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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Chapter 8
Cognition and Language
DO YOU KNOW ABOUT OUR DIGITAL OFFERINGS?
SMARTBOOK
• Make It Effective. Powered by Learnsmart, SmartBook™ creates a personalized reading experience by highlighting the
most impactful concepts a student needs to learn at that moment in time. This ensures that every minute spent with
SmartBook™ is returned to the student as the most value-added minute possible.
• Make It Informed. Real-time reports quickly identify the concepts that require more attention from individual
students—or the entire class. SmartBook™ detects the content a student is most likely to forget and brings it back to
improve long-term knowledge retention. Students help inform the revision strategy.
• Make It Precise. Systematic and precise, a heat map tool collates data anonymously collected from thousands of
students who used Connect Psychology’s Learnsmart.
• Make It Accessible. The data is graphically represented in a heat map as “hot spots” showing specific concepts with
which students had the most difficulty. Revising these concepts, then, can make them more accessible for students.
CONNECT
• Make It Intuitive. You receive instant, at-a-glance views of student performance matched with student activity.
• Make It Dynamic. Connect Insight™ puts real-time analytics in your hands so you can take action early and keep
struggling students from falling behind.
• Make It Mobile. Connect Insight™ travels from offi ce to classroom, available on demand wherever and whenever it’s
needed.
Here is a sample of Interactivities that you can find in Connect. For a full list of assets, go to Connect!
Ch. Chapter Title Module Module Title Asset Type Asset title Connect Learning
Objective
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
OPENING THEMES
The topic of cognition includes thought processes and ways to reason. A particularly important concept
in this unit is that of mental set or functional fixedness. Students can benefit from learning about this
topic because it will help them to tackle real-life, everyday problems that they face. The topic of
language gives students an appreciation for the complexity of thought processes and is also entertaining
in its own right, given the importance of language in the arts. Another facet of language is nonverbal
communication. Students can learn how to use both linguistic and nonverbal aspects of language to
their advantage as a way to influence the impressions they make on other people.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Mental images are representations in the mind of an object or event. They are not just visual
representations; our ability to “hear” a tune in our heads also relies on a mental image. Research has
found that our mental images have many of the properties of the actual stimuli they represent.
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manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Concepts are mental groupings of similar objects, events, or people. Concepts enable us to organize
complex phenomena into simpler, and therefore more easily usable, cognitive categories. Concepts help
us classify newly encountered objects on the basis of our past experience. Ultimately, concepts
influence behavior.
When cognitive psychologists first studied concepts, they focused on those that were clearly defined by
a unique set of properties or features. Other concepts—often those with the most relevance to our
everyday lives—are more ambiguous and difficult to define. When we consider these more ambiguous
concepts, we usually think in terms of examples called prototypes. Prototypes are typical, highly
representative examples of a concept that correspond to our mental image or best example of the
concept.
Reasoning is the process by which information is used to draw conclusions and make decisions. It is only
relatively recently that cognitive psychologists have begun to investigate how people reason and make
decisions. Their efforts have contributed to our understanding of formal reasoning processes as well as
the cognitive shortcuts we routinely use—shortcuts that sometimes may lead our reasoning capabilities
astray.
Syllogistic reasoning is a kind of formal reasoning in which a person draws a conclusion from a set of
assumptions. In using syllogistic reasoning, we begin with a general assumption that we believe is true
and then derive specific implications from that assumption. If the assumption is true, the conclusions
must also be true. A major technique for studying syllogistic reasoning involves asking people to
evaluate a series of statements that present two assumptions, or premises, that are used to derive a
conclusion. Syllogistic reasoning is only as accurate as the premises and the validity of the logic applied
to the premises.
Heuristics increase the likelihood of success in coming to a solution, but, unlike algorithms, they cannot
ensure it. For example, we sometimes use the representativeness heuristic, a rule we apply when we
judge people by the degree to which they represent a certain category or group of people. The
availability heuristic involves judging the probability of an event on the basis of how easily the event can
be recalled from memory. According to this heuristic, we assume that events we remember easily are
likely to have occurred more frequently in the past—and are more likely to occur in the future—than
events that are harder to remember. We also make use of a familiarity heuristic, in which familiar items
are seen as superior to those that are unfamiliar.
