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UP10 Chapter 8
Cogntion and Language
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Thinking | The manipulation of mental representations of information. |
| Mental Images | Representations in the mind of an object or event. |
| Concepts | A mental grouping of similar objects, events, or people. |
| Prototypes | Typical, highly representative examples of a concept. |
| Syllogistic Reasoning | Formal reasoning in which people draw a conclusion from a set of assumptions. |
| Algorithm | A rule that, if applied appropriately, guarantees a solution to a problem. |
| Heuristics | A thinking strategy that may lead to a solution to a problem or decision, but - unlike algorithms - may sometimes lead to errors. |
| Means-Ends Analysis | Involves repeated tests for differences between the desired outcome and what currently exists. |
| Insight | A sudden awareness of the relationships among various elements that had previously appeared to be independent of one another. |
| Functional Fixation | The tendency to think of an object in terms of its typical use. |
| Mental Set | The tendency for old patterns of problem solving to persist. |
| Confirmation Bias | The tendency to seek out and weight more heavily information that supports one's initial hypotheses and to ignore contradictory information that supports alternative hypotheses or solutions. |
| Creativity | The ability to generate original ideas or solve problems in novel ways. |
| Divergent Thinking | The ability to generate unusual, yet nonetheless appropriate, responses to problems or questions. |
| Convergent Thinking | The ability to produce responses that are based primarily on knowledge and logic. |
| Language | The communication of information through symbols arranged according to systematic rules. |
| Grammar | The system of rules that determine how our thoughts can be expressed. |
| Phonology | The study of the smallest units of speech, called phonemes. |
| Phonemes | The smallest units of speech. |
| Syntax | Ways in which words and phrases can be combined to form sentences. |
| Semantics | The rules governing the meaning of words and sentences. |
| Babble | Meaningless speechlike sounds made by children from around the age of 3 months through 1 year. |
| Telegraphic Speech | Sentences in which words not critical to the message are left out. |
| Overgeneralization | The phenomenon by which children apply language rules even when the application results in an error. |
| Learning-Theory Approach (to language development) | The theory that language acquisition follows the principles of reinforcement and conditioning. |
| Nativist Approach (to language development) | The theory that a genetically determined, innate mechanism directs language development. |
| Universal Grammar | Noam Chomsky's theory that all the world's languages share a common underlying structure. |
| Language-Acquisition Device | A neural system of the brain hypothesized by Noam Chomsky to permit understanding of language. |
| Interactionist Approach (to language development) | The view that language development is produced through a combination of genetically determined predispositions and environmental circumstances that help teach language. |
| Linguistic-Relativity Hypotheses | The notion that language shapes and may determine the way people in a particular culture perceive and understand the world. |