PSYC 1100/1200 Principals of Behaviour/Dynamics of Behaviour

Chapter 9: Thought, Language and Intelligence

The Nature and Structure of Language:
Language: consists of a system of symbols and rules for combining these
symbols in ways that can produce an almost infinite number of possible messages
or meanings- this definition implies three critical properties that are essential to
any language
o Language is symbolic- uses sounds, written signs, or gesture to refer to
objects, events, ideas and feelings- allows communicators to form and
then transfer mental representations to the mind of another person
Displacement: refers to the fact that past, future and imaginary
events and objects that are not physically present can be
symbolically represented and communicated through the medium
of language- language helps free us from being restricted to present
o Language has structure- with rules that governs how symbols can be
combined to create meaningful communication units
o Language is generative- means that it symbols can be combined to
generate an almost infinite number of message that can have novel
meaning
Surface and Deep Structure:
Language has surface structure and deep structure
Surface structure: consists of the way symbols are combined within a given
language- rules for such combination are called the syntax (rules of grammar) of
a language
Deep Structure: refers to the underlying meaning of the combined symbolso Semantics: rules for connecting the symbols to what they represent
Language from the Bottom Up:
Human languages have a hierarchical structure
Phonemes: smallest units of sound that are recognized as separate in a given
language
Morphemes: the smallest units of meaning in language (combinations of
phonemes) 0 stuff of which words are formed
Acquiring a Language:
Biological Foundations:
Language acquisition represents the unfolding of a biologically primed process
within a learning environment as part of the more general growth of cognitive
capacities in the developing human
Three month old infants vocalize the entire range of phonemes found in the
worlds languages- stage of language acquisition is called cooing
At about 6 months- begin to make sounds of their native tongue and to discard
other languages

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With exposure to language children also extract the complex rules of syntax not
just sounds of language. Ex; Japanese speaking kids learn to put object before
verb that comes before the object (Sadahara the ball threw) English kids learn
verb comes before object (John threw the ball)
Sensitive period: during which language is most easily learned- period typically
extends from infancy to pubertySex differences:
o Brocas area- located in left hemispheres frontal lobe is involved in
speech production
o Wernickes area- in rear portion of the temporal lobe is involved in speech
comprehension
o People with damage in one or both areas suffer from aphasia- disruption
in speech comprehension and/or production
o Men who suffer left hemisphere strokes are more likely than women to
show severe aphasic symptoms
o In female stroke victims with left hemisphere damage- language functions
are more likely to be spared- suggesting more of language is shared with
right hemisphere
o In experiment found that neural systems involved in at least some aspects
of language seem to be organized differently in women than in men but
the reasons for differences not yet known
Social Learning Processes:
Motherese: high pitched intonation that seems to be used all over
world by parents to maintain kids interest and attract their
attention- way of conversing wt them
Skinner- developed operant conditioning explanation for language
acquisition- basic premise- kids language development is strongly
governed by adults reinforcing appropriate language and non
reinforcing of inappropriate verbalization
Seems unlikely that social learning is the sole factor in acquiring a
language because parents dont correct grammar and kids learn too
much too fast for this to be only factor
Telegraphic speech: by second year of life- kids are uttering two
word sentences that are called telegraphic speech- they consist of a
noun and a verb Ex; Want Cookie

Bilingualism: Learning a Second Language:

Important to learn second language at sensitive period
Is the second language learned represented in same part of brain as first language?
o Answer may depend on how early in life the new language is acquired and
how well its learned
o Research using PET scans show that two languages in a sense become one
when they are learned early on and spoken well

PSYC 1100/1200 Principals of Behaviour/Dynamics of Behaviour

o Italians who had learned English later showed that brain activity in
different areas than those activated by native language stories when they
read stories in English- indicates different patterns of language processing
Linguistic Influences on Thinking:
Linguistic relativity hypothesis: language not only influences but also
determines what we are capable of thinking- Whorf
Today most people dont agree with Whorf that language determines how we
think- instead say that language can influence how we think, how efficiently
we can categorize our experiences and how much detail we attend to in our
daily experience
Language can help maintain stereotypes- this is how it influences what and
how we think is of major importance- how we encode info affects perception
and memory in important ways
Language influences how well we think in certain domains- e.g. English
speaking kids consistently score lower than kids from Asian countries in math
skills- one reason may be the words and symbols the languages use to
represent numbers
Thinking=may be considered the internal language of the mind- actually
includes a wide range of mental activities
Propositional thought: one mode of thought that takes the form of verbal
sentences that we seem to hear in our minds- it expresses a proposition or
statement
Imaginal thought: consists of images that we can see hear or feel in
our mind
Motoric thought: relates to mental representations of motor movements such
as throwing an object
Concepts and propositions:
Propositions: statements that express facts- much of our thinking occurs in
propositions
o Ex; University students are intelligent people=proposition
all propositions consist of concepts combined in a particular way
one concept is subject and the other is predicate
Concepts: basic units of semantic memory- mental categories into which we
place objects, activities, abstractions (such as liberal and conservative e.g.)
and events that have essential features in common
Prototypes: according to Eleanor Rosch many concepts are defined by
prototypes- the most typical and familiar members of the class- suggests that we
often decide which category something belongs to by its degree of resemblance to
the prototype
o use of prototypes perhaps most elementary method of forming concepts
o requires only that we note similarities among objects

