Ch. 10 - Language and Cognition
sensitive period
A limited phase in an animal's development that is the only time when certain behaviors can be learned. a time during development when exposure to a stimulus has the greatest effects on a particular behavior
*The cocktail party effect*
Ability to concentrate on one voice amongst a crowd
bilingual
Able to speak two languages
Problem solving strategies:
Availability heuristic Working backward Insight
Humans go through a *sensitive period* for learning language.
Children raised in isolation, and people deaf from birth have difficulty learning language. Children born to bilingual families will easily become fluent in both languages.
broca's area
Controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.
Stroop Effect
Explains the decreased speed of naming the color of ink used to print words when the color of ink and the word itself are of different colors.
Can other animals learn language?
Generally, they require extensive training for each utterance, such as each command to a sheepdog. Non-human primates are capable of learning American Sign Language (ASL) and other forms of communication. overally, not our language The idea that apes can acquire and use rudiments of language remains controversial, but apes can comprehend spoken words, produce novel combinations of words, and respond appropriately to sentences arranged according to a syntactic rule.
Aspects of decision making (know three for short answer on test)
Judgments The anchoring effect Monty Hall Problem Hindsight bias Confirmation bias Belief persistence Framing effect Gambler's fallacy
Humans have long tried to communicate with animals, and recently have tried to determine whether other animals can learn language.
Most animals appear to lack an understanding of semantics or syntax.
Components of Human Language:
Phonemes (test) Morphemes (test) Semantics Syntax Generative Surface Structure Deep Structure
what is the right side of brain used for?
Responsible for control of the left side of the body, and is the more artistic and creative side of the brain The right side of brain hemisphere specialists in combining the parts to produce a whole. Unlike the left, the right hemisphere organizes things simultaneously. It specializes in a method that perceives and constructs patterns. It is most efficient at visual and spatial processing and it is thought that non verbal stimuli are processed primarily in the right side of brain hemisphere. A person with the right brain dominant is often thought of as the dreamers, the artists, and the musicians. Just because they are not as good with numbers and remembering facts does not mean that they are "dumber" than a left brain person.
acquire information
Retrieve knowledge, information, ideas, and feelings form others through communication. sensation & perception
Wada Test
Test in which one hemisphere is anesthetized to test for capacity/speed of processing of other An anesthetic is injected into one brain hemisphere or the other to determine which hemisphere mediates language.
syntax
The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. rules for constructing phrases and sentences in a language
Attentional blink
a brief period after perceiving a stimulus, during which it is difficult to attend to another stimulus The tendency not to perceive or respond to the second of two different target stimuli amid a rapid stream of distracting stimuli if the observer has responded to the first target stimulus within 200-500 milliseconds before the second stimulus is presented.
Framing effect
a cognitive bias that occurs when the way info is presented makes a significant difference in what people will decide
categorization how?
a cognitive process used to organize information by placing it into larger groupings of information based on similarities and differences The human mind avoids having to have words for every variant of every object or concept by ------- *prototyping*
Flow
a completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one's skills When we are wholly involved in some activity, just for its own sake; time seems to fly by and we seem to know what to do without thinking about it; being "in the groove," or "in the zone." peak experience of flow occurs when a highly skilled performer tackles a highly difficult task/task at high level
working backward
a heuristic strategy in which one works backward from the desired goal to the given conditions a heuristic strategy/problem solving strategy starting with the desired end result and reversing the steps needed to get there
concept
a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people Abstract idea or mental representation of an object or event.
Prototype
a mental image or best example of a category A full-scale working model used to test a design concept by making actual observations and necessary adjustments. a "best example" that fits a particular category.
heuristic
a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms
Insight
a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem *w/o trial and error*
confirmation bias
a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence tendency to remember events that fit our preconceptions and to dismiss or forget events that do not
Monty Hall Problem
an example of an error in decision making in which someone fails to properly estimate the probability of an outcome after being given additional information
decision making
attempting to select the best alternative among several options Cognitive process of assessing information to select a course of action among several alternatives.
