PSYC 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: 18 Months, Pragmatics, Decision-Making
Document Summary
Cognition = thinking and sharing our thoughts: language. Lots of species communicate but they don"t have language. Language is symbolic meaning can be represented in all sorts of different ways but the underlying sense remains the same. Communicate an infinite variety of ideas (creativity) Generate new symbols for new inventions and ideas. Communicate about things in their absence and convey abstract ideas. To do this, language uses symbols and rules (grammar or syntax) for how symbols are put together: problem solving. Thinking that is directed toward solving specific problems. Problem = a situation in which there is a goal, but is not clear how to reach it. A well-defined problem is one with clear specifications of the start state, goal and the processes for reaching the goal. An ill-defined problem is a problem lacking such clear specification. May take a lot of time and effort. Not guaranteed to reach a correct solution.
