social language problem solving

71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios

Do you have kiddos who struggle with their social problem-solving skills? Teach your students the simple process of how to solve a problem along with having them review how well their solution worked or didn’t work.

Why Teach Problem Solving Skills?

Learning to problem solve is an essential skill that is used not only throughout childhood but also into adulthood. Social problem solving is the ability to change or adapt to undesirable situations that arise throughout our day.

On a daily basis, a child will encounter social problems that they will need to solve.

Anything from:

• arguing with another student
• to hurting a friend’s feelings
• to having a difficult conversation
• working with others

Start with Small Problems

Many of the “problems” children encounter are often small problems which the child may be over-reacting to, such as wanting a different coloring crayon or wanting to be first in line, however, these small problems are still very real to the child.

Practicing problem-solving with these small problems can be a great learning opportunity. Children can practice problem-solving with a small problem which can help them learn how to handle bigger problems in the future.

Problem Solving Importance

Social problem-solving skills are critical to a child’s social interactions, personal and professional relationships. A child’s ability to handle change, cope with stress, and handle challenges improves with a child’s ability to successfully solve social problems.

The ultimate goal is that the child will be able to solve social problems all on their own, but until they can independently solve a problem they will need to learn how to communicate and self-advocate to positively solve their problems.  

Steps to Problem Solving

Children can be taught how to problem solve through a guided process of breaking down the problem and using simple steps to solve the problem.

Learning specific steps to problem-solving can allow children to remember how to solve a problem when they become overwhelmed or stressed.

Although learning to solve a problem independently can take some time and practice it is well worth the investment to have a child who can eventually solve most social situations in a positive manner on their own.

What we learnt about solving problems is don't freak out, if one thing doesn't work , try something else out. And work together as a team. #melthammathsweek #MELTHAMPUPILVOICE @problemsolveit pic.twitter.com/iVm1Im4Aue — yr6melthamce (@yr6melthamce) February 4, 2019

Problem Solving Form

Teach your students the 4 steps to becoming a social problem-solver.

• Identify the problem. For instance, start by having your student identify the social problem.
• Create three solutions. Also, have your student come up with three different solutions that they could use to solve the problem that they identified.
• Identify the consequences. Then, identify the consequence for each individual solution.
• Pick the best solution.  Lastly, have your student identify which of their three solutions is the best choice Then have your student put into words why they think that solution is the best solution.

Problem Solving Review Form

After your students go through the social problem-solver have them use the social problem-solving review form.

• What happened.  For instance, after your student tried their solution have them explain what happened next.
• Review the results. Also, have your student identify whether or not their solution got them the results they wanted.
• Use this solution again. Furthermore, have your student identify whether or not they would use this solution again in the future to solve the same or similar problem.
• What would you do differently? Finally, have your student explain what they would do differently if they didn’t get the results they wanted or if they wouldn’t use that solution again in the future.

71+ Social Problem Scenarios + 6 Blank Scenarios

Use the 71 social problem-solving scenarios to have your students get great experience practicing how to solve a social problem.

Also, included are 6 blank scenarios. Then laminate them so you can use them over and over again. Therefore, create social problems that the student experiences and needs help solving.

Wordless Video teaching Problem Solving

Watch this super cute wordless animation with your students and have them discuss the problem they see and how to best solve the problem.

Use this as a fun practice example to get your students started towards learning how to problem-solve.

Demonstrate Through Modeling

Model and discuss empathy.

First and foremost, children need to understand how another person might be feeling in a given situation in order to become a good social problem solver. The student needs to learn how to “stand in someone else’s shoes” for a little bit.

One way you can work on this skill is during the reading time you can focus on how a particular character in the story might be feeling.

Ask questions, such as:

• “How do they feel right now?”
• “How would you feel in that same situation?”
• “Why do you think they feel that way?”

Model Problem-Solving Skills as the Teacher

When you are faced with a problem you can solve the problem by thinking aloud for the students to hear how you solve a problem.

You can state the problem, then come up with possible solutions, then identify the possible consequences to each solution, then pick and explain why a solution is the best option.

For example, you could say, “I was hoping to take the class outside for a stress walk around the track before the reading test, but the problem is that it is raining outside. I could still take you outside, but then you will get wet, or we could walk the halls, but then we’d have to be really quiet because there are other classes learning, or we could just skip the walk and take the reading test, but then you might not do as well on the test. I think based on all of those solutions the best solution will be to walk the hallway, but you guys will have to promise to be quiet so that we don’t disrupt other classes.

Modeling the problem-solving process can be very helpful for the students to watch, observe, and later implement themselves.

Teach Communication

Have students communicate how they are feeling.

Teaching your students to share their emotions in a respectful way can improve their ability to problem-solve.

Have students use an “I” sentence frame, such as, “I feel _____ (insert feeling word) when _____ (identify what made you feel that way).”

For example, “I felt sad when Jackson broke my favorite pencil” or “I was mad when I wasn’t picked to be first in line.”

This way students can communicate how they are feeling using honest and open communication. Teaching students to appropriately communicate their emotions can help solve some social problems from the beginning.

Encourage Independency

Encourage your student to problem solve.

If your student is struggling to problem solve independently encourage them to do so using open-ended questions.

• “How could you fix this problem?”
• “What would be a fair solution?”
• “What would happen if you used that solution?”

Let the Student try to Problem Solve Independently

Give your students the space to try and solve their own problems using the guided strategies. Try not to come running to their rescue for every little problem.

Some problems are small and a great opportunity for the student to learn and practice. If an adult does all of the problem solving for a student then what are they really learning?

Give your students the time and space they need to practice solving small problems on their own. Of course, if it is a bigger or more serious problem then have an adult help guide the problem-solving process.

Tell an Adult

Remind your students that there are still some problems that are too big for them to solve on their own and that it is okay to get help from an adult to solve big problems.

For example, if the student doesn’t feel safe, someone is being hurt physically or emotionally, or if they tried to solve a problem independently but it didn’t work and they need help. Let them know that it’s okay to tell an adult.

Teach How to Disagree and How to Make Up

Discuss how to disagree respectfully.

Remind your student that they won’t always agree with their teacher, friends, classmate, or parents and that’s okay. Even the people we like might have different opinions, interests, and likes than we do.

However, even if we disagree with someone we should still treat them with respect. Treating someone with respect means to not call them names, ignore them, yell or hit them. It means that you do try to create solutions that both parties can agree with and to apologize when we hurt others’ feelings.

Role-Play How to Make Up

Practice in everyday life how to make up after a social problem .

Students are really having to stretch their brains today. It's @NSPCC #NumberDay and @problemsolveit are challenging Y9 and 10 to solve the escape room boxes. It's not as easy as it looks! The promise of a few sweet treats for the winners seems to be helping though! pic.twitter.com/AxRRJnJIv2 — CongletonHS (@CongletonHS) February 2, 2018

Be sure to get your free social problem solver today below! I hope you and your students love this freebie.

Have your students use task card scenarios to help them identify how they and others might feel in different social scenarios. Be sure to discuss the problem, identify possible solutions, identify the consequences of those possible solutions, and then based on those consequences pick the best solution.

Make social problem-solving a game by telling the students that they are social detectives and that it is their job to use what they know about social rules to help them identify the possible and best solutions.

Start practicing today with 71+ free social problem social task cards! Do your students need more practice?

Be sure to check out my other freebie for 31 wordless animated videos to teach problem-solving and so much more.

Make Problem Solving Easier with this Freebie!

Download yours today to get started.

Get More Problem Solving Time Saving Materials

Next, be sure to check out the following time-saving materials to continue to teach your students how to solve their social problems in addition to this freebie.

Weekly Social Pragmatics Homework

• Weekly problem-solving.   Send home a  weekly homework page  that includes a problem-solving scenario plus an idiom and a conversational practice scenario.

Restorative Justice Problem Solving Flip Book

• Restorative justice graphic visual.  Use this graphic visual to help your student  restore a social relationship  after a social problem.

Self-Advocating Role-Play Scenarios

• Self-advocating in high school.  Teach your high schoolers the process to  self-advocate  for what they need.

5th-12th Grade Life Skills Problem Solving

• Life skills problem-solving.  In addition, this  life skills differentiated bundle  includes a problem-solving lesson plan.

I recommend you read Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems , 61+ Free Fillable SLP Planner Pages 2020-2021 , 430+ Free Multisyllabic Words List Activity Bundle , or 432+ Free IEP Goal Bank to Save You Time posts because they include freebies as well and who doesn’t want more freebies!

Got questions? Leave a comment. Let’s chat!

Monday 30th of January 2023

Hello! I have entered my name and email twice (yesterday & today) to receive to 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Senarios, but I have not received anything yet. Not even an email back to mine in order to subcribe. Thanks for your help! Tracy

Melissa Berg

Tuesday 31st of January 2023

Hi Tracy, Thanks so much for reaching out! Sorry about that. We went ahead and sent you an email with the PDF attached. Wishing you all my best, Melissa

Problem Solving Skills

Tuesday 30th of August 2022

I truly love your site. Excellent colors, theme and writing. Thanks for sharing.

