Cognitive Psychology Notes

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND RELATED o Cerebral hemispheres are

AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT connected by fiber
bundles (the most
Introduction: First Language important is the corpus
Acquisition callosum, which connects
the two hemispheres)
 Unconscious learning of one’s o The cortex is the surface
native language which takes of the cerebral
place during the first 6-7 hemispheres
years of one’s life  Broca’s area
 Very rapid o Located in the left
 Complete hemisphere, approximately
above the left temple
 Does not require any
o Called after it discover
instructions
the French Doctor Paul
Broca
Biological maturation and language
o Primarily involved in the
acquisition
encoding of speech
(Speech production)
 The brain
 Wernicke’s Area
o The areas and their
o Located in the left
functions
hemisphere, just above
o Speech comprehension and
the left ear
production
o Named after Karl
o Human brain versus animal
Wernicke, the German
brain
scientist who discovered
 Auditory and vocal tracts the area in the second
 The case of Helen Keller and half of the 19th century
the importance of senses o Wernicke observed that
 Stages of language development damage to this part pf the
brain was found among
The Brain patients who had speech
comprehension
 Where is the ability to use difficulties
language located? o Plays the major part in
o The obvious answer is “in comprehension of speech
the brain”  Motor Cortex
 more specific: o Close to Broca’s area
o Neurolinguistics (the o Governs movements of the
study of the relationship articulatory organs
between language and the  Arcuate Fasciculus
brain) o A bundle of nerve fibers
o One of the Wernicke’s
Parts of the Brain discoveries
o Forms a connection
 Cerebral cortex/cerebrum between Wernicke’s area
o Divided into two and Broca’s area
hemispheres (two parts of
equal size), right and Reading aloud
left
To speak a word that is written:
o To instill discipline in
 First the information reaches the girl
the primary visual cortex o To teach the girl language
 Transmitted to Wernicke’s area  Helen’s breakthrough – the
where it is processed into famous scene by a water pump
“stuff to speak”
 From there to Broca’s area Importance of Senses
 Transmitted to the Primary
Motor Cortex to “tell the mouth  Deaf children don’t progress to
to start speaking” babbling
 They don’t receive auditory
Speech Comprehension and Speech feedback (they can’t hear
Production themselves while speaking)
 At the beginning of language
To speak a word that is heard: acquisition blind children
cannot associate names of
 First, the information gets to objects with objects
the primary auditory cortex  They have to learn through the
 Transmitted to Wenicke’s area, sense of touch
where it is interpreted
 From Wernicke’s area, Stages of Language Acquisition
information travels to Broca’s
area, then to the primary Motor already in the language melody
Cortex womb
4 days phonological
discrimination
Human Brain versus Animal Brain 0.0 – 3 months organic sounds,
crying, cooing
 In comparing the brains of 4 – 5 months beginning of the
animals with those of humans babbling phase
the most noticeable difference 10 – 12 months The first
is in the part of the brain comprehensible
which developed last in the words. After
course of evolution, the this follow one
cerebral cortex. In humans, the – word, two -
cerebral cortex has increased word, and many -
in size and complexity to word sentences.
become the largest part of the The only word
brain. stages are known
as the
The Case of Helen Keller – the holophrastic
importance of senses stage;
Telegraphic
 Born in 1880 speech refers to
speech with only
 Ill at the age of 19 months nouns and verbs.
 Became deaf and blind 2.5 years inflection
 Anne Sullivan became her occurs,
teacher negation,
 Teacher’s task: interrogative
and imperative
sentences  Knowledge
3 years a vocabulary of o structure of language in
about 1000 words general
5 years the main o genetically encoded
syntactic rules o called: Language
have been Acquisition Device
acquired
Stages of Language Acquisition – and
These divisions of the early period what if the child does not acquire
of first language acquisition are language in time? / Loss of speech
approximate and vary from individual
to individual.  Progression from the babbling
stage to that of the multi-word
Conclusion sentence. Up to the age of
about 7 a child has usually
 Biological maturation strongly acquired all structural
affects language acquisition features of his/her mother-
 Biological specializations tongue.
include the brain, the vocal  But what if the child shows any
and auditory tracts retardation and does not start
 Senses are very important while babbling or speaking in time?
acquiring language Or if one loses his/her ability
 There are different stages of of speaking through illness or
language acquisition accident?
Cognitive Aspects of Language Problems concerning First Language

