AP Notes, Outlines, Study Guides, Vocabulary, Practice Exams and more!

AP Psychology Language & Cognition Flashcards

AP Psychology terminology for language and cognition

Terms : Hide Images
8332414963Cognitionprocess whereby we acquire and use knowledge; key elements: reviewing the past, contemplating the future, thinking about possibility; thinking0
8332414964languagea 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 communicate1
8332414965phonemesbasic 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.2
8332414966morphemessmallest meaningful units of speech; simple words, suffixes, prefixes; examples: red, hot, calm, -ed, pre-3
8332414967surface structurethe particular words and phrases used to make up a sentence4
8332414968deep structurethe underlying meaning of a sentence5
8332414969grammarlanguage 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 sentences6
8332414970semanticscriteria for assigning meaning to the morphemes in a language; influenced by Noam Chomsky; content of language; evidence by surface and deep structure7
8332414971syntaxNoam Chomsky; system of rules that governs how words are combined/arranged to form meaningful phrases and sentences; determined by word order8
8332414972imagenonverbal; visual, auditory, olfactory; mental representations; Einstein felt that scale in visualizing abstract concepts lead to insights; can be manipulated mentally (Shepard and Metzler) geometric patterns9
8332414973conceptmental 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, events10
8332414974information retrievalthe 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 memory11
8332414975prototypeRosch; mental model; model that contains the most typical features of concept; example: cat-pale, whiskers, meow, clause, for, ears12
8332414976Idealized Cognitive Model (ICM)Rosch; expands on prototypes; concept + schema; example: mother13
8332414977problem representationfirst step in problem-solving; interpreting or defining a problem14
8332414978trial and errorproblem-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 solution15
8332414979algorithmproblem-solving strategy; step by step method that guarantees a solution; must be appropriate for the problem to be use; math is a good example16
8332414980heuristicproblem-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 backward17
8332414981hillclimbinga heuristic; each set move to progressively closer to a final goal; simple; example: balancing a budget, reduce expenses to a smaller deficit18
8332414982subgoalsa heuristic; break problem into smaller, more manageable pieces; example: Hobbits and Orcs problem19
8332414983means-end analysisa 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 runs20
8332414984working backwarda 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 left21
8332414985setmental 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 fixedness22
8332414986functional fixednessa 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?23
8332414987Tactic of eliminationproblem-solving strategy; less all possible solutions then discard all solutions that seem to lead in the wrong direction24
8332414988visualizingbasic building blocks of thought; diagramming a course of action25
8332414989divergent thinkingthinking outside the box; generating as many unique answers as possible26
8332414990convergent thinkingonly one answer; answers are narrow in focus; example: math problems27
8332414991compensatory modela 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 ?28
8332414992noncompensatory modeldecision making model; where criteria is not so rational; example: car buying-hinges on car color29
8332414993representativenessheuristic; 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 quality30
8332414994availabilitydecision-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)31
8332414995confirmation biasdecision-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 acne32
8332414996linguistic-relativity hypothesisBenjamin Whorf; thinking patterns based on specific languages; evidence by linguistic determinism33
8332414997figurative languageexpressive language; smiles and metaphors34
8332414998telegraphic speechearly speech; stage of one and two-year-olds that omits nonessential words; often used by primates; example: more milk!35
8332414999Framingperspective or phrasing of information used to make a decision; studies on survival and mortality framing36
8332415000hindsight biastendency 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"37
8332415001linguistic determinismidea 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/dark38
8332415002counterfactual thinkingthinking about alternative realities and things that never happened; what ifs39

Need Help?

We hope your visit has been a productive one. If you're having any problems, or would like to give some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.

For general help, questions, and suggestions, try our dedicated support forums.

If you need to contact the Course-Notes.Org web experience team, please use our contact form.

Need Notes?

While we strive to provide the most comprehensive notes for as many high school textbooks as possible, there are certainly going to be some that we miss. Drop us a note and let us know which textbooks you need. Be sure to include which edition of the textbook you are using! If we see enough demand, we'll do whatever we can to get those notes up on the site for you!