AP Psych: Unit 7 & 8: Cognition and Language and Conscious

Genie the Wild Child

Raised in isolation and abuse, her critical period had passed by the time she was rescued and she never reached her language potential.

Critical period

The best time to acquire language and neural pathways for vision is during the first seven years of a child's life.

Thinking

The manipulation of mental representations example: The circle of thought is part of the information-processing model.

Mental Set

The tendency for people to continue using problem-solving strategies that have worked for them in the past.

Framing

The way an issue is posed or presented can significantly influence our decisions and judgements.

Concepts

These are ideas that represent a category of objects, events, or activities.

Functional fixedness

This is a block to problem solving that occurs when a person thinks that objects only have the functions for which they were intended.

Algorithm

This is a logical, step-by-step procedure that guarantees solving a problem, and includes examining every possibility.

Divergent thinking

This is a type of thinking in which a person starts from one point and comes up with many different ideas or possibilities based on that point.

Convergent thinking

This is a type of thinking in which a problem is seen as having only one answer, and all lines of thinking will eventually lead to that single answer, using previous knowledge and logic.

Availability Heuristic

This is estimating the likelihood that events occur based on how easily they come to mind, often based on vivid memories.

Representativeness Heuristic

This is judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to match our prototypes and may lead us to ignore other relevant informations

Language acquisition device

This is the idea that all children are born with the innate predisposition to learn language quickly.

Confirmation Bias

This is the tendency to search for evidence that fits one's beliefs while ignoring any information that does not fit those beliefs.

Receptive language

This refers to the period in an infants' development when they begin to comprehend speech and may begin around 4 months of age.

Stimulants

def. psychoactive drug that has the ability to increase behavioral and mental activity ex. Amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine, and nicotine are examples of stimulants.

Depressants

def. psychoactive drug that inhibits the functioning of the central nervous system ex. Alcohol brings about its depressant effects by affecting GABA.

Beta waves

def. rapid brain waves seen during alert wakefulness ex. They are small, fast, and of relatively low amplitude.

Alpha waves

def. rhythmic brain waves occurring at speeds of eight to twelve cycles per second ex. A relaxed person with closed eyes shows these waves.

Semantics

def. rules governing the meaning of words and sentences ex. Because of its meaning, the noun "bouquets" cannot be modified by the word "rapid".

Psychoactive drugs

def. substance that acts on the brain to create some psychological effect ex. Most of these drugs affect the brain by altering the interactions between neurotransmitters and receptors.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

def. the field that studies how to program computers to imitate the products of human perception, understanding, and thought ex. Expert systems are successful only in narrowly defined fields.

Delta waves

def. the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep ex. It is a high amplitude brain wave.

Theta waves

def. the pattern of brain activity observed in stage 1 sleep; one is semi-conscious in this state ex. It has the second slowest frequency of brain waves.

Reasoning

def. the process by which people generate and evaluate arguments and reach conclusions about them ex. Formal reasoning is following a set of rigorous procedures for reaching valid conclusions.

Syntax

def. the set of rules that govern the formation of phrases and sentences in a language ex. According to English syntax, a subject and a verb must be combined in a sentence.

Words

def. unit of language composed of one or more morphemes ex. Words are combined to form phrases and sentences according to syntax.

Prototype

A member of a natural concept that possesses all or most of its characteristic features Example: A robin is a prototypical bird, rather than a ostrich.

Heuristics

A mental short cut to solving problems often called the "rule of thumb".

Insight

A sudden solution to a problem often referred to an "Aha!"

Language

A system of combining symbols such as words, sounds, or signs so that an unlimited number of words can be made for communicating with others.

Wolfgang Kohler

His chimpanzee Sultan showed insight when he figured out how to obtain a banana with a stick.

Intuition

An immediate, automatic feeling or thought that comes to mind like a gut feeling without conscious reasoning.

Babbling

At about four months of age infants start to utter all the sounds that they can and which are not related to household sounds or adult speech.

One-word stage

At about one-year of age children start to speak mostly single words.

