Unit 7B: Cognition: Thinking, Problem Solving, Creativity, and Language

1. Unit 7B:Cognition: Thinking, Problem Solving, Creativity, and Language

2. Unit Overview • Thinking • Language • Thinking and Language Click on the any of the above hyperlinks to go to that section in the presentation.

3. Introduction • Cognition • Cognitive psychologists

4. Thinking

5. Concepts • Concepts • Category hierarchies • prototype

6. Solving Problems • Task: move the tower from the left peg to the middle peg, moving only one disk at a time and never putting a larger disk on a smaller one

7. Solving ProblemsStrategies • Algorithms • Step-by-step • Heuristic • Insight

8. Solving ProblemsCreativity • Creativity • Strernberg’s five components

9. Assuming that each card has a triangle on one side and a circle on the other, which card or cards need to be turned over to test this statement: ‘Every card that has a black triangle on one side has a red circle on the other’

10. Solving ProblemsObstacles to Problem Solving • Confirmation bias • Fixation • Mental set • Functional fixedness

11. Functional Fixedness

12. Making Decisions and Forming Judgments Using and Misusing Heuristics • The Representative Heuristic

13. Write down your answer – either ‘a’ or ‘b’ • Linda is 31, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy in college. As a student, she was deeply concerned with discrimination and other social issues, and she participated in antinuclear demonstrations. Which statement is more likely? A. Linda is a bank teller B. Linda is a bank teller and active in the feminist movement

14. Making Decisions and Forming Judgments Using and Misusing Heuristics • The Availability Heuristic

15. Making Decisions and Forming JudgmentsOverconfidence • Overconfidence

16. Making Decisions and Forming JudgmentsThe Belief Perseverance Phenomenon • Belief perseverance • Consider the opposite

17. Making Decisions and Forming JudgmentsThe Perils and Powers of Intuition • Intuition • Unconscious intuition

18. Intuition uses past knowledge – we may make mistakes • But it allows us to quickly respond so are thought is more automatic.

19. Making Decisions and Forming JudgmentsThe Effects of Framing • Framing • Framing experiments

20. Language

21. LanguageIntroduction • Language

22. Language • With person next to you share what you did on Friday and Saturday using telegraphic speech. • Don’t know what that means? LOOK IT UP

23. Language StructurePhonemes • Phoneme • English about 40 phonemes • Learning another language’s phonemes

24. Language StructureMorphemes • Morpheme • Includes prefixes and suffixes

25. Language StructureGrammar • Grammar • Semantics • Syntax

26. Language DevelopmentWhen Do We Learn Language? • Receptive language • Productive language • Babbling stage • One-word stage • Two-word stage • Telegraphic speech

27. Language DevelopmentWhen Do We Learn Language?

28. Language DevelopmentExplaining Language Development • Skinner: Operant Learning • Learning principles • Association • Imitation • Reinforcement

29. Language DevelopmentExplaining Language Development • Chomsky: Inborn Universal Grammar • Language acquisition device • Universal grammar

30. Language DevelopmentExplaining Language Development • Statistical Learning and Critical Periods • Statistical learning • Critical (sensitive) period

31. Language Development • Statistical Learning • Statistical aspects of human speech – breaking down syllables to create meaning and breaks in sentences • Evidence? • 8 month infants: recognize three-syllable sequences that appeared repeatedly (measuring attention) • 7 month infants: recognize different sequences/language patterns – ABA verse ABB pattern (li-na-li/wo-fe-fe) • What does this show? Nature or Nurture? • Built in ability to learn grammatical rules (Noam Chomsky)

32. Critical Period • No exposure to language (spoken or signed) before age seven: lose ability to master ANY language • No stimulation to a brain early on = language learning capacity never fully develops • Second languages? • Sign language? • Conclusion? Is there a critical period of language?

33. Thinking and Language

34. Language Influences Thinking • Whorf’s linguistic determinism • Bilingual advantage

35. Thinking in Images • Implicit memory

36. Thinking and Language • Benjamin Lee Whorf: • Linguistic determinism hypothesis • Language determines thought • Evidence? Culture differences • How many words a culture has to describe something will change our thoughts on it • Book example: Papua New Guinea Berinmo tribe: distinguish between two shades of yellow • Bilingual advantage: • Canadian program:

37. Taste • Write down the difference between Pepsi and Coke • Typically our responses are not very useful: vague and general comments about sweetness or level of carbonation – only an expert taster will pick up on the subtle nuances that distinguish these soft drinks

38. Thinking in Images • Helps! How?

39. Question • Which comes first? Thought or Language? • Thinking affects our language, which then affects our thought -Would not develop language without the thought first – would not have the thought without the language to express it!

40. Create a timeline • Part 1: Create a timeline demonstrating the development of language structure but also incorporating important concepts into a cohesive timeline. Must include: ages, examples of each stage/concept, and pictures. • Part 2: Compare B.F. Skinner and Noam Chomsky’s theory of language development Examples Picture for each

41. The End

42. Definition Slides

43. Cognition = the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

44. Concept = a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

45. Prototype = a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin).

46. Algorithm = a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier – but also more error-prone – use of heuristics.

47. Heuristic = a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms.

48. Insight = a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions.

49. Creativity = the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

50. Confirmation Bias = a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.