Acquisition Acquisition
Linguistic and Cognitive  Can be due to either

Development pathological processes or as a
result of lacking interaction
When does the Process of 1st Language between the child in question
Acquisition start? and his/her family etc.
 I want to focus on diseases
 1st word? which lead to a later and/or
o No, that is too late. irregular development of
 1st interaction with others? speech abilities.
o Better
Possible diseases and their effect
 Already in the womb?
o Maybe…
Diseases Effect(s):
 AT the age of 12 months a child Aphasia
can listen to language.
Stroke Impairment of
understand it and utters
the brain
his/her words, i.e. starts to
External Injury Impairment of
speak.
the brain
Tumor Press on speech
Do Inborn Speech Abilities Exist?
areas –
Impairment of
Assumption:
the brain
Genetic Disorder Impairment of switching of elements among
the brain words of a sentence
o Example: “Dondonlerry”
The MASA Syndrome as an example for (Londonderry)
disease which includes Aphasia  Speech delay – normal
comprehension but retarded
 Example of a genetic disease speech production
which includes aphasia – MASA  Stammering – abnormalities in
Syndrome grammatical smoothness and
o M-ental retardation rhythm
o A-phasia o Example: “We’rrre S-silv-
o S-huffling gait vvia a-nd J-j-jen-ny”
o A-dducted thumbs
 Point mutation: Help for People with Speech
o Xq28 – structural change Disabilities
of L1CAM protein for
nervous cell adhesion – no  Speech training for all kinds
adequate growth of the of difficulties
brain  Includes:
o Pronunciation Training
MASA Syndrome includes Aphasia o Vocabulary Training
Example: o Comprehension Training
 Taught (trained) by special
 André, born in November 1998 experts and should be practiced
 Learns words slowly/forget at home as well.
words after learning them. has  Can help but not every affected
to hear them much more often to person will be able to speak
learn them adequately in the end –
 Articulation problems depending on the cause of the
(hypotone mouth area plus speech problems.
problems to differentiate
sounds) What can we Learn from Speech
 Can meanwhile say most simple Disabilities?
and some more difficult words
 Multi-word sentences but  As people with speech
dysgrammatical (eg. missing disabilities usually go
irregular verb forms) through exactly the same stags
of language development, we can
Examples of speech disabilities see that the hierarchy of these
stages must be inborn.
 Tip of the tongue – not  In fact, it can be assumed that
necessarily pathological; if you take a representative
sudden block in lexical cross-section of every
retrieval, released again for language on Earth, you get what
no reason must be innate.
o Example: “Thilvia”  Moreover, if one of the
(Silvia) faculties concerning language
 Slips of the tongue – shows irregularities, we can
involuntary and unintended see what the persons concerned
to compensate that (e.g. non-
verbal communication), i. e. in  Usually normal LA through
how far this is possible or interaction
not.  Brain disorders can cause
 The main conclusion is that aphasia
every stage has to be completed  In case of genetic disorder,
before the next one can be certain diseases (eg. tumors)
taken. or accident (injury) resulting
speech disabilities
So, what we learn from Language
 Can be treated through special
Disorders is …
speech training
 Human beings learn from the Bilingual Language Acquisition
general to the particular:
 You have a set of structure Introduction
plus a set of words, an idea
what to say - then you take the Bi- and Multilingualism
words, put them into structures
and thus create a sentence made  This is the acquisition of two
of these items. or more languages from birth or
 This implies that when you hear at least together in early
language you store it in childhood.
modules – such of words, of  The ideal situation where all
grammar and syntax - and you languages are equally
can use these items to build represented in the child’s
new sentence constructs surroundings(s) and where the
whenever you need them as soon child has an impartial
as you have internalized the relationship to each is hardly
individual modules. to be found in reality.
 So that, two or more languages
Summary
one is bound to be dominant.
So, what we´ve learned now is:
Why study Bilingual children?
 The process of first language
 Growing of bi- and
acquisition starts from birth
multilingualism:
(first interactions)
o Increasingly
 Speech abilities are inborn internationally oriented
 There are certain stages of word
language acquisition o Increased interest in
 There can be difficulties in cross linguistic studies
language acquisition due to of language acquisition
different causes – and we can
learn from them Facts
 Speech training can help (at
least improve the situation)  Early childhood bilingualism
is a very widespread phenomenon
Conclusion  Nearly half of the world’s
population is bilingual
 Inborn faculties such as  It can show us more clearly the
Language Acquisition Device limits of language acquisition
 Potential for language creation of system that is
learning in early childhood quite different from each of
the child’s input system
Factors which may affect the o Who is talking?
Acquisition of a Particular Language o Where?
o In what situation? (tend
 Cognitive development to talk like the people
around them)
 Personality (controlled in a
o From the start:
bilingual population)
Morphosyntax appears to
 Bilingual child – ideal subject be language specific
for cross linguistic research
 Investigate relative impact Insights about Bilingual Children
of: Development
o Language specific factors
o More universal factors  At very young age bilingual
children are skilled
Children conversationalists who easily
switch languages according to
 Very early (from before the age interlocutor.
of two)  Bilingual situation
 Very simultaneous o methods complications –
 Very regular immense complexity
 Continued involved
 Exposed to more than one  Earlier studies
language o Question: Separate vs.
Nonseparate Developement
Input  In order to answer the question
whether the bilingual child
 Wishes that the child does not uses language-specific rules
mix up the two languages or not, one can only take as a
 Different hypotheses what basis for analysis.
system the bilingual child has o Related constructions
(what is the best source of which differ in the input
input) languages
 1 person = 1 language input  Sociolinguistic situation – a
great contributor to the actual
The Initial Single System Hypotheses language production of the
bilingual child
 This view off early bilingual  A baseline for “normal”
development has been bilingual development has not
discredited yet been establishes.
 More and more evidence suggest
that bilingual children do not Wild Children and How they acquire
differ much from monolingual Language
children
Introduction
 Also pay a lot of attention to
the input they receive
 They soon notice that this
input differs depending on
 There are some children who
grew up in isolation of  Genie was discovered in the
language for different reasons late 1970s in the United
 Here are some examples with the States.
focus on the way how these  She was 13 ½ years old
children learned language  She had been locked in a small
after their isolation room by her father for 12
years, being mistreated and
Victor without being spoken to
 In consequence of that she did
 Victor was found in the woods not speak
in Aveyron, France in 1800  Being cared for now, she
 He was about 11 or 12 years learned many new words during
old, as it was assumed the first months
 He appeared to be a “wolf  She needed much time to
child” (only wore a “tattered understand many things said to
shirt) her, even 5-10 minutes to
 He did not speak, only made understand commands and carry
“guttural animal-like noises” them out
 Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard cared  Genie went through the several
for him and developed a special stages children go through when
speech programme learning a language
 Victor had to repeat some words  She made “good progress in
or speech sounds, e.g. “Li”, or speech production, but this
“lait” and made him touch his progress was “very slow”
neck to feel how the vocal  Her language ability remained
cords vibrate below normal
 Itard told Victor how to spell  It is not clear why Genie did
“lait” and other words using not achieve the ‘normal level’
“cut-out letters” of language and to what extend
 Victor realized “the relation the trauma she went through
between written symbol and influenced her ability in
object “ learning language, what
 He was able to use the cards psychological aspects may have
and even to write some words disturbed her learning process
himself from memory
 He was able to say easy words Isabelle
as “lait, but did not acquire
any further speech ability and  Isabelle was discovered in 1938
that was why, in the end, Itard in Columbus, Ohio, in the USA
gave up on him  She was 6 ½ years old
 While learning how to read and  She had been locked with her
write Victor “went through some deaf and mute mother in a room
of the same problems of after birth; her mother only
overgeneralization that communicated through gestures
ordinary children go through in  When Isabelle was found she did
learning language “ not speak and did not try to do
but still used gestures
Genie
 Mason, the assistant doctor of is described in her book “The
the speech clinic where story of my life”
Isabelle was, helped her  Helen graduated from Radcliffe
 After one-week Isabelle first and became “an acclaimed
tried to vocalize sounds lecturer and writer in the
 3 months later Isabelle service of handicapped people”
produced utterances
Summary
 1 year later she could listen
to stories and retell them,
including complex structures,  None of these children was able
e.g. “What did Miss Mason say to learn language without
when you told her I cleaned the social contact
classroom?”  Helen and Isabelle were able to
 20 months later Isabelle was acquire a high stage of
able to speak in full length language, while Victor and
sentences and in asking Genie were not; the reasons are
“intelligent” questions not clear
 Isabelle got through the same  All these children went through
stages as other children do but the same stages of language
more “rapidly”, as her speech acquisition
development is described
Social Aspects of Language
Helen Acquisition
I. Introduction
 Helen Keller got deaf and blind
because of an illness when she
Language Socialization:
was 19 months old
 Before that she had already got
 Children are socialized
through the first stages of
through language
language acquisition, but then
was isolated from language  Children use of language within
a community
 When she was 7 years old her
parents engaged Anne Sullivan
Question: When, how and why do
Macy to teach her
children understand grammatical
 Macy taught her speech by forms?
touch; (Macy spelled the word
for the object she referred Something to do with:
with her fingers into Helens
hand)
 Cultural influence
 Macy also taught Helen how to
 Social order
speak by “directly touching the
voice articulators (mouth,
1. Children as Addressees
lips vocal cords etc.)
 Keller learned to speak, but Differences in Cultures
with a “strange voice”; she
learned to read Braille and to USA/Canada/Europe Other
write. Societies
 Her way to get there and the simplify language children not
importance language has for her engaged as
addressees  Other aspects of parentese:
until they can o sentences = short
produce o vocabulary = simple
language o speech = slower
use parentese/baby think it’s o pitch = higher
talk strange to o words = stressed,
talk to exaggerated
preverbal o more pauses
children  also children (age 4 ) produce
children don’t overhearers of simplified language when they
understand/respond non- talk to younger children!
simplified
language Importance of Parentese?
Difference in Simplification  Children whose parents do

