CHAPTER 10

Thinking and Language

Cognition

Cognition refers to all mental activities associated with processing, understanding, remembering, and communicating

Logical and illogical ways that we create concepts, solve problems, make decisions, and form judgments

Concepts

Concepts are mental groupings of similar objects, events and people

We then organize concepts into hierarchies

So…we have category hierarchies that contain concepts

Where does this guy belong?

Category Hierarchy

Prototypes

Prototypes are a mental image or best example that incorporates all the features we associate with a category

The more closely something matches our prototype of a concept the more readily we recognize it as an example of that concept

Geese and robins are both birds, but the robin more than likely better fits our definition of a bird because it best matches the prototype

Problem SolvingSome problems are solved through trial

and errorFor others we follow an algorithm

A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution

Can be too complicated and time-consuming for some problems

Heuristics are used instead Mental shortcuts

Reduces the number of options and then uses trial and error

Heuristics at Work

Find a word in SPLOYOCHYGUsing an algorithm would take forever

Try each letter in each positionSo we use heuristics to eliminate things

we know won’t be likely Like the two y’s being together

After applying heuristics we use trial an error

So…what is that word? PSYCHOLOGY

InsightWe are usually unaware of using any

problem-solving strategyWe call sudden flashes of inspiration

“insight”Traced neural activity and insight

generally coincided with a burst of activity in the right temporal lobe

Aha moments!Insight also results in a sense of

satisfaction in having solved the problem

Obstacles to Problem Solving

There are 2 common tendencies that can interfere with problem solving

Confirmation Bias Our eagerness to search for answers that

confirm what we believe is trueFixation

Inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective

Need to restructure how we approach a problem

2 Kinds of FixationMental set

Our tendency to approach a problem in a way that has worked for us before Problem is that old solutions often do not work on

new problems

Functional fixedness Our tendency to think that only a few familiar

functions for objects without thinking of the alternatives Tearing the house apart looking for a screwdriver,

when a dime would have turned the screw

Problems with Heuristics

Heuristics help us with quick decisions but can be costly because they can result in dumb decisions

Representativeness Heuristics To judge the likelihood of something we intuitively

compare it with our mental representation of the category. If the 2 match that fact usually overrides other considerations of logic and statistics

Availability Heuristics When we base our decisions on how mentally

available information is If an event comes to mind easily then we assume

that it is because it is a common event

Representativeness Heuristic

Likelihood of things in terms of how well they represent prototypes

There is a person who is short, slim and likes to read poetry. Is he an a) an Ivy-league professor or b) a truck driver

Most answer professor because he seems to best fit that prototype

Representative heuristics allowed your decision but also caused you to overlook other relevant information Statistics alone tells us there are way more

truckers than Ivy-league professors and therefore it was more likely that the man was a truck driver

Availability Heuristic

Does the letter k appear more often as the 1st or 3rd letter of a word? Surprise! 3rd!

Anything that can increase our ease of retrieving the information can increase its perceived availability Enable the information to “pop into mind.”

Why casinos signal every small payout Convince you that machines are paying out money puts

it in vivid memory and makes people more willing to gamble

Losses also have no sound

OverconfidenceTendency to overestimate the accuracy of our

knowledge and judgmentsOverconfidence clouds decisions every day – on

large and small scales My ability to complete these notes in a few hours or

Hitler’s advance into RussiaPeople who err on the side of overconfidence

live happier lives, find it easier to make tough decisions and seem more credible I thought this would take me 2 hours – I should have

planned for 4! Would have been happy when I finished early, hubby would have believed me about making dinner too and planning the rest of my week would be easier.

