Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY (7th Ed) Chapter 7B Thinking and Language James A. McCubbin, PhD Clemson University Worth Publishers

Thinking Cognition Cognitive Psychologists mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating Cognitive Psychologists study these mental activities concept formation problem solving decision making judgment formation

Thinking Concept Prototype mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people Prototype mental image or best example of a category Ex. Describe what a bird looks like?

Concept Chairs Flowers

Prototype

Solving Problems 4 Strategies Algorithms Step-by-step Heuristic Insight Trial and Error

Thinking: Problem Solving Algorithm methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem For example solving an equation using Order of Operations. 2x+6 = 14; Solve for X

Thinking: Problem Solving Heuristic simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently Rules of thumb derived from experience. No guarantee of accuracy or usefulness Example, counting seconds between lighting and thunder to see how far away storm is. Racial Profiling, stereotyping are heuristics.

Thinking: Problem Solving Insight sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem contrasts with strategy-based solutions Trial and Error make attempts until correct solution is found.

S P L O Y O C H Y G Thinking Unscramble Algorithm Heuristic all 907,208 combinations Heuristic throw out all YY combinations other heuristics?

Solving Problems Creativity Creativity – read pgs 301-302 Strernberg’s five components Expertise Imaginative thinking skills A venturesome personality Intrinsic motivation A creative environment

Thinking: Hurdles to Problem Solving Confirmation Bias tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions Fixation inability to see a problem from a new perspective impediment to problem solving

Thinking Functional Fixedness tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions impediment to problem solving

The Matchstick Problem How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?

The Candle-Mounting Problem Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

The Three-Jugs Problem Using jugs A, B, and C, with the capacities shown, how would you measure out the volumes indicated?

Heuristics Representativeness Heuristic judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes may lead one to ignore other relevant information

Representativeness Heuristic Two boxers are in a match scheduled for 12 rounds. (Pure boxing only – no kicking, UFC takedowns, or anything else). One of the boxers gets knocked out after only six rounds, yet no man throws a punch. How is this possible?

Heuristics Representativeness Heuristic Describe a NASCAR driver: Drivers 1 Drivers 2

Heuristics Availability Heuristic estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common Example: airplane crash, Casino Winners & Losers, Jaws & swimming.

Thinking Overconfidence tendency to be more confident than correct tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments

Thinking Belief Bias Belief Perseverance the tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid or valid conclusions seem invalid Belief Perseverance clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited – read pgs 308-309 “Fear Factor”

Making Decisions and Forming Judgments Using and Misusing Heuristics The Availability Heuristic

Thinking Framing – read pgs 311-312 the way an issue is posed how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments Example: What is the best way to market ground beef--as 25% fat or 75% lean? Preferred Portion Size – Restaurants use words such as small, regular, supersize for their portions. Opt In vs Opt Out Those who understand the power of framing can use it to influence our decisions…

Thinking “When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it; THIS is KNOWLEDGE!” – Confucius Work on Group Problems to Solve Worksheet.

Language Language our spoken, written, or gestured words and the way we combine them to communicate meaning Phoneme in a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit. The sound of a letter as used in a word. For example the letter A – sounds different in Ate and Cat.

Language Morpheme Grammar in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix) ex. Uni, Bi, Tri (+ Cycle) Grammar a system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Language Semantics the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language also, the study of meaning Syntax the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

Language Babbling Stage beginning at 3 to 4 months the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language One-Word Stage from about age 1 to 2 the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Language Two-Word Stage Telegraphic Speech beginning about age 2 the stage in speech development during which a child speaks in mostly two-word statements Telegraphic Speech early speech stage in which the child speaks like a telegram-–“go car”--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting “auxiliary” words

Language Summary of Language Development Month (approximate) Stage 4 10 12 24 24+ Babbles many speech sounds. Babbling reveals households language. One-word stage. Two-word, telegraphic speech. Language develops rapidly into complete sentences.

Language Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience activates them as it modifies the brain

How do we Learn Language: Read pgs 316-317 Skinner: Operant Learning Chomsky: Inborn Universal Grammer Association : sights of things with the sounds of words Imitation : of the words and syntax modeled by others Reinforcement : With smiles and hugs when a child speaks. Linda Linda Linda Language Acquisition Device: we are genetically prewired to acquire language. As we hear language, the switches get set for the language we are to learn. Universal Grammar: All human grammars have the same building blocks, such as nouns and verbs, subjects and objects. Regardless of language, kids start speaking in nouns rather than verbs or adjectives.

Language Linguistic Determinism Whorf”s hypothesis that language determines the way we think Different languages impose different concepts of reality. Ex. Spanglish, Pig Latin, Slang, words with different meanings by location.

Language The interplay of thought and language

Language Review 1. What are the structural components of Language? 2. What are the stages of Language Development? 3. What is the relationship between language and thinking?

For Next Class Study for Test – Unit 6, 7A and 7B Combined. For the rest of class, go over Unit Review for both sections.