Cognitive Exam 3

What is meant by the following aspects of language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, prosody, and pragmatics?
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What is meant by the following aspects of language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, prosody, and pragmatics?
Phonology is basic sounds
Morphology- the most basic units of meaning
Syntax- rules for combining words into phrases and sentences
Semantics- the meaning of words
Prosody-the intonation and rhythm of language
Pragmatics- how we use language in social contexts
What is meant by phonemes and morphemes?
Phonemes- the basic sounds
Morphemes- the basic units of meaning
What does it mean for language to be hierarchically structured and generative?
Language is made of smaller units that are organized into larger units. (words, sentences, paragraphs, etc.)
Language contains and unlimited amount of utterances within the rules of language
Why is speech perception complex? How is it influenced by both bottom-up and top-down processes?
Speech is complex because it relies on knowledge of language and the stimuli in relation to speech segmentation. The visual knowledge of facial movements when creating is often used in conjunction with sound replication.
What is meant by speech segmentation, coarticulation, the phonemic restoration effect, and the McGurk effect?
Segmentation- how we determine sounds from words

Coarticulation- phonemes flow together as the mouth moves to make new sounds while creating the current one

The phonemic restoration effect-when the brain fills in a missing sound to complete the meaning of a phrase ("the __eel of the car" sounds like "wheel")

