Chapter 8: Language and Thought

The Cognitive Revolution

19th Century focus on the mind Introspection

Behaviorist 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

Language: Turning Thoughts into Words

Properties of Language Symbolic Semantic Generative Structured

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

Language Development: Milestones

Initial vocalizations similar across languages Crying, cooing, babbling

6 months – babbling sounds begin to resemble surrounding language

Twin Talk 1 year – first word

similar cross-culturally – words for parents receptive vs. expressive language

Table 8.2 Overview of Typical Language Development

Language Development:Milestones Continued

18-24 months – vocabulary spurt fast mapping over and underextensions

Overextension = Child calls all things round “ball” Underextension = Child uses word “puppy” only in reference

to their family pet, fails to recognize other puppies End of second year – combine words

Telegraphic speech = “Me have now!” Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) = # of morphemes

End of third year – complex ideas, plural, past tense Overregularization = “I runned over here fast!”

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

Figure 8.4 Age and second language learning

B.F. Skinner v. Noam ChomskyAttempts to explain language development have sparked a spirited intellectual controversy. At the heart of this controversy is the nature-nurture debate. Behaviorist B. F. Skinner believed that we

can explain how babies acquire language entirely with principles of learning, such as the association of objects with the sounds of words, the imitation of language modeled by others, and

the reinforcement of correct use of words and syntax by parents and teachers. Linguist Noam Chomsky, who favors the nature position, believes that much of our language capacity is inborn. According to this perspective, just as "learning" to walk is programmed according to a timetable

of biological maturation, so children are prewired to begin to babble and talk.

In this exercise, review each of the following examples of language use by children and decide whether it best supports the position of B. F. Skinner or

Noam Chomsky.

1.While Marie and her mother are looking at a book together, Marie's mother shows her a picture of an animal and says "cow." Marie says "cow," and her mother praises her for her correct utterance. Two pages later, Marie spontaneously points to a picture and correctly identifies it as a cow.

2. When his day care teacher asks 2-year-old Jack what he did last Saturday, he responds with "We goed to the zoo." His teacher smiles, marveling at the fact that all children Jack's age make this type of grammatical error.

3. Nicole, who is deaf and was not exposed to sign language until age 3, lacks the manual linguistic skills of deaf children born to deaf-signing parents.

4. Twelve-year-old Malcolm, who emigrated to the United States at age 4, understands English grammar much better than 20-year-old Maya, who was first exposed to English at age 12.

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

Theories of Language Acquisition

Behaviorist Skinner (Verbal Behavior 1957)

learning of specific verbal responses Nativist

Chomsky learning the rules of language Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Interactionist Cognitive, social communication, and

emergentist theories

Perspective Taking: Do Animals Have Language?

Few controversies have so divided the scientific community as has the controversy about the apes’ capacity for language. Although many scientists have made serious attempts at rearing apes in language-rich environments, the results have not overwhelmingly demonstrated that apes can use language as human beings us it.

At the heart of the argument are the criteria we use to determine true capacity for language. Generally, scientists specializing in the study of language impose the following criteria for the debate:

•Is the language symbolic: Can it be used to represent absent objects?•Does the language have systematic syntax, or word order?•Can the language be used in a creative or productive manner?

Figure 8.5 Interactionist theories of language acquisition

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

Simple Word Problems

In the Thompson family there are five brothers and each brother has one sister. If you count Mrs. Thompson, how many females are in the Thompson family?

Fifteen percent of the people in Topeka have unlisted phone numbers. You select 200 names at random from the Topeka phone book. How many of these people can be expected to have unlisted phone numbers?

Figure 8.6 Six standard problems used in studies of problem solving

Solution to Water Jar Problem

(B-A-2C)

Mental Set “Insanity is doing the same thing over and

over and expecting different results” – Einstein

The first four require the same strategy (B-A-2C)

The 5th is much simpler (A-C), however people get stuck here

Without lifting your pencil from the paper, draw no more than 4 straight lines that will cross through all nine dots.-no retracing lines

Unnecessary Constraints

•Most people will not draw lines outside the imaginary boundary that surrounds the dots

•That constraint is imposed by the problem solver, not the prompt.

•People also feel compelled to draw 4 lines, but that’s not necessary

The Matchstick Problem

Move 2 matches to form 4 (and only 4) equal squares.

Matchstick Solution

Effective Problem Solving

Barriers to effective problem solving: Irrelevant Information Functional Fixedness Mental Set Unnecessary Constraints

Word Problems

Susan gets in her car in Boston and drives toward New York City, averaging 50 mph. Twenty minutes later, Ellen gets in her car in New York City driving towards Boston,

averaging 60 miles per hour. Both women take the same route, which extends a total of 220 miles between the 2 cities. Which car is nearer to Boston when they meet?

Figure 8.12 The tower of Hanoi problem

Approaches to Problem Solving

Algorithms Systematic trial-and-error Guaranteed solution

Heuristics Shortcuts No guaranteed solution

Forming subgoals Working backward Searching for analogies Changing the representation of a problem

Figure 8.16 Representing the bird and train problem

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

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

Table 8.3 Application of the additive model to choosing an apartment

Heuristics in Judging Probabilities

The availability heuristic Explains why you are afraid of being attacked

by a shark, but you shouldn’t be.

The representativeness heuristic Judging a book by it’s cover Use your representative heuristic

to make assumptions about this guy

Understanding Pitfalls in Reasoning About Decisions

The gambler’s fallacy Assuming something will happen soon because it’s “due”

Overestimating the improbable More likely to die in an airplane or car?

Confirmation bias Seeking information to confirm what you already believe

The overconfidence effect 98% confidence intervals only right 60% of the time

Framing 10 people are drowning, you can either save 5 of them

OR let 5 of them die