Exploring Language and Thought: From 19th-Century Focus to Cognitive Revolutions

1. Chapter 8: Language and Thought

2. The Cognitive Revolution • 19th Century focus on the mind • Introspection • Behaviorists focus on overt responses • Arguments regarding incomplete picture of human functioning • Empirical study of cognition – 1956 conference • Simon and Newell – problem solving • Chomsky – new model of language • Miller – memory

3. Language: Turning Thoughts into Words • Properties of Language • Symbolic • Semantic • Generative • Structured

4. The Hierarchical Structure of Language • Phonemes = smallest speech units • 100 possible, English – about 40 • Morphemes = smallest unit of meaning • 50,000 in English, root words, prefixes, suffixes • Semantics = meaning of words and word combinations • Objects and actions to which words refer • Syntax = a system of rules for arranging words into sentences • Different rules for different languages

5. Language Development: Milestones • Initial vocalizations similar across languages • Crying, cooing, babbling • 6 months – babbling sounds begin to resemble surrounding language • 1 year – first word • similar cross-culturally – words for parents • receptive vs. expressive language

6. Table 8.2 Overview of Typical Language Development

7. Language Development:Milestones (cont) • 18-24 months – vocabulary spurt • fast mapping • Over- and under-extensions • End of second year – combine words • Telegraphic speech • Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) • End of third year – complex ideas, plural, past tense • Overregularization

8. Bilingualism:Learning More Than One Language • Research findings: • Smaller vocabularies in one language, combined vocabularies average • Higher scores for middle-class bilingual subjects on cognitive flexibility, analytical reasoning, selective attention, and metalinguistic awareness • Slight disadvantage in terms of language processing speed • 2nd languages more easily acquired early in life • Greater acculturation facilitates acquisition

9. Can Animals Develop Language? • Dolphins, sea lions, parrots, chimpanzees • Vocal apparatus issue • American Sign Language • Allen and Beatrice Gardner (1969) • Chimpanzee - Washoe • 160 word vocabulary • Sue Savage-Rumbaugh • Bonobo chimpanzee - Kanzi • Symbols • Receptive language – 72% of 660 requests

10. Theories of Language Acquisition • Behaviorist • Skinner • learning of specific verbal responses • Nativist • Chomsky • learning the rules of language • Language Acquisition Device (LAD) • Interactionist • Cognitive, social communication, and emergentist theories

11. Figure 8.4 Interactionist theories of language acquisition

12. Problem Solving: Types of Problems • Greeno (1978) – three basic classes • Problems of inducing structure • Series completion and analogy problems • Problems of arrangement • String problem and Anagrams • Often solved through insight • Problems of transformation • Hobbits and orcs problem • Water jar problem

13. Figure 8.5 Six standard problems used in studies of problem solving

14. Effective Problem Solving • Well defined vs. ill defined problems • Barriers to effective problem solving: • Irrelevant Information • Functional Fixedness • Mental Set • Unnecessary Constraints

15. Figure 8.11 The tower of Hanoi problem

16. Approaches to Problem Solving • Algorithms • Systematic trial and error • Guaranteed solution • Heuristics • Shortcuts • No guaranteed solution • Forming subgoals • Working backward • Hill climbing • Searching for analogies • Changing the representation of a problem

17. Figure 8.17 Representing the bird and train problem

18. Culture, Cognitive Style,and Problem Solving • Field dependence – relying on external frames of reference • Field independence – relying on internal frames of reference • Western cultures inspire field independence • Cultural influence based in ecological demands • Holistic vs. analytic cognitive styles

19. Figure 8.18 Cultural disparities in cognitive style.

20. Decision Making:Evaluating Alternatives – Making Choices • Simon (1957) – theory of bounded rationality • Making Choices • Additive strategies • Elimination by aspects • Risky decision making • Expected value • Subjective utility • Subjective probability

21. Table 8.3 Application of the additive model to choosing an apartment

22. Heuristics in Judging Probabilities • The availability heuristic • The representativeness heuristic • The tendency to ignore base rates • The conjunction fallacy • The alternative outcomes effect

23. Figure 8.21 The conjunction fallacy

24. Understanding Pitfalls in ReasoningAbout Decisions • The gambler’s fallacy • Overestimating the improbable • Confirmation bias and belief perseverance • The overconfidence effect • Framing

25. Evolutionary Analyses: Flaws in Decision Making and Fast and Frugal Heuristics • Cosmides and Tooby (1996) • Unrealistic standard of rationality • Decision making evolved to handle real-world adaptive problems • Problem solving research based on contrived, artificial problems • Gigerenzer (2000) • Quick and dirty heuristics • Less than perfect but adaptive