Introduction to Psychology
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Transcript Introduction to Psychology
Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY
(7th Ed)
Chapter 10
Thinking and Language
Walnut
Psychology
Fact or Falsehood?
1.) We notice evidence that contradicts our beliefs more readily
than evidence that is consistent with them.
2.) In general, people underestimate how much they really know.
3.) It takes less compelling evidence to change our beliefs than it
did to create them in the first place.
4.) Some computers are able to learn from experience.
5.) Only human beings seem capable of insight (the sudden
realization of a problem’s solution).
The Three-Jugs
Problem
Using jugs A,
B, and C,
with the
capacities
shown, how
would you
measure out
the volumes
indicated?
The Three-Jugs
Problem
Solution:
a) All seven problems
can be solved by the
equation shown in
(a): B - A - 2C =
desired volume.
b) But simpler
solutions exist for
problems 6 and 7,
such as A - C for
problem 6.
Thinking
Cognition
mental activities associated with thinking,
knowing, remembering, and communicating
Thinking
Concept
mental grouping of similar objects, events,
ideas, or people
Prototype
mental image or best example of a category
matching new items to the prototype provides a
quick and easy method for including items in a
category (as when comparing feathered creatures
to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)
Thinking
Algorithm
methodical, logical rule or procedure
that guarantees solving a particular
problem
contrasts with the usually speedier–but
also more error-prone--use of heuristics
Thinking
Heuristic
simple thinking strategy that often
allows us to make judgments and
solve problems efficiently
usually speedier than algorithms
more error-prone than algorithms
Thinking
Unscramble
SPLOYOCHYG
Algorithm
all 907,208 combinations
Heuristic
throw out all YY combinations
other heuristics?
Thinking
Insight
sudden and often novel realization of the solution to
a problem
contrasts with strategy-based solutions
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
Thinking
Mental Set
tendency to approach a problem in
a particular way
especially a way that has been
successful in the past but may or
may not be helpful in solving a new
problem
The Matchstick
Problem
How would you
arrange six
matches to form
four equilateral
triangles?
The Matchstick
Problem
Solution to the
matchstick
problem
Thinking
Functional Fixedness
tendency to think of things
only in terms of their usual
functions
impediment to problem solving
The Candle-Mounting
Problem
Using these
materials, how
would you
mount the
candle on a
bulletin board?
The Candle-Mounting
Problem
Solving this
problem
requires
recognizing that
a box need not
always serve as
a container
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
Logic Puzzles
A ladder hangs over the side of a ship anchored in a
port. The bottom rung touches the water. The distance
between rungs is 20 cm and the length of the ladder is
180 cm. The tide is rising at the rate of 15 cm each hour.
When will the water reach the seventh rung from the top?
I am looking at somebody's photo. Who is it I am
looking at, if I don't have any brothers or sisters and the
father of the man in the photo is the son of my father?
If there are 3 apples and you take away 2, how many do
you have?
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
Thinking
Overconfidence
tendency to be more confident than
correct
tendency to overestimate the
accuracy of one’s beliefs and
judgments
Thinking
Framing
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?
Hotel Enigma
Three people check into a hotel. They pay $30 to
the manager and go to their room. The manager finds
out that the room rate is $25 and gives the bellboy
$5 to return to the guests. On the way to the room
the bellboy reasons that $5 would be difficult to
split among three people so he pockets $2 and gives
$1 to each person. Now each person paid $10 and got
back $1. So they paid $9 each, totaling $27. The
bellboy has another $2, adding up to $29.
Where is the remaining dollar?
Thinking
Belief Bias
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
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence
designing and programming
computer systems
to do intelligent things
to simulate human thought processes
intuitive reasoning
learning
understanding language
Artificial Intelligence
Computer Neural Networks
computer circuits that mimic the
brain’s interconnected neural cells
performing tasks
learning to recognize visual patterns
learning to recognize smells
Language
“The limits of your language mean the
limits of your world.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Language
Language
our spoken, written, or gestured
works and the way we combine them
to communicate meaning
Phoneme
in a spoken language, the smallest
distinctive sound unit
Language
Morpheme
in a language, the smallest unit that carries
meaning
may be a word or a part of a word (such as
a prefix)
Grammar
a system of rules in a language that
enables us to communicate with and
understand others
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
Language
We are all born to recognize speech sounds from all the
world’s languages
Percentage able 100
to discriminate
90
Hindi
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Hindispeaking
adults
6-8
months
8-10
months
10-12
months
Infants from English-speaking homes
Englishspeaking
adults
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
Language
Two-Word Stage
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
Language
Summary of Language Development
Month
(approximate)
Stage
4
Babbles many speech sounds.
10
Babbling reveals households
language.
12
One-word stage.
24
Two-world, telegraphic speech.
24+
Language develops rapidly into
complete sentences.
Nature Vs Nurture
Noam Chomsky
B.F. Skinner
« Universal Grammar » Chomsky
He found, through his studies, that humans have a « language
acquisition device » that other animals do not have. When exposed to
language, a child will acquire that language where an animal will not.
Thus, a language acquisition device (LAD), as Chomsky calls it, is the
function of our brain that allows us to transform exposure to a
language into acquisition of grammar.
Chomsky argues that the types of grammar that the child needs must
be narrowly constrained by human biology. These innate constraints on
grammar are what Chomsky refers to as universal grammar, or more
commonly known as “language instinct.”
Structure-Dependency
Knowledge of language requires dependance on the
structural relationships within a sentence.
By examining changes in a particular sentence, one can
see structural relationships within the sentence, and not
the linear order of words. Therefore, structure
dependancy is a universal principle of language
Structure-Dependency
A tree diagram representing
phrase structure analysis:
By examining sentence diagrams, one can see how the elements of a
sentence depend on its structure.
First Language Acquisition
Chomsky developed a theory in opposition to
B.F. Skinner, who argued very generally that
language comes about as a result of external
stimuli.
example: a child responds to an object which is acting as a
stimulus, for example a doll, calling it « doll. »
Chomsky challenges this with the notion of creativity: if a
child can regularly produce sentences they have never
heard before, how could they be acting through stimuli?
Language is not controlled by stimuli.
Poverty of the stimulus
The source of language must be within the mind itself
In other words, a child could not have acquired language
from the relatively few samples of language available to
the child.
This explains the complexity of our knowledge of
language, as compared to the poverty of data at a
learner’s disposal.
Second Language Acquisition
Grammatical explanation: one does not learn the grammatical structure of a
second language through explicit explanation and instruction
Is it possible to become fluent in a second language?
According to Chomsky, yes. But motivation plays a big factor. He once
gave an example of his two children. He went to Italy once for a few
months, and his young boy picked up the language without even trying.
However, his older daughter, who was highly motivated to learn Italian,
had to work hard at it.
Poverty of the stimulus does exist in a second language, according to
Chomsky.
One cannot truly teach language but can only present conditions for the
learner to develop it in his or her own mind.
Language
Genes
design the
mechanisms
for a
language,
and
experience
activates
them as it
modifies the
brain
Language
Percentage
correct on
grammar
test
New language
learning gets
harder with
age
100
90
80
70
60
50
Native 3-7
8-10 11-15 17-39
Age at school
Language
Linguistic Determinism
Whorf’s hypothesis that
language determines the way
we think
Language
The interplay
of thought
and language
Animal Thinking and
Language
Is this
really
language?
Animal Thinking and
Language
Direction of
nectar source
The straight-line
part of the dance
points in the
direction of a
nectar source,
relative to the
sun
Animal Thinking and
Language
Gestured Communication