One aspect of experience that seems to be altered during flow is --------
attention
mothereses
baby talk; individuals speak to baby with "baby talk" Early on, babies must learn to distinguish different phonemes.
babble
chatter idly or foolishly; make continuous sounds like water running gently over rounded stone; N.
lateralization
cognitive function that relies more on one side of the brain than the other-specialization left side of brain is more specialized for language tendency for right and left cerebral hemispheres to differ in their specializations
judgment
cognitive process of forming an opinion or making an evaluation by comparing possible actions subject to error and bias
Broca's aphasia
condition resulting from damage to Broca's area, causing the affected person to be unable to speak fluently, to mispronounce words, and to speak haltingly
aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding). Impairment of language after it has been learned (e.g., from stroke damage). Broca's aphasia or nonfluent aphasia Wernicke's aphasia or fluent aphasia
dyslexia
impairment of the ability to read; usually do not have issues with speech People with dyslexia have adequate vision, do not see letters "backward," and have no mental impairment.
FOXP2 gene
is important for proper language function in humans; Is involved in the formation of the basal ganglia, important for motor control
gain knowledge
learning and memory
For most people, speech functions are primarily localized in the
left hemisphere of the brain
beliefe persistence
tendency to hold onto a belief even in face of contradictory info
generative
term used to describe the capacity of a language to produce an infinite number of sentences
Skill
the ability to perform a certain activity well ---> max performance with minimum effort
reaction time
the amount of time taken to respond to a specific stimulus---> mental processes take time Time it takes for a person to initiate some action after a predetermined signal. One of the most common variables measured by psychologists, it is an indication of how much mental processing is required for the participant to respond. RT increases as complexity increases bc task requires more mental processing
*Phonemes*
the basic units of sound in language basic speech sounds that make up languages in english--> 50 phonemes
Gambler's Fallacy
the belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently belief that outcome of random events up to this point will affect the probability of future random events
cognitive phase
the earliest stage of skill acquisition, during which there is conscious awareness of efforts consciously aware of what he is doing, frequently checking self and asking questions slow performance, frequent errors, stiff movements *person is thinking about what they are doing* --> effortful
Speech and language may have developed from gestures of ------
the face and hands; we still use hand gestures to facilitate speech. Other species also use gestures to communicate: Courtship displays in birds; chimpanzees shake their arms to signal threat, etc. Other species also use vocalizations—sounds of all sorts, including ultrasonic sounds that we cannot hear.
Linguistic relativism
the notion that the worldview of a culture is shaped and reflected by the language its members speak the language we speak influences (rather than determines) the way we think. language & culture affect way we speak and think language *does not determine* the way that we look at the work or the way we think---> cognitive psychology is responsible for that.
surface structure
the particular string of words that are put together in a sentence
Autonomous phase
the third stage of skill acquisition, during which performance seems automatic and requires no conscious attention --> 2nd nature movements are smooth, rapid, and efficient.
deep structure
the underlying meaning of a sentence particular meaning beneath the surface structure of a sentence
processing information
transforming raw data into meaningful information (think/imagine/decisions, judgements, plan)
Change blindness
when people fail to detect changes to the visual details of a scene
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
mental imagery
experiencing a sensory impression in the absence of sensory input
*Inattentional blindness*
failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
anchoring effect
fixating on initial information and ignoring subsequent information
attention
focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events We seem to have only so much attention available, so that attending to one thing inevitably makes us less attentive to others. To study attention, cognitive psychologists develop ways to determine if a participant is paying attention to something. -Inattentional blindness -Attentional spotlight -The cocktail party effect -Change blindness -Attentional blink
*Babies learning language* babies rapidly learn language w/o --------- . why?