Framing Decisions

The way that we present an issueEffects are strikingGround beef that is 75% lean is better

received than beef that is 25% fatIf you understand framing you can influence

important decisions by othersExample – framing a survey question to

support or reject a particular viewpoint

Belief BiasWe are prone to bias as we seek confirmation

of our hunches, rely on efficient but fallible heuristics, display overconfidence and fall prey to the effects of framing

Logic helps, but we still tend to accept conclusions that agree with our opinions

Belief bias is the tendency for our beliefs to distort our logic

We more easily see the illogic of conclusions that run counter to our beliefs than those that agree with our beliefs

Belief Perseverance

Tendency to cling to our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence

Often fuels social conflictStudied opposing views of the death penalty

Both groups given new information (study results) Both were most impressed by the article/study that

supported their belief Each readily disputed the other article/study Showed that pro and anti-capital punishment groups

actually increased their disagreement when given the same mixed evidence

Intuition

Intuition is powerful and can yield many correct answers, but we need to be careful and check intuition against available evidence

Gut intuition great for reading someone’s emotions not so good at assessing risks

See page 408 for intuition’s power and perils and supported by other psychological phenomena from through the book.

Video!!!!

End Day 1 - Homework

In the clip we just watched Sheldon (becoming a regular in this class) came up with an algorithm for making friends What would have been the heuristic answer?

Now…think of a common problem Come up with an algorithm to solve it. Flow chart would be great. Identify the easier solution (heuristics) Finally, analyze both approaches and identify benefits and problems

and determine which you recommend

Bonus points for including: Categories, hierarchies, prototypes, confirmation bias, fixation,

representativeness heuristics, availability heuristics, overconfidence, framing, belief bias, belief perseverance, and intuition They MUST be used in the correct context and make sense in

how they are used in your explanation

Language

Most powerful and tangible indication of our power to think

It is what sets us above other animalsLanguage is an avenue for knowledge

Language Structure

Phonemes is the basic set of sounds Bat = b, a, t Chat= ch, a, t

English has 40 phonemes, all languages have phonemes, including sign language

Changes in phonemes = changes in meaningMorpheme is the smallest unit of language

that carries meaning A few phonemes can be morphemes (I.E. “I”) Most are a combination of two or more phonemes Morphemes also include prefixes and suffixes

Rules for Language

Grammar is a system of rules for a given language that allow us to communicate with and understand

Semantics: is the set of rules we use to derive meaning from morphemes -ed added to a word tells us that it already happened

Syntax: rules that tell us how to order words in a sentence Gives us context Adjectives before a noun in English, after in Spanish

Language is complex and it is this complexity that distinguished human language capacity

Language Development

4 months – babbling many speech sounds Includes sounds from various languages

10 months – babbling what resembles language Trained ear can now identify the sounds they are making

12 months – 1 word stage They know that words carry meaning

24 months – 2 word stage, telegraphic speech Like a telegraph, nouns and verbs only (I.E. “want juice”)

24+ months – Language rapidly develops into complete sentences

Language Development Explained

How do we do it?Skinner – operant conditioning

Association, imitation, and reinforcement According to Skinner it is through operant conditioning that

we develop language

Chomsky – inborn universal grammar Watch any kid and they will say things they have never heard He believed behaviorists had oversimplified it He likened learning language to “helping a flower grow in its

own way” Language development occurs naturally given adequate

nurture

Chomsky Continued

Expose kids to language and they will soak it upNatural – even deaf kids will develop a series of

gestures, complete with grammarCapacity for developing language is natural and

quick because we have a switch box Language acquisition device As we hear language the switches get ready for the

language we are about to learn

Surface structure of language The phonemes, morphemes, words and sentences and

rules that we grasp and can combine

Statistical Learning and Critical Periods

Infants have an amazing ability to learn the statistical aspects of human speech (syllables for example) Breaking down and understanding what syllables go together

Can we do this through our whole lives? Most researchers believe that we cannot

Childhood seems to be a critical period for learning language Even when you learn a second language as an adult – you speak

it with the accent of your first language Chomsky would say this is because once your grammar switch

was thrown on, mastering another language’s grammar became even more difficult

Final Thoughts

After age 7 our ability for language acquisition slowly declines

Evidenced by kids given a cochlear implant after age 7

Even after age 4, versus age 2, we see an impactThose kids who are not exposed to any

language before age 9 have a greatly reduced ability to learn a language