Cognitive Psychology o Regularly Structured-

language has structure.

St. Paul University
Arrangement of symbol dictates
Language its meaning.
o Structured at Multiple Levels-
- Use of organized means of combining structure of language can be
words in order to communicate with analyzed in multiple levels
those around us o Generative, Productive- within
- Can be written, spoken, or otherwise the limits of linguistic structure,
signed- sign language language users can produce
Communication novel utterances- limitless
o Dynamic- it evolves
- Exchange of thoughts and feelings
- Encompasses of aspects such as: Basic Components of Words
o Gestures Phoneme
o Facial expressions
o Glances - Smallest unit of speech
o Touches - Sound
- Phonemics- study of a particular
Psycholinguistics phonemes of a language
- Phonetics- study of how to produce/
- Psychology of our language as it
combine speech sounds to represent
interacts w/ human mind
them w/ written symbols.
- Considers both production and
comprehension of language
- Four areas that contributed to
psycholinguistics: Morpheme
o Linguistics- study of language - Smallest unit of meaning within a
and structure particular language
o Neurolinguistics- relationships - Two forms of morphemes in English
among brain, cognition, and language:
language o Root words- portions of words
o Computational Linguistics that contain majority of the
and Psycholinguistics- study of meaning (eg. In retry, root
language via computational word: try)
method o Affixes- includes: prefixes &
Properties of Language suffixes

- Can be diff but have some Kinds of Morpheme

commonalities: - Content Morphemes- word that convey
o Communicative- language the bulk meaning of a language (root
permits us to communicate word)
o Arbitrarily Symbolic- rs - Function morpheme- added detail to
between the symbol (word) and the morpheme to fit the grammatical
what it represents (eg. table contexts
symbolizes a type of furniture)
Lexicon
 - The entire set of morphemes in a given - The articulation of two or more speech
language sounds together, so that one influences
the other.
The Basic Components of Sentences
Syntax
Speech Segmentation
- Putting words together to form
sentences - The process of trying to separate the
- Plays a major role in our understanding continuous sound stream into distinct
of language words.
- Focus on the study of grammar of
Phonetic Refinement Theory
phrases and sentences
- Parts of a Sentence - Matching phoneme with words you
o Noun Phrase- contains a noun already know
(subject) and all relevant
Trace Model
descriptors of the noun
o Verb Phrase (Predicate)- - 3 levels of speech detection in speech
contains that verb and what it perception
acts on. o The level of acoustic features
Understanding the Meaning of Words. o Level of phonemes
Sentences, and Larger Text Units o Level of words
- Eg.
Semantics o Input- the acoustic signal for
- Study of the meaning of language cat
- Denotation- dictionary definition of the o Trace Activation- phonetic
word trace (/k/ /ae/, and /t/)
- Connotation- word’s emotional o Retrieval- retrieving
overtone, presuppositions, and other corresponding representations in
non-explicit meanings. the mental lexicon
- Grammar- study of regular patterns in o Competition and Selection-
language. These patterns relate the selection of the best word that
functions and relationships of words in fit the phonetic trace (the
sentence. sounds) and stored
o Prescriptive grammar- representation (the word itself)
prescribes the correct way in Phonetic Restoration Effect
which to structure the use of
written and spoken language. - Involves integrating what we know with
o Descriptive grammar- an what we hear when we perceive speech
attempt is made to describe (e.g. when we hear fo-e-ver, we think
structure, functions, and rs of forever)
words in language Categorical Perception
Understanding Words -discontinuous categories of speech sounds (eg.
Coarticulation Hearing ga instead of da)
Motor Theory of Speech Perception
 - The use of observing the speaker’s vocal - Typically caused by traumatic brain
tract to perceive what he says (lip injury.
reading)
Perpetual Issues in Reading

- Reading process: orthographic-

McGurk Effect phonological code- sequencing of sound
to form words- identifying meaning of
- Involves the synchrony of visual and
the word- next word- repeat
auditory perception
- Two kinds of process in reading:
Reading o Lexical Process- used to
identify letters and words and
- Average adult reads at about 250-300 activation of relevant info in
words per minute memory about these memories.
Dyslexia o Comprehension Process- make
sense of the text as a whole
- Difficulty in deciphering, reading, and
comprehending text Discourse
- Problems in phonological processing, - Understanding conversations and essays
and thus in word identification - Involves units of language larger than
- Different processes in dyslexia: individual sentences- the context in
o Phonological Awareness- which the sentence is used.
awareness of the sound structure
of spoken language Comprehending Known Words: Retrieving
 Phoneme deletion words from Memory
task- way to assess
Semantic encoding
phonological awareness
o Phonological reading- entails - Process by which we translate sensory
reading words in isolation information into a meaningful
o Phonological coding- process is representation based on our
involved in remembering strings understanding of the meaning of words.
of phonemes that are sometimes - Vocabulary- knowledge of word
confusing. meanings.
o Lexical Access- ability to
Comprehending Unknown Words: Deriving
retrieve phonemes from long-
Words Meanings from Context
term memory
- Understanding word through context
Kinds of Dyslexia
cues which is an indirect way to learn
Developmental Dyslexia vocab.

