Thinking and Language “What you hate is walking. This is hiking – hiking is different from walking.”

Groups are responsible for making their own copies of handouts! Chapter 10 Group Lectures Create Powerpoint, Interactive Handout, AND a Short Engaging Class Activity) Group 1 – Pages 385-389 Group 2 – Pages 389-395 Group 3 – Pages 395-399 Group 4 – Pages 401-404 Group 5 – Pages 404-408 Group 6 – Pages 409-412 Group 7 – Pages 413-417 *Planning Dates: February 1st (Today) – February 3rd *Group Lectures will begin on Friday, February 4th Groups are responsible for making their own copies of handouts!

Groups are responsible for making their own copies of handouts! Hock Group Presentations Create Powerpoint, Interactive Handout, AND an Engaging Class Activity) Group 1 - A Sexual Motivation (pg. 158-168) February 23rd Group 2 - I Can See It All Over Your Face (pg. 168-175) February 23rd Group 3 - What You Expect Is What You Get (pg. 93-100) March 4th Group 4 - Are You the Master of Your Fate? (pg. 192-199) March 15th Group 5 - The One; The Many (pg. 217-225) March 15th Group 6 - You’re Getting Defensive Again (pg. 234-241) March 16th Group 7 - Who’s Crazy Here, Anyway? (pg. 226-234) March 29th Groups are responsible for making their own copies of handouts!

Thinking = Cognition The word “think” has many meanings. In psychology, thinking means to reason, to ponder, or reflect. In other words, psychologists term thinking as Directed thinking. Directed thinking = a set of internal activities that are aimed at the solution to a problem.

Thinking and Language Cognition refers to all the mental activities associated with processing, understanding, and communicating information. Cognitive psychologists study these mental activities including logical and sometimes illogical ways in which we create concepts, solve problems, make decisions, and form judgments. To think about the countless events, and people in our world, we simplify things; we form concepts.

Concepts Schemas In order to think about the world, we form…….. A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, physical states of being, or people Concepts are similar to Piaget’s idea of…. Schemas These animals all look different, but they fall under our concept of “dogs”.

Prototypes We base our concepts on …. A mental image or best example of a category If a new object is similar to our prototype, we are better able to recognize it. If this was your prototype of a man; then what are you?

Thinking and Language When we think we also use symbols. A symbol is an object or act that stands for something else. Example: the American flag, an owl, a snake, etc. Mental Images are types of symbols too. Example: picture a dog in your mind, that image stands for a real dog; it is not itself a dog.

Components of Thought Two schools of thought: Mental Imagery Some psychologists propose that the ultimate constituents (parts) are mental images. Others suggest that thoughts are complex, abstract mental structures composed of concepts and mental images. Mental Imagery According to this theory, all thought is ultimately comprised of images which enter and exit consciousness. Research has shown this theory too simplistic; mental imagery plays an important role in thinking BUT not all.

Abstract Elements of Thought There are components of thought that are not just mental images. They are essentially symbolic, abstract elements. (example: words). Consider a picture of a mouse, the word “mouse” and the real animal. (Compare them) The picture represents a mouse. The picture has many similiarities to the real animal. In contrast, the word “mouse” stands for the same animal; but, unlike the picture the word has NO similarities to the real animal. (only symbolic/abstract connection) The relationship between the sound “mouse” or the written five-letter word mouse and the real animal is entirely symbolic.

“Dogs generally bite postmen.” Propositions = mental combination of simple associative train of thought in which one idea leads to another. “Dogs generally bite postmen.” Propositions are statements that relate a subject (the idea/object about which an assertion is made e.g., “dogs”) and a predicate (what is asserted about subject, e.g., “generally bite postmen”) In a way that can be true or false.

“And don’t forget – make it look like an accident.” Problem Solving “And don’t forget – make it look like an accident.” 12

Problem Solving Thinking is the solving the myriad of problems we encounter every day. Thinking is an active process. Thinking can be defined as a stream of organized activity producing a chain of associated ideas each triggered by the one before. A problem solver goes through a sequence of internal steps which are organized in a special way  directed towards the solving of a problem.

How do we solve problems? We approach different types of problems in different ways.

Algorithms A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Example: mathematics is a complex system of algorithmic problem solving. Systemic search is an example of algorithms. EXAMPLE: C_ _ FF  Complete the word. What are the benefits and detriments of algorithms?

