Thinking, Reasoning, and Language

Introduction

This chapter explores the cognitive processes underlying human thinking, reasoning, and language. It covers how children acquire language, the structure and function of language, problem-solving strategies, and the role of analogies in reasoning.

Review: Children's Testimony and Memory

Reliability of Children's Statements

• Validity of Testimony: Young children’s statements may be influenced by suggestive or leading questions, making their testimony less reliable.

• Sam Stone Study: Examined how children can be led to remember events that never happened through suggestion.

• Suggestive Questions: Questions that imply or lead a child toward a particular answer, increasing the risk of false memories.

• False Memories: Children can be made to "remember" events that never occurred, especially through repeated questioning.

• Use of Anatomically Correct Dolls: Intended to reduce the number of questions, but may not always lead to more valid testimony.

• Distinguishing Truth: Separating real memories from imagined or suggested events is challenging in young children.

Language: Structure and Components

Definition and Importance

• Language: A system of communication that combines symbols or gestural signs in rule-based ways to create meaning.

• Sentences: Coherent sequences of words expressing the intended meaning of a speaker.

• Phonemes: The smallest distinctive sound units in a language.

• Morphemes: The smallest language units carrying meaning.

• Syntax: The grammatical rules for constructing sentences.

Example: The sentence "Man turns cat into helicopter" uses syntax and morphemes to convey meaning.

Noam Chomsky & the Language Acquisition Device

Chomsky's Theory

• Associationist View: Earlier theories suggested language was learned through conditioning.

• Chomsky's Critique: General learning principles are inadequate for language acquisition.

• Language Acquisition Device: Chomsky proposed an innate mechanism enabling children to analyze and produce language rapidly.

• Deep vs. Surface Structure: Deep structure refers to underlying meaning; surface structure is the actual spoken form.

• Generativity: Children produce novel sentences, not just mimic adults.

Example: "The dog chased the cat" and "The cat was chased by the dog" have different surface structures but the same deep meaning.

Cooing and Babbling

Early Language Development

• Cooing: At about 2 months, babies make vowel-like noises.

• Babbling: At 4-5 months, babies add consonant sounds to cooing; by 7-8 months, they produce real adult speech sounds.

• Universal Babbling: Babies produce sounds common across all languages, not just their native language.

• Role of Hearing: Hearing is necessary for normal language development; deaf babies babble with their hands.

Example: Deaf infants produce linguistic structures in sign language babbling similar to spoken language babbling.

Language Sounds and Perception

Speech Segmentation and Sound Discrimination

• Speech Segmentation: Infants can isolate words and discern rules for word order in their native language.

• Conditioned Head-Turn Procedure: Used to study infants' ability to distinguish speech sounds.

• Universal Linguists: Up to 7 months, infants can distinguish sounds from any language; this ability declines by 10 months.

Example: Infants rewarded for turning their head when a new sound is played, showing discrimination before the sound appears.

Perceiving Complex Sounds

Sound Categorization

• Segmentation: By 8 months, infants pick out words from speech streams based on syllable co-occurrence.

• Categorical Perception: Infants group similar sounds and distinguish them from different categories.

• Voice Onset Time (VOT): The time between releasing a sound and the onset of voicing; used to differentiate sounds like "ba" and "pa".

Example: Infants and some animals (chinchillas, macaques) categorize speech sounds, suggesting general auditory properties.

Concepts and Word Learning

Mapping Words to Concepts

• Mapping: Linking new words to concepts enables children to apply words to various objects.

• Overextension: Applying a word too broadly (e.g., calling all four-legged animals "doggie").

• Underextension: Applying a word too narrowly.

• Fast Mapping: Rapidly learning new words and concepts (up to 500 new words a month).

• Constraints on Word Meanings:

  • Whole-object bias: Tendency to map a word to an entire object.

  • Shape bias: Generalizing words to objects of similar shape.

  • Mutual exclusivity: Assuming a novel word refers to an object not already named.

Example: A child learns "bunny" refers to a rabbit, not a synonym for an object already named.

Grammar and Generativity of Language

Understanding Grammatical Structure

• Single-word Speakers: Even babies speaking single words can understand complex grammar.

• Grammatical Structure: Development of grammar is not solely dependent on practice or feedback.

• Generativity: Ability to produce novel sentences by combining words in new ways.

Example: Babies can identify the correct picture when hearing "the dog was bitten by the cat" versus "the cat was bitten by the dog".

Linguistic Rules and Overgeneralization

Learning Language Rules

• Implicit Learning: Children learn rules without explicit awareness, possibly through implicit memory.

• Overgeneralization: Applying rules too broadly (e.g., "goed" instead of "went").

• U-shaped Development: Children initially use correct forms, then overgeneralize, and finally return to correct usage.

Example: Children say "Yesterday, we goed" before learning the irregular past tense "went".

The Critical Period for Language Acquisition

Age and Language Learning

• Critical Period: Younger children are better at learning languages; after a certain age, acquisition becomes more difficult.

• Feral Children: Cases like Genie and Victor of Aveyron show limited language development after isolation.

• Second Language Learning: Adults face more challenges learning a second language than children.

Example: Genie, isolated until age 13, never fully acquired language; Isabelle, rescued at age 6.5, learned English rapidly.

Teaching Human Language to Animals

Animal Language Studies

• Chimpanzees: Early research failed due to vocal limitations.

• Bonobos: Learn better as young animals, through observation, and use symbols for social interaction, but cannot master complex syntax.

• Parrots: Alex the African gray parrot could speak and solve tasks, but language was imitative, not generative.

Example: Kanzi the bonobo could not master syntactic rules beyond a 2.5-year-old human child.

Language Automaticity: The Stroop Effect

Stroop Demonstration

• Stroop Task: Naming the ink color of words that spell different colors demonstrates automaticity and selective attention.

• Prefrontal Cortex Damage: Patients with damage show impaired selective attention and inhibition.

Example: Saying "RED" when the word is printed in blue ink takes longer than when the word and ink color match.

Solving Problems: Heuristics and Algorithms

Problem-Solving Strategies

• Heuristics: Simple, efficient rules for making judgments and solving problems; faster but more error-prone.

• Algorithms: Step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution; slower but more reliable.

• Matchstick Problem: Arranging six matches to form four equilateral triangles requires creative thinking.

Example: The solution to the matchstick problem involves constructing a three-dimensional tetrahedron.

Functional Fixedness and Mental Set

Barriers to Problem Solving

• Functional Fixedness: Tendency to see objects as having only their usual function, hindering creative solutions.

• Mental Set: A predisposition to approach problems in a particular way, which can limit options.

• Nine Dot Problem: Solving requires breaking out of the mental set that lines must stay within the square.

Example: Using a box as a platform rather than a container in the candle problem.

Analogies in Problem Solving

Using Analogies to Find Solutions

• Analogical Reasoning: Applying knowledge from one situation to another can aid problem solving.

• Tumor Problem: Solved more easily when participants are given an analogous story (the Fortress Problem).

• Research Findings: 92% solved the tumor problem with an analogy; only 20% without the hint.

Example: Using multiple low-intensity rays from different directions to destroy a tumor without harming healthy tissue, analogous to dividing an army to avoid landmines.

Table: Key Terms and Concepts

Equations and Formulas

• Voice Onset Time (VOT):

Additional info: These notes expand on the original slides by providing definitions, examples, and context for key concepts in language acquisition, problem solving, and reasoning, suitable for exam preparation in a college psychology course.