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manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Computers are making significant inroads in terms of the ability to solve problems and carry out some
forms of intellectual activities. According to experts who study artificial intelligence, the field that
examines how to use technology to imitate the outcome of human thinking, problem solving, and
creative activities, computers can show rudiments of humanlike thinking because of their knowledge of
where to look—and where not to look—for an answer to a problem. They suggest that the capacity of
computer programs (such as those that play chess) to evaluate potential moves and to ignore
unimportant possibilities gives them thinking ability.
STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS:
CONNECT ASSIGNMENTS
COGNITIVE MAPS
Have students complete the following assignment (as an alternative to the Cognitive Map Lecture,
below):
Draw a map of your campus. Now compare it to the official campus map. Did your cognitive map reveal
one or both of the cognitive map heuristics? Show where the heuristic applied to your map by labeling
it.
Now think about your cognitive map of a well-known location. Choose one of these (such as the main
street of your hometown, the layout of a local shopping mall, or the map of a museum or gallery). Draw
this map.
Which areas were smallest on this map? Which were largest? Why do you think this is?
Ask a friend to draw a map of the same area. Compare your maps. Where and how did they differ? Why
do you think this is?
LECTURE IDEAS:
Compare answers among students from Handout 8–1, Concepts and Prototypes. Use this in lecture to
point out which concepts have clear, and which do not have clear, prototypes.
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
SYLLOGISTIC REASONING
In a valid syllogism, if both premises are true, then the conclusion is also true.
The terms should not change their meaning or application during the course of the argument.
Here is an example of a syllogism in which the conclusion is wrong because one of the premises is
wrong:
this is a fungus:
All fungi are NOT edible; therefore, although the form of the syllogism is correct, the conclusion is
incorrect.
this is a fungus:
Although not helpful in determining whether this fungus is safe to eat or not, the result is that caution is
induced.
In this case, both statements are true, but the conclusion does not follow from the premises:
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
This argument adds additional conditions and therefore violates the terms of a valid syllogism:
therefore, I am a slave.
S is Y:
therefore, S is X.
The conclusion may be true, but it does not follow from the premises.
You can find many examples of illogical reasoning in politician’s speeches, advertisements, and
interpersonal judgments.
Although not discussed in the text, this classic logic problem is a fascinating one that has been analyzed
in a number of psychological studies on reasoning.
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
The cards are labeled “D” or “K” on one side and “3” or “7” on the other.
A rule says that “if a card is D on one side then it is 3 on the other side.”
Which cards need to be turned over to know whether this sample of cards is consistent with the rule?
If there is a 3 on the other side of D, this proves the rule of those 2 cards. If there is a D on the other side
of 7, this violates the rule.
Researchers have found that people have a great deal more difficulty handling this rule when presented
in the abstract than when presented in concrete terms.
http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/socex/wason.htm
For instance, if these are tickets purchased at a party where underage drinkers are not allowed to drink
alcohol, the four cards showing would be:
D = Beer
K = Soda
3 = Age 21
7 = Under 21
Therefore, all Beer tickets should have Age 21 on the back and no Under 21 tickets should have Beer on
the back. This problem is easier to solve than the D-K-3-7 problem.
Here are some good word puzzles that will test the logical powers of your students.
A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging
fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that have not eaten in
three years. Which room is safest for him?
ANSWER: The third. Lions that have not eaten in three years are dead.
A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 10 minutes. Finally, she hangs
him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this
be?
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
ANSWER: The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband, developed it, and hung it
up to dry.
There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without
using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?
ANSWER: Freeze them first. Take them out of the jugs and put the ice in the barrel. You will be able to
tell which water came from which jug.
What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?
ANSWER: Charcoal.
Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?
Define the difference between algorithms and heuristics. Algorithms are slow but always generate the
correct solution; heuristics are quicker but may lead to the wrong answer.
Examples:
Heuristic: Jared and his roommate Doug are trying to decide what size rug they need to buy to cover the
floor of their dorm room. Jared looks at the floor and says, “This is about the size of my room at home.
Let’s buy a 9’ × 12’ rug.”
Algorithm: Doug says, “I want to measure the area. Let’s find a yardstick so that I can find out its exact
size.”
2. Baking cookies.
Heuristic: Allison decides to bake chocolate chip cookies to take to her boyfriend’s house for dinner. She
calls her mother to find out the “family” recipe. Allison’s mother tells her to take about a cup of butter, a
bit of baking soda, two eggs, about a cup of brown sugar, and about the same amount of flour. Finally,
add some chocolate chips.
