Psychology 2: Unit 3 Thinking and Language
Deductive Reasoning
* Deductive Reasoning: Involves reasoning from a set of assumptions or premises, moving from general information to specific information; starts with idea or concept before considering specific elements.
Problem Solving Strategy
* Problem Solving Strategies are techniques that guide us in solving a problem when we have a situation that we want to change. One example would be Mental Stimulation; which involves imagining the steps that you will have to take to solve the problem before you actually begin them.
What are two different processes or ways that psychologists think we may categorize items in our minds?
* Psychologists think we categorize items in our minds either by comparing defining features or by comparing similarities in items.
Superordinate Level
A more abstract level where items share few characteristics.
Whorfian Hypothesis
Argues that language shapes the way we think.
Categories
Grouping things based on common characteristics.
Phrases
Groups of words that convey meaning and act as unit.
Mental Stimulation
Involves imagining the steps that you'll have to take to solve the problem before you actually begin them. (Problem Solving Strategy)
Subordinate Level
Level below the basic level where items share more specialized characteristics.
Categorization
Process of placing something into a category.
Syntax
Refers to the rules in a language that define how words and phrases can be placed in a sentence.
Mental Models
Representations that predict, explain, or describe the way that things work.
Semantics
Rules in language about meaning of morphemes, words, and phrases.
Morphemes
Smallest units of meaning *words, prefixes and suffixes
Phonemes
Smallest units of sound that make up speech *vowels and consonants
Grammar
System in a given language for generating acceptable utterances and identifying those that are not acceptable.
Language
System of symbols, meanings, and sounds that allows us to communicate with each other.
Algorithms
Systematic procedures that provide solutions (Problem Solving Strategy)
Functional Fixedness
Tendency to focus on one function of an item and ignore other potential functions.
Thinking
The manipulation of info for a purpose, such as making decisions, forming concepts, and reasoning.
Problem Solving
The process of changing one situation into another in order to meet a goal.
Analogical Reasoning
The process of understanding a novel or new situation by using a familiar one.
Decision Making
The process of weighing the pros and cons of different alternatives and making a choice.
Confirmation/Affirmation Basis
The tendency to look for affirmation of what we already believe.
Mental Images
Visual representations that we use when we think.
What are the three levels of categorization? Describe each level and provide an example for each.
* Basic Level: Broadest category where items share common characteristics that are distinctive. (EX: Cat, dog, horse, cow) * Subordinate level: Level where items share more specialized characteristics; it is used to discuss unusual items rather than jumping right to basic level. (EX: Dog à Beagle, Labrador, Boxer) * Superordinate Level: More abstract level where items share few characteristics. (EX: Dog à Mammal)
Inductive Reasoning
* Inductive Reasoning: Involves reasoning from specific information to general information; rests on possibilities or choosing reasoning that is most likely to be true.
What is the difference between Inductive and Deductive reasoning?
* Inductive seeks most probable answer while Deductive attempts to come to certain answers.
What is the Whorfian hypothesis of linguistic relativity?
* The Whorfian Hypothesis of Linguistic Relativity is a theory that argues that language shapes the way we think, that languages which have many words for the subtypes in a category will make people perceive the world differently than the people who have limited terms for subcategories.
Prototypes
Abstractions that contain the most common elements of a category.
Elements of Language
Meaning assigned to symbols and sounds, which are arbitrary. *Phonemes *Morphemes *Phrases *Sentences
Concepts
Mental representations of categories.
Sentences
Organized groups of words that express intention and thought.
Basic Level
broadest category where items share common characteristics that are distinctive.
Nonverbal Communications
gestures, facial expressions, body language and nonverbal vocalizations.
Reasoning
process by which we formulate and evaluate arguments and beliefs.
Syllogism
using two premises to come to a logical conclusion.