Laura Ricca

Monday 11th of April 2022

Tuesday 12th of April 2022

Hi Laura, I'm glad you found this resource helpful. Melissa

Modified Mental Health and Suicide Prevention - Speech Therapy Store

Monday 11th of May 2020

[…] 71+ FREE SOCIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SCENARIOS […]

Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems - Speech Therapy Store

Monday 4th of May 2020

[…] 71+ Free Social Problem Solving Task Cards Scenarios […]

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22 Social Scenarios for Speech Therapy Practice

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Social Scenarios

• You were at school and you were running in the hallway. You ran past a teacher and she gave you a look. What kind of look do you think was on her face and why? What do you think you should do?
• You are playing cards with some kids and one of them burps out loud. His face turns red and everyone looks at him. Why did his face turn red? Why did everyone look at him? How do you think he felt? What could you say or do?
• You got home from school really late because you stopped by the river on the way home and threw rocks. When you walked in the door your mom had a worried look on her face. What does a worried face look like? Why was she worried? What do you think you should say or do?
• After soccer practice you hand out birthday invitations to everyone except a little boy you didn’t know. As you were leaving you saw him crying and talking to his mom. Why was the boy crying? What could you do or say?
• After dinner on Friday night you wanted to go to the movies, but your mom said no because she didn’t have enough time to wash the dishes, pick up your sister, and get you to the movie theater on time. How do you feel about this? What could you do or say so that you could still go to the movies?
• Your sister was out riding her new bike. She suddenly came running in the house crying. Why do you think she was crying and what could you do about it?
• Your teacher asked what kind of cupcake everyone wanted and you said you didn’t care, but the girl next to you said she wanted chocolate. Your teacher passed the cupcakes out and you got chocolate. You were about to eat it when you noticed the girl next to you had a sad face and had not touched her cupcake yet. What did her face look like? Why do you think she felt sad? What could you do about it?
• You were at school having quiet free time. Everyone could choose something they wanted to do, so you chose to draw. You got out your favorite clicking pen that turned different colors every time you clicked. You were playing with your pen and you looked over at the girl next to you who was reading. She looked at you with a different look on her face that wasn’t very nice. What kind of face do you think she gave you? Why do you think she looked at you that way? What could you do about it?
• You are watching a movie with your little sister about the coolest monster ever. You look over at you sister and she has a scared look on her face. Why do you think she looks scared? What could you do or say?
• A girl in your class is bossy and not very nice. One day she brought cookies for her birthday and handed them out to everyone one by one. When she got to you, she set the cookie on your desk, and then looked at you with her eyebrows raised and her mouth pursed. Why did she do that? What did her face mean? What should you do?
• Someone in your class teased you because you got so many wrong on your spelling test. How did you feel? What did you do?
• Your friends finished their work, but you weren't finished yet. They were playing a game. How would you feel? What would you do?
• The teacher asked you a question in class, but you didn't know the answer. How do you feel? What do you do?
• Your schedule changed.  You will have an assembly instead of your favorite art class. How do you feel and what do you do about it?
• You were working on a test and the bell rang.  You were not done. How do you feel? What would you do?
• Some students in class are telling lies about your friend. How does that make you feel and what would you do?
• You noticed the new girl in class didn't have anyone to play with during recess. How would you feel if you were her? What would you do?
• Your friend got a new haircut.  You really liked it. What could you do?
• You and a friend were playing a game. Another classmate asked to join your game. What would you say?
• Your friend was shooting baskets in PE class and missed every shot. How do you think he felt and what would you do?
• In the lunch room, your friend dropped his tray and his food went all over the floor. What do you think he is feeling and what would you do?
• While you were walking in the hall, a girl tripped you and started laughing. How does that make you feel and what would you do about it?

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This list of functional words was professionally selected to be the most useful for a child or adult who has difficulty with social scenarios.

We encourage you to use this list when practicing social scenarios at home.

Home practice will make progress toward meeting individual language goals much faster.

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are only able to see students/clients 30-60 mins (or less) per week. This is not enough time or practice for someone to strengthen their understanding of and responses to different social scenarios.

Every day that your loved one goes without social scenarios practice it becomes more difficult to help them. 

SEE ALSO:   The Best Books for Speech Therapy Practice

We know life is busy , but if you're reading this you're probably someone who cares about helping their loved one as much as you can.

Practice 5-10 minutes whenever you can, but try to do it on a consistent basis (daily).

Please, please, please use this list to practice.

It will be a great benefit to you and your loved one's progress.

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Social problem-solving might also be called ‘ problem-solving in real life ’. In other words, it is a rather academic way of describing the systems and processes that we use to solve the problems that we encounter in our everyday lives.

The word ‘ social ’ does not mean that it only applies to problems that we solve with other people, or, indeed, those that we feel are caused by others. The word is simply used to indicate the ‘ real life ’ nature of the problems, and the way that we approach them.

Social problem-solving is generally considered to apply to four different types of problems:

• Impersonal problems, for example, shortage of money;
• Personal problems, for example, emotional or health problems;
• Interpersonal problems, such as disagreements with other people; and
• Community and wider societal problems, such as litter or crime rate.

A Model of Social Problem-Solving

One of the main models used in academic studies of social problem-solving was put forward by a group led by Thomas D’Zurilla.

This model includes three basic concepts or elements:

Problem-solving

This is defined as the process used by an individual, pair or group to find an effective solution for a particular problem. It is a self-directed process, meaning simply that the individual or group does not have anyone telling them what to do. Parts of this process include generating lots of possible solutions and selecting the best from among them.

A problem is defined as any situation or task that needs some kind of a response if it is to be managed effectively, but to which no obvious response is available. The demands may be external, from the environment, or internal.

A solution is a response or coping mechanism which is specific to the problem or situation. It is the outcome of the problem-solving process.

Once a solution has been identified, it must then be implemented. D’Zurilla’s model distinguishes between problem-solving (the process that identifies a solution) and solution implementation (the process of putting that solution into practice), and notes that the skills required for the two are not necessarily the same. It also distinguishes between two parts of the problem-solving process: problem orientation and actual problem-solving.

Problem Orientation

Problem orientation is the way that people approach problems, and how they set them into the context of their existing knowledge and ways of looking at the world.

Each of us will see problems in a different way, depending on our experience and skills, and this orientation is key to working out which skills we will need to use to solve the problem.

An Example of Orientation

Most people, on seeing a spout of water coming from a loose joint between a tap and a pipe, will probably reach first for a cloth to put round the joint to catch the water, and then a phone, employing their research skills to find a plumber.

A plumber, however, or someone with some experience of plumbing, is more likely to reach for tools to mend the joint and fix the leak. It’s all a question of orientation.

Problem-Solving

Problem-solving includes four key skills:

• Defining the problem,
• Coming up with alternative solutions,
• Making a decision about which solution to use, and
• Implementing that solution.

Based on this split between orientation and problem-solving, D’Zurilla and colleagues defined two scales to measure both abilities.

They defined two orientation dimensions, positive and negative, and three problem-solving styles, rational, impulsive/careless and avoidance.

They noted that people who were good at orientation were not necessarily good at problem-solving and vice versa, although the two might also go together.

It will probably be obvious from these descriptions that the researchers viewed positive orientation and rational problem-solving as functional behaviours, and defined all the others as dysfunctional, leading to psychological distress.

The skills required for positive problem orientation are:

Being able to see problems as ‘challenges’, or opportunities to gain something, rather than insurmountable difficulties at which it is only possible to fail.

For more about this, see our page on The Importance of Mindset ;

Believing that problems are solvable. While this, too, may be considered an aspect of mindset, it is also important to use techniques of Positive Thinking ;

Believing that you personally are able to solve problems successfully, which is at least in part an aspect of self-confidence.

See our page on Building Confidence for more;

Understanding that solving problems successfully will take time and effort, which may require a certain amount of resilience ; and

Motivating yourself to solve problems immediately, rather than putting them off.

See our pages on Self-Motivation and Time Management for more.

Those who find it harder to develop positive problem orientation tend to view problems as insurmountable obstacles, or a threat to their well-being, doubt their own abilities to solve problems, and become frustrated or upset when they encounter problems.

The skills required for rational problem-solving include:

The ability to gather information and facts, through research. There is more about this on our page on defining and identifying problems ;

The ability to set suitable problem-solving goals. You may find our page on personal goal-setting helpful;

The application of rational thinking to generate possible solutions. You may find some of the ideas on our Creative Thinking page helpful, as well as those on investigating ideas and solutions ;

Good decision-making skills to decide which solution is best. See our page on Decision-Making for more; and

Implementation skills, which include the ability to plan, organise and do. You may find our pages on Action Planning , Project Management and Solution Implementation helpful.

There is more about the rational problem-solving process on our page on Problem-Solving .

Potential Difficulties

Those who struggle to manage rational problem-solving tend to either:

• Rush things without thinking them through properly (the impulsive/careless approach), or
• Avoid them through procrastination, ignoring the problem, or trying to persuade someone else to solve the problem (the avoidance mode).

This ‘ avoidance ’ is not the same as actively and appropriately delegating to someone with the necessary skills (see our page on Delegation Skills for more).

Instead, it is simple ‘buck-passing’, usually characterised by a lack of selection of anyone with the appropriate skills, and/or an attempt to avoid responsibility for the problem.

An Academic Term for a Human Process?