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Algorithm: Allison is nervous about making the cookies without having more exact amounts. She looks
up a recipe in a cookbook and decides to use that one, which specifies how much to use of sugar, flour,
butter, baking soda, and chocolate chips. The recipe also says exactly what order to add the ingredients.
Lecture demonstration:
ERET
The answer is TREE. Ask students if they tried all possible combinations before they reached the answer.
This would be using an algorithm. It is possible to do this with a four-letter word.
LSSTNEUIAMYOUL
The answer is SIMULTANEOUSLY. Find out how many students tried all possible combinations. Chances
are they did not, as this would be a much slower solution. Therefore, they had to use a heuristic.
An algorithm is the same every time, like the rhythm of music. A heuristic is also a “rule of thumb,” and
heuristic starts with the letter “h” (as in thumb).
Illustrate the operation of heuristics in cognitive maps, which are mental representations of geographic
spaces:
Two days before this lecture, ask students to draw a map of their campus. Specify which buildings or
areas to include. On the day before the cognition lecture, collect the maps.
1. Rotation heuristic—the tendency to think of geographic locations as more vertical or horizontal than
they are in reality, especially effective when looking at North-to-South directions. The rotation heuristic
is responsible for the common error that people make in assuming that Reno, Nevada, is further east
than San Diego, California. (Also, people think that California is by definition further west than Nevada.)
You can show this with a map (below):
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Make a slide of the map that you choose to show. Lay it over the actual campus map, and these
cognitive map distortions will be clearly revealed.
STATISTICAL HEURISTICS
Availability Heuristic:
People judge events that they can remember easily as more common than events that they cannot
remember.
ANSWER: Deaths from suicides. Newspapers place much more emphasis on deaths from homicides and
therefore people can remember these deaths more readily and hence judge them as more frequent.
Another similar example is deaths from drowning versus deaths from fires. Drowning deaths are more
frequent, but they do not get as much media attention.
2. Which is more common in the English language: Words that begin with the letter “r” or words that
have the letter “r” as the third letter?
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
ANSWER: Words that have the letter “r” as the third letter. People can remember words that begin with
a letter more readily than they can remember words that have an embedded letter.
Vividness and distinctiveness also play a role. You are more likely to believe a friend who tells you a
dramatic story about the problems he had with his Camry than all the positive ratings you read in
consumer reports. Similarly, people are more likely to buy flood insurance after reading about floods
than at any other time, even though the probability of a flood is no different than it was before the
flood.
Representativeness Heuristic:
People tend to ignore base rates, and fail to seek out base rates when base rate information is needed
to make reliable probabilistic judgments.
For example, people believe that coincidences are unlikely. Out of 30 people, there is a 70 percent
probability that two will share the same birthday, but people think it is a coincidence when that occurs.
People will also believe that a sequence of the same six numbers is less likely to win in a lottery than a
sequence of six different numbers even though they are equally likely.
HHHTTT
HHHHHH
TTTTTT
HTHTHT
HHTTHH
ANSWER: They are all equally probable; each coin toss is a separate event and each has a 50–50 chance
of occurring.
2. Imagine you just met a man named Steve. Steve is very shy and withdrawn, invariably helpful, but
with little interest in people or in the world of reality. A meek and tidy soul, he has a need for order and
structure, and a passion for detail. Is Steve more likely to be a librarian or a salesperson?
ANSWER: A salesperson. Statistically, there are far more salespeople than librarians in the workforce.
Therefore, although Steve may seem to have the attributes of a librarian, the odds are far more likely
that he is a salesperson.
This is not covered in the text, but it provides a fascinating classroom demonstration:
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Tell the students that you know what they are going to say and have it written on the next slide. It will
be the number 7.
Add
2+2
4+4
8+8
16+16
People who were doing the addition problems before the final question were induced into an addition
set. This led them, when later asked to pick a number between 5 and 12, to ADD 5+12 = 17. Then,
because 17 could not be chosen, they chose 7 as the most salient substitute.
When members of a class were asked to pick a number between 5 and 12 without the preamble, only 30
percent chose 7s compared to 67 percent who did when given the preamble.
WHAT’S MY HEURISTIC?
You can also demonstrate the above heuristics in a game show format called “What’s My Heuristic?”
Students have to get the right answer and state what type of heuristic it is.
