Language and Cognition

• cognition


  all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

  
• concept


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

  
• prototype


  The ideal representation of a concept.

  
• 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.

  
• 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.

  
• insight


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

  
• confirmation bias


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

  
• fixation


  the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set.

  
• mental set


  a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.

  
• functional fixedness


  the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving.

  
• representativeness heuristic


  judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information.

  
• 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.

  
• nativist theory


  the theory of language development that states that humans have a natural, innate ability to develop language (theorized by Chomsky)

  
• belief perseverance


  clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

  
• Language Acquisition Device


  this structure allows for the innate development of language (theorized by Chomsky)

  
• framing


  the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

  
• language


  our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.

  
• phoneme


  in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

  
• 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


  in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.

  
• 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.

  
• babbling stage


  babies spontaneously uttering a variety of words, such as ah-goo

  
• one-word stage


  the stage in which children speak mainly in single words

  
• two-word stage


  they start uttering two word sentences

  
• telegraphic speech


  early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs.

  
• linguistic determinism


  Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think.

  
• disjunctive concept


  A concept that has one of several aspects; a shot can be a chance or ammunition or an attempt or direction.
• conjunctive concept


  A concept which must be several characteristics; a bicycle must have 2 wheels, a handle bar and pedal power.
• kinesthetic imagery


  Muscular cues used to retrieve LTM.
• created images


  New images that have never been scene before which can aid creative thought or problem solving.
• stored images


  Images that are stored in LTM that have been seen before.
• Stroop Interference


  Reaction of a time test is longer because meanings or semantics of one item disrupts memory retrieval of another.
• Divergent thinking


  Open ended questions that have multiple solutions. Key for creative thinking.
• Covergent thinking


  Thought that leads to one solution.
• deductive reasoning


  Logical thought that uses a rule or theory to a new situation. (Gravity is a law, you never dropped a hot dog bun but can use logic to determine the bun will fall if you let go).
• Inductive reasoning


  Logical thought that develops a theory or rule based upon several observations or events. (Going from specific events to a general rule)
• syllogisim


  Logical thought that draws a conclusion from two or more premises.
• random search strategy


  Problem solving which tries solutions without a pattern or approach.
• fluency test


  Creative test in which only the number of items produced is scored.