Chapter 08 - Language & Thought

Grant Clay

Period 3

10/11/08

AP Psychology Outline

Chapter 8: Language & Thought

Red – Definition

Blue - Important Points

Green - Important People & Contributions

1. Cognition – Mental Processes; Thinking.
2. Language: Turning Thoughts into Words
   
   1. Language – Consists of Symbols that Convey Meaning, Rules for Combining those Symbols that can generate Messages.
   2. Language is Symbolic, Generative, and Structured.
3. The Structure of Language
   
   1. Language has a Hierarchal Structure.
   2. Phonemes – Smallest Speech Units in a Language that can be Distinguished Perceptually.

                                                               i.      About 100 Different Phonemes/Sounds. Sound.

3. Morphemes – Smallest Units of Meaning in a Language. Word.

                                                               i.      Root Words, Pre-Fixes, and Suffixes

4. Semantics – Concerned with Understanding the Meaning of Words and Word Combinations. Meaning.

                                                               i.      Definition and Connotation/Implications.

5. Syntax – System of Rules that Specify How Words can be Arranged into Sentences.

                                                               i.      Sentence must have both Noun Phrase and Verb Phrase.

4. Language Development
   
   1. 1-3 Months Old = Learning Phonemes/Sounds.
   2. 4-8 Months Old = Learning Morphemes/Words.
   3. 8 Months Old = Learning Semantics/Meanings.
   4. Using Words
   5. Fast Mapping – The Process by which Children Map a Word onto an Underlying Concept After only 1 Week of Exposure.
   6. OverExtension – When a Child Incorrectly uses a Word to Describe a Wider Set of Objects or Actions than it is Meant To.
   7. UnderExtension – When a Child Incorrectly uses a Word to Describe a Narrower Set of Objects or Actions than it is Meant To.
   8. Combining Words
   9. 2 Years Old = Forming Sentences.
   10. Telegraphic Speech – Consists Mainly of Content Words; Less Critical Words are Omitted.
   11. Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) – The Average Length of Children Spoken Statements. (Measured in Morphemes/Words.
   12. OverRegularizations – When Grammatical Rules are Incorrectly Generalized to Irregular Cases where they Do Not Apply.
   13. Refining Language Skills
   14. Metalinguistic Awareness – The Ability to Reflect on the Use of Language.

                                                               i.      Appreciate Irony and Sarcasm.

5. Bilingualism: Learning more than 1 Language
   
   1. Bilingualism – Learning 2 Languages that use Different Speech Sounds, Vocabulary, and Grammar.
   2. Learning 2 Languages at Once does not Slow Down Language Development.
   3. Bilingualism allows you to think Deeper, but not as Fast.
   4. Age and Acculturation help Learn 2 Languages Better.
   5. Acculturation – The Degree to which a Person is Socially and Psychologically Integrated into a New Culture.
6. Can Animals Develop Language?
   
   1. Chimpanzees can Communicate with Humans through Language Boards if Trained.
   2. Kanzi is a Chimpanzee that can Communicate through a Sound Board.
   3. Raises Idea that all Animals not only Communicate, but have Language.
   4. Behaviorist Theory = B.F. Skinner – Children Learn Through Conditioning and Imitation. (Nurture.)
   5. Nativist Theory – Noam Chomsky – Children Learn the Rules of Language, not Specific Responses. (Nature.)

                                                               i.      Language Acquisition Device (LAD) – An Innate Mechanism or Process that Facilitates the Learning of Language.

                                                              ii.      Children are Biologically Equipped to Learn Language.