Show a segment from a television sitcom in which a character struggles with solving an interpersonal
problem. Alternatively, show a segment from a movie or television crime drama in which the main
character must use logic to find or catch a criminal. You could also show a humorous example of this
from a Saturday Night Live segment of MacGruber (here is an example of the 2009 Pepsi commercial
that aired during the Super Bowl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejVs7I5y4QQ).
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
When approaching a problem, most people begin by trying to understand the problem thoroughly. If the
problem is a novel one, they probably will pay particular attention to any restrictions placed on coming
up with a solution. If, by contrast, the problem is a familiar one, they are apt to spend considerably less
time in this preparation stage. In a well-defined problem, both the nature of the problem itself and the
information needed to solve it are available and clear. With an ill-defined problem, not only may the
specific nature of the problem be unclear, the information required to solve the problem may be even
less obvious.
Kinds of Problems
Typically, a problem falls into one of three categories: arrangement, inducing structure, and
transformation. Arrangement problems require the problem solver to rearrange or recombine elements
in a way that will satisfy a certain criterion. In problems of inducing structure, a person must identify the
existing relationships among the elements presented and then construct a new relationship among
them. The third kind of problem—transformation problems—consist of an initial state, a goal state, and
a method for changing the initial state into the goal state. The preparation stage of understanding and
diagnosing is critical in problem solving because it allows us to develop our own cognitive representation
of the problem and to place it within a personal framework. Winnowing out nonessential information is
often a critical step in the preparation stage of problem solving.
A crucial aspect of the initial encounter with a problem is the way in which we represent it to ourselves
and organize the information presented to us. Our ability to represent a problem—and the solution we
eventually come to—depends on the way a problem is phrased, or framed.
After preparation, the next stage in problem solving is the production of possible solutions. If a problem
is relatively simple, we may already have a direct solution stored in long-term memory, and all we need
to do is retrieve the appropriate information. If we cannot retrieve or do not know the solution, we
must generate possible solutions and compare them with information in long- and short-term memory.
At the most basic level, we can solve problems through trial and error.
In place of trial and error, complex problem solving often involves the use of heuristics, cognitive
shortcuts that can generate solutions. Probably the most frequently applied heuristic in problem solving
is a means-ends analysis, which involves repeated tests for differences between the desired outcome
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
and what currently exists. Although this approach is often effective, if the problem requires indirect
steps that temporarily increase the discrepancy between a current state and the solution, means-ends
analysis can be counterproductive. For other problems, the best approach is to work backward by
focusing on the goal, rather than the starting point, of the problem.
Another heuristic commonly used to generate solutions is to divide a problem into intermediate steps,
or subgoals, and solve each of those steps. If solving a subgoal is a step toward the ultimate solution to a
problem, identifying subgoals is an appropriate strategy.
In a classic study, the German psychologist Wolfgang Köhler examined learning and problem-solving
processes in chimpanzees. Köhler noticed the chimps exhibiting new behavior and called the cognitive
process underlying the behavior insight, which refers to a sudden awareness of the relationships among
various elements that had previously appeared to be independent of one another.
The final stage in problem solving is judging the adequacy of a solution. Often this is a simple matter: If
the solution is clear, we will know immediately whether we have been successful. If the solution is less
concrete or if there is no single correct solution, evaluating solutions becomes more difficult. In such
instances, we must decide which alternative solution is best. Unfortunately, we often quite inaccurately
estimate the quality of our own ideas. Theoretically, if we rely on appropriate heuristics and valid
information to make decisions, we can make accurate choices among alternative solutions.
Significant obstacles to problem solving can exist at each of the three major stages. Although cognitive
approaches to problem solving suggest that thinking proceeds along fairly rational, logical lines as a
person confronts a problem and considers various solutions, several factors can hinder the development
of creative, appropriate, and accurate solutions.
The difficulty most people experience with the candle problem is caused by functional fixedness, the
tendency to think of an object only in terms of its typical use. Functional fixedness is an example of a
broader phenomenon known as mental set, the tendency for old patterns of problem solving to persist.
Mental set can affect perceptions as well as patterns of problem solving. It can prevent you from seeing
beyond the apparent constraints of a problem.
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out and weight more heavily information that supports one’s
initial hypothesis and to ignore contradictory information that supports alternative hypotheses or
solutions.
Despite obstacles to problem solving, many people adeptly discover creative solutions to problems.
