Standard Area: Thinking and Language

Standard Area: Thinking and Language
Content Standards
After concluding this unit, students understand:
1. Basic elements comprising thought
2. Strategies and obstacles involved in problem solving and decision making
3. Structural features of language
4. Theories and developmental stages of language acquisition
5. Links between thinking and language

Content Standards With Performance Standards and Suggested Performance Indicators
CONTENT STANDARD 1: Basic elements comprising thought
Students are able to (performance standards):
1.1 Define thinking as a mental process involved in the manipulation and understanding of information. Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Identifying mental images and verbal symbols as elements that comprise thinking
• Describing controversies related to the role of thinking in behavior

1.2 Recognize that information is classified into categories containing similar properties known as concepts
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Describing the process of concept formation
• Analyzing a group of words, phrases, or images and identifying the unifying concept
• Discussing how researchers study concept formation

CONTENT STANDARD 2: Strategies and obstacles involved in problem solving and decision making
Students are able to (performance standards):
2.1 Identify problem solving as a directed and productive example of thinking. Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Describing the steps involved in the problem-solving process
• Providing examples of how algorithms, heuristics, and insight are used in problem solving
2.2 Explain the use of creative thinking in problem solving.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Discussing how creative thinking strategies, such as divergent thinking, brainstorming, and restructuring, are used in problem solving
• Describing the effects of social factors on problem solving
2.3 Analyze the obstacles that inhibit problem solving and decision making.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Providing examples of how mental set and functional fixedness prevent the solving of a problem
• Evaluating strategies and obstacles involved in a class problem-solving activity
• Providing examples of how framing, risk avoidance, and overconfidence can affect the making of decisions
• Discussing how beliefs and motives influence reasoning

CONTENT STANDARD 3: Structural features of language
Students are able to (performance standards):
3.1 Define language as symbols and sounds that convey meaning and facilitate communication. Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Defining the properties of meaningfulness, structure, and reference in language
• Demonstrating that language is not limited to sounds by using American Sign Language
3.2 Recognize that language is organized in a hierarchical structure.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Identifying the basic unit of language as phonemes that are combined in meaningful strings known as morphemes
• Providing examples of how morphemes combine to form words, phrases, and sentences
• Describing the role of grammar in language systems

CONTENT STANDARD 4: Theories and developmental stages of language acquisition
Students are able to (performance standards):
4.1 Discuss the effects of development on language acquisition.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Tracing the stages of language development from infancy to childhood
• Contrasting the language development of bilingual/trilingual children to the development of children who speak only one language
• Recognizing that a critical period for language acquisition exists by using examples, such as the isolated adolescent named Genie or the Wild Boy of Aveyron
4.2 Evaluate the theories of language acquisition.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Comparing the views of Chomsky and Skinner on language development
• Describing current theories of language acquisition
• Discussing the effect of culture on language acquisition
• Debating the advantages and disadvantages of bilingual education
4.3 Speculate on whether animals acquire and use language.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Describing the nature of communication in honeybees
• Relating conclusions drawn from early attempts to teach language to apes
• Discussing contemporary views on the extent to which apes use language

CONTENT STANDARD 5: Links between thinking and language
Students are able to (performance standards):
5.1 Examine the influence of language on thought and behavior. Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Evaluating Whorf’s linguistic relativity theory that language determines or only influences thought
• Providing examples, such as how sexist language can influence thought processes
• Comparing differing cultural practices regarding expressions of respect or formal pronoun use