Chapter 10 Thinking and Language

Thinking Cognition Cognitive Psychologists Concept Prototype How do we use the information we receive, perceive, store and retrieve? Cognition mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating Cognitive Psychologists study these mental activities: concept formation ; problem solving ; decision making ; judgment formation Concept mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people; we create hierarchies & definitions of ; written on our brain ; Prototype mental image or best example of a category matching new items to the prototype - a quick and easy method for including items in a category (ex.s: comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin ; disease symptoms don’t match prototype, don’t seek help ; prejudice prototypes)

Thinking – Solving Problems How? Trial and error Step-by-step - algorithms Simple strategies - heuristics Algorithm methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem contrasts with the usually speedier–but also more error-prone--use of heuristics Heuristic simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently usually speedier than algorithms more error-prone than algorithms

Thinking – Solving Problems Unscramble S P L O Y O C H Y G Algorithm all 907,208 combinations Heuristic throw out all YY combinations other heuristics? Insight Sudden, novel realization of the solution to a problem (text ex. Johnny’s sand solution) contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Obstacles to Solving Problems Confirmation Bias tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions – we would rather verify our ideas than try to refute them. Fixation - inability to see a problem from a new perspective Mental Set tendency to approach a problem in a particular way especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem Functional Fixedness -tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions

The Matchstick Problem How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles? Obstacle: Fixation on 2-dimensional solution

The Three-Jugs Problem Using jugs A, B, and C, with the capacities shown, how would you measure out the volumes indicated? Obstacle: Mental set for solving first 5 applied to #6 & 7, instead of simpler solution.

The Candle-Mounting Problem Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board? Obstacle: Functional fixedness – use the box in a different way!!

The Matchstick Problem Solution to the matchstick problem.

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

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

Heuristics Representativeness Heuristic Availability Heuristic judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes Problem: may lead one to ignore other relevant information – we ignore statistical or logical considerations (text ex. : short, slim poetry reader = professor of classics at Ivy League school or truck driver?) Availability Heuristic estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common Examples: airplane crash, winners of lottery/gambling. Used by insurance salespeople (among others!!) Affects social judgements (ex. One story of welfare recipients = all welfare recipients)

Thinking – Making Decisions & Judging Overconfidence tendency to be more confident than correct tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments Try putting money on it!! The most confident people are not the most accurate! Student projects generally take twice as long as predicted!! Think about it… Framing the way an issue is posed – “10% die” or “90% survive” how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments Example: What is the best way to market ground beef--as 25% fat or 75% lean? To create fear of something always frame as #s not %s (text ex. Smoking stats) Marketers use this all the time to sell, sell, sell !!

Thinking Belief Bias Belief Perseverance Phenomenon the tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid or valid conclusions seem invalid Look at several examples in your text on pages 395-6. Belief Perseverance Phenomenon clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited (Text ex. Risk-taker vs. Cautious person as better firefighters) Prejudice persists

Artificial Intelligence designing and programming computer systems to: do intelligent things ; simulate human thought processes - intuitive reasoning, learning, understanding language Computer Neural Networks computer circuits that mimic the brain’s interconnected neural cells performing tasks: learning to recognize visual patterns & smells

Language Language Phoneme Morpheme Grammar our spoken, written, or gestured works and the way we combine them to communicate meaning – spreads information beyond its actual experience. Phoneme in a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit Morpheme in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix) Grammar a system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Language Semantics Syntax the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language also, the study of meaning Syntax the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

Language 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Percentage able We are all born to recognize speech sounds from all the world’s languages 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Percentage able to discriminate Hindi t’s Hindi- speaking adults 6-8 months 8-10 10-12 English- Infants from English-speaking homes

Language Babbling Stage One-Word Stage Two-Word Stage beginning at 3 to 4 months the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language – nature at work! Eventually non-native sounds disappear One-Word Stage from about age 1 to 2 the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words Two-Word Stage beginning about age 2 the stage in speech development during which a child speaks in mostly two-word statements Telegraphic Speech early 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 4 10 12 24 24+ Babbles many speech sounds. Babbling reveals households language. One-word stage. Two-word, telegraphic speech. Language develops rapidly into complete sentences.

Language Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience activates them as it modifies the brain The debate is how much is nature, and how much is nurture

Language New language learning gets harder with age 100 90 80 70 60 50 Native 3-7 8-10 11-15 17-39 Percentage correct on grammar test Age at school New language learning gets harder with age “critical period” for language acquisition – begins to close around 7.

Language Linguistic Determinism Whorf”s hypothesis that language determines the way we think – studies show bilingual people have different self-concepts depending on the language used. Language is a key to culture Complexity of language can influence how we distinguish and think about things – the Inuit describe snow with separate words depending on the type. We distinguish different colours with more and more complexity – this differs from one language to another Subtle influences – sexist language which implies lower status of women To expand language is to expand the ability to think, understand, express

Language The interplay of thought and language