Linguistic determinism

Benjamin Whorf's theory that language determines the way we think.

B.F. Skinner

He believed that children acquire language through the principles of operant conditioning which include association, imitation, and reinforcement.

Noam Chomsky

He believes that language acquisition is innate and that children effortlessly learn the language of the home.

Morpheme

It is the smallest unit of meaning in a language and may be a word or part of a word such as a prefix.

Phoneme

It is the smallest unit of sound in a language.

Cognition

Mental activity that goes on in the brain when a person is thinking, organizing and attempting to understand information and communicating to others

Universal grammar

Noam Chomsky's idea that language acquisition is innate and that all human languages are based on the same building blocks, such as subjects, predicates, and objects.

Mental models

def. a cluster of propositions representing our understanding of objects and processes that guides our interaction with those things ex. As more info about the world becomes available, either from existing memories or from new info we receive, our mental models become more complete.

Formal concepts

def. a concept that can be clearly defined by a set of rules or properties ex. The concept "square" can be defined as "a shape with four equal sides and four right-angle corner."

Natural concepts

def. a concept that has no fixed set of defining features but has a set of characteristic features ex. A space shuttle and a hot-air balloon are two examples of the natural concept "aircraft".

Circadian rhythm

def. a cycle, such as waking and sleeping, that repeats about once a day ex. They are linked to signals such as the light and dark of day and night.

Narcolepsy

def. a daytime sleep disorder in which a person switches abruptly from an active, often emotional waking state into several minutes of REM sleep ex. It usually begins when a person is between fifteen and twenty-five years old.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

def. a disorder in which a sleeping baby stops breathing and dies ex. SIDS strikes about two of every thousand infants, especially very low birthweight babies.

Schemas

def. a generalization about categories of objects, places, events, and people ex. Our schemas tell us what to expect, but sometime those expectations can be wrong.

Scripts

def. a mental representation of familiar sequences of activity ex. Your "restaurant" script represents the sequence of events you can expect when you go out to eat.

Hypnosis

def. a phenomenon brought on by special induction techniques and characterized by varying degrees of responsiveness to suggestions for changes in experience and behavior ex. A desire to cooperate with the hypnotist greatly increases the likelihood that a person will experience it.

Grammar

def. a set of rules for combining the words used in a given language ex. It is usually taken as consisting of syntax, words, etc. The power of language comes from the way the raw materials are organized according to certain rules.

Insomnia

def. a sleep disorder in which a person feels tired during the day because of trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night ex. Insomnia is tied to mental distress and impaired functioning.

Rapid eye movement (REM)

def. a stage of sleep in which brain activity and other functions resemble the waking stage but that is accompanied by rapid eye movements and virtual muscle paralysis ex. In REM, your EEG resembles that of an awake, alert person, but your muscles are nearly paralyzed.

Latent content

def. according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream ex. It is the unconscious wishes of the dreamer.

Syllogisms

def. an argument made up of two propositions, called premises, and a conclusion based on those premises ex. If A=B and B=C, then A=C

Lucid dreaming

def. awareness that a dream is a dream while it is happening ex.Typically this happens when the dreamer experiences something strange.

Antagonist

def. drug that binds to a receptor and prevents the normal neurotransmitter from binding ex. They can prevent or reverse the actions of dopamine by keeping dopamine from attaching to receptors.

Agonist

def. drug that mimics the effects of the neurotransmitter that normally binds to a neural receptor ex. Morphine mimics the actions of endorphins.

Night terrors

def. horrific dream that causes rapid awakening from stage 3 or 4 sleep and intense fear for up to 30 minutes ex. Sleepers often awake from a night terror with a bloodcurdling scream and remain frightened.

Meditation

def. intended to create an altered state of consciousness characterized by inner peace and tranquility ex. Some claim that it increases people's awareness and understanding of themselves and their environment, etc.

Sleep apnea

def. people briefly but repeatedly stop breathing during the night ex. Effective treatments include wight loss and use of a nasal mask.