Study Notes: Thought & Language (Psychology)

Thought & Language

Knowledge

Knowledge in psychology refers to the mental storage and organization of information, including concepts and categories that help us understand the world.

• Semantic Memory: Involves the storage of general information, concepts, and categories.

• Concepts: Mental groupings of similar objects, events, or people. Concepts help us organize and interpret information efficiently.

  • Example: The concept of a "chicken" may include various breeds, but all are recognized as chickens.

  • Application: Concepts allow us to adapt to new situations by extending our knowledge.

• Rule-Based vs. Comparison-Based Categorization:

  • Rule-Based: Uses defining features (e.g., all dogs have four legs, fur, and tails).

  • Comparison-Based: Involves organizing items by evaluating their similarity to a prototype or best example.

Networks & Hierarchies

Knowledge is often organized in networks and hierarchies, allowing for efficient retrieval and categorization.

• Semantic Networks: Concepts are linked by associations, forming a web of related ideas.

• Hierarchies: Information is structured from broad to specific categories.

  • Example: Animal → Bird → Robin

  • Basic Level: Most frequently used and recognized classification (e.g., "apple" rather than "Granny Smith").

  • Subordinate Level: More specific (e.g., "Granny Smith" apple).

• Sentence Verification: Checking the truth of statements by evaluating their accuracy.

  • Example: "A robin is a bird." vs. "A robin is an animal."

Influences on Categorization

Categorization is influenced by perceptual, cultural, and linguistic factors.

• Category-Specific Visual Agnosia: A brain condition where someone cannot recognize certain types of objects despite having normal vision.

• Cultural Influences: Shared beliefs, values, and language affect how individuals categorize information.

• Example: What is considered "normal" varies across cultures (e.g., dietary habits in India vs. the U.S.).

Problem Solving, Judgment & Decision Making

Problem Solving

Problem solving involves using strategies to achieve goals when the solution is not immediately obvious.

• Trial & Error: Attempting different solutions until one works.

• Strategies: General plans or methods for achieving long-term goals, including algorithms and heuristics.

• Mental Set: Tendency to approach problems in a particular way, often based on past experiences.

  • Example: Persistently trying a solution that worked before, even if it is not effective now.

Judgment & Decision Making

Judgment and decision making involve evaluating information and choosing among alternatives.

• Conjunction Fallacy: Mistakenly believing that two events happening together are more probable than one event alone.

  • Example: "Linda is a bank teller and active in the feminist movement" is judged more likely than "Linda is a bank teller."

• Representativeness Heuristic: Estimating the likelihood of an event based on how typical it seems.

  • Example: "If it looks like a shark, it probably is a shark."

• Availability Heuristic: Judging the probability of events based on how easily examples come to mind.

  • Example: Overestimating the risk of a shark attack after seeing news reports about attacks.

• Belief Perseverance: Tendency to maintain beliefs even after they have been discredited.

• Confirmation Bias: Actively seeking information that supports one's beliefs and ignoring contradictory evidence.

Language

History of Language

Language is a system of communication using spoken, written, or gestural symbols organized by rules.

• Aphasia: A language disorder affecting communication.

  • Broca's Area: Located near the motor cortex; involved in speech production.

  • Wernicke's Area: Adjacent to the primary auditory cortex; involved in language comprehension.

Properties of Language

• Rule-Based System: Language uses rules to combine symbols into meaningful communication.

• Phonemes: Smallest units of speech sounds.

• Morphemes: Smallest units of meaning within a word (e.g., "un-", "-ed", "the").

• Semantics: Meaning derived from words and sentences.

  • Lexicon: Mental dictionary; average person knows 30,000–60,000 words.

• Syntax: Rules for combining words and morphemes into meaningful phrases and sentences.

  • Example: "Nouns, verbs"; "Guess who?"

• Pragmatics: Study of non-literal aspects of language use.

  • Example: "My roommate is a giraffe" (not literal).

Table: Levels of Categorization

Level	Example	Description
Superordinate	Fruit	Most general category
Basic	Apple	Most commonly used category
Subordinate	Granny Smith	Most specific category

Table: Language Areas in the Brain

Area	Location	Function
Broca's Area	Near motor cortex	Speech production
Wernicke's Area	Near auditory cortex	Language comprehension

Additional info: Expanded definitions, examples, and tables were added for clarity and completeness.