Transcript Language

Language
Language / Semantics
“What you hate is walking. This is hiking –
hiking is different from walking.”
Unit VII. Cognition
B. Language
• Language – Symbols and Rules
• Language is:
–Symbolic
–Generative
–Structured
Unit VII. Cognition
Language is Symbolic
•
We use words and sounds (and
gestures) to represent objects,
events, actions and ideas
– The symbolic nature of language
greatly expands what we can
communicate about
– Allows us to communicate about
past, future, and other places
– Allows us to imagine and
communicate what we imagine
Language is Generative
• A limited amount of sounds can be
combined to create unlimited novel
messages
• We daily use reflexive “stock
sayings”
• But we also create new and unique
messages
Language is Structured
Sentence
The smallest girls played with the dolls
The smallest girls
Phrase
Word
Morphemes
Phoneme
girls
smallest
The
The
small
played with the dolls
est
girl
playe
d
s
with
kitten
s
the
ten
s
Biological Foundations
of Language
• Noam Chomsky basic argument is that
there exists an innate language
acquisition device, a neural program
that prepares them to learn language
• Behaviorists view the process of
language acquisition as a building
process that results from interaction
with the environment
• Skinner views the child as the "passive
subject of operant conditioning in
whom randomly occurring behavior is
selectively reinforced"
Stages of Development in the
Acquisition of Language
Average Age
6 months
1 year
Language Milestones
Motor Milestones
Cooing, changes to
distinct babbling by
introduction of
consonants
Sits using hands
for support;
unilateral reaching
Beginning of language
understanding; oneword utterances
Stands; walks when
held by one hand
Average
Age
12-18
months
Language Milestones
Motor Milestones
Words used singly;
repertory of 30-50 words
(simple nouns, adjectives,
and action words), which
cannot as yet be joined in
phrases but are used one at
a time. Does not use
functors (the, and, can, be)
necessary for syntax, but
makes good progress in
understanding
Grasping and
release fully
developed; walking;
creeps downstairs
backward
Average
Age
Language Milestones
Motor Milestones
18-24
months
Two-word (telegraphic)
Runs (and falls);
phrases ordered according to walks stairs with
syntactic rules; vocabulary of one foot forward
50 to several hundred words;
understands propositional
rules
2-5
years
New words every day; three
or more words in many
combinations; functors begin
to appear; many grammatical
errors and idiosyncratic
expressions; good
understanding of language
Jumps with both
feet
Average Age
Language Milestones
Motor Milestones
3 years
Full sentences; few
errors; vocabulary of
around 1,000 words
Tiptoes; walks
stairs with
alternating feet
4 years
Close to adult speech
competence
Jumps over rope;
hops on one foot;
walks on a line
Mishearing Words in Songs /
Secret Asian Man
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
"Excuse me while I kiss this guy“
" donuts make my brown eyes blue"
"I'll never leave your pizza burning"
"On a dark desert highway, cool whip
in my hair“
"She's got electric boobs, and no hair,
too....."
"...the girl with colitis goes by"!
"Bakin' carrot biscuits.“
"There's a bathroom on the right“
C. Thinking
Concepts
 Mental groupings of similar objects,
events, etc.
Category hierarchies
 Structured groupings of concepts
Prototypes
 A best example that incorporates all of
the features that we associate with a
category
 What bird is most often mentioned in
literature?
Example of Category hierarchy
Platinum
Metals
Rare
Gold
Common
Silver
Alloys
Minerals
Emerald
Precious
Stones
Diamond
Masonry
D. Problem Solving and Creativity
• Solving Problems
• Making decisions / Forming
judgments
– Heuristics
• Representativeness heuritic
• Availability heuristic
– Framing decisions
• Belief Bias
• Belief perseverance
Problem Solving
“And don’t forget – make it look like an accident.”
Problem Solving Approaches
•
•
•
•
•
Trial and Error
Algorithms
Heuristics
Using Sub-goals
Working Backward
Problem Solving:
Working Backward
Obstacles in Problem Solving
• Confirmation Bias
• A confirmation bias is a type of cognitive
bias in which people tend to seek out
information which agrees with previously
held beliefs
• They also give more weight to
information which supports their beliefs,
while discarding contradictory
information
Unit VII. Cognition
Examples of Where Confirmation Bias
might have an effect
•
•
•
•
•
•
Curses / Good luck charms
Conspiracy theories
Lunar effect
Astrology
“Alternative” health practices
ESP
Strategies for dealing with
Confirmation Bias
• Consider alternative hypotheses- view
the problem from different
perspectives.
• Look for evidence to disprove your
ideas. Showing an idea is incorrect is
every bit as important as showing an
idea is correct.
• Maintain objectivity in evaluating ideas
to minimize personal bias.
• Draw conclusions based upon the
evidence, not upon your personal
beliefs.
Fixation
• Fixation
– The inability to see a problem from a fresh
perspective.
• Two types of fixation
– Functional Fixedness
• Tendency to view physical objects in terms
of their traditional uses
– Mental Set
• Tendency to use past successful or
unsuccessful solutions when faced with a
new problem
Confirmation Bias
• Notice all the
computations,
theoretical
scribblings,
and lab
equipment,
Norm . . .
• Yes curiosity
killed these
cats.”
Unit VII. Cognition
ROPE
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
•
Rope Solution 1
Rope Solution 2
Rope Solution 3