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Representations
Knowledge about the world stored in the brain
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Thinking
Manipulation of mental representations
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Representation types: Analogical
- has characteristics of actual object
- Ex. looking at cello, maps, photos
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Representation types: Symbolic
- Abstract, not physical features
- Ex. words, numbers, ideas
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Concept
The mental representation of a class of individual
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Category
All possible examples of a particular concept
Categorization helps us predict and understand the world
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Two models for category formation
Prototype approach: there is one best example (prototype) to represent a category
Exemplar approach: all members of the category contribute equally, and there is no one best example (no prototype)
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Priming
Prototypical objects are more effected by priming
Presentation of 1 stimulus facilitates the response of another stimulus
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Meaning dominance
The more frequently one definition is heard for an ambiguous word, the more dominance it has over other meanings for the same word
Ex. thinking of jam as something you put on toast over a paper jam in a computer
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Balanced dominance
The meanings of one word are relatively balanced and one is not more dominant/frequent over the other
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Homonyms
Same pronounciation/spelling, different meaning
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Homophones
Same pronunciation, different spelling and meanings
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Syntax
The structure of a sentence
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Parsing
How meaning in a sentence is created by breaking it down into sentences
Ex. seeing a comma in a sentence creates a parsing so you know how to read it
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Garden path sentence
When an ambiguity in a sentence leads you to the incorrect assumption
Ex. After the musician played the piano...
becomes: After the musician played, the piano was wheeled off the stage
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Garden path model of parsing
People use rules of thumb based on syntax to parse sentences as they unfold
Dependent on how sentence is put together
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Constraint based approach to parsing
There are things other than syntax that influence parsing:
- Word meaning
- Story context- knowing the story makes it easier to parse the sentence
- Scene context- study, more eye movements with ambiguous instructions
- Memory load- the more memory something requires, the harder it is to keep things organized
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Inferences
Using knowledge and reasoning to make conclusions about what is happening
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Types of inferences: anaphoric
Connecting a person or object in two sentences
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Types of inference: Instrument
About tools or methods
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Types of inference: causal
About cause of a statement
Ex. If 2 things are together, they must have relation
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Situation models
As you read/listen to something, you are recreating it in your mind
- Ex. People have faster reaction times to questions when they see an image that fits into their mental concept of a story
- "Hammer nail into wall" --> faster reaction when picture shows horizontal nail
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Subgoals
Breaking into smaller steps to achieve large goal
First step of problem solving
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Restructuring
Representing a problem in a novel way
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Mental set
Previous way of thinking that has been previously helpful
Can also be harmful
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Functional fixedness
Having a fixed idea about the function of objects
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Dunckers candle problem (Functional fixedness)
- The way participants are presented the objects affects how they interpret the problem
- Ex. showing the tacks outside the box results in people figuring out the solution faster than if the tracks are in the box
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Sudden insight/ Maier's strings
Apparent sudden understanding
When Maier brushed string to make it swing, participants would say that the solution came to them suddenly
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Given-new contract
In every sentence, there is information that you previously know (given) and information that you are learning (new), to help you move forward
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Establishing common ground
Mental knowledge and belief shared among conversational partners
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Entrainment
Synchronization between two partners
Ex. gestures, body position, speaking rate, tone, etc.
