Language & Cognition Practice Questions

This video covers 10 multiple choice practice questions on language & cognition and includes concepts related to linguistics, language acquisition, problem-solving, decision-making, heuristics, and more. I hope this can help you to review your knowledge and understanding, let me know … Read More

Language & Cognition Knowledge Organizer

Here’s a knowledge organizer I’ve created of the most essential concepts for language & cognition in an introductory psychology course. These knowledge organizers are designed to help you identify the most important factual knowledge you need to have in order … Read More

The Interactionist Approach to Language Acquisition

In this video I describe the interactionist approach to language acquisition. This approach recognizes our genetic predisposition for language and considers how the social environment plays a role in that development. Children are learning more than just vocabulary and syntactical … Read More

Language Development

In this video I provide an overview of language development in children. Children learn thousands of words within a matter of a few years and they seem to effortlessly pick up and apply the rules of grammar, first in their … Read More

Universal Grammar

In this video I provide a brief introduction to Noam Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar, which suggests that all human languages must share certain features. The human predisposition for language acquisition which allows us to acquire any human language depending … Read More

Introduction to Linguistics

In this video I introduce some terminology from linguistics for describing how languages use sounds to represent meaning. Phonemes refers to the individual sounds used in a language, while morphemes refer to units of meaning. Phonological rules dictate how sounds … Read More

Language Acquisition: Skinner vs. Chomsky

In this video I introduce language acquisition as a type of learning that isn’t explained well by the behaviorist principles we saw in the unit on learning theory. In the next few videos we’ll be looking at linguistics and language … Read More

Language, Thought, & Cognition Resources

On this page you’ll find a number of resources for understanding the key concepts of linguistics, cognition, and thought, including language acquisition, problem-solving, and decision-making. If I’ve missed a good resource, please share it in the comments section! General Resources … Read More

Key Terms for Language and Cognition

Download a free pdf of this key terms list here: Language-and-Cognition-Key-Terms Find explanations and examples of all of these key terms and more here: Master Introductory Psychology: Complete Edition           B. F. Skinner Noam Chomsky   language … Read More

The Wug Test and Overgeneralization

In this clip from Scientific American Frontiers, Steven Pinker explains The Wug Test and also how the overgeneralization of grammatical rules suggests that children acquire the rules of language, rather than simply learning by imitation.   Looking to learn more … Read More