You may be thinking that social problem-solving, and the model described here, sounds like an academic attempt to define very normal human processes. This is probably not an unreasonable summary.

However, breaking a complex process down in this way not only helps academics to study it, but also helps us to develop our skills in a more targeted way. By considering each element of the process separately, we can focus on those that we find most difficult: maximum ‘bang for your buck’, as it were.

Continue to: Decision Making Creative Problem-Solving

See also: What is Empathy? Social Skills

Different By Design Learning

with Shawna Wingert

Social Pragmatic Goals In Speech Therapy: Everything You Need To Know

This overview introduces social pragmatic goals in speech therapy as well as examples of how these goals contribute to your child’s increasing social ability.

When my child was first diagnosed with social pragmatic language disorder, I was not surprised. Part of my college education included a minor in communication disorders, so I was familiar with how a speech-language pathologist would approach his treatment. What did surprise were the actual pragmatic language goals that were put into place as part of his IEP.

Learning Social Language Skills

Table Of Contents

When is child is struggling with pragmatic language, struggle in various language related functions, including:

• conversational turns
• comprehending facial expressions
• body language
• personal space
• understanding figurative language (i.e. metaphor, hyperbole, etc.)
• appropriate eye contact
• visual cues
• verbal prompts

Fluency in conversation exchanges amongst young children is very different than the pragmatic skills necessary for social conversation as a child gets older (and don’t get me started on middle schoolers!). The school setting tends to expose a need for social pragmatics and often leads to speech therapy for social communication skills.

Examples Of Social Skills Goals For Functional Communication

The following is a sample list of goals a speech therapist might establish for social pragmatic learning. Please note, these goals go far beyond the articulation goals that are most frequently a part of speech therapy. You will typically find them as part of an IEP goal bank in speech-language pathology.

• Learner will label emotions/feelings in partners or in pictures with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions.
• Learner will use words to express their feelings independently for 80% of opportunities across 3 sessions.
• Learner will state an answer to what another person might be feeling based about a social situation with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions,
• Learner will answer pragmatic questions about social situations during structured activities with 80% accuracy for 3sessions.
• Learner will identify a problem in a social setting/picture scene with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions.
• Learner will make inferences after hearing part of a story/social situation with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions.
• Learner will use greetings and farewells for 5 consecutive sessions..
• Learner will request help independently in 80% of opportunities across 5 sessions
• Learner will maintain conversation for 3 turns by asking a questions or commenting with no more than 1 verbal prompt for 3 sessions.
• Learner will add an appropriate comment to a topic generated by therapist or partner without prompting at least 10 times across 3 sessions.
• Learner will participate in turn-taking with the therapist for 5 turns per opportunity with a minimum of 5 opportunities across 3 sessions.
• Learner will identify signs of listener boredom or disinterest independently with 80% accuracy for 3 sessions.

These goals are certainly not exhaustive, but do help to measure a child’s progress towards social interaction skills in everyday life.

Autism Spectrum Disorder vs. Social Pragmatic Language Disorder

While there is some overlap, social pragmatic language disorder exists as a diagnosis completely separate from autism spectrum disorder in the DSM-V. Prior to the DSM-V’s release however, the two were considered the same diagnosis – autism spectrum disorder.

According to  Attitude Magazine people with social pragmatic language disorder may also struggle with:

• Responding to others
• Using gestures such as waving and pointing
• Taking turns when talking
• Talking about emotions and feelings
• Staying on topic
• Adjusting speech to fit different people and different circumstances
• Asking relevant questions
• Responding with related ideas
• Using words for different purposes, such as greeting people, asking questions, responding to questions, making comments
• Making and keeping friends

Here is a strong comparison of the similarities and differences between the two:

Many of the same symptoms also often overlap with those of other dianoses and learning differences, which can complicate diagnosis (according to a  study completed in 2013 .) Part of the diagnostic criteria is designed to rule out other potential factors first.

How Structured Language Activities Support A Child’s Social Relationships

Independent of any diagnosis, the reality is that a child struggling with pragmatic language can benefit greatly from accommodation and intervention.

Social Pragmatic Goals In Speech Therapy

Every one of the goals above corresponds to a need identified as part of the speech evaluations. Conversation skills, problem solving, nonverbal communication, and social cognition are all factored into these goals and how they impact a child’s ability in conversational exchanges.

More Resources For Social Pragmatic Communication

Speech Therapy Goals: A Step By Step Guide

Speech Therapy For An Older Child

Speech Therapy At Home

Fig urative Language Activities

Allusion Sentence Examples And Activities

Thanks For Sharing!

Shawna Wingert is a former training and development professional turned education specialist, and has homeschooled her two children for the last ten years.Shawna has written four books about homeschooling unique learners and has been featured in homeschooling discussions on Today.com, The Mighty, Simple Homeschool, My Little Poppies and Raising Lifelong Leaners. 

You can find her online here at DifferentByDesignLearning.com.

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Assessing Social Pragmatic Abilities in Children with Language Difficulties

You’ve received a referral to assess the language abilities of a school aged child with suspected language difficulties. The child has not been assessed before so you know you’ll need a comprehensive language test to look at the child’s ability to recall sentences, follow directions, name words, as well as perform a number of other tasks showcasing the child’s abilities in the areas of content and form (Bloom & Lahey, 1978).

But how about the area of language use? Will you be assessing the child’s pragmatic and social cognitive abilities as well during your language assessment? After all most comprehensive standardized assessments, “typically focus on semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology, as these are the performance areas in which specific skill development can be most objectively measured” (Hill & Coufal, 2005, p 35).

This means that popular comprehensive language such as  Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language-2 or the Test of Language Development-4 will not contain subtests assessing pragmatics and social competence. The  Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-5 (CELF-5) which contains a Pragmatics Profile , does NOT really taps into the child’s social language competence since it does NOT directly test the child’s social language skills but rather assesses them via a parental/teachers questionnaire. Even the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy , which contains the Social Communication (SC) subtest can be passed by a number of students quite easily despite presenting with notable and easily evidenced social communication deficits.

Thus, many children can attain average scores on comprehensive language tests yet still present with pervasive social language deficits . That is why it’s very important to thoroughly assess social communication separately and not merely document your observations regarding the child’s behavior in the ‘background information’ section of the report.

But why should we? Can this one area really make such a difference? Well, turns out that it can! Numerous researchers have found a strong connection between language impairment (LI) and social deficits.  Paul, Looney, & Dahm (1991) found that late talkers as young as 18 months of age evidence peer socialization difficulties.  Early social difficulty such as difficulty with initiating and participating in play with peers may place toddlers at risk for later social rejection. As these children enter preschool they run the risk of being less socially accepted (Gertner, Rice, & Hadley, 1994) then typically developing peers. By the time children with language difficulties enter early elementary grades, the gap widens as they begin to manifest greater and greater difficulties in the area of social functioning (Fujiki, Brinton, Isaacson, & Summers, 2001).

So how can we administer balanced comprehensive evaluations which encompass assessment of the child’s social pragmatic skills? For starters, we need to do some prep work and establish prior to testing that this area is indeed affected and requires looking into.  I personally dislike wasting time, which is why prior to my assessments, I ask both the parent and the teacher to fill out checklists, which I’ve developed, specifically for this purpose.  On these multiple page checklists (separate for preschool and school aged children), I have 5 areas related to social pragmatic functioning:

• Narrative/Storytelling   
• Problem Solving
• Pragmatic Language
• Social Emotional Development
• Executive Functions

After a specific checklist is returned to me, I make decisions regarding whether part of my testing will be devoted to assessment of the child’s social pragmatic language skills and if so, what type of testing will be appropriate in such case? If social pragmatic assessment is needed, the latter becomes fairly apparent after I observe the child (e.g., in the classroom, during free period) as well as during the administration of the comprehensive language testing.

So what are some useful standardized and non standardized assessments of Social Pragmatic Language?

There are quite a few, but for the purposes of this post, I’ll just mention some of the ones that I use on daily basis for children whose ages range from toddlerhood through adolescence.

For toddlers 18 -47 months of age, I highly recommend the Language Use Inventory (LUI)  (O’Neil, 2009) which is administered in the form of a parental questionnaire.   —Aimed at identifying children with delay/impairment in pragmatic language development it contains —180 questions and divided into 3 parts and 14 subscales including:

• —Communication w/t gestures
• —Communication w/t words
• —Longer sentences

For preschoolers ages 4 and up, the Children’s Communication Checklist-2 U.S. Edition (CCC-2) is quite useful. This 70 item norm referenced instrument (given to the parent to rate) is divided into 10 scales, 4 of which ( E, F, G & H) address pragmatic aspects of communication, while another two ( I & J) assess behaviors commonly impaired in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Bishop, 2006; 2000).

For school aged children 6-12 years of age, the following standardized instruments tend to be fairly effective in teasing out social pragmatic language deficits:

• Test of Problem Solving-3 Elementary (TOPS-3)
• Test of Pragmatic Language-2 (TOPL-2) Available for children 6-18 years of age*
• Social Emotional Evaluation (SEE)**
• Social Language Development Test -Elementary (SLDT-E)                                                                   

*It is important to note that the TOPL-2 is best suited for children who either have impaired cognitive abilities (<70 IQ) or who have severely impaired perspective taking abilities, since this test is primarily composed of questions dealing with rules of polite conduct and involves very limited perspective taking.  Children with average IQ but significant word-retrieval deficits may also fair poorly on this test, if they are unable to coherently verbalize their answers to presented questions.

