CHAPTER 8 Cognition and Language ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS • How do our experiences influence our behaviors and mental processes? ©Chris Robbins/Moodboard/Glow Images LEARNING TARGETS FOR CHAPTER 8 MODULE 23 • Identify problem-solving strategies as well as THINKING AND REASONING factors that influence their effectiveness. Mental Images: Examining the Mind’s Eye Concepts: Categorizing the World Reasoning: Making Up Your Mind Computers and Problem Solving: Searching for Artificial Intelligence Does Playing Video Games Improve Your Thinking? Applying Psychology in the 21st Century: Are Our Attention Spans Becoming Shorter? MODULE 24 • Identify the contributions of key researchers in PROBLEM SOLVING cognitive psychology. Preparation: Understanding and Diagnosing Problems Production: Generating Solutions • List the characteristics of creative thought and Judgment: Evaluating Solutions creative thinkers. Impediments to Solutions: Why Is Problem Solving Such a Problem? • Identify problem-solving strategies as well as Creativity and Problem Solving factors that create bias and errors in thinking. Becoming an Informed Consumer of Psychology: Thinking Critically and Creatively 233 feL686332_ch08_233-266_AP.indd 233 30/08/19 3:11 AM MODULE 25 • Identify the contributions of key researchers in LANGUAGE Grammar: Language’s Language cognitive psychology. Language Development: Developing a Way with Words • Synthesize how biological, cognitive, and cultural The Influence of Language on Thinking: Do Eskimos Have More Words for Snow Than Texans Do? factors converge to facilitate acquisition, Do Animals Use Language? development, and use of language. Exploring Diversity: Teaching with Linguistic Variety: Bilingual Education Neuroscience in Your Life: Being Bilingual Affects the Brain PROLOGUE MIND GAMES Shawn Green, a research assistant in a psychology lab at the Results such these have led researchers to consider developing University of Rochester, was designing a computerized test to games for therapeutic uses to address targeted types of cogni- study neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to rewire itself in re- tive deficits induced by aging or trauma (Granic, Lobel, & Engels, sponse to new experiences. The test would measure the ability to 2014; Gabbiandini & Greitemeyer, 2017). find particular shapes in a busy visual scene. To try out the test, Adapting to new experiences and honing new or existing he took it himself. He discovered what he felt must be an error in cognitive skills are just two of the many tasks that our own amaz- the test: he consistently achieved perfect scores, a result not at ing human computer—the brain—can accomplish in the course of all in keeping with the results from similar tests at other labs. our daily lives, even though we may have little or no idea how it Green decided to administer the test to other people. He re- does so. The mystery of how the brain processes language and cruited some of his friends, and astonishingly, they too achieved all its nuances—as well as how it uses information to solve prob- perfect scores. He tried the test one more time, this time on his lems and make decisions—is the subject to which we now turn. supervisor. In contrast to Green and his friends, her performance Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that wasn’t exceptional; she had an average score. ­focuses on the study of higher mental processes, including think- What was going on? Eventually, Green and his supervisor re- ing, language, memory, problem solving, knowing, reasoning, alized that he and his friends shared one key trait that enabled judging, and decision making. Although the realm of cognitive them to overachieve on the neuroplasticity test: they were all avid psychology is broad, we will focus on three major topics. The first video-game players, spending hours each week online subduing topic we consider in this chapter is thinking and reasoning. Then zombies and other villains (Bavelier & Green, 2016). we examine different strategies for approaching problems, means of generating solutions, and ways of making judgments about the usefulness and accuracy of solutions. Finally, we dis- LOOKING Ahead cuss how language is developed and acquired, its basic charac- It turns out that video games, often criticized for producing such teristics, and the relationship between language and thought. negative traits as aggression and mindless addiction, can, under the right circumstances, positively affect some kinds of cognitive cognitive psychology The branch of psychology that focuses on abilities. Certain types of games can improve reaction times, deci- the study of higher mental processes, including thinking, language, sion making under pressure, fine-motor control, task switching, memory, problem solving, knowing, reasoning, judging, and deci- spatial sense, and, especially, attention focusing and distribution. sion making. (Module 23) 234 feL686332_ch08_233-266_AP.indd 234 30/08/19 3:11 AM Module 23 Thinking and