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The Cognitive Revolution
Cognition: Mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge.19th Century focus on the mind
IntrospectionBehaviorist focus on overt responses
arguments regarding incomplete picture of human functioning
Empirical study of cognition – 1956 conference
Simon and Newell – problem solvingChomsky – new model of languageMiller – memory (7 +/-2)
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Language: Turning Thoughts into Words
Properties of LanguageSymbolic: Use sounds/words to represent objectsSemantic: MeaningGenerative: Limited number of symbols can be combined & generate infinite combinationsStructured: Rules that govern how you can arrange sentences
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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
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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
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Language Development:Milestones Continued
• 18-24 months – vocabulary spurt, productive vocab (understanding) is greater then receptive vocab (spoken).– Fast Mapping: map a word onto an
understanding concept after 1 exposure – Overextension: incorrectly use words to describe
similar objects (ball: anything around)– Underextension: incorrectly use words to
narrower set of objects (doll: their favorite doll)
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Language Development:Milestones Continued
• End of second year – combine words – Telegraphic Speech: omitting words that are less
critical (Give Doll)– Mean Length of Utterance (MLU): average length
of spoken statements (morphemes)
• End of third year – complex ideas, plural, past tense– Overregularization: grammar rules are
incorrectly use (I goed to sleep)
• 4-5 years old- formal training in writing– Metalinguistic Awareness: to reflect on the use
of language (coming up with jokes)
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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– Acculturation: how much a person is socially &
psychologically integrated into a new culture facilitates acquisition
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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
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Theories of Language Acquisition
• Behaviorist – Skinner
• learning of specific verbal responses
• Nativist– Chomsky
• learning the rules of language• Language Acquisition Device (LAD): innate mechanism
that facilitates learning of language (biologically)
• Interactionist – Cognitive, social communication, and biological
theories
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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
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Effective Problem Solving
• Well defined vs. ill defined problems• Barriers to effective problem solving:
– Irrelevant Information– Functional Fixedness: to see an item for
only its most common use– Mental Set: when people use problem
solving strategies that have worked in the past
– Unnecessary Constraints
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Approaches to Problem Solving
• Problem Space: the set of possible pathways to a solution considered by the problem solver.
• Algorithms: method, step by step procedure in searching for a solution– Trial-&-Error: trying possible solutions & discarding those
that don’t work until you find a solution.
• Heuristics: “rule of thumb” – Shortcuts– No guaranteed solution
• Forming subgoals• Working backward• Searching for analogies• Changing the representation of a problem
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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
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Decision Making:Evaluating Alternatives and Making
Choices• Simon (1957) – theory of bounded
rationality• Making Choices
– Additive strategies– Elimination by aspects– Risky decision making
• Expected value• Subjective utility• Subjective probability
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Heuristics in Judging Probabilities
• The availability heuristic• The representativeness heuristic• The tendency to ignore base rates• The conjunction fallacy• The alternative outcomes effect
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Understanding Pitfalls in ReasoningAbout Decisions
• The gambler’s fallacy• Overestimating the improbable• Confirmation bias and belief
perseverance• The overconfidence effect• Framing
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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