Creativity is the ability to generate original ideas or solve problems in novel ways. Several characteristics
are associated with creativity. For one thing, highly creative individuals show divergent thinking,
thinking that generates unusual, yet appropriate, responses to problems or questions. This type of
thinking contrasts with convergent thinking, which is thinking in which a problem is viewed as having a
single answer and which produces responses that are based primarily on knowledge and logic. Another
aspect of creativity is its cognitive complexity, or preference for elaborate, intricate, and complex stimuli
and thinking patterns. One factor that is not closely related to creativity is intelligence.
Research suggests that critical and creative thinkers are made, not born. Consider, for instance, the
following suggestions for increasing critical thinking and creativity: Redefine problems, use subgoals,
adopt a critical perspective, consider the opposite, use analogies, think divergently, use heuristics, and
experiment with various solutions.
STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS:
CONNECT ASSIGNMENTS
Have students complete Handout 8–2, in which they provide examples from daily life of problem
solving.
STEPS IN PROBLEM-SOLVING
Have students complete Handout 8-3, in which they analyze a recent problem they have faced in terms
of the steps involved in solving problems.
CREATIVITY
What factors do you think lead to creativity? Why are these important?
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Provide an example of a person who you think is highly creative along with a rationale for having chosen
this person.
LECTURE IDEAS:
Trial and error—most primitive and time-consuming. For example, if you do not know how to use a
remote control, you push every button until what you want happens.
Subgoals—divide problem into steps if possible—making a meal involves going through a set of
subroutines so that everything is finished on time.
Insight—burst of comprehension (“aha” experience). For some reason, the word “aha” always draws a
laugh.
TYPES OF PROBLEMS:
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Here are some humorous anagrams. For an “anagram maker” Web site, go to
http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/
Listen = Silent
Elvis = Lives
TRANSFORMATION PROBLEM
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/recurrence/hanoi.shtml
This is an unusual paragraph. I am curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it? It
looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it. Study it, and
think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try
to do so without any coaching.
Answer: The letter “e,” which is the most common letter in the English language, does not appear even
once in the paragraph.
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
FUNCTIONAL FIXEDNESS
In addition to the Luchins’ water jars, which are an excellent example of functional fixedness or mental
set, present these examples:
A construction detour leads you to take the long way around to get to your psychology class. After the
construction is finished and the detour removed, you continue to go the long way around.
Overcoming functional fixedness can save your life: Jan Demczur, a window cleaner who was stuck on an
elevator in the World Trade Center attack, was able to rescue himself and a group of other people with
him on the elevator by using his “squeegee” to open a hole in the wall.
A failure in logic also was involved in the World Trade Center construction. Although explicitly designed
to withstand an airplane’s impact, the engineers had not taken into account the effect of a full load of
jet fuel.
Guilford developed tests of creativity as part of his structure of intellect model. In the “Alternative Uses
Task,” the respondent answers questions such as “Name all the uses for a brick.” Scoring is based on
originality, fluency, flexibility, and elaboration. Ask students to provide answers to this question. Have
them share their answers either by switching papers or contributing their answers while you write them
down. Then have other students rate the uses along these four dimensions.
http://www.indiana.edu/~bobweb/Handout/d1.uses.htm
CONVERGENT THINKING
Traditional problems that have one correct solution provide examples of convergent thinking. An
entertaining example of such a problem is: “I have two coins in my pocket that add up to $.30 in value.
One of the coins is not a nickel. What is the other coin?” The answer is—a nickel! One of the coins is not
a nickel, but the other one is.
IMPEDIMENTS TO PROBLEM-SOLVING
Mental set
A very silly example of this was suggested by my colleague, Tammy Rahhal. Have the class repeat after
you:
Coast
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Coast
Coast
Of course, that is ridiculous because you would put bread in a toaster, not toast.
Show a scene from a movie such as Cast Away, in which Tom Hanks demonstrates the ability to avoid
functional fixedness in escaping from the island where his airplane crashed. Alternatively, show a scene
from Survivor, in which the contestants find novel ways to use familiar objects. The ABC show Lost also
involves similar situations, especially in Season 1 when the survivors were challenged to make use of
their crashed airplane to fashion living quarters for themselves.
Provide an example from a movie in which a creative artist was featured. A good example is Amadeus.
