Cognition
process whereby we acquire and use knowledge; key elements: reviewing the past, contemplating the future, thinking about possibility; thinking
language
a flexible system of communication using sounds, rules, gestures, or symbols to convey information; is semantic (meaningful)-gives detailed information; displacement-allows communication over time; productive-create new words to communicate
phonemes
basic sound units; indicates change in meaning; universal; 45 phonemes in English, up to 85 in other languages; string together to create morphemes; examples:/s/, /z/, /ch/, /th/, /k/, etc.
morphemes
smallest meaningful units of speech; simple words, suffixes, prefixes; examples: red, hot, calm, -ed, pre-
surface structure
the particular words and phrases used to make up a sentence
deep structure
the underlying meaning of a sentence
grammar
language rules; determines how sounds and words can be combined; used to communicate meaning within a language; has two components: syntax and semantics; meaning is often determined by word order; Noam Chomsky; allows people to make transformation from surface to deep structure in sentences
semantics
criteria for assigning meaning to the morphemes in a language; influenced by Noam Chomsky; content of language; evidence by surface and deep structure
syntax
Noam Chomsky; system of rules that governs how words are combined/arranged to form meaningful phrases and sentences; determined by word order
image
nonverbal; visual, auditory, olfactory; mental representations; Einstein felt that scale in visualizing abstract concepts lead to insights; can be manipulated mentally (Shepard and Metzler) geometric patterns
concept
mental categories; classifying objects, people, or experiences; can be modified to better manage experience; example-dogs, books, cars<-- objects in world; fast, strong, interesting<-- things, people, events
information retrieval
the idea that language affects our ability to store and retrieve information as well as our ability to think about things; evidence by linguistic determinism; pulled info from long-term memory
prototype
Rosch; mental model; model that contains the most typical features of concept; example: cat-pale, whiskers, meow, clause, for, ears
Idealized Cognitive Model (ICM)
Rosch; expands on prototypes; concept + schema; example: mother
problem representation
first step in problem-solving; interpreting or defining a problem
trial and error
problem-solving strategy; best if there are limited choices; takes time to try all approaches; try one approach, fail; and another until you succeed; guarantees a solution
algorithm
problem-solving strategy; step by step method that guarantees a solution; must be appropriate for the problem to be use; math is a good example
heuristic
problem-solving strategy; rule of Tom; does not guarantee a solution; simplifies a problem so a solution may be found; four types: hillclimbing, subgoals, means-end analysis, and working backward
hillclimbing
a heuristic; each set move to progressively closer to a final goal; simple; example: balancing a budget, reduce expenses to a smaller deficit
subgoals
a heuristic; break problem into smaller, more manageable pieces; example: Hobbits and Orcs problem
means-end analysis
a heuristic; probably most use; combines hillclimbing and subgoals; analyze a difference between the current situation and the desired outcome, then do something to reduce the difference; does not preprint detours from final goal; example: pitcher's strategy with best batter-ultimate goal-to win game and keep batters off the base, a walk the best batter to eliminate more runs
working backward
a heuristic; used when means end analysis strays from goal; begin with goal and work backwards towards the "givens"; used when goal has more information than the givens and when the operations involved work two ways; example: $100 to spend, buy one item and subtract $100 to determine how much is left
set
mental set; tendency to perceive and approach problems in certain ways; determines what information we retrieved from memory to help us find a solution (includes heuristics and algorithms); flexibility comes from multiple sites to choose from (switch or abandon sets); pandered by function fixedness
functional fixedness
a hindrance to problem-solving; "assigning" an object in one function (which is how we form concepts); seeing a limited number of uses for an object; example: what can use a pencil for? A brick?
Tactic of elimination
problem-solving strategy; less all possible solutions then discard all solutions that seem to lead in the wrong direction
visualizing
basic building blocks of thought; diagramming a course of action
divergent thinking
thinking outside the box; generating as many unique answers as possible
convergent thinking
only one answer; answers are narrow in focus; example: math problems
compensatory model
a rational decision making model; choices are rated on various criteria (attractive criteria offset or compensate for unattractive features); example: buying a car-1. Higher price, better gas mileage 2. Lower price, lower mpg which do you buy ?
noncompensatory model
decision making model; where criteria is not so rational; example: car buying-hinges on car color
representativeness
heuristic; decision making model; new situation judged on its resemblance to a stereotypical model; example: you buy an expensive clothes and they fall apart, he judged anything inexpensive to be cheap therefore it is representative of the quality
availability
decision-making heuristic; judgment or decision is based on information that is most easily retrieved; type of: Subway Effect-law of nature that you are situation seldom occurs and we adjust accordingly (the other line his faster, until you give in it)
confirmation bias
decision-making heuristic; tendency to look for evidence in support of a believe and to ignore evidence to disprove the believe; seeing patterns of cause and effect when there is any pattern; example: AIDS, chocolate and acne
linguistic-relativity hypothesis
Benjamin Whorf; thinking patterns based on specific languages; evidence by linguistic determinism
figurative language
expressive language; smiles and metaphors
telegraphic speech
early speech; stage of one and two-year-olds that omits nonessential words; often used by primates; example: more milk!
Framing
perspective or phrasing of information used to make a decision; studies on survival and mortality framing
hindsight bias
tendency to view outcomes as inevitable and predictable after we know the outcome, and believe that we could have predicted what happened; "I knew it all along
linguistic determinism
idea of the patterns of thinking are determined by the specific language one speaks; Benjamin more; example: Hopi language as to nouns for "flies"-one for birds and one for everything else; Dani limited color terminology-light/dark
counterfactual thinking
thinking about alternative realities and things that never happened; what ifs