- Started in childhood and continued Comprehending Ideas: Prepositional

throughout adulthood. Representations
- Have both biological and environmental
- Model of text comprehension by Walter
causes. Mostly abnormalities in
Kintsch
chromosomes 3,6, 15
- Instead of storing the exact words in our
Acquired Dyslexia working memory from what we’ve read,
 we store the fundamental ideas and - The language we speak influence the
simplified representational form. way we think and perceive the world.
- The representational form for these Difference in language structure = diff
fundamental ideas is the proposition – in cognitive patterns
briefest unit of language that can be
independently identified as true or false,
Comprehending Text Based on Context and
POV Linguistic Universals
- What we remember from a given - There are common cognitive structures
passage of text often depends on our or constraints that underlie all human
POV languages
Language in Context Grammatical Gender
Language and Thought - Categorizing nouns, and some parts of
- It is believed that language shapes adjectives into classes.
thoughts Nouns
Difference among Languages - Nouns are assigned to specific gender
- Diff languages comprise diff lexicons category, such as masculine, feminine,
or neuter.
and diff syntactical structures-diff order
of subject, verb, and object. Range of Modifiers
grammatical inflection is also different
- Modifiers that accompany the noun
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis must agree with the gender of the noun’
- Also known as linguistic relativity Bilingualism
- Suggests that the structure and
vocabulary of a language can shape and - Fluency in 2 languages
influence the way its speaker perceive - An advantage as it enhances cognitive
and think about the world abilities, cultural understanding, and job
- By Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee opportunities.
Whorf - Single-System Hypothesis- two or
more language are represented in on
Two Version of the Sapir- Whorf Hypothesis only one system or brain region.
1. Linguistic Determinism - Dual-System Hypothesis- 2 languages
a. Proposes that language are represented in separate systems of
determines thought and that mind
linguistic categories limit and Dialects
determine cognitive categories.
2. Linguistic Relativity - Variation within a language
a. Language can affect the way
Language in Different Context
people think but does not
determine it. Speech Acts
Linguistic Relativity
 - Utterance considered as an action w/ Aphasia
regards to its intention, purpose, or
- An impairment of language functioning
effect
caused by damage to the brain.
Direct Speech Acts
Wernicke’s Aphasia
- There is a direct relationship between
- Damage to Wernicke’s area of the
the structure and the communicative
brain.
function of the utterance.
- Characterized by impairment in the
understanding of spoken words and
sentences
Indirect Speech Act
- Production of sentences that make no
- Speech act is performed indirectly by sense
performing another.
Broca’s Aphasia
- Types:
o Asking or making statements - Damage in the broca’s area of the brain
about abilities - Ungrammatical speech and preserved
o Stating a desire verbal comprehension
o Stating a future action
Global Aphasia
o Citing reasons
- Highly impaired comprehension and
Pinker’s Theory of Indirect Speech
production of speech
Plausible Deniability - Damage to both Broca and Wernicke

- The ability to deny any involvement in Anomic Aphasia

illegal or unethical activities, because of
- Involves difficulty in naming objects or
lack of evidence.
retrieving words.
Relationship Negotiation
Autism
- person uses indirect language because
- Developmental disorder characterized
the nature of a relationship is ambiguous
by abnormalities in social behavior,
Neuropsychology of Language language, and cognition

- Broca and Wernicke Problem-Solving

- Fmri shows that superior temporal
- An effort to overcome obstacles in
sulcus (STS) responds more in speech
achieving goals
sounds than non-speech sounds
Problem- Solving Structure
Brain regions involved in the storage and
retrieval of meaning - Initial State- situation where the
problem is not yet solved
- The ventral temporal lobes
- Goal state- problem has been solved
- anterior aspect of the inferior
- Obstacle- prevents us from solving our
frontal gyrus
problem
- Angular gyrus
- dorsal prefrontal cortex Problem- Solving Cycle
- Posterior cingulate gyrus
 1. Problem Identification- do we actually
have a problem?
Computer Simulations
2. Problem definition and
representation- what exactly is our - Creating a computer program that can
problem solve these problems
3. Strategy Formulation- how can we
solve the problem Problem Space
a. Analysis- breaking down of
- The universe of all possible action that
problem into manageable
can be applied to solving a problem
elements
b. Synthesis- putting together Algorithms
various elements to arrange
them into something useful - Procedure in a problem that can be
c. Divergent thinking- generating repeated over and over again
possible alternative solutions Heuristics
d. Convergent Thinking-
choosing the best single answer - Mental shortcuts
4. Organization of Information-
Four Heuristics That May Be Used to Solve
organizing the infos available
Move Problems
5. Resource Allocation- time, effort, and
material put into this problem Means-ends Analysis
6. Monitoring- am I on track?
7. Evaluation- did I solve the problem - Solving the problem by decreasing the
correctly distance between the problem and goal