Ask students what elements of creativity were shown in this movie.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The basic structure of language rests on grammar, the system of rules that determine how our thoughts
can be expressed. Grammar deals with three major components of language: phonology, syntax, and
semantics. Phonology is the study of phonemes, the smallest basic units of speech that affect meaning,
and of the way we use those sounds to form words and produce meaning. For instance, the “a” sound in
fat and the “a” sound in fate represent two different phonemes in English. Syntax refers to the rules
that indicate how words and phrases can be combined to form sentences. Every language has intricate
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Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
rules that guide the order in which words may be strung together to communicate meaning. The third
major component of language is semantics, the meanings of words and sentences. Semantic rules allow
us to use words to convey the subtle nuances in meaning.
Babbling
Children babble—make speech-like but meaningless sounds—from around the age of 3 months through
1 year. An infant’s babbling increasingly reflects the specific language being spoken in the infant’s
environment, initially in terms of pitch and tone and eventually in terms of specific sounds.
Production of Language
By the time children are approximately 1 year old, they stop producing sounds that are not in the
language to which they have been exposed. It is then a short step to the production of actual words. In
English, these are typically short words that start with a consonant sound such as b, d, m, p, and t.
After the age of 1 year, children begin to learn more complicated forms of language. By age 2, the
average child has a vocabulary of more than 50 words. They produce two-word combinations, the
building blocks of sentences, and sharply increase the number of different words they are able to use.
Just 6 months later, that vocabulary has grown to several hundred words. At that time, children can
produce short sentences, although they use telegraphic speech—sentences that sound as if they were
part of a telegram, in which words not critical to the message are left out. Rather than saying, “I showed
you the book,” a child using telegraphic speech may say, “I show book.”
Overgeneralization is the phenomenon by which children apply language rules even when the
application results in an error.
The learning-theory approach suggests that language acquisition follows the principles of reinforcement
and conditioning discovered by psychologists who study learning. This view suggests that children first
learn to speak by being rewarded for making sounds that approximate speech.
The linguist Noam Chomsky argued that humans are born with an innate linguistic capability that
emerges primarily as a function of maturation. According to his nativist approach to language, all the
world’s languages share a common underlying structure that is pre-wired, biologically determined, and
universal. Chomsky suggested that the human brain has an inherited neural system that lets us
understand the structure language provides—a kind of universal grammar.
Interactionist Approaches
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22. Howe’s Victory of June 1, 1794[66]
[Prior to the engagement, the French fleet had met and was
convoying to port 180 vessels from America with food-stuffs of which
France was then in dire need. The British fleet encountered the
French 400 miles west of Ushant on May 28, and in the four days of
maneuvering and pursuit which followed, Howe displayed marked
energy and tactical skill. Though the French fleet was defeated in the
ensuing battle, it covered the escape of the convoy.—Editor.]
The French admiral on the evening of the 29th saw that he now
must fight, and at a disadvantage; consequently, he could not hope to
protect the convoy. As to save this was his prime object, the next best
thing was to entice the British out of its path. With this view he stood
away to the north-west; while a dense fog coming on both favored his
design and prevented further encounter during the two ensuing days,
throughout which Howe continued to pursue. In the evening of May
31 the weather cleared, and at daybreak the next morning the
enemies were in position, ready for battle, two long columns of ships,
heading west, the British twenty-five, the French again twenty-six
through the junction of the four vessels mentioned. Howe now had
cause to regret his absent six, and to ponder Nelson’s wise saying,
“Only numbers can annihilate.”
This time for maneuvering was past. Able tactician as he
personally was, and admirable as had been the direction of his efforts
in the two days’ fighting, Howe had been forced in them to realize
two things, namely, that his captains were, singly, superior in
seamanship, and their crews in gunnery, to the French; and again,
that in the ability to work together as a fleet the British were so
deficient as to promise very imperfect results, if he attempted any
but the simplest formation. To such, therefore, he resorted; falling
back upon the old, unskillful, sledge-hammer fashion of the British
navy. Arranging his ships in one long line, three miles from the
enemy, he made them all go down together, each to attack a specified
opponent, coming into action as nearly as might be at the same
instant. Thus the French, from the individual inferiority of the units
of their fleet, would be at all points over-powered. The issue justified
the forecast; but the manner of performance was curiously and
happily marked by Howe’s own peculiar phlegm. There was a long
summer day ahead for fighting, and no need for hurry. The order was
first accurately formed, and canvas reduced to proper proportions.
Then the crews went to breakfast. After breakfast, the ships all
headed for the hostile line, under short sail, the admiral keeping
them in hand during the approach as an infantry officer dresses his
company. Hence the shock from end to end was so nearly
simultaneous as to induce success unequalled in any engagement
conducted on the same primitive plan.
