Cognition, Language and Creativity

Chapter 10

McElhaney

Basic Questions

• What is thought?
• Function of thought?
• What are the ingredients of thought? (Components: reasoning, problem solving, decision making…)
• How is language acquired and used? (language has similar mental processes to cognition)

​

What is thinking?

• Cognition- mentally processing information
• The manipulation of mental representations

​

• Cognitive Psychology: = the study of mental processes by which the information humans receive from their environment is modified, made meaningful, stored, retrieved, used and communicated to others. 

​

• Thinking is an internal representation (mental expression) of a problem or situation

Info Processing Model:

• Information= sensations via receptors (auditory, kinesthetic, visual, olfactory, gustation)
• Information is perceived and recognized (perceptual processing)
• Info is elaborated (connected to stored knowledge (LTM)
• Decide what to do with info
• Store it or take action –(make a plan)
• Act on the plan

​

Mental Representations: Ingredients of thought

• How do we mentally represent information?
• Mental Models
• Mental Imagery
• Cognitive Maps
• Concepts
• Propositions
• Schemas
• Scripts

​

Mental Imagery

• People use Visual Images
• Auditory Images

​

• Synesthesia: images cross normal sensory barriers
• Colors, tastes, odors

​

• People use imagery:
• Decision making- problem solving
• Change Feelings <thinking>
• To improve skill and prepare for action
• To aid memory

Mental Models

• Are representations of particular situations or arrangements of objects
• Mental representations can be 3 dimensional
• 3 dimensional models

​

• images + Cognitive Maps:
• We think in mental representations
• Can be manipulated- similar to real objects

​

• Cognitive map:
• Mental Image of scenes- locations

​

Basic Units of Thought

• Images
• Concepts: Categories of objects, events or ideas with common properties or features that are shared by members of the category

​

Concepts

• Idea that represents a class of objects or events

​

• Very abstract

​

• Identify features of objects

​

• Conceptual thinking is the ability to classify into categories

Propositions (type of concept)

• A mental representation that expresses a relationship between concepts
• Can be true or false
• Reflect- networks of associations

​

Concept Formation

• Concepts are learned
• Process of classifying information into meaningful categories
• Concepts are identified by:
• Positive Instances vs. Negative Instances
• Items are classified as either part of a concept or not.

Types of Concepts

​

• Schemas:
• Complex mental representation
• Close associations=Schema: Networks
• They are generalizations we develop about categories of objects, places or events
• Builds on expectations

​

Reasoning

• Reasoning is the process through which we generate and evaluate arguments and reach conclusions”

​

Problem Solving Strategies

• Mechanical Solutions
• Solving by understanding
• Algorithm
• Heuristics
• Anchoring Heuristic-
• Representative Heuristic-
• Availability Heuristic
• IDEAL
• Insight

​

​

​

​

​

​

Problem Solving

• Mechanical solutions
• Trial and error
• Rote- thinking is guided by a learned set of rules
• Solving by Understanding
• Deeper Comprehension of a problem (helps solving)
• Discover general properties of a solution
• General solution identifies the requirements for success
• Proposes a series of functional (workable) solutions
• Then chooses the best one

Algorithms and Heuristics

• Algorithm
• A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution

• Heuristics
• A strategy for identifying and evaluating problems and solutions
• Then random search limiting the number of alternatives then apply trial and error
• “car doesn’t start check the battery”

Heuristics

• Anchoring Heuristic-
• Estimating the probability of an event not starting from scratch but  by adjusting an earlier estimate
• Being anchored by earlier/original judgement
• Example-Not able to change much about first impressions
•  
• Representative Heuristics
• Rejecting probability 
• Making a choice or decision based on belief or representation of a category... Kind of like a ?
•  "the degree to which [an event] (i) is similar in essential characteristics to its parent population, and (ii) reflects the salient features of the process by which it is generated".^[
•  
• Availability Heuristic-
• Judging the likelihood of an event or the correctness of a hypothesis based on how easily the hypothesis or examples of the event come to mind...
• We tend to associate things that are most present in our mind
• Results from biased judgment

​

IDEAL Strategy

• Heuristic=have a general thinking strategy
• Bransford- researcher, 5 steps
• Identify
• Define- problem clearly
• Explore- possible solutions + relevant knowledge
• Act-= try a possible solution or hypothesis
• Look at results and learn from results

​

Insight

• Involves selective encoding- selecting infor that is relevant to a problem
• Ignore distractions
• Selective Combinations
• Bringing together seemingly unrelated bits of useful information
• Selective Comparison
• Ability to compare new problems with old info or with problems already solved

Insightful Solutions

• Insight = seeing a solution
• Rapid and clear info-ideas about a topic
• Create insight by reorganizing a problem
• See it in new ways and then see new solutions

Barriers to Problem Solving

• Confirmation Bias
• Functional Fixedness/Fixation
• Restricted Thinking
• Emotional Barrier
• Cultural Barriers-
• Learned Barriers
• Perceptual Barriers

​

Barrier to Problem Solving:�Fixation

• Characterized by- becoming blind to alternatives
• Tendency to be “hung up” on wrong solutions
• Caused by unnecessary restrictions on our thinking

