1 / 20

Cognition and Language

Cognition and Language. Chapter 7. Building Blocks of Thought. Language A flexible system of symbols that enables us to communicate our ideas, thoughts, and feelings Nonhumans communicate primarily though signs Human language is semantic , or meaningful

makani
Download Presentation

Cognition and Language

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Cognition and Language Chapter 7

  2. Building Blocks of Thought • Language • A flexible system of symbols that enables us to communicate our ideas, thoughts, and feelings • Nonhumans communicate primarily though signs • Human language is semantic, or meaningful • It is also characterized by displacement in that it is not limited to the here-and-now

  3. Structure of Language • Phonemes • Basic sounds (ph, t) • Morphemes • smallest meaning unit (words, prefixes) • Surface structure • Phrases of sentence • Deep structure • Underlying meaning of a sentence • Grammar • Rules of how sounds combine

  4. Building Blocks of Thought • Images • Nonverval mental representations of sensory experiences • Concepts • Mental categories for classifying people, objects, or experiences • Prototype • Mental model containing the most typical features of a concept

  5. Language, Thought and Culture

  6. Language and Cognition • Linguistic determinism • Idea that patterns of thinking are determined by the specific language one speaks • Research only mildly supports the idea

  7. Culture and Cognition • All known cultures use categories to form concepts • Culture has an effect on • What information is included in a category • How categories are shaped by experience

  8. Nonhuman Thought and Language • Animal cognition • Animals can form concepts • Apes have demonstrated sophisticated problem-solving skills • Chimpanzees and orangutans show signs of self-awareness

  9. Nonhuman Thought and Language • Thequestion of language • Chimpanzees have been taught to use American Sign Language • Chimpanzees have been observed using telegraphic speech (two-word combinations) • Some chimps have learned to use keyboard symbols to communicate even without formal training

  10. Problem Solving Steps • Problem representation • Interpreting or defining the problem • Deciding the category a problem belongs to • Selecting a solution strategy • Evaluating progress toward goal

  11. Possible Solution Strategies • Trial and error • Works best with limited number of choices • Information retrieval • Retrieve from memory information about how such a problem has been solved in the past • Algorithms • Step-by-step methods that guarantees a solution • Math problems are an example of the type best solved using an algorithm • Heuristics • Rules of thumb that may help simplify a problem, but do not guarantee a solution

  12. Heuristic Methods Hill climbing Move progressively closer to goal without moving backward Subgoals Break large problem into smaller, more manageable ones, each of which is easier to solve than the whole problem Means-end analysis Aims to reduce the discrepancy between the current situation and the desired goal at a number of intermediate points Working backward Work backward from the desired goal to the existing condition

  13. Obstacles to Solving Problems • Motivation • Desire to solve a problem • Mental sets • Tendency to perceive and approach problems in certain ways • Functional fixedness • Tendency to see only a limited number of uses for an object

  14. Creative Problem Solving • Brainstorming • Produces many ideas • Very popular in business • Ideas are not judged when generated • The creative process • People often become more creative when exposed to creative peers

  15. Becoming a More Skillful Problem Solver • Eliminate poor choices • Visualize a solution • Develop expertise • Think flexibly

  16. Decision Making • Decision making is a special case of problem solving in which possible solutions or choices are already known • Logical decision making • Compensatory model • Rational decision-making model in which choices are systematically evaluated on various criteria • Example: buying a car • Good when issues are well-defined

  17. Decision-Making Heuristics • Heuristic processes are used when decisions involve a high degree of ambiguity • Representativeness heuristic • New information is compared to our model of the typical member of a category (prototype) • Availability heuristic • Decision is based on information that is most easily retrieved from memory, even if incomplete • Confirmation bias • Tendency to notice evidence that supports our beliefs and to ignore evidence that contradicts them

  18. Framing • How information is presented (or framed) can have an effect on the outcome of decision-making • Research has demonstrated that framing can have very dramatic effects on decision-making

  19. Decisions Under Pressure • When decisions are required quickly, experience plays a key role • With increased pressure in an emergency situation, decision making often deteriorates and can end in panic

  20. Explaining Our Decisions • Hindsight bias • Tendency to view the outcomes of decisions as inevitable and predictable after we know the outcome • Counterfactual thinking • Thinking about alternative realities and things that never happened • Often takes the form of “If only…” constructions dealing with causes and consequences

More Related