not use parentese would
US/European Javanese/Kaluli learn language anyway
working/middle-  But children who receive
class parentese will learn
simplification restricted to language faster
involves self-repition
modifications and discourse Baby Talk
(parentese)
baby talk not to try to teach
 Vocabulary and syntax =
teach but to
simlified/reduced
communicate
parents think prefer children  Consonant + vowel syllable
child will be as observers and repeated:
good in overhearers o pee-pee (urine)
conversation o choo-choo (train)
o bow-wow (dog)
Which way is the more efficient one?
HERE: does not have to be realistic!
 The outcome in term of the
ultimate acquisition of  often add ‘y’:
grammatical competence is not o birdy for bird
substantially different across o horsie for horse
these two cultural strategies! o kitty for kitten
 names easier than ‘I’ or ‘you’
Parentese (shifting speaker)
o “Mommy loves Tommy!”
 One-way parents talk to o “I love you!”
children  Baby Talk not important, but
o talk about environment, parents love it (reinforces
not about difficult social solidarity)
topics: “The dog wants
water!” 2. Children as Speakers
 Simple
o “That psycholinguistic Expansion:
topic at university is
very interesting!”
 Different possibilities if  Doesn’t ‘t includes
child produces ungrammatical understanding of tenses
utterance: o Example: mouse instead of
o Ignore utterance mice
o Indicate that utterance  Children construct from rules
is unclear they have in mind
o Reformulate  Rules have to be learned
 The ways of expansion vary from o Imitation = limited
community to community! aspect
 Some adults do not respond =
think that children don ‘t know Correction:
what they say (aren ‘t authors
– just imitate)  Not an important factor
o sometimes caregivers  Parents rather respond to
speak to 3rd person as if o Truth value (child lying)
the child was speaking o Social appropriateness
(child = speaker without (being polite)
being author) o Cleverness (praise child)
 Others think children are  Correction is mostly
authors of utterances unsuccessful!
 Repetition of corrected forms
Cultural Gloss:
more useful!
 Some communities offer a
cultural gloss! 3. Use of Grammatical Forms
o e.g. first utterance
interpreted as meaning
 Grammatical form as frequent
‘mother’
but inappropriate for child use
o Example 1: Samoan
 Expansions: do not have to be o verb come = frequently
right (maybe child did not want used by adults but not by
to say ‘mother’) and do not child
have to fit (sometimes only o Reason:
cultural understanding of what  low status persons
child wants): =physical movement
o Child: “Baba!”  high status persons
o Mother: “Yes, you want a = direct lower
banana...b-a-n-a-n-a!” status persons to
 Goal is not to make child an carry out actions
author of a unique personal that require
message but to socialize movement
infants into cultural  Child understands
appropriate persons intertextuality and does not
use the verb because as a child
Imitation: it has a low status
o Example 2: Kaluli
 Children learn a lot by o say like that = frequently
imitation: intonation, sound, used by caregivers who
word order teach language learning
child
o only young girls (aged 2 o promotion of
to 4) use it when talking communicative competences
to younger children, boys (ability to use language
don ‘t! appropriately in the
o Reason: boys do not feel community)
responsible as caregivers
 Reflection of understanding of Three distinctions in Linguistic
gender appropriate behavior! Socialization:
 CONCLUSION: children
understand social and cultural 1. Parents & other caregivers give
intertextuality and act in instructions to their children
role-appropriate manner! about what to feel, think & do
(social & moral rules)
 Grammatical form as infrequent
a. Language is the medium to
but appropriate for child use
give those instructions:
o Example 1: Kaluli
i. e.g. commands,
o Children say “having
explanations or
chewed give” although
anecdotes as
adults never say that
varieties of
(chew food themselves)
linguistic forms to
 Makes clear that children do convey social &
not only reflect! moral rules
 They construct the language 2. Parents teach children what to
they need! say (or not to say) in
 Example 2: Samoan different situations:
o Children say “poor me/I” a. e.g. speech forms
although this form is not including politeness,
being in their greetings, religious &
environment holiday performatives
o Construct a speech act of like: “Thank you” or
begging to satisfy their “trick or treat”.
desires! 3. Subtle & indirect aspects of
 Conclusion: The use of linguistic interaction itself:
particular grammatical forms a. Certain features of
is linked to social and interaction vary
cultural norms! systematically & are
correlated with
Language and Socialization individual or group
variables:
 Language effects socialization b. e.g. parents interrupt
explicitly girls more than boys;
o e.g. parents give diminutives & terms of
concrete directions to endearment are more
their children about what directed to girls than to
to say, when & how to say boys
it  Interactions like these
 content of socialization express specific cultural &
varies across cultures; gender-based standards
nevertheless, linguistic
socialization always has the Common Contexts of Socialization in
same goal: Wester Society
intrinsic appeal to
 Behavioral & cognitive children
socialization at home o Especially educational
 Explicit linguistic shows have a simple,
socialisation (What to say) redundant, rarely
disfluent language, that
 Indirect socialization at home
focusses on objects or
(subtle cues)
events in the immediate
 Fathers as conversational context
partners o Watching television must
 Mothers as conversational not be passive, if parents
partners & children watch it
 Sibling speech together & afterwards
o As children get older they talk about it
spend more and more time o Children learn vocabulary
with one another (in from TV: Children who
conversations & other watch more educational TV
activities) have larger vocabularies
o Opportunity to assume than children who watch
other roles than they cartoons or sitcoms
assume talking to adult o The influence of TV on
partners children ‘s speech is
o Sibling-to-sibling little studied
conversation is more
reciprocal Conclusion
o They talk more about their
own feelings (than in  In verbal interactions with
conversations with their parents, siblings, teachers
mothers e.g.) and peers and through media
o Children express more like TV, children absorb many
anger & distress toward important values & beliefs of
siblings in disputes their community
o Disputes are more focused  Children are to some extent
on topics like rights & explicitly taught how to use
ownership language appropriately
o Children use social rules
as justifications more 1st Language Acquisition: Conclusion
often in arguments with
siblings
 Biological maturation strongly
 Children themselves act as affects language acquisition
socializing agents
 Biological specializations
include the brain, the vocal
Other contexts:
and auditory tracts
 Senses are very important while
 Language Socialization in
acquiring language
School
 There are different stages of
 Peers as Conversational
language acquisition
Partners
 Television as a model SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
o Television is an
attractive medium with What is Second Language Acquisition?
transitional system reflecting
 In second language learning, the learner’s current L2
language plays an knowledge).
institutional and social role  Communication strategies are
in the community. It employed by the learner to make
functions as a recognized means use of existing knowledge to
of communication among members cope with communication
who speak some other language difficulties.
as their native tongue.
 In foreign language learning, The Language Learner
language plays no major role in
the community and is primarily  Individual differences affect
learned in the classroom. L2 acquisition. These may
 The distinction between include: (1) the rate of
second and foreign language development and (2) their
learning is what is learned and ultimate level of achievement.
how it is learned.  Learners differ with regard to
 It is the study of: variables relating to
o How second languages are cognitive, affective and
learned; social aspects of a human
o How learners create a new being.
language system with  Fixed factors such as age and
limited exposure to a language learning aptitude are
second language; beyond external control.
o Why most second language Variable factors such as
learners do not achieve motivation are influenced by
the same degree of external factors such as social
proficiency in a second setting and by the actual
language as they do in course of L2 development.
their native language;  Cognitive style refers to the
and way people perceive,
o Why some learners appear conceptualize, organize and
to achieve native-like recall information.
proficiency in more than  Field dependent learners
one language. operate holistically. They
like to work with others. Field
How do Learners Acquire a Second independent learners are
Language? analytic and prefer to work
alone.
 Learners acquire a second
language by making use of Learner Strategies
existing knowledge of the
native language, general  Learner strategies are defined
learning strategies, or as deliberate behaviors or
universal properties of actions that learners use to
language to internalize make language learning more
knowledge of the second successful, self-directed and
language. enjoyable.
 These processes serve as a
means by which the learner
constructs an interlanguage (a
o Cognitive strategies o Request for clarification
relate new concepts to (asking the speaker to
prior knowledge. explain or repeat); and
o Metacognitive strategies o Role-playing (interacting
are those which help with with another by taking on
organizing a personal roles).
timetable to facilitate
an effective study of the Theories of Second Language
L2. Acquisition
o Social strategies include
looking for opportunities Universalist Theory
to converse with native
speakers.  Defines linguistic universals
from two perspectives:
Natural Order of Strategies of o The data-driven
Second Language Development perspective which looks
at surface features of a
 Chesterfield & Chesterfield wide-range of languages
(1985) identified a natural to find out how languages
order of strategies in the vary and what principles
development of a second underlie this variation.
language. The data-driven approach
o Repetition (imitating a considers system external
word or structure); factors or input as the
o Memorization (recalling basis.
songs, rhymes or o The theory-driven
sequences by rote); perspective which looks
o Formulaic expressions at in-depth analysis of
(words or phrases that the properties of
function as units i.e. language to determine
greetings); highly abstract
o Verbal attention getters principles of grammar.
(language that initiates System internal factors
interaction); are those found in
o Answering in unison cognitive and linguistic
(responding with others); processes.
o Talking to self (engaging  Several Characteristics of the
in internal monologue); data-driven approach include
o Elaboration (information the following:
beyond what is o It has language typology
necessary); which delves into
o Anticipatory answers patterns which exist
(completing another’s among languages and how
phrase or statement); they vary in human
o Monitoring (self- languages.
correcting errors); o Language universals focus
o Appeal for assistance on what is common. For
(asking someone for example,
help); subject/verb/object.
o Implicational universals
which refer to the
properties of language provides the stimuli that
such as “all languages can shape responses
have vowels” without selectively rewarding
looking at any other some responses and not
properties. others.
 Several Characteristics of the o When the learner learns a
theory-driven approach include language, this learning
the following: includes a set of
o Language is acquired stimulus-response-reward
through innateness. (S-R-R) chains.
Certain principles of the o Imitation provides the
human mind are learner with a repertoire
biologically determined. of appropriate,
o There are sets of productive responses. The
principles and conditions learner learns to imitate
where knowledge of or approximate the
language develops. productive responses
o Universal grammar is seen provided by the
as part of the brain. environment.
o The characteristics of
Behaviorist Theory human and non-human
learners include the
 Dominated both psychology and ability to:
linguistics in the 1950’s. This  respond to stimuli
theory suggests that external in a certain way;
stimuli (extrinsic) can elicit  intuitively evaluate
an internal response which in the reward potential
turn can elicit an internal of responses;
stimuli (intrinsic) that lead  extract the
to external responses. important parameters
o The learning process has that made up the
been described by S-R-R stimulus response
theorists as a process (positive reward
forming stimulus- chains); and
response-reward chains.  generalize these
These chains come about parameters to
because of the nature of similar situations
the environment and the to form classes of S-
nature of the learner. R-R chains.
o The environment provides 
the stimuli and the Nativist Theory
learner provides the
responses. Comprehension  Views language acquisition as
or production of certain innately determined. Theorists
aspects of language and believe that human beings are
the environment provide born with a built-in device of
the reward. some kind that predisposes them
o The environment plays a to acquire language.
major role in the exercise o This predisposition is a
of the learners’ systematic perception of
abilities since it language around us,
resulting in the order to construct
construction of an the simplest
internalized system of possible system out
language. of the linguistic
o Nativists are on the data that are
opposite end of the encountered.
theoretical continuum and o Nativists have
use more of a rationalist contributed to the
approach in explaining discoveries of how the
the mystery of language system of child language
acquisition. works. Theorists such as
o Chomsky (1965) claimed Chomsky, McNeill, and
the existence of innate others helped us
properties of language understand that a child’s
that explain a child’s language, at any given
mastery of his/her native point, is a legitimate
language in a short time system in its own right.
despite the highly
abstract nature of the Cognitivist Theory
rules of language.
o This innate knowledge,  Views human beings as having
according to Chomsky, is the innate capacity to develop
embodied in a “little logical thinking. This school
black box” of sorts called of thought was influenced by
a Language Acquisition Jean Piaget’s work where he
Device (LAD). suggests that logical thinking
o McNeill (1966) described is the underlying factor for
the LAD as consisting of both linguistic and non-
four innate linguistic linguistic development.
properties: o The process of
 the ability to association has been used
distinguish speech to describe the means by
sounds from other which the child learns to
sounds in the relate what is said to
environment; particular objects or
 the ability to events in the
organize linguistic environment. The bridge
events into various by which certain
classes that can be associations are made is
refined later; meaning. The extent and
 knowledge that only accuracy of the
a certain kind of associations made are
linguistic system is said to change in time as
possible and that the child matures.
other kinds are not; o Cognitivists say that the
and conditions for learning
 the ability to language are the same
engage in constant conditions that are
evaluation of the necessary for any kind of
developing learning. The environment
linguistic system in provides the material
that the child can work between infants and
on. caregivers.
o Cognitivists view the  Social interactionists stress:
role of feedback in the o The importance of a
learning process as child’s interactions with
important for affective parents and other
reasons, but non- caregivers;
influential in terms of o The importance of
modifying or altering the “motherese”;
sequence of development. o Contributions of context
 Language Learning as a and world knowledge; and
Cognitive Process o The importance of goals
o Learning a language  Glew (1998) claims that
involves internal learners have to be pushed in
representations that their negotiation of meaning to
regulate and guide produce comprehensible output.
performance. The classroom context needs to
o Automatic processing provide adequate opportunities
activates certain nodes for target language use to
in memory when allow learners to develop
appropriate input is competence in the target
present. Activation is a language.
learned response.  Comprehensible output provides
o Memory is a large opportunities for
collection of nodes. contextualized, meaningful use
o Controlled processing is of language.
not a learned response. It
 Social interactionists believe
is a temporary activation
that:
of nodes in a sequence.
o Human language emerged
o Skills are learned and
from the social role that
routinized only after the
language plays in human
earlier use of controlled
interaction;
processes have been used.
o The environment plays a
o Learner strategies
key role in language
contain both declarative
development;
knowledge i.e. knowing
o Adults in the child’s
the ‘what’ of the
linguistic environment
language-internalized
are viewed as
rules and memorized
instrumental in language
chunks of language, and
acquisition.
procedural knowledge i.e.
o Social interactions are
know the ‘how’ of the
the key element in
language system to employ
language processing and
strategies.
input from social
interactions provides a
Social Interactionist Theory
model for negotiation
opportunities.
 Supports the view that the
development of language comes Krashen’s Five Hypotheses for Second
from the early interactions Language Acquisition
The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis
 Claims that affective
 Claims that we have two variables do not impact
independent ways of developing language acquisition directly,
language ability: but can prevent input from
o Language Acquisition is a reaching what Chomsky called
subconscious process. It the Language Acquisition
occurs very naturally in Device.
a non-threatening o The LAD is the part of the
environment. brain that is responsible
o Language Learning is what for language acquisition.
occurs at school in an
academic setting. It is a
conscious process. Cummin’s Second Language Framework
The Natural Order Hypothesis  Cummins makes a distinction