**Similarly the Social Emotional Evaluation (SEE) is best suited for children with impaired cognition and moderately impaired perspective taking abilities, since much of the test involves recall of facial expressions, as well as identification and recognition of common emotions and emotional reactions. The subtest “Understanding Conflicting Messages” may be limitedly useful for administration with higher functioning children.

For students 7-18 years of age the Clinical Assessment of Pragmatics ( CAPs ) is another good instrument sensitive to the assessment of social rules, irony, sarcasm, figurative language as well as comprehension and elicitation of nonverbal body language.

For school aged children 12-18 years of age I typically use the following standardized instruments (unless they are significantly impaired in the area of pragmatics, in which case I’ll use the TOPL-2 ):

• Test of Problem Solving-2 Adolescent (TOPS-2)
• Social Language Development Test -Adolescent (SLDT-A)
• Listening Comprehension Test Adolescent (LCT-A)

Some of you may wonder why I included the test of Listening Comprehension on this list. Well for those of you who are unfamiliar with this test, it has paragraph based questions, which require synthesis of presented information to identify main ideas. In other words the test assesses the student’s ability to engage in Gestalt Processing, or recognizing the “big picture” in messages, stories, or announcements. I also use it because it assesses problem solving and inferencing abilities, empathy and decision making in older children, so it’s a very useful instrument to have in your tool kit if you are working with language impaired adolescents.

When it comes to informal assessment of social language competence I often use materials from the following sources with children of various ages:

• Sally-Anne: First Order False Belief Task (Baron-Cohen, Leslie, & Frith 1985) Ages 4-5
• John Thinks that Mary Thinks Task (Perner & Wimmer, 1985) Ages 6+
• John Thinks that Mary Feels Task (Parker, MacDonald, & Miller, 2007) Ages 5-8
• Strange Stories (Happe, 1994) Ages 6+
• Social Dynamic Assessment Protocol (Winner, 2007) Ages 8+
• Informal Narrative Assessments (Hedberg & Westby, 1993) Ages: Pre-K -Adolescent

These are aimed at assessing the client’s perspective taking abilities, Theory of Mind, comprehension of non-literal language, positive and negative emotions, ability to produce coherent and cohesive narratives, as well as other abilities related to social competence. Of course I always exercise caution when using the above materials and instruments when assessing social pragmatic abilities of bilingual and multicultural children, since oftentimes extreme caution will be needed when reporting data and interpreting performance outcomes in order to avoid bias.

Also, when evaluating social pragmatic abilities, I typically attempt to use multiple assessment tasks to create a balanced assessment. I try to ensure that my assessments are functional, meaning that during my assessment I determine the child’s strengths and not just weaknesses. That is because I am looking for diagnostic information needed to formulate treatment goals, and if I just uncover weaknesses across the board, it’s quite difficult to find the starting point to initiate therapy. I also make sure that I add a descriptive portion to the report in addition to documenting standard scores, in order to objectively describe the child’s deficit areas.

Social pragmatic assessments are an integral part of language evaluations. After all so much of our students’ success depends not on their standardized tests scores but on their social skills (Lleras, 2008).

• — Social Pragmatic Assessment and Treatment Bundle
• Social Pragmatic Deficits Checklist for School Aged Children
• The Checklists Bundle
• — Narrative Assessment Bundle
• —Psychiatric Disorders Bundle
• — Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Assessment and Treatment Bundle
• Assessing Social Pragmatic Skills of School Aged Children
• Treatment of Social Pragmatic Deficits in School Aged Children
• Social Pragmatic Language Activity Pack
• Behavior Management Strategies for Speech Language Pathologists
• Executive Function Impairments in At-Risk Pediatric Populations

References :

• —  Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A.M., & Frith, U.  (1985) Does the autistic child have a ‘theory of mind’?  Cognition , 21, 37-46
• —  Bishop, D. V. M. (2006), CCC-2; Children’s Communication Checklist-2, United States Edition, Manual. San Antonio, TX: Pearson
• —  Bishop, D. V. M. (2000). Pragmatic language impairment: A correlate of SLI, a distinct subgroup, or part of the autistic continuum? In D. V. M. Bishop & L. B. Leonard (Eds.), Speech and language impairments in children: Causes, characteristics, intervention & outcome (pp.99-113). Hove, UK: Psychology Press
• —  Bloom, L & Lahey, M. (1978) Language development and language disorders. New York, Wiley.
• —  Fujiki, M., Brinton, B., Isaacson, T., & Summers, C. (2001). Social behaviors of children with language impairment on the playground: a pilot study.  Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools , 32 (2), 101-113.
• —  Gertner, B.L., Rice, M.L., & Hadley, P.A. (1994). Influence of communicative competence on peer preferences in a preschool classroom.  Journal of Speech and Hearing Research , 37, 913-923.
• —  Happé, F. G. E. (1994). An Advanced Test of Theory of Mind: Understanding of Story Characters’ Thoughts and Feelings by Able Autistic, Mentally Handicapped and Normal Children and Adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 129-154.
• —  Hedberg, N. & Westby, C. (1993). Analyzing story-telling skills: Theory to practice. Tucson, AZ: Communication Skill Builders.
• —  Hill, J. W., & Coufal, K. L. (2005). Emotional/behavioral disorders: A retrospective examination of social skills, linguistics, and student outcomes.  Communication Disorders Quarterly ,  27 (1), 33–46.
• —  Lleras, Christy. (2008). “ Do Skills and Behaviors in High School Matter? The Contribution of Noncognitive Factors in Explaining Differences in Educational Attainment and Earnings. ” Social Science Research, 37: 888-902.
• —  O’Neill, D. (2009). The Language Use Inventory (LUI)
• Parker JR, MacDonald CA, & Miller SA, (2007) “John thinks that Mary feels. . .” False belief in children across affective and physical domains . Journal of Genetic Psychology , 168(1):43-61.
• —  Paul, R., Looney, S., & Dahm, P. (1991). Communication and socialization skills at ages 2 and 3 in “late-talking” young children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research , 34, 858-865.
• —  Perner, J., & Wimmer, H. (1985) John Thinks That Mary Thinks That – Attribution of 2 nd order Beliefs By 5-Year-Old To 10-Year-Old Children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 39, 437–471.
• —  Winner, M.G., (2007).  Thinking About You Thinking About Me.  Think Social Publications, San Jose, CA

15 thoughts on “ Assessing Social Pragmatic Abilities in Children with Language Difficulties ”

[…] General language tests such do NOT directly test children’s narrative abilities or social language skills. Thus, many children can attain average scores on these tests yet still present with pervasive higher order language deficits, so more sensitive testing IS NEEDED.  […]

Thank you for this article. I was looking for an assessment that targets pragmatic language in younger children on my caseload (age 4 and younger), and there are very few options at this age level. I am excited to use the Language Use Inventory in my private practice. Thank you, Rachel Sakofs, M.S. CCC-SLP BrainWorks Therapy, LLC http://www.brainworksslp.com

Hello Tatyana, I have a question. The LUI seems promising since it’s the only one you could do on younger children. However, it is normed on Canadian children. Therefore, we wouldn’t be able to use the norms. How do you use it? What information does it provide? Is there an alternative?

Because it is a parental questionnaire dealing with basic pragmatic milestones for kids 18 mos-47 mos of age, it is perfectly acceptable to use the norms with US children as these milestones are not different for US kids.

I noticed that the Theory of Mind Inventory was not mentioned, but it is listed on your assessment checklist as a good option. Can you comment on when you might use this and maybe what other assessments might complement it?

I’m planning to buy the SLDT-E soon, but after reading this post I’m wondering if another assessment would be a better option.

Thank you, Marianne

I believe that was because this post was originally published before I became aware of TOM-2 Inventory. I did review the TOM-2 inventory in this post “Early Intervention Evaluations PART IV:Assessing Social Pragmatic Abilities of Children Under 3” https://www.smartspeechtherapy.com/early-intervention-evaluations-part-ivassessing-social-pragmatic-abilities-of-children-under-3/

Great information and I love that theory of mind cartoon!

[…] deficits are overt (e.g., reduced vocabulary and grammar), many subtle language difficulties (e.g., social communication, writing, etc.) may not be readily recognized without these in-depth […]

[…] subtle or overt social communication difficulties that require assessment and intervention.  More assessment tools were developed to assess social communication abilities of school-age children.  A number of […]

[…] Let’s begin by answering a few simple questions. Was a thorough language evaluation with an emphasis on the child’s social pragmatic language abilities been completed? And by thorough, I am not referring to general language tests but to a variety of formal and informal social pragmatic language testing (read more HERE). […]

Is there a reason LinguiSystems no longer carries the Executive Functions Test?

