” words

Language Summary of Language Development Month (approximate) Stage Babbles many speech sounds. Babbling reveals households language. One-word stage. Two-world, telegraphic speech. Language develops rapidly into Complete sentences.

Language zGenes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience fills them as it modifies the brain

Language Genes Environment spoken language heard Brain Mechanisms for understanding and producing language Behavior Mastery of native language provides input to design

Language zNew language learning gets harder with age Native Percentage correct on grammar test Age at school

Language zLinguistic Relativity yWhorf”s hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Language zThe straight-line part of the dance points in the direction of a nectar source, relative to the sun Direction of nectar source