​

Restricted Thinking

• Functional Fixedness- not able to think outside the box
• Inability to see new uses for familiar objects
• or things we use in a particular way

​

• Confirmation Bias
• is a tendency of people to favor information that confirms their beliefs 

Other Barriers

• Emotional Barrier
• Inhibition, fear of making a fool of oneself
• Fear of making a mistake
• Inability to tolerate ambiguity
• Excessive self-criticism
• Cultural Barriers
• Cultural views prevent creative problem solving
• Learned Barriers-
• Conventions about user-
• Traditional views limit possibilities
• Perceptual Barriers
• Habits lead to lack of solutions
• Problem identifying elements of a problem

​

Creative Thinking

• Inductive Thinking
• Deductive Thinking
• Logical Thinking
• Illogical Thinking
• Divergent Thinking
• Convergent Thinking

Creative Thinking

• Inductive Thinking
• Specific to the facts or general principles

​

• Deductive Thinking
• Going from general principles to specific principles
• the process of following a set of rigorous procedures to reach valid or correct conclusions.
• It takes a general rule and applies it to deduce conclusions about specific cases.

​

• Logical Thinking
• Proceeding from given information to new conclusions on the basis of explicit rules
• Conclusions based on formal principals of reasoning

​

• Illogical
• Intuitive, associated or personal
• Divergent Thinking (measure of Creativity)
• New answers
• Many possibilities are developed from one strategic point
• Convergent Thinking
• Lines of thought converge on the correct answer

​

Sternberg’s 5 Components to Creativity

• Expertise
• Imagination
• Venture Some Personality
• Intrinsic Motivation
• Creative Environment

​

​

Creative: Personality Characteristics

• Expertise- in the field of endeavor, tied to what a person has learned
• A set of Creative Skills- hard work, persistence, divergent thinking, ability to take risks
• Motivation- internal motivation (seems not external example $)

​

Test of Creativity

• Unusual Uses Test
• Person tries to think of as many possible uses for some object
• Consequences Test
• Goal to list the consequences that would follow a basic change
• Anagram Test
• Use a word
• Find as many new words as possible by rearranging the letters

Stages of Creative Thought

• Orientation
• Define problems, Identify dimensions
• Preparation
• Collect and use as much info as possible
• Incubation
• Time is needed to process and think
• Illumination
• Insight gained “light bulb” goes off
• Verification

​

​

Creativity Killers

• Working under surveillance
• Having choices restricted by rules
• Working only for a good evaluation (to avoid a bad one)
• Working to get more money
• Time pressure kills creativity

​

Brain and Language

• Language is distributed across other brain regions
• The brain operates by dividing mental functions
• So there are lots of areas of brain involved
• (EXAMPLE) Functional MRI show different neural networks activated by nouns and verbs

​

​

• Aphasia
• Impairment of Language
• Broca’s Area
• Speaking
• Wernicke's Area
• Understanding
• Both deal with language processing

​

​

Language Development

• Lots of words
• 150 words are used most
• 60,000 in a lifetime
• Receptive to Language
• 4 months we recognize differences in speech sounds
• Can read lips
• Facial expressions for sounds

• 7 months able to segment spoken sounds into words
• Proficiency can predict language abilities

​

Lang Development 2

• Babbling Stage
• Begin to make sounds
• Consonant + Vowel sounds
• Spontaneous sounds
• 1^st birthday
• One word stage
• Kids know sounds carry meaning
• First words are nouns

​

• 18 Months word learning explodes 1 word/day
• 2yrs old
• Telegraphic speech
• Two word stage
• Two word sentences
• Syntax- noun verb skill

​

​

Lang Development 3

• Critical (sensitive) Period
• Learning language young learn it better
• Those not exposed to language by age 7 lose ability to master any language. (linguistically stunted)

​

​

• Why do kids learn language better?

Debate over Acquisition of Language

• Skinner:
• Behaviorist: Operant Learning of language
• Association- sights of things with sounds of words
• Imitation- of words and syntax modeled by others
• Reinforcement- with success and smiles
• “The vocal musculature became susceptible to operant conditioning”

• Chomsky = inborn universal grammar
• Behavior explanation is over simplified
• Language naturally occurs
• But still needs nurture
• Thinking process
• Children learn their environment’s language
• Children begin using morphemes in a predictable order
• Your ability to learn language is inborn.

​

​

Chomsky 2

• All human languages have the same grammatical building blocks = Universal Grammar
• Nouns, verbs, subjects, objects, negations, questions
• Our Brains are pre-wired for language
• We all start speaking in nouns,
• It happens naturally
• “Humans have a built in predisposition to learn grammar.”
• Or brains have a language acquisition device
• But need to be exposed to language

Structure of Language

• Phonemes: basic speech sounds
• Morphemes: sounds with meaning “sounds collected into meaningful units”
• Grammar: set of rules for making sounds into words and sentences
• Syntax: rules for word order “man bites dog”

​

• Chomsky-
• Unspoken rules we use to change ideas into sentences
• Universal core patterns:
• Past
• Passive
• Negative
• Question

• Language
• Is not limited to speech
• American Sign Language

​

Gestural Language

Make them do something with this?