between social language and
 Claims that we acquire parts of academic language.
a language in a predictable
order.  Social Language
o For example, the –ing
progressive is acquired o Refers to the everyday
fairly early in first conversational language
language acquisition, which is supported by the
while third person use of illustrations,
singular –s is acquired realia, demonstrations,
later. etc. (Context Embedded)
o Social language deals
The Monitor Hypothesis with the here-and-now
language, therefore
 Attempts to explain how second language learners
acquisition and learning are tend to acquire it faster.
used. Conscious learning has  Academic Language
only one function…as the o Is the language of school
“Monitor” or “Editor.”This can tasks which is more
happen internally before we abstract and
actually speak or write, or as decontextualized (Context
a self-correction after we Reduced).
produce the utterance or  Some second language learners
written text. who develop fluent spoken
English have difficulties in
reading and writing because
they may be at different levels
of proficiency while they are
Comprehensible Input Hypothesis moving from social language
(BICS) to academic language
 Contends that more (CALP). It takes between five
comprehensible input results to seven years for second
in more acquisition. language learners to acquire
academic language.
The Affective Filter Hypothesis
Context-Embedded/Cognitively participation, realia,
Undemanding Sample Tasks etc.; and
 Context-Embedded/Cognitively o Writing academic reports
Undemanding tasks are with the aid of outlines,
supported by the use of structures, etc.
pictures, illustrations,
demonstrations, connections Context-Reduced/Cognitively
with life experiences, etc. Undemanding Sample Tasks
Language learning is non-
threatening and learners are  Context-Reduced/Cognitively
able to depend on environmental Undemanding tasks are those
cues for assistance. activities that are simple to
 Some sample tasks include: carry out but do not contain
o Developing survival any environmental cues to
vocabulary; assist the language learner.
o Following demonstrated  Some sample tasks include:
directions; o Engaging in telephone
o Playing simple games; conversations;
o Engaging in face-to-face o Reading for personal
interactions; and purposes; and
o Participating in art, o Writing for personal
music and physical purposes: notes, lists,
education activities. sketches, etc.
Context-Reduced/Cognitively
Context-Embedded/Cognitively Demanding Sample Tasks
Demanding Sample Tasks
 Context-Reduced/Cognitively
 Context-Embedded/Cognitively Demanding tasks are those that
Demanding tasks are those require more academically
activities that provide some demanding language, are more
environmental cues, but are abstract and are
more cognitively demanding. decontextualized.
Language learners are exposed  Some examples of these tasks
to more complex tasks that include:
include some context-embedded o Understanding academic
cues. presentations without
 Examples of these tasks visuals or demonstrations
include: (lectures);
o Participating in hands-on o making formal oral
science and mathematics presentations;
activities; o Solving math word
o Making maps, models, problems without
charts, and graphs; illustrations;
o Solving math o Writing compositions,
computational problems; essays, and research
o Making brief oral reports in content areas;
presentations; o Reading for information
o Understanding academic in content areas; and
presentations through the o Taking standardized
use of visuals, achievement tests.
demonstrations, active
Components of Communicative o To compensate for
Competence breakdowns in
communication such as
 Canale and Swain (1983) when the speaker forgets
identified four components of or does not know a term
communicative competence: and is forced to
o Grammatical competence paraphrase or gesture to
o Sociolinguistic get the idea across; and
competence o To enhance the
o Discourse competence effectiveness of
o Strategic competence communication such as
 Grammatical competence means when a speaker raises or
understanding the skills and lowers the voice for
knowledge necessary to speak effect.
and write accurately.
Grammatical competence Competence vs Performance
includes:
o Vocabulary  According to Chomsky (1965),
o Word formation competence consists of mental
o Meaning representations of linguistic
o Sentence formation rules that constitute the
o Pronunciation speaker-hearer’s internal
o Spelling grammar.
 Sociolinguistic competence  This internal grammar is
involves knowing how to produce implicit rather than explicit.
and understand the language in It is evident in the
different sociolinguistic intuitions, which the speaker-
contexts, taking into hearer has about the
consideration such factors as: grammaticality of sentences.
o The status of the  Performance consists of the use
participants of this grammar in the
o The purpose of the comprehension and production
interaction; and of the language.
o The norms or conventions  Communicative competence is
of the interaction. that aspect of the language
 Discourse competence involves user’s competence that enables
the ability to combine and them to convey and interpret
connect utterances (spoken) messages and to negotiate
and sentences (written) into a meanings interpersonally
meaningful whole. Discourse within specific contexts.
ranges from a simple spoken  Language is a form of
conversation to long written communication that occurs in
texts. social interaction. It is used
 Strategic competence involves for a purpose such as
the manipulation of language in persuading, commanding, and
order to meet communicative establishing social
goals. It involves both verbal relationships. No longer is the
and non-verbal behaviors. focus on specific knowledge of
Speakers employ this grammatical form. Instead, the
competence for two main competent speaker is
reasons: recognized as one who knows
when, where, and how to use  According to behaviorist
language appropriately. theories, the main impediment
to learning was interference
Language Learning from prior knowledge.
 Proactive inhibition occurred
 Behaviorist’s views of when old habits got in the way
language learning and of of attempts to learn new ones.
language teaching were pre- In such cases, the old habits
dominant in the two decades had to be unlearned so that
following the second world war. they could be replaced by the
These views drew on general new ones.
theories of learning  The notion of unlearning made
propounded by psychologists little sense as learners did
such as Watson (1924), not need to forget their L1 in
Thorndike (1932), and Skinner order to acquire an L2.
(1957).
 For this reason, behaviorist
 Dakin (1973) identifies three theories of L2 learning
general principles of language emphasized the idea of
learning derived from these “difficulty.” This is defined
theories. as the amount of effort
o According to the law of required to learn an L2
exercise, language pattern.
learning is promoted when
 The degree of difficulty was
the learner makes active
believed to depend primarily in
and repeated responses to
the extent to which the target
stimuli.
language pattern was similar to
o The law of effect
or different from a native
emphasizes the importance
language pattern.
of reinforcing the
learners’ responses and
Input and Interaction
correcting non-target-
like ones.
o The principle of shaping  L2 acquisition can only take
claims that learning will place when the learner has
proceed most smoothly and access to input in the second
rapidly if complex language. This input may come
behaviors are broken down in written or spoken form.
into their component  Spoken input occurs in face-to-
parts and learned bit-by- face interactions. Non-
bit. reciprocal discourse includes
 Underlying these principles listening to the radio or
was the assumption that watching a film.
language learning, like any  Behaviorists claim that
other kind of learning, took presenting learners with input
the form of habit formation, “a in the right doses and then
habit consisting of an reinforcing their attempts to
automatic response elicited by practice them can control the
a given stimulus. process of acquisition.
 Learning was seen to take place  Chomsky pointed out that in
inductively through analogy many cases there was a very
rather than analysis. poor match between the kind of
language found in the input  This transfer is receptive when
that learners received and the the learner attempts to grasp
kind of language they and understand the language and
themselves produced. culture as practiced by native
 Comprehensible input speakers.
(Krashen’s, 1985 Input  Lado’s work and much of the
Hypothesis) proposed that work of that time (1950’s) was
learners acquire morphological based on the need to produce
features in a natural order as pedagogically relevant
a result of comprehending input materials. A contrastive
addressed to them. Long (1981a) analysis of the native language
argued that input which is made and the target language was
comprehensible by means of the conducted in order to determine
conversational adjustments similarities and differences
that occur when there is a in the languages.
comprehension problem is
especially important for Framework for Explaining L1 Transfer
acquisition.
 Swain (1985) proposed the  The L1 system is used for both
comprehensible output comprehension and production.
hypothesis which states that  The interlanguage system is
learners need opportunities also used in comprehending and
for “pushed output” in speech receiving messages.
or writing that makes demands
 The L1 system is used in
on them for correct and
hypothesis construction
appropriate use of the L2.
responsible for interlanguage
development.
The Role of Native Language in
Second Language Acquisition  Comprehensible input serves
as a major source of
information for hypothesis
 The role of native language in
construction.
second language acquisition
has come to be known as  L2 output may be used for
“language transfer.” hypothesis construction.
 It has been assumed that in a
Toward a Theory of First Language
second language learning
Learner
situation learners rely
extensively on their native
language.  An important distinction not
always made in discussions of
 According to Lado (1957),
transfer is between transfer in
individuals tend to transfer
L2 communication and transfer
forms and meanings, the
in L2 learning.
distribution of the forms and
meanings of their native  Transfer in communication
language and culture to the involves the use of the L1
foreign language and culture. either to receive incoming
messages (reception) or to
 This transfer is productive
process output (production).
when the learner attempts to
speak the language.  Transfer in learning occurs
when the learner uses the L1 in
an attempt to develop doubt on the importance of
hypotheses about L2 rules. reinforcement in language
 There are several learning.
possibilities for transfer: 1)  All this led to the
it is primarily a reconsideration of the role of
characteristic of L1 in L2 learning.
communication 2) it is
primarily a feature of learning The Nature of the Interlanguage
3) both communication and Continuum
learning transfer are
significant and interrelated  Cognitive theories of