Reasoning What are you thinking about at this moment? The mere ability to pose such a question underscores the distinctive nature of the LEARNING human ability to think. No other species contemplates, analyzes, recollects, or plans TARGETS the way humans do. Understanding what thinking is, however, goes beyond knowing • Identify problem-solving that we think. Philosophers, for example, have argued for generations about the mean- strategies as well as factors ing of thinking, with some placing it at the core of human beings’ understanding of that influence their their own existence. effectiveness. Psychologists define thinking as brain activity in which we mentally manipulate information, including words, visual images, sounds, or other data. Thinking transforms thinking Brain activity in which information into new and different forms, allowing us to answer questions, make deci- ­people mentally manipulate informa- sions, solve problems, or make plans. tion, including words, visual images, Although a clear sense of what specifically occurs when we think remains elusive, sounds, or other data. (Module 23) our understanding of the nature of the fundamental elements involved in thinking is growing. We begin by considering our use of mental images and concepts, the build- ing blocks of thought. Mental Images: Examining the Mind’s Eye Think of your best friend. Chances are that you “see” some kind of visual image when asked to think of her or him, or any other person or object, for that matter. To some cognitive psychologists, such mental images constitute a major part of thinking. Mental images are representations in the mind of an object or event. They mental images Representations in the are not just visual representations; our ability to “hear” a tune in our heads also mind of an object or event. (Module 23) relies on a mental image. In fact, every sensory modality may produce correspond- ing mental images (De Bini, Pazzaglia, & Gardini, 2007; Gardini et al., 2009; Koçak et al., 2011). Research has found that our mental images have many of the properties of the PsychTech actual stimuli they represent. For example, it takes the mind longer to scan mental Researcher Adam Wilson images of large objects than small ones, just as the eye takes longer to scan an actual has developed a method of large object than to scan an actual small one. Similarly, we are able to manipulate and tweeting by thinking. The rotate mental images of objects, just as we are able to manipulate and rotate them in process involves being the real world (Mast & Kosslyn, 2002; Zacks, 2008; Reisberg, 2013; see Figure 1). outfitted with electrodes Some experts see the production of mental images as a way to improve various that react to changes in skills. For instance, many athletes use mental imagery in their training. Basketball brain activity. It’s slow going, players may try to produce vivid and detailed images of the court, the basket, the ball, though: the fastest tweeters and the noisy crowd. They may visualize themselves taking a foul shot, watching the by thinking are able to ball, and hearing the swish as it goes through the net. And it works: The use of men- create tweets at only 8 tal imagery can lead to improved performance in sports (Moran, 2009; Velentzas, characters per minute. Heinen, & Schack, 2011; Wimmer et al., 2017). Mental imagery may improve other types of skills as well. For example, piano players who simply mentally rehearse an exercise show brain activity that is virtually identical to that of the people who actually practice the exercise manually. Apparently, carrying out the task involved the same network of brain cells as the network used in mentally rehearsing it (Sanders et al., 2008; Davidson-Kelly et al., 2015). 235 feL686332_ch08_233-266_AP.indd 235 30/08/19 3:11 AM 236 Chapter 8 Cognition and Language FIGURE 1 Try to mentally rotate one of each pair of patterns to see if it is the same as the other member of that pair. It’s likely that the farther you have to mentally rotate a pattern, the longer it will take to (a) decide if the patterns match one another. Does this mean that it will take you longer to visualize a map of the world than a map of the United States? Why or why not? Source: Adapted from Shepard, R. N., & Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science, 171(3972), 701–703. (b) (c) From the perspective of... A Human Resources Specialist How might you use the research on mental imagery to improve employees’ performance? ©Dex Image/Getty Images Many athletes use mental imagery to ­focus on a task, a process they call ­“getting in the zone.” What are some other occupations that require the use of strong mental imagery? ©Echo/Getty Images feL686332_ch08_233-266_AP.indd 236 30/08/19 3:11 AM Module 23 Thinking and Reasoning 237 Concepts: Categorizing the World If someone asks you what is in your kitchen cabinet, you might answer with a detailed list of items (a jar of peanut butter, three boxes of macaroni and cheese, six unmatched dinner plates, and so forth).