Picturesque as well as sublime, animating as well as solemn, on
that bright Sunday morning, was this prelude to the stern game of
war about to be played: the quiet summer sea stirred only by a breeze
sufficient to cap with white the little waves that ruffled its surface;
the dark hulls gently rippling the water aside in their slow advance, a
ridge of foam curling on either side of the furrow ploughed by them
in their onward way; their massive sides broken by two, or at times
three, rows of ports, whence, the tompions drawn, yawned the sullen
lines of guns, behind which, unseen, but easily realized by the
instructed eye, clustered the groups of ready seamen who served
each piece. Aloft swung leisurely to and fro the tall spars, which
ordinarily, in so light a wind, would be clad in canvas from deck to
truck, but whose naked trimness now proclaimed the deadly purpose
of that still approach. Upon the high poops, where floated the
standard of either nation, gathered round each chief the little knot of
officers through whom commands were issued and reports received,
the nerves along which thrilled the impulses of the great organism,
from its head, the admiral, through every member to the dark lowest
decks, nearly awash, where, as farthest from the captain’s own
oversight, the senior lieutenants controlled the action of the ships’
heaviest batteries.
On board the Queen Charlotte, Lord Howe, whose burden of sixty-
eight years had for four days found no rest save what he could snatch
in an arm-chair, now, at the prospect of battle, “displayed an
animation,” writes an eye-witness, “of which, at his age, and after
such fatigue of body and mind, I had not thought him capable. He
seemed to contemplate the result as one of unbounded satisfaction.”
By his side stood his fleet-captain, Curtis, of whose service among
the floating batteries, and during the siege of Gibraltar, the governor
of the fortress had said, “He is the man to whom the king is chiefly
indebted for its security;” and Codrington, then a lieutenant, who
afterwards commanded the allied fleets at Navarino. Five ships to the
left, Collingwood, in the Barfleur, was making to the admiral whose
flag she bore the remark that stirred Thackeray: “Our wives are now
about going to church, but we will ring about these Frenchmen’s ears
a peal which will drown their bells.” The French officers, both
admirals and captains, were mainly unknown men, alike then and
thereafter. The fierce flames of the Revolution had swept away the
men of the old school, mostly aristocrats, and time had not yet
brought forward the very few who during the Napoleonic period
showed marked capacity. The commander-in-chief, Villaret-Joyeuse,
had three years before been a lieutenant. He had a high record for
gallantry, but was without antecedents as a general officer. With him,
on the poop of the Montagne, which took her name from
Robespierre’s political supporters, stood that anomalous companion
of the generals and admirals of the day, the Revolutionary
commissioner, Jean Bon Saint-André, about to learn by experience
the practical working of the system he had advocated, to disregard all
tests of ability save patriotism and courage, depreciating practice and
skill as unnecessary to the valor of the true Frenchman.
As the British line drew near the French, Howe said to Curtis,
“Prepare the signal for close action.” “There is no such signal,”
replied Curtis. “No,” said the admiral, “but there is one for closer
action, and I only want that to be made in case of captains not doing
their duty.” Then closing a little signal book he always carried, he
continued to those around him, “Now, gentlemen, no more book, no
more signals. I look to you to do the duty of the Queen Charlotte in
engaging the flagship. I don’t want the ships to be bilge to bilge, but
if you can lock the yardarms, so much the better; the battle will be
the quicker decided.” His purpose was to go through the French line,
and fight the Montagne on the far side. Some doubted their
succeeding, but Howe overbore them. “That’s right, my lord!” cried
Bowen, the sailing-master, who looked to the ship’s steering. “The
Charlotte will make room for herself.” She pushed close under the
French ship’s stern, grazing her ensign, and raking her from stern to
stem with a withering fire, beneath which fell three hundred men. A
length or two beyond lay the French Jacobin. Howe ordered the
Charlotte to luff, and place herself between the two. “If we do,” said
Bowen, “we shall be on board one of them.” “What is that to you,
sir?” asked Howe quickly. “Oh!” muttered the master, not inaudibly.
“D—n my eyes if I care, if you don’t. I’ll go near enough to singe some
of our whiskers.” And then, seeing by the Jacobin’s rudder that she
was going off, he brought the Charlotte sharp round, her jib boom
grazing the second Frenchman as her side had grazed the flag of the
first.
