Thinking & Language

Ms. Kamburov

Automatic vs. Effortful Processing

Automatic EffortfulO Barely noticing what

you are doing as you do it, taking little time or effort to understand somethingO E.g. an expert

piano player

O Also called controlled processing – requires a great deal of attentionO E.g. novice piano

player, consciously playing each note

Serial vs. Parallel Processing

Serial Processing Parallel ProcessingO In serial processing,

the brain solves one problem at a time & uses the solution of one problem as the input for the next problem O Similar to a

computer

O The brain solves many different independent problems at once O Computers cannot as of

yet do this. What if we develop super computers to use this way of problem solving? What happens to the need for humans?

How do we solve problems?1. Preparation stage: you assess a problem2. Production stage: search for possible solutions3. Judgment: evaluating all possible solutions &

selecting the best one4. Incubation: sometimes added as a 4th stage,

where the person takes a vacation from the problem. When he returns to the problem he may suddenly solve it with ease.

1. Think of when you take a M.C. exam and you don’t know the answer to a question. Do you dwell on it or move on and come back later?

Metacognitive processing: deliberately and consciously taking oneself through a problem. Can you think of an example?

Assignment – solving your own problem – due Thursday

O What do you plan to accomplish in your life within the next 10+ years?

O How do you plan on getting there? O Find a famous person or someone

you know that has accomplished this goal/a similar one.

O Recreate their path. Has your plan changed after this?

Algorithmic Approach to Problem Solving

O An algorithmic approach involves a set of rules which will guarantee a solution O What is an example of this?

O Useful for deterministic problem models, where the outcome of each choice can be precisely predicted

Heuristic Approach to Problem Solving

O Heuristic: problem solving strategy which is likely to produce a solution, but does not guarantee an answerO Mental shortcuts, rules-of-thumb

O Useful for stochastic problem models, where the outcome of each decision is not discovered before the decision is madeO What does this mean?

Heuristic Approach to Problem Solving

O Representativeness heuristic: asking yourself how similar one event is to a class of events O E.g. a class you are considering taking, taught by

the same teacher you have had before in a similar subject

O Availability heuristic: judging the likelihood that an event will happen in terms of how readily you can bring an instance of this to mindO E.g. events that are more vivid or have happened

more recently would be judged more likely to happen than others

Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking

Convergent Divergent O Determines one

correct answerO E.g. simple

math

O Produces a variety of solutionsO E.g. writing,

playing chess

Creativity O The ability to produce

novel solutions or objects O A solution is novel to

the person who thinks of it, but an idea/solution that only 1 person thinks of is objectively original O Can you be creative AND

non-original?O Studies show that

exceptionally creative people are more emotionally stable than others

O Creativity does not correlate highly with intelligence tests

O Torrance Test of Creative Thinking O http://

www.newsweek.com/photo/2010/07/10/creativity-test.slide3.html

InsightO Insight: the sudden revelation of

coming up with a solution to a problemO OR the sudden perception of

relationships between parts of a problem (Gestalt)

O Insight is unexpected & sudden, indicating that problem solving involves both conscious and unconscious processes

Functional FixednessOFunctional fixedness: a

set of ideas that people have about the function and use of objects, preventing them from using the objects in new ways

Language & 4 Basic Units of Meaning

1. Phonetics: sound system of a language1.Phonemes – smallest units of sound

2. Semantics: meanings of words1. Phonemes combine to form morphemes –

smallest units of meaning3. Syntax: grammatical rules of a language4. Prosody/pragmatics: intonation, accents,

pauses, pronunciation

Identify the 4 Basic Units of Meaning

O“Jenny went to the Oaks Mall yesterday. She didn’t buy anything, did she?”

Concepts O Logical concepts: formed by

definitionO Natural concepts: formed by

experience with objects and events themselves

O Prototypes: the best examples of a categoryO What do you think of when you think of a dog?

What type of breed is it?

Honey…the wheaten

terrier

How do we learn a language?O Babbling starts around 3 or 4

months of ageO There may be a critical period for

learning language. Kids who are not exposed to speech early in their lives have a hard time learning language laterO Why is it so hard to learn a new

language as an adult?

Linguist Noam Chomsky O Noticed that children learn language

too quickly to simply be imitatingO Language acquisition device: a

built-in readiness to learn grammatical rules

O Errors of growth: applying grammatical rules more broadly than is appropriate O E.g. “holded” instead of “held”

Whorfian HypothesisOLanguage

determines/influences thought

OReferred to as the linguistic relativity hypothesis