Module 14

Thought & Language

INTRODUCTION

• Cognitive Approach• method of studying how we process, store, and

use information and how this information, in turn, influences what we notice, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel

– Thinking• sometimes referred to as reasoning, involves

mental processes that are used to form concepts, solve problems, and engage in creative activities

INTRODUCTION (CONT.)

– Language• Special form of communication in which we learn

and use complex rules to form and manipulate symbols (words and gestures) that are used to generate an endless number of meaningful sentences

FORMING CONCEPTS

• Concept– a way to group or classify objects, events, animals, or

people based on some features, traits, or characteristics that they all share in common

• Exemplar model– form a concept of an object, event, animal, or person

by defining or making a mental list of the essential characteristics of a particular thing

FORMING CONCEPTS

• Prototype theory– form a concept by creating a mental image that is

based on the average characteristics of an object• Functions of concepts

– organize information– group things into categories and thus better organize

and store information in memory– avoid relearning– can be used to classify and categorize things, you can

easily classify new things without having to relearn what that thing is

SOLVING PROBLEMS

• Problem solving– involves searching for some rule, plan, or strategy

that results in our reaching a certain goal that is currently out of reach

• Different ways of thinking– Algorithms

• are a fixed set of rules that, if followed correctly, will eventually lead to a solution

SOLVING PROBLEMS (CONT.)

• Different ways of thinking– Heuristics

• rules of thumb, or clever and creative mental shortcuts, that reduce the number of operations and allow one to solve problems more easily and quickly

– Availability heuristic• says that we rely on information that is more

prominent or easily recalled and overlook other information that is available but less prominent or notable

SOLVING PROBLEMS (CONT.)

• Different ways of thinking– Artificial intelligence

• means of programming machines (computers, robots) to imitate human thinking and problem-solving abilities

SOLVING PROBLEMS (CONT.)

Three strategies for solving problems

– Changing one’s mental set

• functional fixedness

• refers to a mental set that is characterized by the inability to see an object as having a function different from its usual one

– Using analogies

• a strategy for finding a similarity between the new situation and an old, familiar situation

– Forming subgoals

• a strategy that involves breaking down the overall problem into separate parts that, when completed in order, will result in a solution

THINKING CREATIVELY

• How is creativity defined?– Creative thinking

• combination of flexibility in thinking and reorganization of understanding to produce innovative ideas and new or novel solutions

– Creative individual• someone who regularly solves problems, fashions

products, or defines new questions that make an impact on his or her society

THINKING CREATIVELY (CONT.)

• How is creativity defined?– Psychometric approach

• uses objective problem-solving tasks to measure creativity, focuses on the distinction between two kinds of thinking—convergent and divergent

– Convergent thinking• means beginning with a problem and coming up

with a single correct solution– Divergent thinking

• means beginning with a problem and coming up with many different solutions

THINKING CREATIVELY (CONT.)

• How is creativity defined?

– Case study approach

• analyzes creative persons in great depth and thus provides insight into their development, personality, motivation, and problems

– Cognitive approach

• tries to build a bridge between the objective measures of the psychometric approach and the subjective descriptions provided by case studies

• cognitive approach identifies and measures cognitive mechanisms that are used during creative thinking

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES

• Language

– special form of communication that involves learning complex rules to make and combine symbols (words or gestures) into an endless number of meaningful sentences

• Word

– arbitrary pairing between a sound or symbol and a meaning

• Grammar

– a set of rules for combining words into phrases and sentences to express an infinite number of thoughts that can be understood by others

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT.)

• Four rules of language

1.Phonology• specifies how we make the meaningful sounds that are

used by a particular language• phonemes• basic sounds of consonants and vowels

2.Morphology• system that we use to group phonemes into meaningful

combinations of sound and words• morpheme• smallest meaningful combination of sounds in a language

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT.)

• Four rules of language

3.Syntax, or grammar• set of rules that specifies how we combine words

to form meaningful phrases and sentences

4. Semantics• specifies the meaning of words or phrases when

they appear in various sentences or contexts

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT.)

• Understanding language– Chomsky’s theory of language

• Norm Chomsky• says that all languages share a common universal

grammar and that children inherit a mental program to learn this universal grammar

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT.)

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT.)

• Understanding language– Mental grammar

• allows us to combine nouns, verbs, and objects in an endless variety of meaningful sentences

• innate brain program• makes learning the general rules of grammar

relatively easy

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT.)

• Different structure, same meaning– Surface structure

• refers to the actual wording of a sentence, as it is spoken

– Deep structure• refers to an underlying meaning that is not spoken

but is present in the mind of the listener– Transformational rules

• procedures by which we convert our ideas from surface structures into deep structures and from deep structures back into surface ones

LANGUAGE: BASIC RULES (CONT.)

• Different structure, same meaning– Chomsky’s theory of language

• all languages share a common universal grammar and that children inherit a mental program to learn this universal grammar

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE

• Language stages– refers to all infants going through four different

periods or stages—babbling, single words, two-word combinations, and sentences

1.babbling• begins about 6 months, is the first stage in

acquiring language

2. single word• second stage in acquiring language, which occurs

at about 1 year of age

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT.)

• Language stages

2. single word (cont.)– parentese (motherese)– way of speaking to young children in which the adult

speaks in a slower and higher than normal voice, emphasizes and stretches out each word, uses very simple sentences, and repeats words and phrases

3. two-word combinations– represents the third stage in acquiring language,

occurs at about 2 years of age

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT.)

• Language stages

4. sentences– represents the fourth stage of acquiring language,

occurs at about 4 years of age• Telegraphic speech

– distinctive pattern of speaking in which the child omits articles (the), prepositions (in, out), and parts of verbs

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT.)

• Language stages• Basic rules of grammar

– rules for combining nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech to form meaningful sentences

• Overgeneralization– Applying a grammatical rule to cases where it should

not be used

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT.)

• What are innate factors?– genetically programmed physiological and

neurological features that facilitate our making speech sounds and acquiring language skills

– Innate physiological factors• special adapted vocal apparatus (larynx and

pharynx) that allows us to make sounds and form words

– Innate neurological features• left hemisphere of the brain is prewired to acquire

and use language, whether spoken or signed

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT.)

• What are innate factors?– Innate developmental factors

• critical language period• time from infancy to adolescence when language

is easiest to learn• more difficult to learn anytime after adolescence

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE (CONT.)

• What are environmental factors?– refer to interactions children have with parents,

peers, teachers, and others who provide feedback that rewards and encourages language development, as well as provides opportunities for children to observe, imitate, and practice language skills

• Social cognitive learning– emphasizes the acquisition of language skills through

social interactions, which give children a chance to observe, imitate, and practice the sounds, words, and sentences they hear from their parents or caregivers

DECISIONS, THOUGHT & LANGUAGE

• Words and Thoughts– Theory of Linguistic Relativity

• States that the differences among languages result in similar differences in how people think and perceive the world