_SUMMARY_

Thinking and reasoning
In this chapter we learned some new things and remembered some already known. For example that people use mental images to remember something or in sport training. Also there was much attention paid to concepts – how they influence our behavior and how they differ in various cultures. I discovered that people sometimes use syllogistic reasoning - it’s drawing a conclusion from a set of assumptions. If a person has to make a decision, he may use algorithm which guarantees a solution to a problem or heuristic which may lead to a solution but cannot ensure it.

Problem solving
Before starting to solve a problem people have to understand and diagnose it. This is the start of the chapter. Then goes a list of kinds of problems: arrangement, problems of inducing structure and transformation problems. The way a problem is phrased is very important because its solving depends on that. Many ways of problem solving were presented: trial and error, means-ends analysis, dividing problems into parts and solving each of them. Some difficulties of problem solving were mentioned too – functional fixedness and mental set. It’s interesting that creativity has also much to do in problem solving – it gives an ability to combine ideas in novel ways; it’s also suited with divergent thinking – the ability to generate unusual responses to questions.

Language
The chapter starts with describing 3 main components in language – phonology, syntax and semantics. Each of them is irreplaceable because they all have their specific sphere in language. Before using these components children start to babble, then they acquire language, start to use telegraphic speech, learn some rules and produce language.
There are 2 hypotheses – one says that the notion that language shapes may determine the way people understand the world in particular culture; the other says that thinking produces language. It’s known that some chimps use “language” but it still lacks the grammar and novel constructions of human language. Another interesting discussion was about bilingual learning and immersion programs. It’s proved that bilingual speakers show more cognitive flexibility, understand concepts more easily & so on.