AP Psychology Language & Cognition Flashcards

AP Psychology terminology for language and cognition

6121520832	Cognition	process whereby we acquire and use knowledge; key elements: reviewing the past, contemplating the future, thinking about possibility; thinking	0
6121520833	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	1
6121520834	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.	2
6121520835	morphemes	smallest meaningful units of speech; simple words, suffixes, prefixes; examples: red, hot, calm, -ed, pre-	3
6121520838	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	4
6121520839	semantics	criteria for assigning meaning to the morphemes in a language; influenced by Noam Chomsky; content of language; evidence by surface and deep structure	5
6121520840	syntax	Noam Chomsky; system of rules that governs how words are combined/arranged to form meaningful phrases and sentences; determined by word order	6
6121520841	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	7
6121520842	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	8
6121520844	prototype	Rosch; mental model; model that contains the most typical features of concept; example: cat-pale, whiskers, meow, clause, for, ears	9
6121520847	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	10
6121520848	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	11
6121520849	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	12
6121520851	subgoals	a heuristic; break problem into smaller, more manageable pieces; example: Hobbits and Orcs problem	13
6121520852	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	14
6121520853	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	15
6121520854	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	16
6121520855	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?	17
6121520858	divergent thinking	thinking outside the box; generating as many unique answers as possible	18
6121520859	convergent thinking	only one answer; answers are narrow in focus; example: math problems	19
6121520862	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	20
6121520863	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)	21
6121520864	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	22
6121520865	linguistic-relativity hypothesis	Benjamin Whorf; thinking patterns based on specific languages; evidence by linguistic determinism	23
6121520866	figurative language	expressive language; smiles and metaphors	24
6121520868	Framing	perspective or phrasing of information used to make a decision; studies on survival and mortality framing	25
6121520869	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"	26
6121520870	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	27
6121520871	counterfactual thinking	thinking about alternative realities and things that never happened; what ifs	28