formal training They are very interested in hearing speech and watching talking faces. As they learn language, children pass through a series of language milestones. Timing may vary among individuals, but the sequence is nearly always the same. *at 4 months babies are able to distinguish phonemes*
treatment for dyslexia
-focuses on remediation -given exercises to become aware of blending sounds to make words, identifying pairs of words and ones that rhyme -further treatment focuses on accomodation remedial instruction/training
acquiring new skill occurs in three stages
1. Cognitive phase 2. Associative phase 3. Autonomous phase
Wernicke's aphasia
condition resulting from damage to Wernicke's area, causing the affected person to be unable to understand or produce meaningful language]] Fluent aphasia with impaired comprehension. Wernicke's area -- superior temporal gyrus. ("W ernicke's is W ordy but makes no sense." or "W ernicke's = W hat?") Damage to the temporal lobe, and the left (or right, if the right side of the brain is dominant) temporal lobe in particular, can be debilitating. Most often, you see this result in an inability to recall memories or information, but when certain regions of the dominant temporal lobe are damaged, such as Broca or Wernicke's areas, a certain type of brain damage known as an aphasia or an agnosia can develop. These forms of brain damage result in an inability to process a specific type of information. For example, someone with Broca's aphasia alone can understand language but will have trouble speaking - their sentences will seem garbled, but will still carry meaning. Whereas an agnosia can result in someone being unable to recognize someone's face, or can lead to them misinterpreting what a given object is. These forms of brain damage can be adapted to and lived with but are one of the many reasons it's important to protect your head from harm.
Wernicke's area
controls language reception - a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
Speaking and reading are very -------- skills
different
Some functional systems are associated with one side of the brain—
each hemisphere is specialized for particular ways of working.
telegraphic speech
early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs.
Genetic studies support the idea that brain systems controlling language evolved from communication systems like those found in other animals. (FOXP2 gene mutation)
mutation shows underactivation of Broca's area has mutated rapidly in humans mutation of this in birds produce the inability to sing learned songs
Language
our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning system of communication
Cognitive psychology:
the scientific study of internal mental processes of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating Study of how we acquire and process information to gain knowledge. -Acquiring information (sensation/perception) -Processing information (think/imagine/decisions, judgements, plan) -Gaining knowledge (learning and memory) Cognitive scientists include psychologists, philosophers, neuroscientists, computer scientists, and linguists. Central to cognitive psychology is the idea that by carefully measuring a person's behavior, we can make inferences about the mental processes at work.
linguistics
the scientific study of the structure, sounds, and meaning of language 7000 languages / 1000 have been studied
associative phase
the second stage of skill acquisition, in which performance is faster with fewer errors no longer has to think about task/skill as much, movements are smoother still has to concentrate, if distracted performance will drop
Semantics
the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, *the study of meaning*
Attentional spotlight
the shifting of our limited selective attention around the environment to highlight stimuli for enhanced processing
*Morphemes*
the smallest meaningful units of language; basic units of meaning in a language
What is the left side of the brain responsible for?
the temporal lobe controls language and memory. The left side in particular is home to a number of unique areas worth paying attention to. Basic Temporal Lobe Function The temporal lobes are located at the sides of the brain, and can be considered the "middle" region of each brain hemisphere. As a whole, the temporal lobe is the part of your brain in charge of memory storage, the process of hearing sounds, visual recognition of faces and objects, and the use of language. Though this seems like an incredible number of functions for one small part of the brain to command, the temporal lobes are actually more complex than they look; they contain a number of specialized substructures, including the amygdala and auditory cortex, that perform a variety of high-level functions. At the same time, the temporal lobes aren't the only parts of the brain used in many of these mental processes - the frontal and parietal lobes make sense of processed sounds for example, and the hippocampus creates the memories that the temporal lobe then stores and recalls. hough the brain appears to be symmetrical, the various lobes of the brain - the temporal lobes included - do not function the same way on each side. Instead, the left and right lobes perform different functions, communicating with the other side through the corpus callosum that connects the two hemispheres of the brain. In most people, the left side of the brain is the dominant one, and in most people the left temporal lobe controls memories related to facts and information, along with the ability to recognize faces and objects. It also controls your ability to create and understand language, through the use of two specific regions of the left temporal lobe. Located at the front and middle of the left temporal lobe, respectively, Broca's area and Wenicke's area are the regions of the human brain that handle the formation and processing of language. Regardless of what language you're using, these two regions allow you to form sentences, understand the meaning of what others are saying and pick up on verbal patterns. These regions are the reason why a left temporal lobe hemorrhage can leave a person unable to understand what someone is saying, or lead them to babble incoherently.
Hindsight bias
the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it the tendency to misremember our previous views to fit our current knowledge or beliefs past events are more predictable than they really were
