1. CHAPTER EIGHT

2. How Do Children Acquire Language? Infants and children face an especially important developmental task with the acquisition of language

3. Language: Turning Thoughts into Words Properties of Language – Symbolic – Semantic – Generative – Structured

4. The Hierarchical Structure of Language Phonemes = smallest speech units – 100 possible, English – about 40 Morphemes = smallest unit of meaning – 50,000 in English, root words, prefixes, suffixes Semantics = meaning of words and word combinations – Objects and actions to which words refer Syntax = a system of rules for arranging words into sentences – Different rules for different languages

5. Language Use Language production – What people say, sign, and write – Speakers versus listeners Audience design – Shaping a message depending on the audience

6. Language Use Common ground – Community membership – Linguistic copresence – Physical copresence

7. Speech Execution and Speech Errors Spoonerism – “You have tasted the whole worm!” – “Tips of the slung” Processes Representations

8. Language Understanding Resolving ambiguity – Lexical ambiguity – Structural ambiguity Products of understanding – Representations – Propositions

9. Language Development: Milestones Initial vocalizations similar across languages – Crying, cooing, babbling 6 months – babbling sounds begin to resemble surrounding language 1 year – first word – similar cross-culturally – words for parents – receptive vs. expressive language

10. Table 8.2 Overview of Typical Language Development

11. Language Development: Milestones (cont) 18-24 months – vocabulary spurt – Fast mapping – Over- and under-extensions End of second year – combine words – Telegraphic speech – Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) End of third year – complex ideas, plural, past tense – Overregularization

12. Bilingualism: Learning More Than One Language Research findings: – Smaller vocabularies in one language, combined vocabularies average – Higher scores for middle-class bilingual subjects on cognitive flexibility, analytical reasoning, selective attention, and metalinguistic awareness – Slight disadvantage in terms of language processing speed – 2nd languages more easily acquired early in life – Greater acculturation facilitates acquisition

13. Can Animals Develop Language? Dolphins, sea lions, parrots, chimpanzees – Vocal apparatus issue – American Sign Language Allen and Beatrice Gardner (1969) – Chimpanzee - Washoe – 160 word vocabulary Sue Savage-Rumbaugh – Bonobo chimpanzee - Kanzi – Symbols – Receptive language – 72% of 660 requests

14. Theories of Language Acquisition Behaviorist – Skinner Learning of specific verbal responses Nativist – Chomsky Learning the rules of language – inborn propensity Language Acquisition Device (LAD) - Structure in the brain innately programmed with some of the fundamental rules of grammar

15. Theories of Language Acquisition Interactionist – Cognitive – Social Communication – Emergentist: neural circuits supporting language are not prewired but emerge gradually in response to language learning experiences

16. Language, Thought, and Culture Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Linguistic relativity - one’s language determines the nature of one’s thought Linguistic determinism – structure of language influences or determines the way its speakers perceive and reason about the world

17. Figure 8.4 Interactionist theories of language acquisition

18. How Children Acquire Language Other language skills Social rules of conversation Abstract words (e.g. hope, truth)

20. Thinking is a cognitive process in which the brain uses information from the senses, emotions, and memory to create and manipulate mental representations, such as concepts, images, schemas, and scripts What Are the Components of Thought?

21. The Cognitive Revolution 19th Century focus on the mind – Introspection Behaviorists focus on overt responses – Arguments regarding incomplete picture of human functioning Empirical study of cognition – 1956 conference – Simon and Newell – problem solving – Chomsky – new model of language; critical pd – Miller – memory

22. Cognitive Psychology

23. Copyright 2002 Allyn & Bacon23 Cognitive Science

24. Mental Processes Serial Processes – Carried out in order, one after the other Parallel Processes – Carried out simultaneously

25. Mental Processes Attentional Processes Controlled Processes – Require attention Automatic Processes – Do not require attention

26. Concepts Concepts – Mental representations of categories of items or ideas, based on experience – Natural concepts represent objects and events – Artificial concepts are defined by rules We organize much of our declarative memories into concept hierarchies

27. Animal FishBird SalmonSharkOstrichCanary Has skin Eats Breathes Has fins Can swim Has gills Has wings Can fly Has feathers Can sing Is yellow Can’t fly Is tall Can bite Is dangerous Is pink Is edible

28. Thought and the Brain Event-Related Potentials – Brain waves shown on an EEG in response to stimulation

29. Schemas and Scripts Help you Know What to Expect Schema – A knowledge cluster or general framework that provides expectations about topics, events, objects, people, and situations in one’s life Script – A cluster of knowledge about sequences of events and actions expected to occur in particular settings

31. Good thinkers not only have a repertoire of effective algorithms and heuristics, they know how to avoid the common impediments to problem solving and decision making What Abilities Do Good Thinkers Possess?