Not quite sure. Perhaps it’s because Super Duper now sells it? https://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=TM891#.Wr4Gcsv3ahA

[…] and easily evidenced social communication deficits. Consequently, I prefer the administration of comprehensive social communication testing when working with children in my hospital based program or in my private practice, where I perform […]

[…] and expression of language but may display significant social pragmatic language weaknesses, which will not be apparent on general language testing (e.g., administration of Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals -5). Thus, the administration […]

[…] versus externalizing manifestations) many social communication deficits will be missed without the administration of appropriate social pragmatic language assessments.  It is also important to note that presently social pragmatic assessments ARE NOT routinely […]

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7 Thinking, Language, and Problem Solving

What is the best way to solve a problem? How does a person who has never seen or touched snow in real life develop an understanding of the concept of snow? How do young children acquire the ability to learn language with no formal instruction? Psychologists who study thinking explore questions like these and are called cognitive psychologists.

In other chapters, we discussed the cognitive processes of perception, learning, and memory. In this chapter, we will focus on high-level cognitive processes. As a part of this discussion, we will consider thinking and briefly explore the development and use of language. We will also discuss problem solving and creativity. After finishing this chapter, you will have a greater appreciation of the higher-level cognitive processes that contribute to our distinctiveness as a species.

Table of Contents

7.1 What is Cognition? 7.2 Language 7.3 Problem Solving

7.1 What is Cognition?

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe cognition
• Distinguish concepts and prototypes
• Explain the difference between natural and artificial concepts
• Describe how schemata are organized and constructed

Imagine all of your thoughts as if they were physical entities, swirling rapidly inside your mind. How is it possible that the brain is able to move from one thought to the next in an organized, orderly fashion? The brain is endlessly perceiving, processing, planning, organizing, and remembering—it is always active. Yet, you don’t notice most of your brain’s activity as you move throughout your daily routine. This is only one facet of the complex processes involved in cognition . Simply put,  cognition  is thinking, and it encompasses the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgment, language, and memory. Scientists who study cognition are searching for ways to understand how we integrate, organize, and utilize our conscious cognitive experiences without being aware of all of the unconscious work that our brains are doing (for example, Kahneman, 2011).

Upon waking each morning, you begin thinking—contemplating the tasks that you must complete that day. In what order should you run your errands? Should you go to the bank, the cleaners, or the grocery store first? Can you get these things done before you head to class or will they need to wait until school is done? These thoughts are one example of cognition at work. Exceptionally complex, cognition is an essential feature of human consciousness, yet not all aspects of cognition are consciously experienced.

Cognitive psychology  is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem solving, in addition to other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychologists strive to determine and measure different types of intelligence, why some people are better at problem solving than others, and how emotional intelligence affects success in the workplace, among countless other topics. They also sometimes focus on how we organize thoughts and information gathered from our environments into meaningful categories of thought, which will be discussed later.

Concepts and Prototypes

The human nervous system is capable of handling endless streams of information. The senses serve as the interface between the mind and the external environment, receiving stimuli and translating it into nervous impulses that are transmitted to the brain. The brain then processes this information and uses the relevant pieces to create thoughts, which can then be expressed through language or stored in memory for future use. To make this process more complex, the brain does not gather information from external environments only. When thoughts are formed, the mind synthesizes information from emotions and memories ( Figure 7.2 ). Emotion and memory are powerful influences on both our thoughts and behaviors.

Concepts are informed by our semantic memory (you will learn more about semantic memory in a later chapter) and are present in every aspect of our lives; however, one of the easiest places to notice concepts is inside a classroom, where they are discussed explicitly. When you study United States history, for example, you learn about more than just individual events that have happened in America’s past. You absorb a large quantity of information by listening to and participating in discussions, examining maps, and reading first-hand accounts of people’s lives. Your brain analyzes these details and develops an overall understanding of American history. In the process, your brain gathers details that inform and refine your understanding of related concepts like democracy, power, and freedom.

Concepts can be complex and abstract, like justice, or more concrete, like types of birds. Some concepts, like tolerance, are agreed upon by many people, because they have been used in various ways over many years. Other concepts, like the characteristics of your ideal friend or your family’s birthday traditions, are personal and individualized. In this way, concepts touch every aspect of our lives, from our many daily routines to the guiding principles behind the way governments function.

Another technique used by your brain to organize information is the identification of prototypes for the concepts you have developed. A  prototype  is the best example or representation of a concept. For example, what comes to your mind when you think of a dog? Most likely your early experiences with dogs will shape what you imagine. If your first pet was a Golden Retriever, there is a good chance that this would be your prototype for the category of dogs.

Natural and Artificial Concepts

In psychology, concepts can be divided into two categories, natural and artificial. Natural concepts  are created “naturally” through your experiences and can be developed from either direct or indirect experiences. For example, if you live in Essex Junction, Vermont, you have probably had a lot of direct experience with snow. You’ve watched it fall from the sky, you’ve seen lightly falling snow that barely covers the windshield of your car, and you’ve shoveled out 18 inches of fluffy white snow as you’ve thought, “This is perfect for skiing.” You’ve thrown snowballs at your best friend and gone sledding down the steepest hill in town. In short, you know snow. You know what it looks like, smells like, tastes like, and feels like. If, however, you’ve lived your whole life on the island of Saint Vincent in the Caribbean, you may never have actually seen snow, much less tasted, smelled, or touched it. You know snow from the indirect experience of seeing pictures of falling snow—or from watching films that feature snow as part of the setting. Either way, snow is a natural concept because you can construct an understanding of it through direct observations, experiences with snow, or indirect knowledge (such as from films or books) ( Figure 7.3 ).

An  artificial concept , on the other hand, is a concept that is defined by a specific set of characteristics. Various properties of geometric shapes, like squares and triangles, serve as useful examples of artificial concepts. A triangle always has three angles and three sides. A square always has four equal sides and four right angles. Mathematical formulas, like the equation for area (length × width) are artificial concepts defined by specific sets of characteristics that are always the same. Artificial concepts can enhance the understanding of a topic by building on one another. For example, before learning the concept of “area of a square” (and the formula to find it), you must understand what a square is. Once the concept of “area of a square” is understood, an understanding of area for other geometric shapes can be built upon the original understanding of area. The use of artificial concepts to define an idea is crucial to communicating with others and engaging in complex thought. According to Goldstone and Kersten (2003), concepts act as building blocks and can be connected in countless combinations to create complex thoughts.

A  schema (plural: schemata)  is a mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts (Bartlett, 1932). There are many different types of schemata, and they all have one thing in common: schemata are a method of organizing information that allows the brain to work more efficiently. When a schema is activated, the brain makes immediate assumptions about the person or object being observed.

There are several types of schemata. A  role schema  makes assumptions about how individuals in certain roles will behave (Callero, 1994). For example, imagine you meet someone who introduces himself as a firefighter. When this happens, your brain automatically activates the “firefighter schema” and begins making assumptions that this person is brave, selfless, and community-oriented. Despite not knowing this person, already you have unknowingly made judgments about him. Schemata also help you fill in gaps in the information you receive from the world around you. While schemata allow for more efficient information processing, there can be problems with schemata, regardless of whether they are accurate: Perhaps this particular firefighter is not brave, he just works as a firefighter to pay the bills while studying to become a children’s librarian.

An  event schema , also known as a  cognitive script , is a set of behaviors that can feel like a routine. Think about what you do when you walk into an elevator ( Figure 7.4 ). First, the doors open and you wait to let exiting passengers leave the elevator car. Then, you step into the elevator and turn around to face the doors, looking for the correct button to push. You never face the back of the elevator, do you? And when you’re riding in a crowded elevator and you can’t face the front, it feels uncomfortable, doesn’t it? Interestingly, event schemata can vary widely among different cultures and countries. For example, while it is quite common for people to greet one another with a handshake in the United States, in Tibet, you greet someone by sticking your tongue out at them, and in Belize, you bump fists (Cairns Regional Council, n.d.)

Because event schemata are automatic, they can be difficult to change. Imagine that you are driving home from work or school. This event schema involves getting in the car, shutting the door, and buckling your seatbelt before putting the key in the ignition. You might perform this script two or three times each day. As you drive home, you hear your phone’s ring tone. Typically, the event schema that occurs when you hear your phone ringing involves locating the phone and answering it or responding to your latest text message. So without thinking, you reach for your phone, which could be in your pocket, in your bag, or on the passenger seat of the car. This powerful event schema is informed by your pattern of behavior and the pleasurable stimulation that a phone call or text message gives your brain. Because it is a schema, it is extremely challenging for us to stop reaching for the phone, even though we know that we endanger our own lives and the lives of others while we do it (Neyfakh, 2013) ( Figure 7.5 ).

Remember the elevator? It feels almost impossible to walk in and  not  face the door. Our powerful event schema dictates our behavior in the elevator, and it is no different with our phones. Current research suggests that it is the habit, or event schema, of checking our phones in many different situations that makes refraining from checking them while driving especially difficult (Bayer & Campbell, 2012). Because texting and driving has become a dangerous epidemic in recent years, psychologists are looking at ways to help people interrupt the “phone schema” while driving. Event schemata like these are the reason why many habits are difficult to break once they have been acquired. As we continue to examine thinking, keep in mind how powerful the forces of concepts and schemata are to our understanding of the world.

7.2 LAnguage

• Define language and demonstrate familiarity with the components of language
• Understand the development of language
• Explain the relationship between language and thinking

Language  is a communication system that involves using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one individual to another. While language is a form of communication, not all communication is language. Many species communicate with one another through their postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations. This communication is crucial for species that need to interact and develop social relationships with their conspecifics. However, many people have asserted that it is language that makes humans unique among all of the animal species (Corballis & Suddendorf, 2007; Tomasello & Rakoczy, 2003). This section will focus on what distinguishes language as a special form of communication, how the use of language develops, and how language affects the way we think.