aspects of L2 acquisition. interlanguage claim that with
the assistance of learning
Language Transfer strategies, learners build
mental grammars of the second
 Where the two languages were language.
identical, learning could take  Learners draw on the rules they
place through positive have constructed to interpret
transfer to the native- and produce utterances.
language pattern.  Learner’s utterances are only
 Where the two languages were erroneous with reference to the
different, learning difficulty target language norms, not to
arose and errors occurred the norms of their own
resulting from negative grammars.
transfer.  The interlanguage continuum
 Chomsky (1959) set in motion a consists of a series of
re-evaluation of many of the overlapping grammars. Each
behaviorists claims. This re- share some rules with the
evaluation included area such previously constructed
as: grammar, but also contains some
o the dangers of new or revised rules.
extrapolating from  A rule has the status of a
laboratory studies of hypothesis.
animal behavior to the
language behavior of Selinker’s Interlanguage Theory
humans were pointed out;
o the terms stimulus and
 Selinker’s Interlanguage
response were exposed as
Theory maintains the
vacuous where language
separateness of a second
behavior was concerned;
language learner’s system and
o analogy could not account
gives the system a structurally
for the language user’s
intermediate status between
ability to generate
the native and target
totally novel utterances;
languages.
and
o studies of children  According to Selinker, second
acquiring their L1 showed language learners are
that parents rarely producing their own self-
corrected their contained linguistic system.
children’s linguistic The system is not a native
errors, thus casting language or target language
system, rather it falls between this type of research. Errors
the two. take place when the deviation
 Stages of Interlanguage arises as a result of lack of
Development include: knowledge. Mistakes occur when
o Random errors learners fail to perform their
(presystematic); competence.
o Experimentation and  Overt errors are deviations in
inaccurate guessing; form i.e. I runned all the way.
o Emergent-growing in Covert errors occur in
consistency in linguistic utterances that are
production; superficially well-formed but
o Backsliding-appears to which do not mean what the
have grasped but later learner intended them to mean
regressed and unable to i.e. It was stopped. What does
correct errors; it refer to?
o Systematic stage-ability  Should the analysis of errors
to correct errors on their examine only deviations in
own; rules may not be correctness or also deviations
well-formed but display in appropriateness?
more internal self- Correctness errors involve
consistency; rules of language use i.e.
o Stabilization-few errors learner invites a stranger by
are made, have mastered saying I want you to come to
the system to the point of the cinema with me. The code
fluency; and was used correctly it was not
o Intralingual- used appropriately.
inconsistencies within  There are three types of
the target language; interpretation of errors: 1)
Global errors-affect normal- can assign a meaning to
meaning;local errors- an utterance based on the rules
close similarities in of the target language; 2)
word form (i.e. authoritative-involves asking
spelling). the learner to say what the
 Interlanguage Continuum utterance means in order to
make an authoritative
Indication of Learner Errors reconstruction; and 3)
plausible-can be obtained by
 An error can be defined as a referring to the context in
deviation from the norms of the which the utterance was
target language although produced or by translating the
questions are raised as to sentence literally into the
which variety of the target learner’s L1.
language should serve as the
norm. Learner Errors
 The general practice where
classroom learners are  Error Analysis is used for
concerned is to select the examining errors as a way of
standard written dialect as a investigating learning
norm. processes.
 The distinction between errors  Much of the early work on
and mistakes is a concern in learner errors focused on the
extent to which L2 acquisition  The distinction of error and
was the result of L1 transfer mistake is also important in
or creative construction EA. Mistakes are slips of the
(construction of unique rules tongue. The speaker who makes
similar to those which children a mistake is able to recognize
form in the course of acquiring it as a mistake and correct it
the native language). if necessary.
 The presence of errors that  An error is systematic. It is
mirrored L1 structures was likely to occur repeatedly and
taken as evidence of transfer is not recognized by the
(interlingual), while those learner as an error. The
errors similar to those learner has incorporated a
observed in L1 acquisition were particular erroneous from the
indicative of creative perspective of the target
construction (intralingual). language into his/her own
 The study of learner errors system.
showed that although many  The learner has created a
errors were caused by systematic entity called an
transferring L1 habits, many interlanguage.
more were not.  Errors are only errors with
 It was found that learners went reference to some external norm
through stages of acquisition such as the target language.
and the nature of errors varied For example, if a learner
according to their level of produces “No speak.” or “No
development. understand.” and if we assume
 Error analysis could not show that these are consistent
when learners resorted to deviations and form a part of
avoidance and it ignored what a learner’s system, then it is
learners could do correctly. only possible to think of them
as errors with regard to
Error Analysis English, but not with regard to
the learner’s system.
 The conceptualization and  Error analysis is a type of
significance of errors took on linguistic analysis that
a different role with the focuses on the error’s learners
publication of an article by make. The comparison made in EA
Pit Corder (1967) entitled “The is between the errors a learner
Significance of Learner makes producing the target
Errors.” Errors are not just to language and the target
be seen as something to be language form itself.
eradicated, but rather can be  Research in EA was carried out
important in and of themselves. within the context of the
 Errors provide evidence of a classroom. The goal was
system (learners attempt to pedagogical remediation
figure out some system). This
evidence can provide Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
information on the state of a
learner’s knowledge of the L2.  Contrastive analysis is a way
They are not to be viewed of comparing languages in order
solely as a product of to determine potential errors
imperfect learning.
for the ultimate purpose of C
isolating what needs to be C
learned and what does not need C
to be learned in a second
language learning situation.
 Lado detailed that one does a Cognitive Development
structure-by-structure
comparison of the sound system,  The cognitive dimension is a
morphological system, natural subconscious process
syntactic system and even the that occurs developmentally
cultural system of two from birth to the end of
languages for the purpose of schooling and beyond.
discovering similarities and  An infant initially builds
differences. thought processes through
 The ultimate goal of interacting with loved ones in
contrastive analysis is to the language of the home.
predict areas that will be  This is an important stepping-
either easy or difficult for stone to build on as cognitive
learners. development continues.
 There are two positions that  It is important that cognitive
developed with regard to CA: development continue through a
(1) strong (2) weak. child’s first language at least
 The strong version through the elementary years.
(predictive) maintained that  Extensive research has
one could make predictions demonstrated that children who
about learning and hence about reach the threshold in L1 by
the success of language around age 11 to 12 enjoy
teaching materials based on a cognitive advantages over
comparison between two monolinguals.
languages.
 The weak version (explanatory) Academic Development
starts with an analysis of
learners’ recurring errors  Academic development includes
(error analysis). It begins all school work in language
with what learners do and then arts, math, the sciences, and
attempts to account for those social studies for each grade
errors on the basis of native level, K-12.
language-target language  With each succeeding grade,
differences. academic work dramatically
expands the vocabulary,
Language Acquisition for School: The sociolinguistic, and discourse
Prism Model dimensions of language to
Thomas & Collier, 1997 higher cognitive levels.
 Academic knowledge and
conceptual development
transfer from first language to
C second language.
C
 It is most efficient to develop
C
academic work through the
C
student’s first language,
C
while teaching second language  Central to that student’s
during other periods of the acquisition of language are all
school day through meaningful of the surrounding social and
academic content. cultural processes occurring
 In earlier decades, schools in through everyday life within
the United States emphasized the student’s past, present,
teaching second language as the and future, in all contexts-
first step and postponing the home, school, community, and
teaching of academics. the broader society.
 Research has shown that  Sociocultural processes may
postponing or interrupting include individual student
academic development is likely variables such as self-esteem,
to promote academic failure. anxiety, or other affective
factors.
Language Development  At school the instructional
environment in a classroom or
 Linguistic processes consist administrative program
of the subconscious aspects of structures may create social
language development, an and psychological distance
innate ability all humans between groups.
possess for acquisition of oral  Community or regional social
language, as well as the patterns such as prejudice and
metalinguistic, conscious, discrimination expressed
formal teaching of language in towards groups or individuals
the school and acquisition of in personal and professional
the written system of language. contexts can influence
 This includes the acquisition students’ achievement in
of the oral and written systems school, as well as societal
of the student’s first and patterns such as the
second languages across all subordinate status of a
language domains, such as minority group or accuturation
phonology, vocabulary, vs. assimilation forces.
morphology, syntax, semantics,  These factors can strongly
pragmatics and discourse. influence the student’s
 To assure cognitive and response to a new language,
academic success in a second affecting the process
language, a student’s first positively only when the
language system, oral and student is in a socioculturally
written, must be developed to supportive environment.
a high cognitive level at least
through the elementary school Conclusion
years.
Sociocultural Processes The learner needs:
 At the heart of the figure is  Expectations of success;