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Syntatic coordination
Occurs when common ground is established
Ex. partners will begin to use the same sentence structure, tone, etc. as the other
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Syntatic priming
- Hearing a specific syntactic structure increases the likelihood of producing a sentence with the same structure
- Contributes to syntactic coordination
Ex. study- 78% of the time participant copied syntactic structure of the confederate
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Decision making
Selecting among options
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Problem solving
Overcoming obstacles to achieve a goal
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Normative decision making
- People select the choice that proceeds the largest gain
- Assumes that everyone is rational
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Expected utility theory
People make decisions by considering the possible alternative and choosing the most desirable one
Violations- Red/white bean study, organ donor rate, gambling
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Descriptive decision making theory
- People uses biases in decision making and may make irrational decisions
- Based on decisions people actually make, not ideal ones
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Heuristics
- Shortcuts, "rules of thumb" for decision making
- Often unconscious
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Relative comparisons
Anchoring-getting mentally stuck to the first thing you see/hear
Framing-the way something is presented affects peoples perception of choices
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Availability heuristic
People are most likely to make decision based on the first thing that comes to mind (most available)
People believe what first comes to mind is more probable, but not always
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Representativeness heuristic
Tendency to place a person, object or event into a category if they are similar to category prototype
Conjunction rule- the probability of two events (A&B) cannot be higher than the probability of a single constituent (ex: feminist librarians).
Ignoring base rate- people will ignore actual base rates when they think something is more likely (Ex: lawyer/engineer problem)
Law of large numbers- the larger the sample, the more likely it is to represent the population
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Semantic Network model
Hierarchal model, attempt to create a computer model of human memory
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Cognitive Economy
- Storing shared features at the highest, most generic level possible
- Part of semantic network model
Ex. Storing "can fly" at level of "bird," not at "canary"
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Semantic network model experiment findings
- Predicted that the reaction time would depend on distance between two nodes
- Ex: Higher reaction time when the category was more broad than when more specific
- Spreading activation, when category is activated it primes nearby nodes
- Ex: saying bird primes you to think of bird types
Lexical decision task:
Higher reaction time when there were no words associated with stimuli than when there were words associated
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Semantic model criticism
Does not explain faster reaction times when identifying more prototypical members
- Sentence verification does not always follow hierarchical model
- Ex. higher reaction time for "pig is a mammal" than "pig is an animal"
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Conectionism
Using computer models to represent cognitive processes
Circles are neurons and lines are axons. The darker the line the more connection it has
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The sensory functional hypothesis
- The ability to differentiate between a living thing and artifacts
- Depends on memory system that distinguishes sensory attributes and a system that distinguishes functions
Criticism: mahy patients with brain damage deficits do not fit this dichotomy so there must be more than 2 categories
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Multiple factor approach
There are more than two factors when thinking of concepts
Animals tend to be associated with sensory categories, while non-animals are associated with actions
brain damage patients have issues with crowding --> some categories has more similar features than others
Ex. boat and car not as similar as horse and cow
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The semantic category approach
- There are specific neural circuits in the brain for specific categories that are innately determined
- Ex. FFA dedicated to recognizing faces, PPA dedicated to recognizing places
Experiment: Participants listened to stories for 2 hours, and when their neural activity was mapped in response to certain words they had similar maps across all subjects
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Embodied approach
Our knowledge of concepts is based upon reactivation of sensory and motor processes that occur when interact with the object
Semantic somatotopy- correspondence between words and actions in the brain
Criticism: damage affecting the motor action does not affect conceptual knowledge
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Language
A system of communication using sounds and symbols
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Attributes of language
Discreetness, grammar, productivity, displacement
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Confirmation bias
Looking for information that proves your hypothesis, and ignoring information that refutes it
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Inductive reasoning
Making a broad conclusion from a specific observation
Ex. Librarians are quiet, therefore anyone who is quiet must be a librarian
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Deductive reasoning
- Able to prove it is true
- Determining is conclusion is true based off statements
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Syllogisms: Valid vs true
Valid; structure must be valid for conclusion to be valid
True: both premises must be true for conclusion to be true
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Morpheme
Smallest meaningful unit of language
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Phoneme
Individual speech sound
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Belief bias
Tendency to believe syllogism is true because the conclusion sounds believable
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Mental models
Representing specific situations in your mind to help you solve logic puzzles
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Conditional syllogisms
Dependent on premise
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Falsification principle
To test a rule, you must look for things that can prove the rule wrong
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Wason four card problem
Each card has word on one side, number on the other. Which card will make the rule valid?
Can only know your prediction is right when you flip the card over and see the other side
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