The McGurk effect- an auditory illusion in which the audio of a sound is pair with the visual of a sound to create the perception of a third sound
In what ways can understanding speech be harder or easier than written language?
Speech has many complexities speech segmentation, pronunciation, and tone
How does speech perception change during infancy?
They begin to categorize sounds after six months in ways that fit the language they are taught. By one year, they find it difficult to hear differences that are not relevant to their language.
What is meant by categorical perception and overregularization?
Categorical perception-categorizing language in ways that are consistent with their language.
Overregulation- over applying patterns of language (ex. foots, singed, goed)
What is bilingualism and what have we learned from research on bilingual children?
Bilingualism is the ability to speak two languages. Bilingual children appear to lag behind in early life vocabulary but they eventually catch up and they can effectively separate both languages.
What were Noam Chomsky's contributions to psycholinguistics and what were his criticisms of Skinner? What did Chomsky mean by innate universal grammar and language competence?
Chomsky believed that we are all born with an innate knowledge of grammar that serves as the basis for all language. He also believed that transformational grammar is responsible for a person's ability to understand utterances. He criticized Skinner's belief in the behavioristic learning of language.
Why is syntax important?Syntax governs how sentences and phrases must be created and defines when a sentence feels off.What is meant by prescriptive vs. descriptive rules, phase structure, parsing, and "garden path" sentences?Prescriptive- rules defining how language should be Descriptive- rules defining language as it is commonly spoken Phrase Structure- governs the pattern of branching in phrases Parsing- dividing a sentences into grammatical parts and describing their relations to each other Garden path- a sentence that starts in such a way to mislead the readers interpretationHow are background knowledge and the extralinguistic context useful in parsing sentences?The extralinguistic context and background knowledge can be used to define words with multiple meanings such as metaphorical "flying" and physical "flying"What are implications of these ideas for effective writing?Effective writing must take into account the context and knowledge of the audience to ensure the audience does not misunderstandWhat is meant by aphasia?The loss of ability to understand or express speechWhat is the difference between Broca's vs. Wernicke's (or non-fluent vs. fluent) aphasias?Fluent aphasia-Wernicke's area controls language perception, cannot understand but can speak somewhat nonsensically non-fluent aphasia- Broca's area controls speech creation, can't speakWhere are Broca's and Wernicke's areas located (in what lobes and typically in what hemisphere)?Wernicke's is located on the left hemisphere on the temporal lobe. Broca's- frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere normally leftWhat evidence supports a biological predisposition for some aspects of human language?Damage to certain areas of the brain damage specific functions of language and speechTo what extent have non-human animals demonstrated the capacity for language?Some animals have displayed the ability to understand and appropriately react to spoken wordKanziA bonobo who received linguistic attention and consequently developed a remarkable ability to communicate using lexigrams and to understand spoken English.What have we learned from these animal studies and those of children deprived of language in early childhood?early childhood is critical for language development and humans have a biological disposition for languageHow can language influence thought?Language categorizes thoughts and influences how think indirectly but is not very impactful or profuoundWhat is meant by linguistic relativity and the Whorf hypothesis?Linguistic relativity-people who speak languages think differently Whorf Hypothesis- the language you speak forces you into certain modes of thoughtTo what extent does language seem to determine or influence thinking?shapes how we pay attention and categorize eventsWhat is meant by mental representations?Mental images of things that resentable real world things or placesWhat are images and propositions?Images- visual input Propositions- a basic statement that can be true or falseWhat are differences between images vs. propositional representations?images can be seen in the mind while propositional representations are made up of different verbal characteristics such as tall and roundHow are images not like pictures or perceptions?Prominent information is included but not all information is.How has imagery been studied?What is meant by introspection and what are limitations of self-reports?What are chronometric studies and how have they been used to study imagery?In the "imagery debate, "what evidence has been used in arguing for or against mental images?What is meant by mental rotation, mental zooming, and image scanning?How have the mental rotation studies by Shepard & Metzler and image scanning studies by Kosslyn been interpreted as evidence for images?What are criticisms of these studies?What is meant by demand characteristics?What have we learned about the neurobiological bases of imagery?How have brain imaging (e.g., fMRI) and brain disruption (e.g., via transcranial magnetic stimulation) been used to study imagery?To what extent are there individual differences in visual imagery?What is meant by eidetic imagery?How might those who are blind (from birth or infancy) nonetheless by able to use spatial imagery?How can imagery improve memory?What is the key idea of dual-coding theory?How can knowledge influence visual memory?Specifically, how can verbal labels influence our memory of images?What are cognitive maps?What evidence led Edward Tolman to propose the idea of cognitive maps in rats?Where brain structure is involved in spatial memories? What is meant by place cells?What is problem solving?What is meant by initial state, goal state, and problem space?What is meant by well-structured (or well-defined) vs. ill-structured (or ill-defined) problems, trial-and-error learning, algorithm vs. heuristic, convergent vs. divergent thinking, and insight?How are the following useful in problem solving: heuristics, pictures and diagrams, and analogies?What is meant by means-end analysis, subgoals, and the hill-climbing strategy?What is the classic tumor (or radiation) problem?What are common characteristics of expert (compared to novice) problem solvers?How do experts often differ in terms of their memory and problem solving strategies?What are common barriers to problem solving?What is meant by functional fixedness and mental set?What are the classic nine-dot problem and Duncker's candle problem?What is creativity?What characteristics and types of thinking are associated with creativity?What is meant by incubation and illumination? How is creativity related to expertise and motivation?Who developed the first intelligence test?What was meant by chronological age and mental age?What is IQ? How was it originally calculated and how is it determined today?What is average IQ for one's age?What do traditional intelligence tests typically measure?What did Charles Spearman mean by general intelligence ("g") vs. specialized abilities?How are intelligence tests evaluated in terms of their reliability and validity?What are intelligence tests best at predicting?To what extent has intelligence been linked to genetic vs. environmental factors (nature vs. nurture)?What evidence supports a role for each?What is meant by fluid vs. crystallized intelligence, the Flynn effect, and stereotype threat?What are alternative views of intelligence?What are the key ideas and intelligences identified in Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence and Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences?What did Sternberg mean by analytic, creative, and practical intelligence?What is meant by dual process theories and Type 1 vs. Type 2 thinking?What are heuristics? How can they help and hinder thinking? Is there evidence we can improve our thinking?What is meant by the availability and representative heuristics?What are examples of each? How are both heuristics examples of attribute substitution?What is meant by the anchoring and adjustment heuristic?Why are these heuristics often useful?How can they lead to errors?What is meant by the gambler's fallacy, "person who" ("man who") arguments, base rate neglect, and the conjunction fallacy?How can they be understood in terms of the representative heuristic?What is meant by covariation?What is the confirmation bias?How can it contribute to illusions of covariation (or illusory correlations)?Why is base rate information important for judgments of covariation?Why should we consider sample size and chance in our judgments?What is meant by inductive vs. deductive reasoning?What are strengths and limitations of each?How does scientific thinking include both inductive and deductive reasoning?What are categorical syllogisms and conditional reasoning?What is meant by affirming the antecedent, denying the antecedent, affirming the consequent, and denying the consequent?Which produce valid deductions and which can produce fallacies? What is meant by belief bias?What is the Wason selection task and what has it been used to study?How do results often differ for abstract vs. concrete problems?What does this tell us about human reasoning?What is meant by belief perseverance?How can the confirmation and hindsight biases contribute to this?How can they lead to beliefs in myths, superstitions, and pseudoscience (e.g., astrology)?What is decision making?What have economists meant by utility maximization?What did Herbert Simon mean by "bounded rationality" and "satisficing"?What is meant by reason-based choice?How can framing affect decision making?How can framing impact whether people are more risk seeking vs. risk averse?What is meant by the endowment effect?How do people often respond differently when asked to "opt in" vs. "opt out"?How can emotions affect (contribute to and interfere with) thinking and decision making?What is meant by somatic markers?What brain area has been associated with using emotions in decision making?What is meant by affective forecasting?Does research find we are typically good at it?How does scientific thinking attempt to minimize common biases?What is the role of systematic (vs. anecdotal) evidence, control (e.g., double-blind studies), and peer review?