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

2. 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

3. 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?

4. Concept
Chairs
Flowers

5. Prototype

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

7. 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

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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?

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

12. 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

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

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

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

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

17. 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

18. 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?

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

20. 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.

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

22. 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 “Fear Factor”

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

24. 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…

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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

28. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. Language Summary of Language Development Month (approximate) Stage 410 12 24
24+
Babbles many speech sounds.
Babbling reveals households
language.
One-word stage.
Two-word, telegraphic speech.
Language develops rapidly into
complete sentences.

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

34. 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.

35. 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.

36. Language
The interplay of thought and language

37. 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?

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