Ch09 Thinking, Language, and Intellig

Flying versus driving Ancestral history

(snakes, heights)

Fear what we cannot control

driving we control (flying we don’t)
smokers may fear flying dramatic tsunami (killed 300,000) vs. malaria killing similar # of children every few months

1st birthday to high school graduation

we learn 60,000 words (10 per day)
Language

Babbling Stage


beginning at 3 to 4 months infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first: unrelated to the household language

Algorithms:

methodical step-by-step can take longer simpler strategies quicker more error-prone

Heuristics:



Problem Solving Obstacles

Confirmation Bias

mostly nouns and verbs
Language
Summary of Language Development
Month (approximate) Stage Babbles many speech sounds. Babbling reveals household language. One-word stage.
processing understanding remembering communicating
Thinking

Concepts:

mental groupings of similar objects or ideas

examples:
truck dog sad

Concepts – formed by definition

10 people out of 10 million will die versus .000001 will die

survey questions can be framed to support or reject viewpoints
Belief Perseverance


stick with our beliefs even if they have been discredited example: opposing views of capital punishment

suddenly realize the solution to a problem doesn’t require use of strategies example: “getting” a joke
Thinking: Solving Problems

We also use strategies
/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=77337 49&page=1

Environmental


Language
Percentage correct on grammar

100 90 80 70 60 50 Native 3-7 8-10 11-15 17-39 Age at arrival
The Representativeness Heuristic


judge likelihood of things by how well they match prototypes ignore other info
Representativeness Heuristic

A person is short, slim, and likes to read poetry.
Language

Two-Word Stage

starts about age 2 two word statements

Telegraphic Speech

early speech stage (age 2) child speaks like a telegram

“go car”; “want milk”
test
Second language learning gets harder with age
Language

Linguistic determinism (1950s)
Benjamin Lee Whorf hypothesis that language determines the way we think

quickly comes to mind we assume it is common results in errors

sometimes true, but not always

Availability Heuristic

Does the letter k appear more often as the first or third letter in English usage?

hearing that 10% die from a surgery vs. hearing that 90% survive

risk is rated as greater when we hear 10% die

risks framed with numbers cause more fear than percentages

Fear what is immediate


Fear what is most readily available in memory

Language

Language

spoken, written, signed words

combined to communicate meaning

examples of 1st letter: knife, king, know

think of examples quickly harder to think of but actually more likely

examples of 3rd letter: take, likelihood, ask

more likely to be a professor of classics at Ivy League university or truck driver?
Availability Heuristic

judging likelihood of events based on how readily they come to mind (memory)

Overconfidence

tend to overestimate:


accuracy of our knowledge our performance in tasks
school assignments (take longer than we expect) people who have more overconfidence:

can’t identify language (e.g., English, Korean)

at 10 months: household language can be identified
Language

One-Word Stage


the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words from about age 1 to age 2

we tend to search for info that confirms our ideas overlook contradictory info example: communication with deceased

Fixation

inability to see a problem from a new perspective

Japanese –

Do Animals Think?


Animals (especially great apes) display capacity for thinking Form concepts

monkeys learn to classify cats and dogs; different neurons respond fruit and long stick placed beyond reach chimpanzee given short stick in cage couldn’t reach fruit, gave up, suddenly used short stick to get long stick
Myers’ EXPLORING
PSYCHOLOGY
(5th Ed)
Chapter 9
Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
Thinking (cognition)

Thinking:

Mental activities associated with:





examples


can also be positive

happier find it easier to make decisions seen as more credible
Fr, presented differently can lead us to feel differently
4
10 12
24
24+
Two-word, telegraphic speech.
Language develops rapidly into complete sentences.
Language

Influences

Biological

brains are wired to use language need exposure early on differences in environment influence language ability

Example: shape with 3 sides
Concepts – formed by developing prototypes

Prototype mental image or best example
Thinking: Solving Problems

Insight:


subjects were shown mixed evidence:

more impressed by the study that supported their beliefs disputed the other study
Fear: Why do we fear the wrong things?

Display Insight

Do animals exhibit language?

They can comprehend and communicate


Now:
“determines” is too strong… but language influences thinking

Language Influences Thinking

English –

more words for self-focused emotions (e.g., anger) more words for interpersonal emotions (e.g., sympathy)