Types of Problems Working Forward

Well- Structured Ill-Structured - Start at the beginning and solving the

Problems Problems problem from start to beginning
Well defined Ill- defined
Working Backward
Have clear paths to Lack clear path to
solution solution - Starts at the end

Generate and Test

Well-structured Problems
- Generate alternative solutions, then test
Move Problems if it will work.
- Problem that requires series of moves to Isomorphic Problems
solve the problem
- Isomorphism- structure is the same, and
Errors when trying to solve well-structured only their content differs
problems
Mental Processing Speed
1. Inadvertently moving backward-
instead of progressing, you revert back - key to intelligence but has no correlation
2. Making Illegal Moves- moves not in w/ success in solution
accordance to the terms of the prob
Ill- Structured Problem and the Role of
3. Not Realizing the Nature of the Next
Insight
Legal Move- being stuck
 - there is a need to see the problem in a Right Hippocampus
novel way
- Formation of insightful solution
- restructuring the problem to solve it-
insight Right anterior temporal Area
Insight - activates before an insight and during all
types of problem solving
- distinctive and sometimes seemingly
sudden understanding of a problem Spike
Early Gestalt Views - sudden understanding of relations within
a problem
- importance of the whole rather than the
collection of parts Obstacles and Aids in Problem Solving
Productive Thinking (Max Wertheimer) Mental Set
- insights that go beyond existing - frame of mind involving an existing
associations model for representing a problem
Reproductive Thinking Entrenchment
- based on existing association involving - fixation on a strategy that normally
what is already known works
Neo-Gestalts View Stereotypes
- Distinguishing insightful from non- - overgeneralizing people or problem
insightful problems - limits their ability to think by only using
- Routine problem- high accuracy in stereotypes
predicting success
- Insight problem- low accuracy Stereotype Threat

Routine Problems - Being aware of stereotypes of their

group can limit people’s
- Arithmetic operation w/ the performance when they expect to be
characteristics
evaluated.
Insight Problem
Transfer
- Ill-structured
- Carryover of knowledge or skills
Insight into insight from one situation problem to
- Insights need to be sudden a=ha
another
experience Negative Transfer
Neuroscience and Insight - Transfer makes problem solving
- Functional magnetic resonance Imaging harder
(Fmri) show that activity in the right
Positive Transfer
anterior superior-temporal gyrus
increase when we experience an insight
 - Transfer makes problem solving
easier 2. Automatization
Analogical Problem-Solving
a. involves consolidating
sequences of steps into
- Finding similarities from present and unified routines that require
past problem to have a starting point little or no conscious
in solving present problem control.
Intentional Transfer Creativity

- finding relationship between past and - production of something original and

present problems worthwhile
- characterized by: flexibility,
nonstereotyped behaviors, and
nonconforming attitude
Transparency
Characteristics of Creative People
- people see analogies where they do
not exit Divergent Production

Incubation - generation of diverse assortment of

appropriate responses, an approach
- putting a problem aside w/o originated by Giolford
consciously thinking aboutt it to
2 Types of Motivation
relieve fixation.
1. Intrinsic Motivation
Embodied Cognition a. Internal to the individual (e.g.
enjoyment, personal desire)
- physical world influence our
2. Extrinsic Motivation
cognitive process
a. External to the individual (e.g
Frontal Lobe (Prefrontal Cortex) fame or fortune)

- essential for planning complex Investment Theory of Creativity

problem solving task. - Buy low, sell high approach
- Buy low- finding potential in things
Expertise: Knowledge and Problem-
seen as of no value
Solving
- Sell high- persuaded many people w/
Expertise their idea

- superior skills or achievements Prefrontal Regions

reflecting a well-developed and well- - Active during creativity
organized knowledge base.
Similarities Between Creativity and
Automatic Expert Process Intelligence
1. Schematization - Cognitive, neural, behavioral
a. Involves developing rich,
Judgement and Decision Making
highly organized schemas.
 - Selecting from different choices or
evaluating opportunities.
Fallacy