the individual student going  The confidence to take risks
through the process of and make mistakes;
acquiring a second language at  A willingness to share and
school. engage;
 The confidence to ask for help;  It involves sub-goal
and decomposition - reaching
 An acceptance of the need to overall goal requires reaching
readjust. sub-goals
The teacher needs: 3 Steps in Problem Solving
 Respect for and interest in the  Representing or defining

learner’s language, culture, exactly what the problem is to
thought and intentions; solve.
 The ability to recognize growth  Generating possible ways of
points, strengths and solving the problem and
potential; choosing the best solution.
 The appreciation that mistakes  Evaluating the solution – is it
are necessary to learning; the best solution?
 The confidence to maintain
breadth, richness and variety, Representing the Problem
and to match these to the
learner’s interests and  This is not referring to the
direction; surface problem, but the actual
 To stimulate and challenge; and problem that has to be solved
 A sensitive awareness of when  Examples:
to intervene and when to leave o Mathematical word
alone. problems
o Bowling pin Problem
PROBLEM SOLVING AND CREATIVITY o Christmas tree problem
Problem Solving
Word Problems
Definition
 John and Mary want to buy new
 Directed thinking towards a plants for their garden. They
goal solution – the task is to agree on how many to buy, but
choose the best process that not on how many of each to buy.
will lead to a goal John wants to buy a lot of a
few kinds and suggests 10 of
each. Mary wants more variety
 1st psychological studies by
so she wants 4 of each kind.
Wolfgang Kohler (insightful
They agree on 5 of each kind.
learning)
They realize that they have
room for 2 more, so they bought
Four Characteristics of Thinking
6 of each. How many did they
buy?
 Problem solving is goal
directed Bowling Pin Example
 It involves a series of
operations Ex.
 It involves cognitive
processes
o Working backwards – start
at the goal and determine
what is the last step to
the goal, then the second
to the last, etc.
o Example 1: Water lilies
grow on a lake every
summer. It begins with
one lily, and each day the
amount of lake covered by
the lilies doubles. On
day number 80 the lake is
completely covered. On
what day was the lake half
covered?
o Example 2: You and a
Christmas Tree Example friend have each put 50
quarters on a table and
 You have 10 Christmas trees. take turns removing at
How would you arrange them in least 1, but no more than
5 rows of 4 trees each? 5. The person who removes
the last quarter keeps all
Generating Solutions of them. You go 1st.
What can you do make sure
 Use of algorithms - a you get the last one?
mathematical formula or other
procedure that guarantees a Use of Analogies
correct solution if followed
correctly. Can be too time  Analogies – identifying the
consuming if there is a large relationship between two
number of actions that have to concepts or two problems to
be tried. solve.
 Heuristics – choosing a o Recognizing that a new
strategy that looks like it problem has similar
will work and trying it – a beginning situation and
short cut sometimes called a end goal as an early
problem-solving protocol problem so you try the
same solution
 Types of Heuristics
o Hill climbing heuristic –
follow the route that
seems to get you closer to
the goal – always move
toward the goal
o Means-ends analysis –
compare the current
situation to the end goal.
Ask what means do I have
to get from here to there?
Involves the development
of sub-goals
they will blow up. How can the
general attack the fort and
win?
• A high school marching is
practicing. They try marching
in rows of 12, but they have an
extra person. Then they try 8,
but still have an extra person.
So, they try 3, but still have
an extra person. They finally
try 5 and it works. How many
band members are there? (there

