PS102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Functional Fixedness, Conjunction Fallacy, Representativeness Heuristic
Document Summary
A language consists of symbols that convey meaning, plus rules for combining those symbols, that can be used to generate an infinite variety of messages. Language is symbolic people use spoken sounds and written words to represent objects, actions, events and ideas. Language is generative a limited number of symbols can be combined i an infinite variety of ways to generate an endless array of novel messages. Language is structured although people can generate an infinite variety of sentences, these sentences must be structured in a limited number of ways. Phonemes are the smallest speech unit in a language that can be distinguished perceptually. English language is composed of about 40 phonemes. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. Semantics is the area of language concerned with understanding the meaning of words and word combinations. Syntax is a system of rules that specify how words can be arranged into sentences.