6. Interactionist Theory – Biology and Experience both Influence the Formation of Experience. (Nature & Nurture.)
6. Culture, Language, and Thought
   
   1. Linguistic Relativity – Benjamin Lee Whorf - The Hypothesis that One’s Language Determines the Nature of One’s Thought.
   2. Language Can Determine how you Think.
7. Problem Solving
   
   1. Problem Solving – Active Efforts to Discover what must be Done to Achieve a Goal that is not Readily Attainable.
   2.  3 Types of Problems: Inducing Structure, Arrangement, and Transformation.
   3. Functional Fixedness – The Tendency to Perceive an Item only in Terms of its most Common Use.
   4. Mental Set – When People Persist in Using Problem-Solving Strategies that have Worked in the Past.
   5. Insight – When People Suddenly Discover the Correct Solution to a Problem after Struggling with it for Awhile.
8. Approaches to Problem Solving
   
   1. Problem Space – Set of Possible Pathways to a Solution Considered by the Problem Solver.
   2. Trial and Error – Trying Possible Solutions and Discarding those that are In Error until one Works.
   3. Algorithm – A Methodical, Step-by-Step Procedure for Trying all Possible Alternatives in Searching for a Solution to a Problem.
   4. Heuristic – A Guiding Principle/ “Rule of Thumb” Used in Solving Problems or Making Decisions.
   5. Subgoals – Forming Subgoals helps with Intermediate Steps toward a Solution.
   6. Working Backwards – Start at End Solution and Work Backwards.
   7. Search For Analogies – Finding Similarities between 2 Problems help in the Finding of Solutions.
   8. Change Representation of Problem – Change the Way you Envision the problem.
9. Culture, Cognitive Style, and Problem Solving
   
   1. Field Dependence-Interdependence – Individuals Tendency to Rely on External Versus Internal Frames of Reference when Orienting Themselves in Space.

                                                               i.      Field Dependent – Rely upon External Reference to make a Decision.

                                                              ii.      Field Independent – Rely upon Internal Cognition to Break something into individual parts to Make a Decision.

                                                            iii.      Easterners see Wholes (Holistic), Westerners see Parts (Analytic).

11. Decision Making
    
    1. Decision Making – Evaluating Alternatives and Making Choices Among Them.
    2. Theory of Bounded Rationality – People Tend to Use Simple Strategies in Decision Making that Focus on only a Few Facets of Available Options and Often Result in “Irrational” Decisions that are Less than Optimal.
12. Making Choices
    
    1. Making Choices are based upon Preferences.
    2. Additive Strategy – List Attributes, then Rate Desirability.
    3. Elimination Strategy – List Attributes, Then Eliminate based on Preferences.
13. Taking Chances: Risky Decisions
    
    1. Risky Decision Making – Making Decisions under Conditions of Uncertainty.
    2. Expected Value – Calculate the Probability and Returns of Taking a Risk then Evaluate.
    3. Subjective Utility – Making a Risky Decision that is Worth it to the Individual.

                                                               i.      Like Paying for Insurance makes you feel Safer.

14. Heuristics in Judging Probabilities
    
    1. Availability Heuristic – Basing the Estimated Probability of an Event on the Ease with which Relevant Instances come to Mind.
    2. Representative Heuristic – Basing the Estimated Probability of an Event on How Similar it is to the Typical Prototype of that Event.
    3. Conjunction Fallacy – When People Estimate that the Odds of Two Uncertain Events Happening Together are Greater than the Odds of Either Event Happening Alone.

                                                               i.      Gives Rise to Stereotypes.

4. Alternate Outcomes Effect – Occurs when People’s Belief about Whether an Outcome will Occur Changes Depending on how Alternative Outcomes are Distributed, Even though the Summed Probability of the Alternative Outcomes is Held Constant.
14. Evolutionary Flaws in Human Decision Making
    
    1. Throughout Evolution, Human Decision-Making has developed Errors in Rational Thinking Processes.
15. Fast & Frugal Heuristics
    
    1. Gerd Gigrenzer
    2. Human Reasoning Largely relies upon not knowing all the Information/Factors.
    3. Recognition Heuristic – If 1 of 2 Alternatives is Recognized and the Other is Not, Infer that the Recognized Alternative has the Higher Value.