| A | B |
|---|
| Cognitive approach | One method of studying how we process, store, and use information and how this information, in turn, influences what we notice, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel |
| Thinking (reasoning) | Involves mental processes that are used to form concepts, solve problems, and engage in creative activities |
| Language | A special form of communication in which we learn and use complex rules to form and manipulate symbols (words or gestures) that are used to generate an endless number of meaningful sentences |
| concept | A way to group or classify objects, events, animals, or people based on some features, traits, or characteristics that they all share in common |
| exemplar model | Says that you form a concept of an object, event, animal, or person by defining or making a mental list of the essential characteristics of a particular thing |
| prototype theory | Says that you form a concept by creating a mental image based on the average characteristics of an object; defining a new object by matching it to one of your already formed prototypes |
| problem solving | Searching for some rule, plan, or strategy that results in our reaching a certain goal that is currently out of reach |
| algorithms | A fixed set of rules that, if followed correctly, will eventually lead to a solution |
| heuristics | Rules of thumb, or clever and creative mental shortcuts, that reduce the number of operations and allow one to solve problems more easily and quickly |
| availability heuristic | Says that we rely on information that is more prominent or easily recalled and overlook other information that is available but less prominent and notable |
| functional fixedness | A mental set that is characterized by the inability to see an object as having a function different from its usual one |
| insight | The sudden grasp of a solution after many incorrect attempts |
| analogy | A strategy for finding a similarity between the new situation and an old, familiar situation |
| subgoals | A strategy that involves breaking down the overall problem into seperate parts that, when completed in order, will result in a solution |
| creative thinking | A combination of flexibility in thinking and reorganization of understanding to produce innovative ideas and new or novel solutions |
| creative individual | Someone who regularly solves problems, fashions products, or defines new questions that make an impact on his or her society |
| convergent thinking | Beginning with a problem and coming up with a single correct solution |
| divergent thinking | Beginning with a problem and coming up with many different solutions |
| savants | 10% of autistic individuals who show some incredible memory, music, or drawing talent |
| word | An arbitrary pairing between a sound or symbol and a meaning |
| grammar | A set of rules for combining words into phrases and sentences to express an infinite number of thoughts that can be understood by others |
| phonology | Specifies how we make the meaningful sounds that are used by a particular language |
| phonemes | the basic sounds of consonants and vowels |
| morphology | The system that we use to group phonemes into meaningful combinations of sounds and words |
| morpheme | The smallest meaningful combination of sounds in a language |
| syntax (grammar) | A set of rules that specifies how we comvine words to form meaningful phrases and sentences |
| semantics | Specifies the meanings of words or phrases when they appear in various sentences or contexts |
| surface structure | The actual wording of a sentence, as it is spoken |
| deep structure | An underlying meaning that is not spoken but is present in the mind of its listener |
| transformational rules | Procedures by which we convert our ideas from surface structures into deep structures and from deep structures back into surface ones |
| Chomsky's theory of language | All languages share a common universal grammar and children inherit a mental program to learn this universal language |
| language stages | Refers to all infants going through four different periods or stages- babbling, single-words, two-word combinations, and sentences |
| babbling | begins at 6 months; first stage in acquiring language; making one-syllable sounds which are common across all languages |
| single words | Mark the second stage in acquiring language, which occurs at 1 year of age; infants say single words that usually refer to what the can see, hear, or feel |
| parentese (motherse) | A way of speaking to young children in which the adult speaks in a slower and higher than normal voice, emphasized and stretches out each word, uses very simple sentences, and repeats words and phrases |
| two-word combinations | the third stage in acquiring language; occur at about two years of age; strings of two words that express various actions or relationships |
| sentences | stage four of acquiring language; occurs at about 4 years of age; three to eight words in length and indicate a growing knowledge of the rules of grammar |
| telegraphic speech | A distinctive pattern of speaking in which a child omits articles (the), prepositions (in, out), and parts of verbs |
| basic rules of grammar | The rules for combining nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech to form meaningful sentences |
| overgeneralization | Applying a grammatical rule to cases where it should not be used |
| innate language factors | Genetically programmed physiological and neurological features that facilitate our making speech sounds and acquiring language skills |
| critical language period | The time from infancy to adolescence when language is easiest to learn |
| environmental language factors | Interactions children have with parents, peers, teachers, and others who provide feedback that rewards and encourages language development, as well as provides opportunities for children to observe, imitate, and practice language skills |
| social cognitive learning | The acquisition of language skills through social interactions, which give children a chance to observe, imitate, and practice the sounds, words, and sentences they hear from their parents or caregivers |
| theory of linguistic relativity | The differences among languages result in similar differences in how people think and perceive the world |
| Dyslexia | An unexpected difficulty learning to read despite intelligence, motivation, and education; caused by genetic factors and environmental factors |
| communication | The ability to use sounds, smells, or gestures to exchange information |
