1. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Chapter 9 Cognition and MEMORY

2. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 How Do Children Acquire Language? Infants and children face an especially important developmental task with the acquisition of language

3. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 How Children Acquire Language Inborn Universal Grammar – Chomsky – nature stance – inborn- amazing rate of language growth Skinner / nurture– association of sights of things and sound and reinforcement Linguistic determinism – Whorf – language determines HOW we think Language acquisition device (LAD) – Structure in the brain innately programmed with some of the fundamental rules of grammar

4. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 How Children Acquire Language Early stages of language acquisition include the following: 1.The babbling stage 2.The one-word stage 3.The two-word stage 4.Telegraphic speech (short, simple sentences) 5.The naming explosion

5. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The Rules of Grammar Grammar – The rules of a language Morphemes – Meaningful units of language that make up words Overregularization – Applying a grammatical rule too widely and thereby creating incorrect forms (e.g. using “hitted” and “feets”)

6. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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?

7. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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

8. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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

9. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Thought and the Brain  Event-related potentials – Brain waves shown on an EEG in response to stimulation

10. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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

11. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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?

12. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Problem Solving  Good problem solvers are skilled at Identifying the problem Selecting a strategy

13. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Selecting a Strategy  Algorithms – Problem-solving procedures or formulas that guarantee a correct outcome if correctly applied  Heuristics – Cognitive strategies used as shortcuts to solve complex mental tasks; they do not guarantee a correct solution

14. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Heuristics  Useful heuristics include: Working backward Searching for analogies Breaking a big problem into smaller problems

15. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Working Backwards

16. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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

17. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Unscramble These Words  nelin  ensce  sdlen  lecam  slfal  dlchi  neque  raspe  klsta  nolem  dlsco  hsfle  naorg  egsta

18. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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

19. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Obstacles to Problem Solving  Other obstacles include: Self-imposed limitations Lack of interest Fatigue Drugs (legal and illegal)

20. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The Nine-Dot Problem... Without lifting your pen from the page, can you connect all nine dots with only four lines?

21. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias

22. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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

23. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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

24. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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

25. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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

26. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 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