are more than 45 and less than
200)
Examples of Use of an Analogy to
Solve Types of Heuristics
Problems:
• Drawing a picture:
• Physician has a patient with • A man is standing on a bridge
inoperable tumor in the 300ft from the near side and
abdomen. She has radiation 500ft from the far side. A
equipment that can direct train is coming from the near
radiation to the tumor and side. If he runs to the near
destroy it, but if she makes side, he and the train will
the radiation strong enough it reach the end of the bridge at
will kill the surrounding the same time. If runs to the
tissue and the patient. If she far side, he and the train will
makes it weak so tissue isn’t also reach the end of the
destroyed, it won’t destroy the bridge at the same time. He
tumor. How does she cure the can run 10mph. How fast is the
patient? train moving?
• An evil dictator has a fort in
the middle of his round country
with 10 roads that radiate out
from the center to the border. 1st Example
The good general is outside the • A boat can go upstream 24 miles
country and wants to overthrow in the same time it can go
the dictator. His army has to downstream 36 miles. In still
attack the fort at the same water the boat’s engines drive
time to win. The dictator has the boat 12 miles an hour more
put land mines on the roads.
Since he needs to use the
roads, the mines are placed so
they won’t blow up if a small
than the rate of the current.
group uses them, but will if a
What is the rate of the
large army comes down a road
current?
• Look at the boat going upstream hour. A bird flies back and
o It can travel 12mph + forth between the two trains at
speed of the current 60 mph. The trains meet in 4
o Going upstream it is going hours. How far did the bird
12mph + the speed of the fly?
current – the speed of the • Called the development of a
current mental set
• It has to be going 12 mph for
2 hours and downstream it goes Problems people have with generating
18mph for 2 hours solutions
• Downstream: 12mph + speed of
the current + the speed of the • You are given a box of
current = 18 mph thumbtacks, a box of matches,
• Or 12 mph + 2 X the speed of and a small candle. Using what
the current = 18mph you have, how would you mount
• So, the seed of the current is the candle vertically on a wall
3 mph so it can be lit?
• Two ropes are hanging from the
2nd Example ceiling of a room that contains
a short stool and a hammer. If
• Solomon has a 26-volume you grab one rope, the other
encyclopedia sitting in rope is beyond your reach. How
alphabetical order on his can you tie the 2 ropes
shelf. Each volume is 3 inches together?
thick (including covers), so • Functional fixedness
the set takes up 78 inches of
space. A bookworm is sitting Common Errors in Problem Solving
on the front cover of volume
“A” and begins to chew his way  Inaccuracies in reading
through the pages directly o Reading material without
toward volume “Z”. If he chews fully understanding the
at a rate of 6 inches a month material
how, long will it take him to o Reading the material too
reach the back cover of “Z”? fast
o Missing words or
Problems people have with generating misreading words because
you are not reading
completely
o Failing to reread
difficult passages
 Inaccuracy in thinking
o Placing more importance
on speed or ease of
obtaining an answer
solutions rather than accuracy
o Not being careful to
3rd Example perform needed operations
 Two trains are approaching each accurately
other. One is traveling at 20 o Being inconsistent in the
miles an hour while the other way problems are
travels at 30 miles and an interpreted and solved
o Not checking the accuracy  Increase knowledge base –
of a solution experts have more efficient
o Drawing a conclusion in methods for problem solving
the middle of the problem  Automate some components
without sufficient through expertise
thought
 Follow a systematic plan of
o Working too quickly
attack
results in the above
errors  Draw inferences from
information given and memory
 Weakness in problem analysis
o Trying to solve the whole  If solution not obvious look at
problem without breaking possible heuristics
it down into sub-goals  Reformulate problem – have you
o Failing to use prior defined the problem correctly
knowledge and experiences  Draw a picture
o Skipping difficult
material or unfamiliar Creativity
words, etc.
o Not properly constructing  Cognitive activity that
a representation of the results in a new or novel way
ideas presented in the of viewing a problem or
problem situation
 Lack of Perseverance  Involves the ability to avoid
o Making a weak attempt to the traps of problem solving:
solve the problem – lack o Mental sets
of confidence? o Functional fixedness
o Choosing an answer o Misrepresentation of the
quickly because it looked problem
or felt right instead of
fully analyzing the
problem The Process of Creativity
o Jumping to a conclusion
halfway through the  Stage 1: Preparation –
process knowledge acquisition and
developing and testing
Proficient Problem Solvers possible solutions
 Stage 2: Incubation – getting
 Have a positive attitude – away from the problem can lead
confident to creative solutions – doesn’t
 Great concern for accuracy always occur:
 Break problems into parts that o Insightful learning
can be accomplished o Non-insightful learning
 Avoid guessing and jumping to  Stage 3: Illumination – sudden
conclusions discovery of a solution
 More active – do more things  Stage 4: Verification –
and put in more effort evaluation of the insight; does
it really solve the problem or
Improving Problem Solving Ability is it the best solution
Characteristics of a Creative Person

 Knowledgeable and intelligent Thinking

 Personality – self-confident
and not afraid to be wrong or  Ways of Thinking
look foolish o Analysis – breaking down
 Motivation – willing to make a large complex problem
the cognitive investment and into smaller simple
effort to develop a solution problems
o Synthesis – combining two
Environmental Influences on or more concepts into a
Creativity complex form
o Divergent thinking –
generating many ideas or
 If creativity is valued in the
possible solutions to a
cultural setting, motivation
problem
to be creative increases
o Convergent thinking –
 When practical constraints are choosing the best
put on creative thinking, low solution or idea of a
creativity possible many
o Practical evaluation of
 Categories of Thinking
creative ideas occurs
Processes
early – restricts the
o Problem solving –
ideas that can be produced
developing a solution to
o Thinking about completely
a problem situation
impractical ideas can
o Judgments and decision
lead to less impractical
making – involves making
ideas which can lead to
choices
practical innovative
o Reasoning – drawing
ideas
conclusions given
o Individual production of
specific information
ideas produces more
o Creativity – production
creative ideas than group
of original thoughts and
production
ideas
Measuring Creativity
Reasoning
 Most people know who a creative Two Basic Processes in Reasoning
person is, but creativity is
difficult to measure
 A process that uses existing
 Frequent procedure involves knowledge to reason or make
divergent thinking – How many decisions about new situations
uses for a brick can you think and information acquired
of? during new experiences.
 Problem is that evaluating o Top-down process
possible solutions just as o Errors can lead to top-
important as generating down errors
 A process that determines what
new information is relevant to
reasoning and decision making
o Confirmation bias
Reasoning and Decision Making
Reasoning and Logic o Modus ponens
o Modus tollens
 Two forms to be covered:
o Syllogisms – a 3- Modus Ponens
statement logical form,
the 1st two parts state  Affirming the antecedent to be
premises or statements true
assumed to be true, and  Valid inference:
the 3rd part is a o If a person is
conclusion based on those intelligent, then they
premises are rich.
o Conditional reasoning – a o Mary is intelligent, she
logical determination of is rich
whether evidence  Invalid inference: negating
supports, refutes, or is the antecedent
irrelevant to the stated o Mary is not intelligent,
if-then relationship she is not rich. Wrong
 An easier example:
Syllogisms
o If one kills a lawyer,
then she is dead.
 Abstract: o Valid: John killed a
o All members of category A lawyer, she is dead
are members of category B. o Invalid: John did not kill
o All members of category B a lawyer, she is not dead
are members of category C Modus Tollens
o Therefore, all members of
category A are members of
 Concerned with the consequence
category C
– works opposite to modus
 More concrete example: ponens
o All psychology students
 If you kill a lawyer, then she
are intelligent
will be dead
o All intelligent people
o Invalid inference –
are rich
confirming the
o Therefore, all psychology
consequence
students are rich
 The lawyer is dead,
 Use of a Venn diagram to therefore you killed
determine accuracy of her
conclusion o Valid inference –
negating the consequence
Conditional Reasoning  The lawyer is not
dead, therefore you
 An if – then statement where didn’t kill her
the if part is the antecedent  Other examples
and the then statement is the o If one is intelligent,
consequence then one is rich
o If the antecedent is true,
 John is rich,
the consequence is true,
therefore he is
or
intelligent
o If the antecedent exists,
o Invalid – not all rich
the consequence exists
people are intelligent
 Two types of valid inferences
 John is not rich, the light, the brightness
therefore he is not of the background, and how
intelligent long the lights were
o Valid visible
 John is intelligent;
he is rich Distance or Discrimination Effect
o Valid
 John is not  The greater the distance or
intelligent; he is difference between two stimuli
not rich being compared, the faster the
o Invalid- you do not have decision about their
to be intelligent to be differences
rich  Symbolic distance effect –
comparisons between two
Problem with the Confirmation Bias symbols that represent two
stimuli – like drawings
 Problem is we tend to want to o Differs from distance
affirm or deny the antecedent effects in that it
and ignore the consequence requires semantic and
 Example: Wasson card problem other memory processes
o Test rule: If a card has  Semantic contiguity effect
a vowel on one side, then
it has to have an even Judgement and Decision Making in
number on the other side. Situations of Uncertainty
o 2nd rule: If a letter is
sealed, then it has to  The individual is not given all
have a 50cent stamp the information necessary to be
certain of the answer and has
Decisions and Judgements to use previously acquired
knowledge
Decisions under Situations of  Primary problem: lack of
Certainty knowledge and
misinterpretation
 You have all the necessary
information to make a correct Utility Maximization Theory
decision
 Frequently studied – decisions  Humans attempt to make
about physical differences decisions that provide us with
o Our decisions about which the maximum gain
stimulus is the  Subjective utility theory –
brightest, smallest, modification that takes into
heaviest, etc. depends consideration that humans are
upon factors other than not always objective, but take
the physical difference consider subjective factors
between them
o Example: The Examples of Subjective Factors
determination of which of
2 lights is brightest  Satisficing – we do not always
depends upon the physical pursue the optimal decision,
difference, but also the but accept one that is adequate
absolute brightness of
 Immediate benefit versus o $240 - $1000 = -$760
delayed reward – discounting o $240 - $0 = +$240
delayed rewards  B and C:
 The way the problem is framed o $1000 - $750 = +$250
(presented) is important o $0 - $750 = -$750
Example 1 of Framing Use of Algorithms
 You go to New York and decide  A specific solution procedure