Heuristics A rule-of-thumb strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently Who would you trust to baby-sit your child? A creative short cut (that can be prone to errors) EXAMPLE: C _ _ CH  use heuristics to solve this problem. Your answer is based on your heuristic of their appearances.

Availability Heuristic Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in our memory *If it comes to mind easily (maybe a vivid event) we presume it is common. Judging a situation based on examples of similar situations that come to mind initially EXAMPLE: Estimating the divorce rate by recalling the number of divorces among your friends’ parents. Although diseases kill many more people than accidents, it has been shown that people will judge accidents and diseases to be equally fatal. This is because accidents are more dramatic and are often written up in the paper or seen on the news on t.v., and are more available in memory than diseases.

Representativeness Heuristic Below is Linda. She loves books and hates loud noises. Is Linda a librarian or a beautician? A rule of thumb for judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they match our prototype Can cause us to ignore important information Chances are, she is a beautician!!!

Other heuristic problem solving methods Means-end analysis – breaking problem down into parts and trying to solve each part, eventually leading to the whole solution. Working backwards – (similar to means-end) breaking down into parts except you start with the final goal and work backwards to figure total solution. Analogies – comparative solving method where one similar item, situation, idea, etc. is used to solve another similar problem. Trial and error – random search for a solution Difference reduction – identifying goal and where we are in relationship to that goal and then seek to reduce the difference between the two.

Insight A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem No real strategy involved

Reasoning Reasoning is the use of knowledge or information to research conclusions. Deductive reasoning – begin with general ideas or principles and reason down to specifics that fit the general statement/ideas. Inductive reasoning – begins with specifics and reason towards general conclusions.

Obstacles to problem solving

Confirmation Bias A tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions For example, if you believe that during a full moon there is an increase in admissions to the emergency room where you work, you will take notice of admissions during a full moon, but be inattentive to the moon when admissions occur during other nights of the month.

Match Problem Can you arrange these six matches into four equilateral triangles?

Match Problem Fixation The inability to see a problem from a new perspective

Mental Set A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially if it has worked in the past May or may not be a good thing

Functional Fixedness The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions What are some things I can do with this quarter (other than spend it)?

Overconfidence The tendency to be more confident than correct To overestimate the accuracy of your beliefs and judgments Considering “overconfidence” who would risk 1 million dollars on an audience poll?

Framing The way an issued is posed It can have drastic effects on your decisions and judgments. How do you think framing will play a part in this years’ CA governor election?

Belief Bias 1. Democrats support free speech. The tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning Sometimes making invalid conclusions valid or vice versa 2. Dictators are not Democrats. Conclusion: Dictators do not support free speech.

Belief Perseverance Clinging to your initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited (in the face of contrary evidence) All Chicago Cubs fans who still believe that this is their year are suffering from belief perseverance.

Unnecessary Constraints People often make assumptions that impose unnecessary constraints on problem-solving efforts. These constraints are problem-solver imposed; NOT problem imposed.

Solution to Nine-dot Problem What other possible solution can you come up with?

Matchstick Problem Move only 2 matches to create 4 identical match stick squares.

Artificial Intelligence AI: The science of designing and programming computer systems to do intelligent things and to stimulate human thought processes, such as intuitive reasoning, learning, and understanding language.

It’s all about communication!!! Language and Thought It’s all about communication!!!

Language Our spoken, written, or gestured words and the way we combine them to communicate meaning A complex set of symbols with specific meaning to communicate thoughts Believe it or not, this communication is a form of language!!!

With language, we create and interpret new ideas continuously. Language as Creative With language, we create and interpret new ideas continuously. Language is a system that allows us to reach limitless end from limited means: Our stock of memorized meaningful words is finite, but we have capacity to create an infinite number of new expressions. Example: “That’s a rabbit.” OR “That’s a rabbit over there.” “A rabbit is what I see over there.” “Obviously, that’s a rabbit.” “That’s clearly a rabbit.” etc.

Language is Highly Structured We construct utterances in accord with certain abstract principles/rules of language structure. Example: would NOT say, “Is rabbit a that.” Structural principles underlie the way in which we combine words to make up new expression, and they are followed by most individuals (so that we can all understand each other). Prescriptive rules are essentially “rules of grammar.”

