Glossary

algorithm	A rule that, if applied appropriately, guarantees a solution to a problemalgorithm (124.0K)



babble	Speechlike but meaningless sounds made by children from the ages of around 3 months through 1 year



cognitive psychology	The branch of psychology that focuses on the study of cognition



concepts	Categorizations of objects, events, or people that share common properties



convergent thinking	he ability to produce responses that are based primarily on knowledge and logic



creativity	The combining of responses or ideas in novel ways



divergent thinking	The ability to generate unusual, yet appropriate, responses to problems or questions



functional fixedness	The tendency to think of an object only in terms of its typical use



grammar	The system of rules that determine how our thoughts can be expressed



heuristic	A cognitive shortcut that might lead to a solution



insight	A sudden awareness of the relationships among various elements that had previously appeared to be independent of one anotherinsight (158.0K)



language	The communication of information through symbols arranged according to systematic ruleslanguage acquisition device (136.0K)



language acquisition device	A hypothesized neural system of the brain for understanding languagelanguage_acquisition_device (136.0K)



learning-theory approach	The theory suggesting that language acquisition follows the principles of reinforcement and conditioning



means-end analysis	Repeated testing for differences between the desired outcome and what currently exists



mental images	Representations in the mind that resemble the object or event being represented



mental set	The tendency for old patterns of problem solving to persist



overgeneralization	The phenomenon whereby children apply rules even when their application results in an error



phonemes	The smallest basic sound unitsphonemes (76.0K)



phonology	The study of the smallest sound units, called phonemes



prototypes	Typical, highly representative examples of a concept



semantics	The rules governing the meaning of words and sentences



syllogistic reasoning	Formal reasoning in which people draw a conclusion from a set of assumptionssyllogistic_reasoning (126.0K)



syntax	The rules that indicate how words and phrases can be combined to form sentences.syntax (125.0K)



telegraphic speech	Sentences that sound as if they were part of a telegram, in which words not critical to the message are left out



thinking	The manipulation of mental representations of information



universal grammar	Noam Chomsky's theory that all the world's languages share a similar underlying structure

2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.