From this moment the battle raged furiously from end to end of
the field for nearly an hour,—a wild scene of smoke and confusion,
under cover of which many a fierce ship duel was fought, while here
and there men wandered, lost, in a maze of bewilderment that
neutralized their better judgment. An English naval captain tells a
service tradition of one who was so busy watching the compass, to
keep his position in the ranks, that he lost sight of his antagonist, and
never again found him. Many a quaint incident passed, recorded or
unrecorded, under that sulphurous canopy. A British ship, wholly
dismasted, lay between two enemies, her captain desperately
wounded. A murmur of surrender was somewhere heard; but as the
first lieutenant checked it with firm authority, a cock flew upon the
stump of a mast and crowed lustily. The exultant note found quick
response in hearts not given to despair, and a burst of merriment,
accompanied with three cheers, replied to the bird’s triumphant
scream. On board the Brunswick, in her struggle with the Vengeur,
one of the longest and fiercest fights the sea has ever seen, the cocked
hat was shot off the effigy of the Duke of Brunswick, which she bore
as a figure-head. A deputation from the crew gravely requested the
captain to allow the use of his spare chapeau, which was securely
nailed on, and protected his grace’s wig during the rest of the action.
After this battle with the ships of the new republic, the partisans of
monarchy noted with satisfaction that, among the many royal figures
that surmounted the stems of the British fleet, not one lost his
crown. Of a harum-scarum Irish captain are told two droll stories.
After being hotly engaged for some time with a French ship, the fire
of the latter slackened, and then ceased. He called to know if she had
surrendered. The reply was, “No.” “Then,” shouted he, “d—n you,
why don’t you fire?” Having disposed of his special antagonist
without losing his own spars, the same man kept along in search of
new adventures, until he came to a British ship totally dismasted and
otherwise badly damaged. She was commanded by a captain of
rigidly devout piety. “Well, Jemmy,” hailed the Irishman, “you are
pretty well mauled; but never mind, Jemmy, whom the Lord loveth
he chasteneth.”
The French have transmitted to us less of anecdote, nor is it easy
to connect the thought of humor with those grimly earnest
republicans and the days of the Terror. There is, indeed, something
unintentionally funny in the remark of the commander of one of the
captured ships to his captors. They had, it was true, dismasted half
the French fleet, and had taken over a fourth; yet he assured them it
could not be considered a victory, “but merely a butchery, in which
the British had shown neither science nor tactics.” The one story,
noble and enduring, that will ever be associated with the French on
the 1st of June is in full keeping with the temper of the times and the
enthusiasm of the nation. The seventy-four-gun ship Vengeur, after a
three hours’ fight, yardarm to yardarm, with the British Brunswick,
was left in a sinking state by her antagonist, who was herself in no
condition to help. In the confusion, the Vengeur’s peril was for some
time not observed; and when it was, the British ships that came to
her aid had time only to remove part of her survivors. In their report
of the event the latter said: “Scarcely had the boats pulled clear of the
sides, when the most frightful spectacle was offered to our gaze.
Those of our comrades who remained on board the Vengeur du
Peuple, with hands raised to heaven, implored, with lamentable
cries, the help for which they could no longer hope. Soon
disappeared the ship and the unhappy victims it contained. In the
midst of the horror with which this scene inspired us all, we could
not avoid a feeling of admiration mingled with our grief. As we drew
away, we heard some of our comrades still offering prayers for the
welfare of their country. The last cries of these unfortunates were,
‘Vive la République!’ They died uttering them.” Over a hundred
Frenchmen thus went down.
Seven French ships were captured, including the sunk Vengeur.
Five more were wholly dismasted, but escaped,—a good fortune
mainly to be attributed to Howe’s utter physical prostration, due to
his advanced years and the continuous strain of the past five days.
He now went to bed, completely worn out. “We all got round him,”
wrote an officer, Lieutenant Codrington, who was present; “indeed, I
saved him from a tumble, he was so weak that from a roll of the ship
he was nearly falling into the waist. ‘Why, you hold me up as if I were
a child,’ he said good-humoredly.” Had he been younger, there can
be little doubt that the fruits of victory would have been gathered
with an ardor which his assistant, Curtis, failed to show.
23. Nelson’s Strategy at Copenhagen[67]
MEMORANDUM
(Secret)
Victory, off Cadiz, 9th October, 1805.