Psychology - Chapter 8 - Language, Thinking and Reasoning - Key Words
Language is a complex and largely arbitrary system of communication that uses symbols—such as words, sounds, or gestures—combined according to rules to convey meaning. It allows humans to express thoughts, share information, and understand one another.
Largely arbitrary system of communication that combines symbols (such as words or gestural signs) in rule-based ways to create meaning.
Language
Key Terms
Largely arbitrary system of communication that combines symbols (such as words or gestural signs) in rule-based ways to create meaning.
Language
Category of sounds our vocal apparatus produces
Phonemes
Smallest meaningful unit of speech
Morphemes
Grammatical rules that govern how words are composed into meaningful strings
Syntax
elements of communication that aren’t part of the content of language but are critical to interpreting its meaning
extralinguistic information
meaning derived from words and sentences
semantics
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Largely arbitrary system of communication that combines symbols (such as words or gestural signs) in rule-based ways to create meaning. | Language |
Category of sounds our vocal apparatus produces | Phonemes |
Smallest meaningful unit of speech | Morphemes |
Grammatical rules that govern how words are composed into meaningful strings | Syntax |
elements of communication that aren’t part of the content of language but are critical to interpreting its meaning | extralinguistic information |
meaning derived from words and sentences | semantics |
language variation used by a group of people who share geographic proximity or ethnic background | dialect |
intentional vocalization that lacks specific meaning | babbling |
early period of language development when children use single-word phrases to convey an entire thought | one-word stage |
language developed by members of a deaf community that uses visual rather than auditory communication | sign language |
proficient and fluent at speaking and comprehending two distinct languages | bilingual |
awareness of how language is structured and used | metalinguistic |
Systems of signs invented by deaf children of hearing parents who receive no language input | homesign |
allowing an infinite number of unique sentences to be created by combining words in novel ways - i.e. language is this. | Generative |
account of language acquistion that suggests children are born with some basic knowledge of how language works | nativist account - developed by Noam Chomsky |
Hypothetical construct in the brain in which nativisists believe knowledge of syntax resides | Language acquisition device |
Account of language acquisition that proposes that children infer what words and sentences mean from context and social interactions | Social Pragmatics account |
View that all thought is represented verbally and taht, as a result, our language defines our thinking | linguistic determinism |
view that characteristics of langauge shape our thought processes | linguistic relativity |
reading strategy that involves identifying common words based on their appearance without having to sound them out | whole-word recognition |
reading strategy that involves sounding our words by drawing correspondences between printed letters and sounds | phonetic decomposition |
any mental activity or processing of information, including learning, remembering, perceiving, communicating, believing, and deciding | thinking |
our knowledge and ideas about a set of objects, actions, and characteristics that share core properties | concept |
the process of selecting among a set of possible alternatives | decision making |
the way a question is formulated, which can influence the decisions people make | framing |
generating a cognitive strategy to accomplish a goal | problem solving |
step-by-step learned procedure used to solve a problem | algorithm |
phenomenon of becoming stuck in a specific problem-solving strategy, inhibiting our ability to generate alternatives | mental set |
difficulty conceptualizing that an object typically used for one purpose can be used for another | functional fixedness |