13 Chapter 9 Language the complex structure of human language language a system for communicating phoneme smallest unit of sound english has 42 morpheme smallest meaningful unit of language consists of 2 phonemes phonological rules speci c to certain languages grammar a set of rules that specify how the rules of language are to be combined into meaningful languages syntactical rules nouns verbs etc language development at birth contrasting sounds in human language 4 6 months babble speech sounds 6 months distinguish those sounds in language being spoken around them language milestones fast mapping the fact that children can map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure telegraphic speech speech that is mostly content words overgeneralization exception to the rule ex I eated I runned theories of language development 1 behaviorist explanations operant conditioning reinforcement shaping extinction limits to behaviorist theory of language parents interpret what s being said don t take time to correct it don t just imitate what they hear 2 nativist theory language development is best explained as an innate biological capacity Noam Chomsky said we had LAD Language Acquisition Device LAD born wired to learn language 3 interactionist theory development supporting evidence social interactions play a crucial role in language parents and teachers tailor their language speaking in simpler terms to help the learning of language Jeanie in book deaf Nicaraguans in book neurological specialization 2 language centers of the brain 1 Broca s area left frontal cortex involved in language production 2 Wernicke s area left temporal cortex involved in language comprehension aphasia damage to either of the 2 language centers Broca s aphasia speech production impaired can understand speech produce only gibberish Wernicke s aphasia speech comprehension impaired cannot produce logical sentences or understand language can other species learn human language chimpanzee and human brains are organized similarly limitations for Washoe and other chimps 1 size of acquired vocabulary 2 type of words learned 3 complexity of grammar 4 use of generative communication Thought concepts and categories linguistic relativity hypothesis language shapes thoughts concept a mental representation fundamental to our ability to think category speci c de cits inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category called anomia fruit anomia Farrah and Wallace 1992 case study of a stroke patient with a category speci c de cit for fruit used the art of Giuseppe Arcimboldo concept formation how people organize and classify events categories superordinate category highest most general basic level category intermediate use the most ex fruit ex pear subordinate category most speci c ex bartlett pear concepts formal concepts concepts we create based on speci c rules ex formal concept for animal to be female it must have speci c characteristics natural concepts don t have speci c de nition it s formed as we experience the world tomato formal concept has seeds has speci c make up natural concept is a vegetable theories of concepts and categories family resemblance theory features that appear to be characteristic but may not be possessed by every member ex chairs do same basic function have different features between different ones prototype theory prototype best or most typical member of a category the more similar an object is to the prototype the quicker we can identify it as a part of that concept or category exemplar theory comparing a new instance with stored memories for other instances of the category Problem Solving Decision Making types of problem solving decision making methods algorithm a well de ned sequence of procedures or rules that guarantee a solution to a problem ex math if you use an equation do your work and do it correctly work it out you will get the answer heuristic types mental shortcuts or rules of thumb means end analysis analogical problem solving heuristics 1 analyze the goal state 2 analyze the current state 3 list the differences between the current state and the goal state 4 reduce these differences by direct means means end analysis develop a subgoal nd a similar problem with a known solution analogical problem solving painting room algorithmic calculate area calculate how much area a can covers calculate paint needed heuristic know you painted 2 rooms one smaller one larger and getting an amount between the amounts used for the other 2 rooms creativity and insight research suggests insight is actually very important barriers to problem solving functional xedness the tendency to perceive the functions of objects as xed mental set perceptual set limited ways of thinking overcoming barriers to problem solving requires about possibilities critical thinking Intelligence the history of measuring intelligence beginnings Sir Francis Galton eyesight reaction time Henry Herbert Goddard immigrant intelligence test translated more common test from french to english French Education forms the intelligence quotient IQ Alfred Binet psychologist and Theodore Simon physician measured a child s academic aptitude natural or general knowledge one should have for their age Binet and Simons test to estimate a child s mental compute average score 10 year olds should score like other 10 year olds level ratio IQ William Stern 1914 mental age Lewis Terman 1916 USA ratio IQ mental age physical age x100 average IQ is 100 deviation IQ deviation IQ individual score average score of people in the same age group x100 age alone does not increase IQ intelligence testing intelligence tests measure the ability to answer questions and perform tasks 1 SBIS Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale 2 WAIS Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale intelligence quotient IQ mental age actual age x100 average IQ is 100 good predictor of academic performance The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale most popular individual assessment of IQ separates verbal and performance skills tests intelligence more broadly than just academic intelligence what is intelligence general de nition a hypothetical mental ability that enables people to direct their thinking adapt to their circumstances and learn from experiences intelligence is expressed in behavior 1a Spearman s Factor Theory factor analysis large number of correlations into a small number of underlying factors Spearman identi ed a two factor theory of
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