• What is communication?- the process of getting a message from

one place to another- sending, interpreting and receiving

messaged- verbal and nonverbal relations with

others• What is speech?

- formal way of getting thoughts and ideas out into public

• What is language?- system of words and sounds through

which subjects can communicate with each other

Read 299 – 309 (Language) by Friday. Quiz on Friday.

This chapter covers 299 – 332 (Language and Thought)

19th Century focus on the mind Introspection = unreliable

Behaviorist focus on overt responses incomplete picture

Empirical study of cognition – 1956 conferenceSimon and Newell – problem solvingChomsky – new model of languageMiller – memory

Properties of LanguageSymbolic -- spoken sounds and written words

to represent objects, actions, events, and ideas.Semantic -- meaningfulGenerative -- a limited number of symbols

can be combined in an infinite number of waysStructured – there are rules

Phonemes = smallest speech units100 possible, English – about 40 used

Morphemes = smallest unit of meaning50,000 in English, root words, prefixes, suffixes

Semantics = meaning of words and word combinations

Objects and actions to which words referSyntax = a system of rules for arranging words into sentences

Different rules for different languages

Initial vocalizations similar across languagesCrying, cooing, babbling

6 months – babbling sounds begin to resemble surrounding language

1 year – first wordsimilar cross-culturally – words for parents receptive vs. expressive language

Table 8.2 Overview of Typical Language Development

18-24 months – vocabulary spurt fast mapping -- process by which children map

a word onto an underlying concept after only one exposure. over extensions -- Overextensions occur

when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a wider set of objects or actions than it is meant to…using the word ball for anything round.

underextensions -- when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a narrower set of objects or actions than it is meant to…using the word doll only to refer to a favorite doll.

End of second year – combine words, meaningful sentences Telegraphic speech (“give doll”)Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)

End of third year – complex ideas, plural, past tenseOverregularization (applying grammatical

words incorrectly – he “goed” home)

Research findings:Smaller vocabularies in one language,

combined vocabularies averageHigher scores for middle-class bilingual

subjects on cognitive flexibility, analytical reasoning, selective attention, and metalinguistic awareness

Slight disadvantage in terms of language processing speed

2nd languages more easily acquired early in lifeGreater acculturation facilitates acquisition

Slight disadvantage in terms of language processing speed

2nd languages more easily acquired early in lifeAcculturation assists in language acquisition.

Figure 8.4 Age and second language learning

Dolphins, sea lions, parrots, chimpanzeesVocal apparatus issueAmerican Sign Language

Allen and Beatrice Gardner (1969)Chimpanzee - Washoe160 word vocabulary

Sue Savage-RumbaughBonobo chimpanzee - KanziSymbolsReceptive language – 72% of 660 requests

Behaviorist Skinner

learning of specific verbal responses

NativistChomsky

learning the rules of language Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Interactionist Cognitive, social communication, and

emergentist theories

Figure 8.5 Interactionist theories of language acquisition

12.20.10

1. What is the difference between morphemes and phonemes?

2. Give an example of “fast mapping”3. What is the difference between over

and under-extension?4. Give an example of overregulation.5. What is the difference between nativist

and behaviorist theories of language acquisition?

1. What is the difference between morphemes and phonemes? – p = smallest speech unit, m = smallest unit of meaning

2. Give an example of “fast mapping” – know that a juice bottle is a juice bottle after only 1 exposure

3. What is the difference between over and under-extension? – over = all circular objects = ball, under = all circular objects = your special ball

4. Give an example of overregulation. Saying you “goed” somewhere

5. What is the difference between nativist and behaviorist theories of language acquisition? – innate versus environmental acquisition

Homework – Problem solving (310 – 326); pay special attention to heuristics (what they are and the different types)

Greeno (1978) – three basic classes Problems of inducing structure -- required to

discover relations among numbers, words, symbols, or ideas. Series completion and analogy problems

Problems of arrangement -- where people arrange the parts of a problem in a way that satisfies some criterion. These types of problems are often solved by insight, a sudden discovery of the correct solution following incorrect attempts based primarily on trial and error. String problem and Anagrams

Often solved through insight Problems of transformation -- involve carrying out a

sequence of transformations in order to reach a specific goal. Hobbits and orcs problem Water jar problem

12.21.10

1. Give an example of a problem that could be solved using an algorithm

2. What is a heuristic?3. How does functional fixedness limit a

person’s problem-solving ability?4. How do people’s mental sets limit their

problem-solving strategies?5. Give an example of a heuristic that

might help one solve a problem.

Well defined vs. ill defined problems Barriers to effective problem solving:

Irrelevant InformationFunctional Fixedness -- tendency to perceive

an item only in terms of its most common useMental Set -- people persist in using problem-

solving strategies that have worked in the pastUnnecessary Constraints

Figure 8.12 The tower of Hanoi problem

AlgorithmsSystematic trial-and-errorGuaranteed solution

Heuristics – do not guarantee success!ShortcutsNo guaranteed solution

Forming subgoals Working backward Searching for analogies -- involves using a solution to

a previous problem to solve a current one. Changing the representation of a problem

Figure 8.16 Representing the bird and train problem

Field dependence – relying on external frames of reference

Field independence – relying on internal frames of reference Western cultures inspire field independence Cultural influence based in ecological

demands Holistic vs. analytic cognitive styles --

focusing on context and relationships among elements in a field (wholes). People from Western cultures, alternatively, show an analytic cognitive style – focusing on objects and their properties rather than context (parts).

Simon (1957) – theory of bounded rationality

Making ChoicesAdditive strategiesElimination by aspectsRisky decision making

Expected value Subjective utility Subjective probability

Table 8.3 Application of the additive model to choosing an apartment

The availability heuristic -- estimate divorce rate by recalling number of divorces among your friends’ parents.

The representativeness heuristic -- basing the estimated probability of an event on how similar it is to the typical prototype of that event

The tendency to ignore base rates -- guessing that Steve is a librarian because he looks like a librarian, even though you know that salespeople greatly outnumber librarians in the population

The conjunction fallacy -- occurs when people estimate that the odds of two uncertain events happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone…

Figure 8.18 The conjunction fallacy

The gambler’s fallacy Overestimating the improbable Confirmation bias and belief

perseverance The overconfidence effect Framing

Cosmides and Tooby (1996)Unrealistic standard of rationalityDecision making evolved to handle real-world

adaptive problemsProblem solving research based on contrived,

artificial problems Gigerenzer (2000)

Quick and dirty heuristicsLess than perfect but adaptive