Transcript Introduction to Psychology

The Matchstick
Problem
 How would you
arrange six
matches to form
four equilateral
triangles?
The Three-Jugs
Problem
 Using jugs A,
B, and C,
with the
capacities
shown, how
would you
measure out
the volumes
indicated?
The Candle-Mounting
Problem
 Using these
materials, how
would you
mount the
candle on a
bulletin board?
Thinking
 Mental Set
 tendency to approach a problem in
a particular way
 especially a way that has been
successful in the past but may or
may not be helpful in solving a new
problem
Thinking
 Functional Fixedness
 tendency to think of things
only in terms of their usual
functions
 impediment to problem solving
The Matchstick
Problem
 Solution to the
matchstick
problem
The Three-Jugs
Problem
 Solution:
a) All seven problems
can be solved by the
equation shown in
(a): B - A - 2C =
desired volume.
 b) But simpler
solutions exist for
problems 6 and 7,
such as A - C for
problem 6.
The Candle-Mounting
Problem
 Solving this
problem
requires
recognizing that
a box need not
always serve as
a container
Language
 Language
 our spoken, written, or gestured
words and the way we combine them
to communicate meaning
 Phoneme
 in a spoken language, the smallest
distinctive sound unit
Language
 Morpheme
 in a language, the smallest unit that carries
meaning
 may be a word or a part of a word (such as
a prefix)
 Grammar
 a system of rules in a language that
enables us to communicate with and
understand others
Language
 Semantics
 the set of rules by which we derive
meaning from morphemes, words, and
sentences in a given language
 also, the study of meaning
 Syntax
 the rules for combining words into
grammatically sensible sentences in a given
language
Language
 We are all born to recognize speech sounds from all the
world’s languages
Percentage able 100
to discriminate
90
Hindi t’s
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Hindispeaking
adults
6-8
months
8-10
months
10-12
months
Infants from English-speaking homes
Englishspeaking
adults
Language
 Babbling Stage
 beginning at 3 to 4 months
 the stage of speech development in which
the infant spontaneously utters various
sounds at first unrelated to the household
language
 One-Word Stage
 from about age 1 to 2
 the stage in speech development during
which a child speaks mostly in single words
Abby Speaks!
Language
 Two-Word Stage
 beginning about age 2
 the stage in speech development during
which a child speaks in mostly two-word
statements
 Telegraphic Speech
 early speech stage in which the child
speaks like a telegram-–“go car”--using
mostly nouns and verbs and omitting
“auxiliary” words
Language
Summary of Language Development
Month
(approximate)
Stage
4
Babbles many speech sounds.
10
Babbling reveals households
language.
12
One-word stage.
24
Two-world, telegraphic speech.
24+
Language develops rapidly into
complete sentences.
Language
 Genes
design the
mechanisms
for a
language,
and
experience
activates
them as it
modifies the
brain
Language
Percentage
correct on
grammar
test
 New language
learning gets
harder with
age
100
90
80
70
60
50
Native 3-7
8-10 11-15 17-39
Age at school
Language
 Linguistic Determinism
 Whorf’s hypothesis that
language determines the way
we think
Language
 The interplay
of thought
and language
Animal Thinking and
Language
Direction of
nectar source
 The straight-line
part of the dance
points in the
direction of a
nectar source,
relative to the
sun
Animal Thinking and
Language
 Gestured Communication
Animal Thinking and
Language
 Is this
really
language?
Apes and Signing - Koko
Jane Goodall
Animal and Man – not that
different?