Language as Meaningful Each word in a language expresses a meaningful idea (or concept) about some thing (e.g., rabbit, camera), action (e.g., run, jump), abstraction (e.g., justice, fun), quality (e.g., red, altruistic) Example: “dogs”, “cats”, and “bites” express very different meaningful thoughts depending on how they are put together

Language is Interpersonal Many aspects of human language are within the individual and are thus the property of each single human mind. Language is a process that goes beyond the individual, for it is the social activity in which the thoughts of one mind are communicated to another mind. Each speaker must know the sounds, words, and sentences of his/her language as well as the principles of conversation.

Structure of Language: Linguistics All human languages are organized as a hierarchy of structures. At the bottom of the hierarchy, each language consists of little snippets of sound. And at the top, complex dialogues and written creations. Phonemes Phonemes are the smallest distinctive sound units that are perceived. There are approximately 40 phonemes Examples: “th” “z” “b” “er” “t” How many phonemes does platypus have?

Morphemes Fixed sequences of phonemes are joined into morphemes. There are approximately 80,000 morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest language units that carry bits of meaning. Some words consist of single morphemes such as “and” “run” or “strange”  These are called Content Morphemes. Many morphemes can stand alone and must be joined with others to make up a complex word/idea. Example: “er” “s”  These are called Function Morphemes.

Grammar A system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate and understand others Semantics + Syntax

Semantics The set of rules by which we derive meaning in a language Adding ed at the end of words means past tense. The Chinese languages do not have expansive semantic rules. They usually have totally different symbols for different tenses.

Syntax The rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences In English, adjectives come before nouns, but not in Spanish!! Is this the White House or the House White?

Language Development Language is developed in a sequence of steps. Crying (birth – 1 month) Crying is innate. The first signs of language is crying. (The beginning of sound.) Cooing (2 months – 6 months) By the second month, babies begin cooing. Coos are vowel sounds – expressing feelings of pleasure. Babbling (3/4 months – 10 months) Babbling is the combination of vowel and consonant sounds. Example: “ba”, “ga”, “da” Words (11 months – 18 months) Learning grammar - rules of language (beyond 18 months)

Language Development Crying, cooing and babbling are basic human abilities regardless of culture or language (these steps are universal around the world). All babies produce the same early sounds no matter the culture or language. By about the eleventh month, babies begin to create sounds that they pick out and repeat from phonemes used by the people around them. Example: “mama” One-word stage – From age 1-2 a child speaks mostly in single words. The start of real language begins with words.

Language Development Word acquisition occurs slowly. After the baby has learned its first word, it might be another 3 or 4 months before the baby develops a 10-word vocabulary. By 18 months, a child has dozens of words in his/her vocabulary (mostly nouns). Reading to young children increases their vocabulary. Children sometimes overreach – they try to talk about more things than they have words for. This is called overextension. Example: “dog” used for other animals.

Language Development Two-word stage – by 2 years, most children begin to use two-word sentences. “That doggie.” means “that is a dog.” Even brief two-word utterances show understanding of grammar, “Sit chair” or “My doggy” – “Mommy go” vs. “Go mommy” Telegraphic speech – Early stage in which a child speaks like a telegram – using mostly nouns and verbs; omitting “auxiliary words.” Between 2-3 years, children begin to add the missing words such as conjunctions, articles, pronouns, etc.

How do we explain language development? Skinner thought that we can explain language development through social learning theory (which is?). The young boy imitates his dad, then gets a reward.

Chomsky Inborn Universal Grammar We acquire language too quickly for it to be learned. We have this “learning box” inside our heads that enable us to learn any human language.

Does language influence our thinking? Whorf’s Linguistic Relativity The idea that language determines the way we think (not vise versa). The Hopi tribe has no past tense in their language, so Whorf says they rarely think of the past.

Thinking without Language We can think in words. But more often we think in mental pictures. In 1977, Reggie Jackson hit 3 HR’s against the Dodgers. He has stated that before each at bat, he visualizes crushing a home run. Do you think visualization helps?

Do Animals Think?

Kohler’s Chimpanzees Kohler exhibited that Chimps can problem solve.

Honeybees seem to communicate

Apes and Signing