AP Psych Unit 7B

Compare the notions of concept and prototype.

- A concept is a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, and people. - A prototype is a mental image or best example of a category.

Prototype

- A mental image or best example of a category - Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)

What is the relationship between language and thinking, and what is the value of thinking in images?

- Although Benjamin Lee Whorf's linguistic determinism hypothesis suggested that language determines thought, it is more accurate to say that language influences thought. - Different languages embody different ways of thinking, and immersion in bilingual education can enhance thinking. - We often think in images when we use nondeclarative (procedural) memory—our automatic memory system for motor and cognitive skills and classically conditioned associations. - Thinking in images can increase our skills when we mentally practice upcoming events.

What cognitive strategies assist our problem solving, and what obstacles hinder it?

- An algorithm is a methodical, logical rule or procedure (such as a step-by-step description for evacuating a building during a fire) that guarantees a solution to a problem. - A heuristic is a simpler strategy (such as running for an exit if you smell smoke) that is usually speedier than an algorithm but is also more error-prone. - Insight is not a strategy-based solution, but rather a sudden flash of inspiration that solves a problem. - Obstacles to problem solving include confirmation bias, which predisposes us to verify rather than challenge our hypotheses, and fixation, such as mental set, which may prevent us from taking the fresh perspective that would lead to a solution.

Name and define two problem-solving strategies. Next, explain an advantage each has over the other.

- An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution. - A heuristic is a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make quick judgments. - Algorithm advantage: More likely to produce a correct solution. - Heuristic advantage: Often faster than using an algorithm.

What is cognition, and what are the functions of concepts?

- Cognition refers to all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. - We use concepts, mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people, to simplify and order the world around us. - We form most concepts around prototypes, or best examples of a category.

What is creativity, and what fosters it?

- Creativity, the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas, correlates somewhat with intelligence, but beyond an intelligence test score of 120, that correlation dwindles. - Sternberg has proposed that creativity has five components: expertise, imaginative thinking skills; a venturesome personality; intrinsic motivation; and a creative environment that sparks, supports, and refines creative ideas.

What is intuition, and how can the representativeness and availability heuristics, overconfidence, belief perseverance, and framing influence our decisions and judgments?

- Intuition is the effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thoughts we often use instead of systematic reasoning. - Heuristics enable snap judgments. The representativeness heuristicleads us to judge the likelihood of things in terms of how they represent our prototype for a group of items. Using the availability heuristic, we judge the likelihood of things based on how readily they come to mind, which often leads us to fear the wrong things. - Overconfidence can lead us to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs. - When a belief we have formed and explained has been discredited, belief perseverance may cause us to cling to that belief. A remedy for belief perseverance is to consider how we might have explained an opposite result. - Framing is the way a question or statement is worded. Subtle wording differences can dramatically alter our responses.

What are the milestones in language development?

- Language development's timing varies, but all children follow the same sequence. - Receptive language (the ability to understand what is said to or about you) develops before productive language (the ability to produce words). - At about 4 months of age, infants babble, making sounds found in languages from all over the world. - By about 10 months, their babbling contains only the sounds found in their household language. -Around 12 months of age, children begin to speak in single words. This one-word stage evolves into two-word (telegraphic) utterances before their second birthday, after which they begin speaking in full sentences.

How do we acquire language?

- Linguist Noam Chomsky has proposed that all human languages share a universal grammar—the basic building blocks of language—and that humans are born with a predisposition to learn language. - We acquire specific language through learning as our biology and experience interact. - Childhood is a critical period for learning to speak and/or sign fluently. This is an important consideration for parents of deaf children, who might master oral communication if given a cochlear implant during this critical period. Deaf culture advocates oppose such implants on the grounds that deafness is a difference, not a disability.

Name and define the three building blocks of spoken language.

- Phoneme: the smallest distinctive sound unit. - Morpheme: the smallest unit carrying meaning in language. - Grammar: the system of rules that enable communication.

What are the structural components of a language?

- Phonemes are a language's basic units of sound. - Morphemes are the elementary units of meaning. - Grammar—the system of rules that enables us to communicate—includes semantics (rules for deriving meaning) and syntax (rules for ordering words into sentences).

How do smart thinkers use intuition?

- Smart thinkers welcome their intuitions (which are usually adaptive), but when making complex decisions they gather as much information as possible and then take time to let their two-track mind process all available information. - As people gain expertise, they grow adept at making quick, shrewd judgments.

What brain areas are involved in language processing and speech?

- Two important language-and speech-processing areas are Broca's area, a region of the frontal lobe that controls language expression, and Wernicke's area, a region in the left temporal lobe that controls language reception. - Language processing is spread across other brain areas as well, where different neural networks handle specific linguistic subtasks.

Chomsky

Believed language was innate; developmental theorist

Evidence of words' subtle influence on thinking best supports the notion of

Linguistic determinism

The prefix "pre" in "preview" or the suffix "ed" in "adapted" are examples of

Morphemes

Linguistic Determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Algorithm

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier—but also more error-prone—use of heuristics.

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 realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions.

Mental set

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.

Confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

Expertise

a well developed base of knowledge, furnishes the ideas, images, and phrases we use as mental building blocks

What is another term for a methodical, logical rule that guarantees solving a particular problem?

algorithm

Cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Intuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.

When instances come readily to mind, we often presume such events are common. _______________ is the term for this phenomenon?

availability heuristic

Two-Word Stage

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements

Babbling stage

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

Intrinsic motivation

being driven more by interest, satisfaction, and challenge than by external pressures

belief perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

________________ __________ is the tendency to search for supportive information of preconceptions while ignoring contradictory evidence?

confirmation bias

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.

Wernicke's Area

controls language reception—a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.

What is the best phrase for the narrowing of available problem solutions with the goal of determining the best solution?

convergent thinking

Sternberg

created his three types of intelligences (analytical, creative, and practical)

Producing valuable and novel ideas best defines ...

creativity

Telegraphic Speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs.

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.

Divergent thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions)

5 components of creativity

expertise, imaginative thinking skills, venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, creative environment

What is another word for the way an issue is presented to you?

framing

Whorf

hypothesized that language determines how reality is perceived

Aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

Grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. In a given language, semantics is the set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.

Morpheme

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

Phonemes

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information.

Broca

left frontal lobe: associated with expressive language

Wernicke

left frontal lobe: receptive language

Convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Language

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

What do we call the smallest distinctive sound units in language?

phonemes

Imaginative thinking skills

provide the ability to see things in novel ways, to recognize patterns, and to make connections

Tversky & Kahneman

psychologists that identified the two heuristics that lead problem solvers astray

Cognition is the best term for mental activities associated with __________, ____________, & ____________

remembering, thinking, & knowing

A concept is a ______________

schema

Venturesome personality

seeks new experiences, tolerates ambiguity and risk, and perseveres in overcoming obstacles

Creative environment

sparks, supports, and refines creative ideas

A prototype is a _____________ of a ______________

stereotype, concept

_____________________ best identifies the early speech stage in which a child speaks using mostly nouns and verbs?

telegraphic speech

Creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

One-Word Stage

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

Pinker

we are predisposed to learn language; language is a human instinct (disciple of Chompsky)

Köhler

worked with chimpanzees; set up a problem situation, insight