to go to a Broadway play. You that if used correctly
buy a ticket for $100 in the guarantees a correct solution
morning, but when you go to the  Identify all possible
theater that evening, you solutions and try each one
discover you have lost the until you find the one that
ticket. You have plenty of works
money to buy another one: do  The use of Algorithms is not
you? “trial and error”
 You go to New York and decide  Addressed in more detail in
to go to a Broadway play and problem solving
tickets cost $100. You go to
the theater that evening and Heuristics
when you start to pay for your
ticket, you discover you have  A rule of thumb strategy –
lost $100. You have plenty of usually a short cut that
money to buy a ticket: do you? generally works in most
situations, but doesn’t
Example 2 of Framing guarantee a correct solution
 Subjects has to make 2 The Representative Heuristic

decisions:
 Decision 1:  Definition: a judgment rule in
o A sure gain of $240 or which an estimate of
o 25% chance of winning probability or likelihood of an
$1000 and a 75% chance of event is determined by one of
winning nothing two features:
 Decision 2: o How similar the event is
o A sure loss of $750 or to the population of
o 75% chance of losing$1000 events it came from, or
and 25% chance of losing o Whether the event seems
nothing similar to the process
that produced it
Possible Outcomes
Example 1
 A and C:
o A sure loss of $510  A town has 2 hospitals. In 1,
 B and D: about 45 babies are born each
o 75% chance of losing $1000 day, and only 15 are born in
and only a 25% chance of the other each day. On the
winning – not good odds average 50% of all babies are
 A and D: boys. Though not necessarily
on every day. Across 1 year his college class and majored
the hospitals recorded the in philosophy. Is he a
number of days on which 60% or librarian or a business man?
more of the babies born were  You’ve watched a coin toss come
males. up heads 5 times in a row. If
 Which hospital had more of you bet $100 on the next toss,
these days or were they have would you choose heads or
the same number of these days? tails?
Example 2 Availability Heuristic
 ]You flip a coin 6 times.  A judgment rule in which one’s

Given that flipping a fair coin estimates are influenced by the
is random ( a 50 -50 chance or ease with which relevant
a head or tail). Which of the examples can be remembered
following outcomes is most  General world knowledge
likely or probable? o Are there more words in
o A. HHTHTT the English language that
o B. HHHTTT begin with “R” or have an
 Both are equally likely the “R” as the 3rd letter?
probability is same on each o GM sells more Chevrolets
toss. than Cadillacs. For every
Cadillac it sells how many
Example 3 – the use of stereotypes Chevrolets does it sell?
 You flip a coin 6 times. Given Other Availability Heuristic Biases

that flipping a fair coin is
random (a 50 -50 chance or a  Familiarity Bias – Tversky and
head or tail). Which of the Kahneman (1973)
following outcomes is most o Subjects given list of 39
likely or probable? names, 19 women’s names
o A. HHTHTT and 20 names of men
o B. HHHTTT o Group 1 asked to recall
 Both are equally likely the all the names on the list;
probability is same on each group 2 asked to determine
toss. if the list had more
women’s names or men’s
Ignoring Base Rates names
 Salience and vividness biases
 Why are more graduate’s first-
born than second-born? Simulation Heuristic
 Why do more hotel fires start
on the 1st ten floors than the  A judgment rule that involves
second ten floors a mental construction or
 In baseball why are more imagining of outcomes, a
runners thrown out by pitchers forecasting of how some event
on 1st base than 2nd base? will turn out or how it might
have turned out differently
 Frank is a meek and quiet man
under another set of
whose only hobby is playing
circumstances
chess. He was near the top of
o Undoing heuristic
o Hindsight bias  Systematic reasoning
o Blaming the victim
Artificial Intelligence
Blaming the Victim
What is Intelligence?
 Paul normally leaves work at
5:30 and drives directly home.  Intelligence is the ability to
One day, while following his learn about, to learn from, to
routine, Paul is broadsided by understand about, and interact
a driver who violated a stop with one’s environment.
sign and is seriously injured.  Intelligence is the faculty of
 Paul, feeling restless at work, understanding
leaves early to see a movie. He  Intelligence is not to make no
is broadsided by a driver who mistakes but quickly to
violated a stop sign and is understand how to make them
seriously injured. good – German Poet
 Paul receives an emergency call
to return home. While driving What is Artificial Intelligence?
home, Paul is broadsided by a
driver who violated a stop sign • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
and is seriously injured. is usually defined as the
science of making computers do
Limited Knowledge as a Limitation in things that require
Reasoning intelligence when done by
humans
 People who keep pushing an • A.I. is the study of ideas that
elevator button to make it come enable computers to be
faster intelligent
 Naïve physics understanding
principles of motion How does AI works?
 Limitations in processing
resources • Artificial Intelligence works
 What is the answer to with the help of:
8X7X6X5X4X3X2X1 o Artificial Neurons
 What is the answer to (Artificial Neutral
1X2X3X4X5X6X7X8 Network)
o Scientific theorems (If-
Group Decision Making Then Statements, Logics)
Human Intelligence vs Artificial

 3 frequent errors
Intelligence (PROS)
o Group think
o Incremental-decision
Human Intelligence
making
o Content error
 Intuition, Common sense,
Development of Reasoning in Young Judgment, Creativity, Beliefs,
Adults etc.
 The ability to demonstrate
 Relativistic reasoning their intelligence by
communicating effectively
 Dialectic reasoning
 Plausible Reasoning and processes whereby mental
Critical Thinking representations are
constructed, organized and
Artificial Intelligence interpreted.
 Ability to stimulate human Artificial Intelligence & Our

behavior and cognitive Society
processes
 Capture and preserve human • Why we need AI???
expertise • To supplement natural
 Fast Response. The ability to intelligence for e.g we are
comprehend large amounts of building intelligence in an
data quickly object so that it can do what
we want it to do, as for
example – robots, thus reducing
human labor and reducing human
Human Intelligence vs Artificial mistakes
Intelligence (CONS)
Our Attempt to Build Models of
Human Intelligence Ourselves
 Humans are fallible

 They have limited knowledge
bases
 Information processing of
serial nature proceed of serial
nature proceed very slowly in
the brain as compared to
computers
 Human are unable to retain
large amounts of data in memory
Artificial Intelligence
 No “common sense”
 Cannot readily deal with
“mixed” knowledge
 May have high development costs
 Raise legal and ethical
concerns
Psychology and Artificial

Intelligence
 The functionalist approach of

AI views the mind as a
representational system and
psychology as the study of the
various computational

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COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND RELATED o Cerebral hemispheres are

Cognitive Aspects of Language Problems concerning First Language

Linguistic and Cognitive  Can be due to either

Difference in Simplification  Children whose parents do

The Natural Order Hypothesis  Cummins makes a distinction

 At the heart of the figure is  Expectations of success;

The teacher needs: 3 Steps in Problem Solving

 Respect for and interest in the  Representing or defining

band members are there? (there

Characteristics of a Creative Person

 Knowledgeable and intelligent Thinking

Example 1 of Framing Use of Algorithms

 You go to New York and decide  A specific solution procedure

 Subjects has to make 2 The Representative Heuristic

Example 2 Availability Heuristic

 ]You flip a coin 6 times.  A judgment rule in which one’s

 You flip a coin 6 times. Given Other Availability Heuristic Biases

Human Intelligence vs Artificial

 Ability to stimulate human Artificial Intelligence & Our

 Humans are fallible

Psychology and Artificial

 The functionalist approach of

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