Components of Language

Language, be it spoken, signed, or written, has specific components: a lexicon and lexicon grammar .  Lexicon  refers to the words of a given language. Thus, lexicon is a language’s vocabulary.  Grammar  refers to the set of rules that are used to convey meaning through the use of the lexicon (Fernández & Cairns, 2011). For instance, English grammar dictates that most verbs receive an “-ed” at the end to indicate past tense.

Words are formed by combining the various phonemes that make up the language. A  phoneme  (e.g., the sounds “ah” vs. “eh”) is a basic sound unit of a given language, and different languages have different sets of phonemes. For example, the phoneme English speakers associate with the letter ‘L’ is not used in the Japanese language. Similarly, many Southern African languages use phonemes, sometimes referred to as ‘click consonants’ that are not used in English.

Phonemes are combined to form  morphemes , which are the smallest units of language that convey some type of meaning. Some words are morphemes, but not all morphemes are words.  For example, “-ed” is a morpheme used to convey the past-tense in English, but it is not a word. The word “review” contains two morphemes: re- (meaning to do something again) and view (to see). Finally, some words like “I” and “a” are both a phonemes and morphemes.

We use semantics and syntax to construct language. Semantics and syntax are part of a language’s grammar.  Semantics  refers to the process by which we derive meaning from morphemes and words by connecting those morphemes and words to stored concepts.  Syntax  refers to the way words are organized into sentences (Chomsky, 1965; Fernández & Cairns, 2011). For example, you would never say “the dog walked I today” to let someone know you took your dog for a walk–that sentence does not obey English syntax and is therefore difficult to make sense of.

We apply the rules of grammar to organize the lexicon in novel and creative ways, which allow us to communicate information about both concrete and abstract concepts. We can talk about our immediate and observable surroundings as well as the surface of unseen planets. We can share our innermost thoughts, our plans for the future, and debate the value of a college education. We can provide detailed instructions for cooking a meal, fixing a car, or building a fire. Through our use of words and language, we are able to form, organize, and express ideas, schema, and artificial concepts.

Language Development

Given the remarkable complexity of a language, one might expect that mastering a language would be an especially arduous task; indeed, for those of us trying to learn a second language as adults, this might seem to be true. However, young children master language very quickly with relative ease. B. F.  Skinner  (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement. Noam  Chomsky  (1965) criticized this behaviorist approach, asserting instead that the mechanisms underlying language acquisition are biologically determined. The use of language develops in the absence of formal instruction and appears to follow a very similar pattern in children from vastly different cultures and backgrounds. It would seem, therefore, that we are born with a biological predisposition to acquire a language (Chomsky, 1965; Fernández & Cairns, 2011). Moreover, it appears that there is a critical period for language acquisition, such that this proficiency at acquiring language is maximal early in life; generally, as people age, the ease with which they acquire and master new languages diminishes (Johnson & Newport, 1989; Lenneberg, 1967; Singleton, 1995).

Children begin to learn about language from a very early age ( Table 7.1 ). In fact, it appears that this is occurring even before we are born. Newborns show preference for their mother’s voice and appear to be able to discriminate between the language spoken by their mother and other languages. Babies are also attuned to the languages being used around them and show preferences for videos of faces that are moving in synchrony with the audio of spoken language versus videos that do not synchronize with the audio (Blossom & Morgan, 2006; Pickens, 1994; Spelke & Cortelyou, 1981).

DIG DEEPER: The Case of Genie

In the fall of 1970, a social worker in the Los Angeles area found a 13-year-old girl who was being raised in extremely neglectful and abusive conditions. The girl, who came to be known as Genie, had lived most of her life tied to a potty chair or confined to a crib in a small room that was kept closed with the curtains drawn. For a little over a decade, Genie had virtually no social interaction and no access to the outside world. As a result of these conditions, Genie was unable to stand up, chew solid food, or speak (Fromkin, Krashen, Curtiss, Rigler, & Rigler, 1974; Rymer, 1993). The police took Genie into protective custody.

Genie’s abilities improved dramatically following her removal from her abusive environment, and early on, it appeared she was acquiring language—much later than would be predicted by critical period hypotheses that had been posited at the time (Fromkin et al., 1974). Genie managed to amass an impressive vocabulary in a relatively short amount of time. However, she never developed a mastery of the grammatical aspects of language (Curtiss, 1981). Perhaps being deprived of the opportunity to learn language during a critical period impeded Genie’s ability to fully acquire and use language.

You may recall that each language has its own set of phonemes that are used to generate morphemes, words, and so on. Babies can discriminate among the sounds that make up a language (for example, they can tell the difference between the “s” in vision and the “ss” in fission); early on, they can differentiate between the sounds of all human languages, even those that do not occur in the languages that are used in their environments. However, by the time that they are about 1 year old, they can only discriminate among those phonemes that are used in the language or languages in their environments (Jensen, 2011; Werker & Lalonde, 1988; Werker & Tees, 1984).

After the first few months of life, babies enter what is known as the babbling stage, during which time they tend to produce single syllables that are repeated over and over. As time passes, more variations appear in the syllables that they produce. During this time, it is unlikely that the babies are trying to communicate; they are just as likely to babble when they are alone as when they are with their caregivers (Fernández & Cairns, 2011). Interestingly, babies who are raised in environments in which sign language is used will also begin to show babbling in the gestures of their hands during this stage (Petitto, Holowka, Sergio, Levy, & Ostry, 2004).

Generally, a child’s first word is uttered sometime between the ages of 1 year to 18 months, and for the next few months, the child will remain in the “one word” stage of language development. During this time, children know a number of words, but they only produce one-word utterances. The child’s early vocabulary is limited to familiar objects or events, often nouns. Although children in this stage only make one-word utterances, these words often carry larger meaning (Fernández & Cairns, 2011). So, for example, a child saying “cookie” could be identifying a cookie or asking for a cookie.

As a child’s lexicon grows, she begins to utter simple sentences and to acquire new vocabulary at a very rapid pace. In addition, children begin to demonstrate a clear understanding of the specific rules that apply to their language(s). Even the mistakes that children sometimes make provide evidence of just how much they understand about those rules. This is sometimes seen in the form of  overgeneralization . In this context, overgeneralization refers to an extension of a language rule to an exception to the rule. For example, in English, it is usually the case that an “s” is added to the end of a word to indicate plurality. For example, we speak of one dog versus two dogs. Young children will overgeneralize this rule to cases that are exceptions to the “add an s to the end of the word” rule and say things like “those two gooses” or “three mouses.” Clearly, the rules of the language are understood, even if the exceptions to the rules are still being learned (Moskowitz, 1978).

Language and Thought

When we speak one language, we agree that words are representations of ideas, people, places, and events. The given language that children learn is connected to their culture and surroundings. But can words themselves shape the way we think about things? Psychologists have long investigated the question of whether language shapes thoughts and actions, or whether our thoughts and beliefs shape our language. Two researchers, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, began this investigation in the 1940s. They wanted to understand how the language habits of a community encourage members of that community to interpret language in a particular manner (Sapir, 1941/1964). Sapir and Whorf proposed that language determines thought. For example, in some languages there are many different words for love. However, in English we use the word love for all types of love. Does this affect how we think about love depending on the language that we speak (Whorf, 1956)? Researchers have since identified this view as too absolute, pointing out a lack of empiricism behind what Sapir and Whorf proposed (Abler, 2013; Boroditsky, 2011; van Troyer, 1994). Today, psychologists continue to study and debate the relationship between language and thought.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? The Meaning of Language

Think about what you know of other languages; perhaps you even speak multiple languages. Imagine for a moment that your closest friend fluently speaks more than one language. Do you think that friend thinks differently, depending on which language is being spoken? You may know a few words that are not translatable from their original language into English. For example, the Portuguese word  saudade  originated during the 15th century, when Portuguese sailors left home to explore the seas and travel to Africa or Asia. Those left behind described the emptiness and fondness they felt as  saudade  ( Figure 7.6 ) .  The word came to express many meanings, including loss, nostalgia, yearning, warm memories, and hope. There is no single word in English that includes all of those emotions in a single description. Do words such as  saudade  indicate that different languages produce different patterns of thought in people? What do you think??

One group of researchers who wanted to investigate how language influences thought compared how English speakers and the Dani people of Papua New Guinea think and speak about color. The Dani have two words for color: one word for  light  and one word for  dark . In contrast, the English language has 11 color words. Researchers hypothesized that the number of color terms could limit the ways that the Dani people conceptualized color. However, the Dani were able to distinguish colors with the same ability as English speakers, despite having fewer words at their disposal (Berlin & Kay, 1969). A recent review of research aimed at determining how language might affect something like color perception suggests that language can influence perceptual phenomena, especially in the left hemisphere of the brain. You may recall from earlier chapters that the left hemisphere is associated with language for most people. However, the right (less linguistic hemisphere) of the brain is less affected by linguistic influences on perception (Regier & Kay, 2009)

7.3 Problem Solving

• Describe problem solving strategies
• Define algorithm and heuristic
• Explain some common roadblocks to effective problem solving and decision making

People face problems every day—usually, multiple problems throughout the day. Sometimes these problems are straightforward: To double a recipe for pizza dough, for example, all that is required is that each ingredient in the recipe be doubled. Sometimes, however, the problems we encounter are more complex. For example, say you have a work deadline, and you must mail a printed copy of a report to your supervisor by the end of the business day. The report is time-sensitive and must be sent overnight. You finished the report last night, but your printer will not work today. What should you do? First, you need to identify the problem and then apply a strategy for solving the problem.

