Language and Cognition

Language is the arrangement of sounds to communicate ideas…  1. Language is arbitrary-words don’t sound like the ideas they are conveying  2. Language has an additive structure- words+words=sentences, sentences+sentences=paragraphs  3. Language has multiplicity of structure-can be analyzed in a number of ways  4. Language is productive-endless meaningful combinations of words  5. Language is dynamic-constantly changing and evolving

Subcomponents of Language  Phonemes: smallest units of speech sounds in a given language that are still distinct in sound  Morphemes: smallest semantically meaningful parts of language  Grammar: set of rules by which language is constructed  Syntax: set of rules used in the arrangement of morphemes into meaningful sentences (word order)  Semantics: word meaning or word choice.

Development of Speech  Holophrases: a single term used by an infant to describe multiple things  Overextension:not knowing enough words to express something fully  Telegraphic speech: two or three word groups (infants start combining words) “mommy food”  Overgeneralization: errors in rules of language are overextended “I goed to store”  At age 10 a child’s language should be essentially the same as an adults

Organization of Language  Noam Chomsky-Transformational Grammar  Differentiates between the surface structure of language (superficial way words are arranged in a text or in speech)  Deep structure of language (underlying meaning of the words)  Innate language acquisition device-facilitates the acquisition of language in children a critical period for the learning of language  Skinner disagreed with Chomsky-he said language is the product of learning and reinforcement

Language & Thought are interactive processes  Language can influence thought & Cognition can influence language  Benjamin Lee Whorf & Edward Sapir proposed  Theory of linguistic relativity  Speakers of different languages develop different cognitive systems as a result of their differences in language

Concepts!  In order to deal with our surroundings we devise concepts to deal with the overload.  Concept-grouping or classifying world around us  Typicality-degree an object fits the average  Prototype-typical picture we envision  Concepts can be big or small/more or less inclusive  Superordinate-broad and encompasses a large group of items (food)  Basic-smaller more specific (bread)  Subordinate-even smaller and more specific (rye bread)  Without concepts we would be overwhelmed by our surroundings

Cognition (Thinking!) & Problem Solving  Thinking is not easily defined  Reasoning-drawing conclusions from evidence  Deductive-logical conclusions from general statements  Inductive-general inferences from specific observations  Problem solving-removing one or more impediments to find a solution to a given situation. (not just math)  Many correct answers are possible-divergent thinking (brainstorming)  Only one answer to solve problem-convergent thinking

Problem Solving  Solving structured problems-Heuristics-intuitive rules of thumb that may or may not be useful in a given situation  Heuristics can lead to wrong conclusions  Availability Heuristic-rule of thumb is judged by what events come readily to mind  Representative Heuristic-judge objects and events in terms of how closely they match the prototype of the object or event  Can lead to racism, sexism, ageism  Opposite of Heuristic is Algorithms-systematic mechanical approaches that guarantee an eventual answer to a problem  Insight-sudden understanding of a problem or a potential strategy  (Kohler-Chimps)  Mental Set-fixed frame of mind that we use when approaching problems  Functional Fixedness-tendency to assumed that a given item is only useful for the task for which it was designed

Obstacles to Problem Solving  Confirmation Bias-the search for information that supports a particular view-distorts objectivity  Hindsight Bias-tendency after the fact to think you knew what the outcome would be  Belief Perseverance-only sees evidence that supports a particular position, despite contrary evidence  Framing-the way a question is phrased can alter the objective outcome of problem solving or decision making  Creativity-can be defined as the process of producing something novel yet worthwhile.