Matakuliah : L0014/Psikologi Umum
Tahun
: 2007
COGNITION AND LANGUAGE
Pertemuan 11
COGNITION
DEFINITION
CONCEPTS : THE BASIC UNITS OF THINKING
THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
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COGNITION : DEFINITION
• (Latin: cognoscere, "to know")
• The human-like processing of information, applying knowledge and
changing preferences
• The intellectual processes through which information is obtained,
transformed, stored, retrieved and otherwise used.
• Cognition or cognitive processes can be natural and artificial,
conscious and not conscious
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition
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3 Primary Facets from Cognition Definition
1.
Cognition processes Information
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2.
In form of concepts or categories
Cognition is active
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Is actively changed, kept, used in the process of cognition
In cognition, information is :
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3.
Obtained through senses
Transformed through the interpretive processes of perception & thinking
Stored and retrieved through the processes of memory
Used in problem solving and language
Cognition is useful
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We think because there is something we do not understand
We use language because we need communicate something to others
We create because we need something that doesn’t exist
Use cognition to survive physically and to live in social world
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COGNITION : CONCEPTS (1)
information
• Concepts are the basic units of thinking
• Concepts are general categories of things, events and
qualities that are linked by a common feature or
features, in spite of their differences
information
General
concept
information
information
information
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COGNITION : CONCEPTS (2)
concepts categorization
• Simple and Complex Concepts
– Conjunctive concepts : a simultaneous presence of two or more common
characteristic
– Disjunctive concepts : the presence of one of two common characteristics or
both
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COGNITION : CONCEPTS (3)
Learning about concepts
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Natural Concepts :
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Natural concepts are basic
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A basic concepts has a medium degree of inclusiveness (the number of
members included in a concept)
3 level of inclusiveness :
1. Superordinate concepts are very inclusive
2. Basic concepts are the medium degree of inclusiveness
3. Subordinate concepts are the least inclusive level of concepts
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Several characteristic of basic concepts that “fit” the human intellect :
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Share many attributes
Share similar shapes
Share motor movement
Easily named
Natural Concepts are good prototypes
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Good examples or prototypes
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THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
• Problem solving : the cognition
process through which information is
used to reach a goal that is blocked
by some obstacle
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_10.htm
http://www.jerryfeist.com/psstages.html
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1.
Formulating The problem
We have to know what the problem is
2.
Understanding and Organizing the elements of the problem
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3.
Inventory all the elements of the problems : the resources and the information
Mental set : A habitual way of approaching or perceiving a problem  can interfere in finding
the solution
Generating and Evaluating Alternative Solutions
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Trial and error
the random application of one possible solution after another
(-) time consuming & doesn’t guarantee that the solution will be discovered
Algorithm
Systematic patterns of reasoning that guarantee finding a correct solution to a problem
Heuristic Reasoning
Efficient problem solving based on strategies that increase the probabilities of finding a correct
solution
(-) don’t evaluate every possible solution, don’t guarantee to find the correct one, lead to poor
solution
Representativeness Heuristic : the strategy of making judgments about the unknown on the
assumption that it is similar to what we know
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Emotional Factors in Decision Making
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Intuition
The perception of the risk
Creative problem solving : the ability to make human products and ideas that are
both novel and valued by others
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Convergent thinking
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Divergent thinking
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Thinking that is logical and conventional and that focuses on problem
Thinking that is loosely organized, only partially directed and unconventional
Creative process
1.
2.
3.
4.
Preparation : formulate problems, recall relevant facts, think abt possible solution
Incubation : a period of rest
Illumination : a sudden insight pertaining to the solution
Verification : the necessary but sometimes anticlimatic step of testing the solution
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LANGUAGE
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Language : definition
• A language is a system of arbitrary symbols and the rules used to
manipulate them.
• Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general
phenomenon. Though commonly used as a means of communication
among people, human language is only one instance of this
phenomenon.
• Language is a symbolic code used in communication
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LANGUAGE : SEMANTICS
• to aspects of meaning, as expressed in language or other systems
of signs.
• The meaning in symbols, such as language
Noam Chomsky (1975)
- Surface Structure : the superficial spoken or written structure of a
statement
- Deep Structure : the underlying structure of a statement that holds
its meaning
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LANGUAGE : ELEMENTS & RULES
• Generative : the ability to create an infinite set of utterances using
a finite set of elements and rules
– Phonemes : the smallest units of sound in a language
– Morphemes : the smallest units of meaning in a language
– Syntax : the grammatical rules of a language
* Utterances : ucapan, ungkapan, sounds
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LANGUAGE : WHORFIAN HYPOTHESIS
• In linguistics, the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis (SWH) states that there is a systematic
relationship between the grammatical categories of the language a person speaks
and how that person both understands the world and behaves in it.
• the hypothesis argues that the nature of a particular language influences the
habitual thought of its speakers. Different patterns of language yield different
patterns of thought. This idea challenges the possibility of representing the world
perfectly with language, because it acknowledges that the mechanisms of any
language condition the thoughts of its community of speakers. The hypothesis
emerged in many formulations, some weak and some strong.
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