- Erroneous reasoning

Goal of Reasoning

- Draw conclusion, using either deductive

or inductive reasoning
Types of Decisions
1. Decisions Under Certainty
a. Knowledge that a particular
action will yield particular
outcomes
Subjective Expected Utility Theory
2. Decisions Under Risk
a. There is a probability - Makes greater allowance for the
psychological makeup of each
3. Decisions Under Uncertainty individual decision maker.
a. Probability is unknown - The goal of human action is to seek
Theories on Decision Making pleasure and avoid pain

The Classical Decision Theory Subjective Utility- calculation based on the

individual’s judged weightings of utility
- The earliest models of how people make (value) rather than an objective criterion.
decisions
- Reflects the strength of an economic Subjective Probability- a calculation based
on the individual’s estimates of likelihood,
perspective
rather than an objective statistical operation.
o Developing and using
mathematical models for human
behavior
The Model of Economic Man and Woman

- Assumption of Infinite sensitivity.

o People evaluate the difference Dual Process Theory
between two outcomes System 1 Reasoning
- Assumption of Rationality
o People make their choices to - Automatic
maximize something of value. o Amygdala, hippocampus,
hypothalamus
System 2 Reasoning

- Controlled
o Neocortex

Heuristics and Biases

Heuristics Overconfidence

- Mental shortcuts - over-evaluation of his/her skills

Satisficing Hindsight Bias

- one of the first heuristics - predicting outcome based on “signs”

- looking for an option that is satisfactory
Fallacies
- rational but w/ limits
Gambler’s Fallacy and the Hot Hand
Elimination by Aspects
- belief that the probability of a given
- eliminating alternatives by focusing on
event is influenced by previous radm
aspects of each alternative
event.
Representatives Heuristic
Conjunction Fallacy
- judging probability of an uncertain event
- gives a higher estimate for a subset of
according to;
events than for a larger set of events
o how obviously it is similar to or
containing the given subset.
representative of the population
from which it is derived Sunk-Cost Fallacy
o degree to which it reflects the
- represents the decision to continue to
salient features of the process to
invest in something simply because one
which it was generated
has invested in it befre and one hopes to
Availability Heuristics recover in one’s investment

- making judgements based on how we Opportunity Cost

call to mind what we perceive as
relevant instance of phenomenon - Opportunity costs are the prices paid
for availing oneself to opportunities.
Anchoring
Group Decision Making
- people adjust their evaluation of things
by means of certain reference points Groupthink
called end-anchors.
- Submitting to the wants of the group
o Common tendency to rely too
heavily on the first piece of to avoid conflict
information offered Symptoms
Framing  Close-mindedness- not being open
- the way options are presented influence to alternative ideas
the selection of an option  Rationalization- justifying their
process; distorting reality
Illusory Correlation
 Squelching of Dissent- those who
- a phenomenon wherein we are disagree are ostracized
predisposed to see particular events or  Formation of Mindguard-
attributes and categories as going appointing themselves as leader
together where they do not.
  Feeling Vulnerable- believing that Wason Selection Task (Peter Wason)
what the group believes is the right
- Is a reasoning task based on the logic
one
of conditional rules and their
 Feeling Unanimous- belief that
violation
everyone shares only one or the same
opinion Pros of Deductive Reasoning
Antidotes for Groupthink - With its help, you can find
- Encourage criticism, impartiality, connections between things that
and ensure that members seek input weren’t obvious at first
for othr ppl.’ Cons of Deductive Reasoning
Reasoning
- If a person works with false
- The process of drawing conclusions arguments, they can come to the
from principles and from evidences wrong conclusions
- Rigid and takes a lot of time
Deductive Reasoning
- General statements to specific
application
Proposition Inductive Reasoning
- An assertion which may either be - Specific to general
true or false
Inductive Generalization
Premises
- Considering past situations to create
- Prepositions about which argument a conclusion
are made
Statistical Induction
Part of the Brain used in DR
- Utilizing statistical data to draw
- Prefrontal cortex (dorsolateral conclusion
prefrontal cortex)
Causal Inference
Higher-Order Cognitive Functions in
which Prefrontal Cortex is Involved - one reasons to the conclusion that
something is, or is likely to be, the
1. Logical Thinking cause of something else.
2. Working Memory
4. Executive Functions Categorical Inference
4. Attention and Focus - Categorizing
Types of Deductive Reasoning
Conditional Reasoning Reasoning by Analogy
- Use of if-then preposition
- Analogical inference involves
applying the outcomes of a known
situation to a new or unknown
situation