PSYA02H3 Study Guide - Prospect Theory, Prefrontal Cortex, Linguistic Relativity
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PSYA02H3 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Chapter 9 notes five key higher cognitive functions: acquiring and using language, forming concepts and categories, making decisions, solving problems, and reasoning. Language is a system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and convey meaning. Grammar is a set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages. Language allows individuals to exchange information about the world, coordinate group action, and form strong social bonds. The 3 striking differences distinguish of human language. First, the complex structure of human language distinguishes it from simpler signaling systems. Second, humans use words to refer to intangible things, such as unicorn or democracy. Third, we use language to name, categorize, and describe things to ourselves when we think, which influences how knowledge is organized in our brains. The smallest units of sound that are recognizable as speech rather than as random noise are phonemes.