Problem-Solving Strategies

When you are presented with a problem—whether it is a complex mathematical problem or a broken printer, how do you solve it? Before finding a solution to the problem, the problem must first be clearly identified. After that, one of many problem solving strategies can be applied, hopefully resulting in a solution.

A  problem-solving strategy  is a plan of action used to find a solution. Different strategies have different action plans associated with them ( Table 7.2 ). For example, a well-known strategy is  trial and error . The old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” describes trial and error. In terms of your broken printer, you could try checking the ink levels, and if that doesn’t work, you could check to make sure the paper tray isn’t jammed. Or maybe the printer isn’t actually connected to your laptop. When using trial and error, you would continue to try different solutions until you solved your problem. Although trial and error is not typically one of the most time-efficient strategies, it is a commonly used one.

Another type of strategy is an algorithm. An  algorithm  is a problem-solving formula that provides you with step-by-step instructions used to achieve a desired outcome (Kahneman, 2011). You can think of an algorithm as a recipe with highly detailed instructions that produce the same result every time they are performed. Algorithms are used frequently in our everyday lives, especially in computer science. When you run a search on the Internet, search engines like Google use algorithms to decide which entries will appear first in your list of results. Facebook also uses algorithms to decide which posts to display on your newsfeed. Can you identify other situations in which algorithms are used?

A heuristic is another type of problem solving strategy. While an algorithm must be followed exactly to produce a correct result, a  heuristic  is a general problem-solving framework (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). You can think of these as mental shortcuts that are used to solve problems. A “rule of thumb” is an example of a heuristic. Such a rule saves the person time and energy when making a decision, but despite its time-saving characteristics, it is not always the best method for making a rational decision. Different types of heuristics are used in different types of situations, but the impulse to use a heuristic occurs when one of five conditions is met (Pratkanis, 1989):

• When one is faced with too much information
• When the time to make a decision is limited
• When the decision to be made is unimportant
• When there is access to very little information to use in making the decision
• When an appropriate heuristic happens to come to mind in the same moment

Working backwards  is a useful heuristic in which you begin solving the problem by focusing on the end result. Consider this example: You live in Washington, D.C. and have been invited to a wedding at 4 PM on Saturday in Philadelphia. Knowing that Interstate 95 tends to back up any day of the week, you need to plan your route and time your departure accordingly. If you want to be at the wedding service by 3:30 PM, and it takes 2.5 hours to get to Philadelphia without traffic, what time should you leave your house? You use the working backwards heuristic to plan the events of your day on a regular basis, probably without even thinking about it.

Another useful heuristic is the practice of accomplishing a large goal or task by breaking it into a series of smaller steps. Students often use this common method to complete a large research project or long essay for school. For example, students typically brainstorm, develop a thesis or main topic, research the chosen topic, organize their information into an outline, write a rough draft, revise and edit the rough draft, develop a final draft, organize the references list, and proofread their work before turning in the project. The large task becomes less overwhelming when it is broken down into a series of small steps.

EVERYDAY CONNECTION: Solving Puzzles

Problem-solving abilities can improve with practice. Many people challenge themselves every day with puzzles and other mental exercises to sharpen their problem-solving skills. Sudoku puzzles appear daily in most newspapers. Typically, a sudoku puzzle is a 9×9 grid. The simple sudoku below ( Figure 7.7 ) is a 4×4 grid. To solve the puzzle, fill in the empty boxes with a single digit: 1, 2, 3, or 4. Here are the rules: The numbers must total 10 in each bolded box, each row, and each column; however, each digit can only appear once in a bolded box, row, and column. Time yourself as you solve this puzzle and compare your time with a classmate.

Here is another popular type of puzzle ( Figure 7.8 ) that challenges your spatial reasoning skills. Connect all nine dots with four connecting straight lines without lifting your pencil from the paper:

Not all problems are successfully solved, however. What challenges stop us from successfully solving a problem? Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Imagine a person in a room that has four doorways. One doorway that has always been open in the past is now locked. The person, accustomed to exiting the room by that particular doorway, keeps trying to get out through the same doorway even though the other three doorways are open. The person is stuck—but she just needs to go to another doorway, instead of trying to get out through the locked doorway. A  mental set  is where you persist in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past but is clearly not working now.

Functional fixedness  is a type of mental set where you cannot perceive an object being used for something other than what it was designed for. Duncker (1945) conducted foundational research on functional fixedness. He created an experiment in which participants were given a candle, a book of matches, and a box of thumbtacks. They were instructed to use those items to attach the candle to the wall so that it did not drip wax onto the table below. Participants had to use functional fixedness to solve the problem ( Figure 7.10 ). During the  Apollo 13  mission to the moon, NASA engineers at Mission Control had to overcome functional fixedness to save the lives of the astronauts aboard the spacecraft. An explosion in a module of the spacecraft damaged multiple systems. The astronauts were in danger of being poisoned by rising levels of carbon dioxide because of problems with the carbon dioxide filters. The engineers found a way for the astronauts to use spare plastic bags, tape, and air hoses to create a makeshift air filter, which saved the lives of the astronauts.

Researchers have investigated whether functional fixedness is affected by culture. In one experiment, individuals from the Shuar group in Ecuador were asked to use an object for a purpose other than that for which the object was originally intended. For example, the participants were told a story about a bear and a rabbit that were separated by a river and asked to select among various objects, including a spoon, a cup, erasers, and so on, to help the animals. The spoon was the only object long enough to span the imaginary river, but if the spoon was presented in a way that reflected its normal usage, it took participants longer to choose the spoon to solve the problem. (German & Barrett, 2005). The researchers wanted to know if exposure to highly specialized tools, as occurs with individuals in industrialized nations, affects their ability to transcend functional fixedness. It was determined that functional fixedness is experienced in both industrialized and nonindustrialized cultures (German & Barrett, 2005).

In order to make good decisions, we use our knowledge and our reasoning. Often, this knowledge and reasoning is sound and solid. Sometimes, however, we are swayed by biases or by others manipulating a situation. For example, let’s say you and three friends wanted to rent a house and had a combined target budget of $1,600. The realtor shows you only very run-down houses for $1,600 and then shows you a very nice house for $2,000. Might you ask each person to pay more in rent to get the $2,000 home? Why would the realtor show you the run-down houses and the nice house? The realtor may be challenging your anchoring bias. An  anchoring bias  occurs when you focus on one piece of information when making a decision or solving a problem. In this case, you’re so focused on the amount of money you are willing to spend that you may not recognize what kinds of houses are available at that price point.

The  confirmation bias  is the tendency to focus on information that confirms your existing beliefs. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis.  Hindsight bias  leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did.  Representative bias  describes a faulty way of thinking, in which you unintentionally stereotype someone or something; for example, you may assume that your professors spend their free time reading books and engaging in intellectual conversation, because the idea of them spending their time playing volleyball or visiting an amusement park does not fit in with your stereotypes of professors.

Finally, the  availability heuristic  is a heuristic in which you make a decision based on an example, information, or recent experience that is that readily available to you, even though it may not be the best example to inform your decision .  Biases tend to “preserve that which is already established—to maintain our preexisting knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and hypotheses” (Aronson, 1995; Kahneman, 2011). These biases are summarized in  Table 7.3 .

Were you able to determine how many marbles are needed to balance the scales in  Figure 7.9 ? You need nine. Were you able to solve the problems in  Figure 7.7  and  Figure 7.8 ? Here are the answers ( Figure 7.11 ).

Chapter Summary

7.1 what is cognition.

In this section, you were introduced to cognitive psychology, which is the study of cognition, or the brain’s ability to think, perceive, plan, analyze, and remember. Concepts and their corresponding prototypes help us quickly organize our thinking by creating categories into which we can sort new information. We also develop schemata, which are clusters of related concepts. Some schemata involve routines of thought and behavior, and these help us function properly in various situations without having to “think twice” about them. Schemata show up in social situations and routines of daily behavior.

7.2 Language

Language is a communication system that has both a lexicon and a system of grammar. Language acquisition occurs naturally and effortlessly during the early stages of life, and this acquisition occurs in a predictable sequence for individuals around the world. Language has a strong influence on thought, and the concept of how language may influence cognition remains an area of study and debate in psychology.

Many different strategies exist for solving problems. Typical strategies include trial and error, applying algorithms, and using heuristics. To solve a large, complicated problem, it often helps to break the problem into smaller steps that can be accomplished individually, leading to an overall solution. Roadblocks to problem solving include a mental set, functional fixedness, and various biases that can cloud decision making skills.

thinking; or, all of the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgement, language, and memory.