32. Problem Solving and Reasoning Problem solving – Thinking that is directed toward solving specific problems – Moves from initial state to a goal Reasoning – Process of thinking in which conclusions are drawn from a set of facts – Directed toward a given goal

33. Problem Solving: Types of Problems Greeno (1978) – three basic classes – Problems of Inducing Structure Series completion and analogy problems – Problems of Arrangement String problem and Anagrams – Often solved through insight – Problems of Transformation Hobbits and orcs problem Water jar problem

34. Figure 8.5 Six standard problems used in studies of problem solving

35. Problem Solving Problem Space – Initial State – Goal State – Set of Operations Well Defined-Problem Ill-Defined Problem

36. Figure 8.11 The tower of Hanoi problem

37. Problem Solving Good problem solvers are skilled at – Identifying the problem – Selecting a strategy

38. Approaches to Problem Solving Algorithms: Problem-solving procedures or formulas that guarantee a correct outcome if correctly applied – Systematic trial and error – Guaranteed solution

39. Approaches to Problem Solving Heuristics: Cognitive strategies used as shortcuts to solve complex mental tasks; they do not guarantee a correct solution – Shortcuts – No guaranteed solution Forming subgoals Working backward Hill climbing Searching for analogies Changing the representation of a problem

40. Working Backwards

41. Figure 8.17 Representing the bird and train problem

42. Deductive Reasoning – Drawing conclusions by logically following two or more statements Belief-Bias Effect – Prior knowledge, attitudes, or values distort reasoning

43. Inductive Reasoning – Conclusion is made about the probability based on available evidence and past experience Analogical problem solving

44. Culture, Cognitive Style,& Problem Solving Field Dependence – relying on external frames of reference Field Independence – relying on internal frames of reference – Western cultures inspire field independence – Cultural influence based in ecological demands Holistic vs. Analytic cognitive styles

45. Figure 8.18 Cultural disparities in cognitive style.

46. Obstacles to Problem Solving Mental Set – Tendency to respond to a new problem in the manner used for a previous problem Functional Fixedness – Inability to perceive a new use for an object associated with a different purpose Irrelevant Information Unnecessary Constraints

47. Unscramble These Words nelin ensce sdlen lecam slfal dlchi neque raspe klsta nolem dlsco hsfle naorg egsta

48. Unscrambled Words linen scene lends camel falls child queen pears talks melon colds shelf groan gates The algorithm you used to solve the first column probably kept you from seeing the multiple solutions for the words in the second column

49. Obstacles to Problem Solving Other obstacles include: Self-imposed limitations Lack of interest Fatigue Drugs (legal and illegal)

50. The Nine-Dot Problem... Without lifting your pen from the page, can you connect all nine dots with only four lines?

52. Decision Making: Evaluating Alternatives – Making Choices Simon (1957) – theory of bounded rationality Making Choices – Additive strategies – Elimination by aspects – Risky decision making Expected value Subjective utility Subjective probability

53. Table 8.3 Application of the additive model to choosing an apartment

54. Judging and Deciding Judgment – Forming opinions, reaching conclusions, and making critical evaluations Decision Making – Choosing between alternatives Availability Heuristic – Judgment based on information readily available in memory

55. Representative Heuristic – Assigns an object to a category on the basis of a few characteristics

56. Heuristics in Judging Probabilities The tendency to ignore base rates The Conjunction Fallacy The Alternative Outcomes Effect

57. Figure 8.21 The conjunction fallacy

58. Understanding Pitfalls in Reasoning about Decisions The Gambler’s Fallacy Overestimating the improbable Confirmation bias and belief perseverance The Overconfidence Effect Framing

59. Evolutionary Analyses: Flaws in Decision Making and Fast and Frugal Heuristics Cosmides and Tooby (1996) – Unrealistic standard of rationality – Decision making evolved to handle real-world adaptive problems – Problem solving research based on contrived, artificial problems Gigerenzer (2000) – Quick and dirty heuristics – Less than perfect but adaptive

60. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias

61. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Ignoring or finding fault with information that does not fit our opinions, and seeking information with which we agree

62. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Tendency, after learning about an event, to believe that one could have predicted the event in advance

63. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Faulty heuristic caused by basing (anchoring) an estimate on a completely unrelated quantity

64. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Faulty heuristic strategy based on presumption that, once a person or event is categorized, it shares all features of other members in that category

65. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Faulty heuristic strategy that estimates probabilities based on information that can be recalled from personal experience

66. Psychology of Decision Making Framing decisions Decision aversion Decision seeking