Chapter 10: Thinking and language

linguistic determination

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think IYOW: theory of language

prototype

a mental image or best example that incorporates all the features we associate with a category of a concept; the more identical an object is to a prototype, the quicker we are to recall the object as belonging to the category that the prototype belongs to IYOW: The test dummy for an idea

heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms IYOW: This is where you would use your calculator in math, to get a quick answer.

algorithm

a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution IYOW: Doing things the old fashioned way. In math this would be the hand written way, instead of using the calculator.

insight

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions IYOW: Finding a short-cut to a problem

mental set

a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past IYOW: Because it worked for me in the past, I'm going to use it again.

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions IYOW: A needed reassurance

cognition

all the mental activities associated with processing, understanding, remembering, and communicating IYOW: All the things associated with mental activities, such as remembering and communicating

two-word stage

beginning about age two, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements IYOW: when a baby starting to put words together ti make a sentence kind of.

babbling stage

beginning at about four months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language IYOW: "goo-goo-ga-ga"

belief perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited IYOW: getting a question wrong, but still believing you were right

computer neural networks

computer circuits that mimic the brain's interconnected neural cells, performing tasks such as learning to recognize visual patterns and smells. IYOW: circuits that recognize things

telegraphic speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram - using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words IYOW: "Baby Up"

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 IYOW: being able to recall things quickly, such events mustt be common.

grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others IYOW: how we speak and right in order to understand each other.

phoneme

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit IYOW: the smallest sound unit

morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or part of a word (such as a prefix) IYOW: a unit that carries meaning

representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant information IYOW: judging off of looks and how well they match, instead of the information

concept

mental group of similar objects, events, and people IYOW: To group things based on how they look or go together

language

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning IYOW: the way we communicate

fixation

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving IYOW: Stuck in one's ways

syntax

the rules of combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language IYOW: The sentence structure

artificial intelligence (AI)

the science of designing and programming computer systems to do intelligent things and to stimulate human thought processes, such as intuitive reasoning, learning, and understanding language. IYOW: the military uses AI, programs that act like and think like humans.

semantics

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language IYOW: the study of meaning

one-word stage

the stage in speech development, from about age one to two, during which a child speaks mostly in single words IYOW: when a baby wants juice, they might say "cup"

belief bias

the tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid IYOW: Knowing something is wrong, but your beliefs are affecting your judgement

overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgements; cockiness IYOW: Thinking you know it all, and end up getting everything wrong.

functional fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving IYOW: Thinking of only one way an object can be used, because we often only use it one way.

framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments IYOW: stuck in a situation were you have think and approach the situation wisely