PSYC 1100/1200 Principals of Behaviour/Dynamics of Behaviour

o childrens early concepts are based on prototypes of the objects and ppl
they encounter personally
differences in how we verbally represent choices and goals can make a difference
in our perceptions and decisions
during childhood we acquire language wt exceptional ease tehn with language to
help us we define our world using concepts- we arrange these concepts into
propositions so that we can then make statements about our world
Reasoning and Problem Solving:
most primitive way of problem solving=trial and error
reasoning
Reasoning:
deductive reasoning: we reason from the top down- from general
principles to a conclusion about a specific case
o people reason deductively when they begin wt a set of premises
(propositions assumed to be true) and determine what they imply
about a specific situation- basis of formal mathematics and logic
o given a proposition if X then Y if x occurs than you can infer Y
if all humans are mortal (first premise)
if Socrates is a human (second premise)
then Socrates must be mortal (conclusion)
Inductive Reasoning: we reason in a bottom up fashion starting with
specific facts and trying to develop a general principle. Ex; scientists use
induction when they discover general principles or laws as a result of
observing a number of specific instances or phenomenon
important difference between deductive and inductive reasoning lies in
certainty of resultso deductive conclusions are certain to be correct if the premises are
true
o inductive reasoning leads to likelihood rather than certainty- even
if we reason inductively in a flawless manner- the possibility of
error always remains because some new observation may disprove
our conclusion
o hypothetic= deductive approach: to scientific theory building- e.g.
when psychologists make informal observations that cause them to
construct explanations for particular behaviours- this is inductive
then they use deductive experimenting to test it out. Ex; bystander
effect
Stumbling Blocks in Reasoning:
several factors may prevent us from selecting the information needed to
draw sound conclusions:
o Distraction by irrelevant information:
People often fail to solve problems because they simply
dont focus on the relevant info instead take into account

PSYC 1100/1200 Principals of Behaviour/Dynamics of Behaviour

irrelevant info that leads them away. Ex; socks in drawer

you take into account the different colours not that there
are only 2 options of colours
o Failure to apply deductive rules:
Some people may fail to use general problem- solving
methods as they think of them as methods to be used only
in certain situations- fail to apply them to new situations One must have the wisdom to know when and how to
apply the knowledge
o Belief Bias:
Belief Bias: the tendency to abandon logical rules in
favour of our own personal beliefs
Many people confuse factual correctness with logical
correctness- two are not same at all. Ex; cigarette smoking
example of logic
Problem Solving:
Problem solving proceeds through four stages- how well we carry out
each of these stages determines our success in solving the problem
Understanding or Framing the problem:
How we mentally represent or frame a problem can make a huge
difference
Our initial understanding of a problem is a key step toward a successful
solution i.e. thinking a problem is about distance when it is about time
Generating Potential Solutions:
We might proceed in following fashion to formulate potential
solutions or explanations:
o 1. Determine which procedures and explanations will be
considered
o Determine which of these solutions are consistent with the
evidence that has so far been observed. Rule out any solutions
that do not fit the evidence
Testing the Solutions:
Consider the possible solutions that remain
Discovering and applying solutions to problems
Mental set: the tendency to stick to solutions that have worked in the
past
o This can result in less effective problem solving
o It is easy to be come rigidly fixated on one particular approach
if we enjoy some degree of success with that approach
E.g. water jugs problem

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Evaluating Results:
Final stage of problem solving- evaluate the solutions- should ask
if there would have been an easier or more effective way to
accomplish same objectives
Problem Solving Schemas:

Problem solving schemas: can be likened to mental blueprints or

step by step scripts for selecting information and solving
specialized classes of problems
o Ex; schemas for cooking dinner ro getting acquainted wt a
person weve just met or studying schemas
Schemas help explain what it means to be an expert
Common factor underlying expertise: experts have developed a
great many schemas to guide problems solving in their field- and
they are much better than novices at recognizing when each
schema should be applied

Algorithms and Heuristics

Algorithms: formulas or procedures that automatically generate correct
solutions
o Ex; mathematical and chemical formulas are algorithms- if you use
correctly you always get correct answer
Heuristics: general problem solving strategies that we apply to certain
classes of situations- mental shortcuts that may or may not provide correct
solutions- we typically compare the present facts with some concept or
schema that seems applicable to present situation
o Means- ends analysis: this is one example of a heuristic
in this strategy we identify differences between the present
situation and ones desired state or goal and then make
changes that will reduce these differences
o subgoal analysis: often involved in means ends analysis- ppl can
attack a large problem by formulating subgoals or intermediate
steps toward a solution
Uncertainty, Heuristics and Decision Making:
use of heuristics in everyday judgements to make conclusions about ppl
we meet
certain heuristics underlie much of our inductive decision making
(drawing conclusions from facts)- their misuse results in many of our
thinking errors

PSYC 1100/1200 Principals of Behaviour/Dynamics of Behaviour

The representativeness heuristic:

o Representativeness heuristic: to infer how closely something or
someone fits our prototype for a particular concept or class and
therefore how likely it is to be a member of that class
o People confuse representativeness with probability
The availability heuristic:
o Availability heuristic: causes us to base judgements and
decisions on the availability of information in memory
We tend to remember events that are most important and
significant to us
But if something comes easily to mind we may exaggerate
the likelihood that it could occur
Ex; people not travelling after 9/11 or getting offices in
high rise buildings or people not travelling to beach areas
after Jaws
The vivid images available in memory increased peoples
perceived likelihood that they could become shark bait

Confirmation bias
o The best thing you could do is disprove an idea because if you get
evidence to prove it you are not saying that it is right with
certainty
o Confirmation bias: they tend to look for evidence that will
confirm what they currently believe rather than looking for
evidence that could disconfirm their beliefs