A modern school of psychological thought that empirically examines mental processes such as perception, memory, language, and judgement.

a category or grouping of linguistic information, images, ideas or memories, such as life experiences.

knowledge about words, concepts, and language-based knowledge and facts

the best example or representation of a concept, specific to an individual

concepts developed through direct or indirect experiences with the world

a concept defined by a specific set of characteristics.

a mental construct consisting of a cluster of related concepts

a set of ideas relating to how individuals in certain roles will behave.

also known as a cognitive script; a set of behaviors associated with a particular place or event

also known as an event schema; a set of behaviors associated with a particular place or event

a communication system that involves using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one individual to another.

the words of a language

the rules of a language used to convey meaning through the use of the lexicon

the basic sounds that make up a language

the smallest unit of language that conveys meaning

the process by which we derive meaning from morphemes and words

the rules guiding the organization of morphemes into words and words into sentences.

Psychology 2e Copyright © 2020 by Openstax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Social Language Disorders

Social language disorders describes a range of difficulties with communicating with others and following social rules such as making eye contact, taking turns in conversations, and staying on a topic when speaking to others, among other things.   Social communication difficulties can be one aspect of Autism Spectrum Disorder, but can also exist without that diagnosis.   Social communication disorders can also include conflict management, problem solving, and understanding how to make and maintain friendships. 

What is Social Communication/Pragmatic Language?

Pragmatic Language is the social use of language and the underlying social “rules” that individuals follow when communicating. An individual may have strong vocabulary knowledge and generate grammatical sentences, but still struggle to effectively communicate with those around him or her due to difficulties with social language.

There are several components that make up Pragmatics. First is the understanding of different uses or purposes for language. For example, an individual should be able to use language to greet others, make requests, comment on their environment, question, and negate. Pragmatics also looks at how an individual can change his or her language based on their environment or listener. A child must learn that how he or she speaks and acts on the playground will be very different from in the classroom. Lastly, Pragmatics describes how an individual follows general “rules” of speaking and holding a conversation. This includes, knowing how to take turns speaking in a conversation, being able to maintain a certain topic, and using appropriate nonverbal language when conversing.

Causes of Pragmatic Delays in Children

The true cause of pragmatic language delays is still unknown. Research has suggested that it may be a neurodevelopmental disorder. Pragmatic delays are also associated with other diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, nonverbal learning disorder, and anxiety.

Symptoms Associated with Pragmatic Language Delays

• Poor eye contact
• Difficulty initiating and ending conversations appropriately
• Difficulty coping with transitions or changes in routine
• Struggling with making and maintaining friendships
• Difficulty interpreting facial expressions, body language, or nonverbal cues
• Difficulty taking turns in conversation or in play
• Concrete thinking
• Struggling with problem solving in social situations

Assessing Pragmatic Language Delays

The speech language pathologist (SLP) will complete formal and informal language assessments. The assessment will include looking at how the individual is able to use language for different purposes (e.g., greeting, requesting, asking questions, responding to questions, etc.). It will also look at how he or she understands nonverbal language cues and how he or she can problem solve social situations. Typically, the SLP will ask the parents to complete a questionnaire to determine how the individual uses language in different environments and what practical difficulties he or she has in the community.

Treating Pragmatic Language Delays

Treatment will use a variety of activities to target the specific social language skills that are impaired. Therapy tasks for young children may be based on games and other play activities; tasks for older children may be related to more social situations. The SLP may explicitly teach social communication rules that the child has not picked up on his or her own. The SLP will educate parents about the child’s problems and ways to work on language at home. It is very important to practice social language skills in different environments and with different people. Therapy may also be done in small groups to allow functional practice of the social communication skills in a therapeutic setting.

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44 Language and Problem Solving

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Define language and demonstrate familiarity with the components of language
• Understand how the use of language develops
• Explain the relationship between language and thinking
• Describe problem solving strategies
• Define algorithm and heuristic
• Explain some common roadblocks to effective problem solving

Language  is a communication system that involves using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one individual to another. While language is a form of communication, not all communication is language. Many species communicate with one another through their postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations. This communication is crucial for species that need to interact and develop social relationships with their conspecifics. However, many people have asserted that it is language that makes humans unique among all of the animal species (Corballis & Suddendorf, 2007; Tomasello & Rakoczy, 2003). This section will focus on what distinguishes language as a special form of communication, how the use of language develops, and how language affects the way we think.

COMPONENTS OF LANGUAGE

Language, be it spoken, signed, or written, has specific components: a lexicon and grammar.  Lexicon  refers to the words of a given language. Thus, lexicon is a language’s vocabulary.  Grammar  refers to the set of rules that are used to convey meaning through the use of the lexicon (Fernández & Cairns, 2011). For instance, English grammar dictates that most verbs receive an “-ed” at the end to indicate past tense.

Words are formed by combining the various phonemes that make up the language. A  phoneme  (e.g., the sounds “ah” vs. “eh”) is a basic sound unit of a given language, and different languages have different sets of phonemes. Phonemes are combined to form  morphemes , which are the smallest units of language that convey some type of meaning (e.g., “I” is both a phoneme and a morpheme). We use semantics and syntax to construct language. Semantics and syntax are part of a language’s grammar.  Semantics  refers to the process by which we derive meaning from morphemes and words.  Syntax  refers to the way words are organized into sentences (Chomsky, 1965; Fernández & Cairns, 2011).

We apply the rules of grammar to organize the lexicon in novel and creative ways, which allow us to communicate information about both concrete and abstract concepts. We can talk about our immediate and observable surroundings as well as the surface of unseen planets. We can share our innermost thoughts, our plans for the future, and debate the value of a college education. We can provide detailed instructions for cooking a meal, fixing a car, or building a fire. The flexibility that language provides to relay vastly different types of information is a property that makes language so distinct as a mode of communication among humans.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Given the remarkable complexity of a language, one might expect that mastering a language would be an especially arduous task; indeed, for those of us trying to learn a second language as adults, this might seem to be true. However, young children master language very quickly with relative ease. B. F.  Skinner  (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement. Noam  Chomsky  (1965) criticized this behaviorist approach, asserting instead that the mechanisms underlying language acquisition are biologically determined. The use of language develops in the absence of formal instruction and appears to follow a very similar pattern in children from vastly different cultures and backgrounds. It would seem, therefore, that we are born with a biological predisposition to acquire a language (Chomsky, 1965; Fernández & Cairns, 2011). Moreover, it appears that there is a critical period for language acquisition, such that this proficiency at acquiring language is maximal early in life; generally, as people age, the ease with which they acquire and master new languages diminishes (Johnson & Newport, 1989; Lenneberg, 1967; Singleton, 1995).

Children begin to learn about language from a very early age ( Table ). In fact, it appears that this is occurring even before we are born. Newborns show preference for their mother’s voice and appear to be able to discriminate between the language spoken by their mother and other languages. Babies are also attuned to the languages being used around them and show preferences for videos of faces that are moving in synchrony with the audio of spoken language versus videos that do not synchronize with the audio (Blossom & Morgan, 2006; Pickens, 1994; Spelke & Cortelyou, 1981).

In the fall of 1970, a social worker in the Los Angeles area found a 13-year-old girl who was being raised in extremely neglectful and abusive conditions. The girl, who came to be known as Genie, had lived most of her life tied to a potty chair or confined to a crib in a small room that was kept closed with the curtains drawn. For a little over a decade, Genie had virtually no social interaction and no access to the outside world. As a result of these conditions, Genie was unable to stand up, chew solid food, or speak (Fromkin, Krashen, Curtiss, Rigler, & Rigler, 1974; Rymer, 1993). The police took Genie into protective custody.

Genie’s abilities improved dramatically following her removal from her abusive environment, and early on, it appeared she was acquiring language—much later than would be predicted by critical period hypotheses that had been posited at the time (Fromkin et al., 1974). Genie managed to amass an impressive vocabulary in a relatively short amount of time. However, she never developed a mastery of the grammatical aspects of language (Curtiss, 1981). Perhaps being deprived of the opportunity to learn language during a critical period impeded Genie’s ability to fully acquire and use language.

You may recall that each language has its own set of phonemes that are used to generate morphemes, words, and so on. Babies can discriminate among the sounds that make up a language (for example, they can tell the difference between the “s” in vision and the “ss” in fission); early on, they can differentiate between the sounds of all human languages, even those that do not occur in the languages that are used in their environments. However, by the time that they are about 1 year old, they can only discriminate among those phonemes that are used in the language or languages in their environments (Jensen, 2011; Werker & Lalonde, 1988; Werker & Tees, 1984).

Visit this  website  to learn more about how babies lose the ability to discriminate among all possible human phonemes as they age.

After the first few months of life, babies enter what is known as the babbling stage, during which time they tend to produce single syllables that are repeated over and over. As time passes, more variations appear in the syllables that they produce. During this time, it is unlikely that the babies are trying to communicate; they are just as likely to babble when they are alone as when they are with their caregivers (Fernández & Cairns, 2011). Interestingly, babies who are raised in environments in which sign language is used will also begin to show babbling in the gestures of their hands during this stage (Petitto, Holowka, Sergio, Levy, & Ostry, 2004).

Generally, a child’s first word is uttered sometime between the ages of 1 year to 18 months, and for the next few months, the child will remain in the “one word” stage of language development. During this time, children know a number of words, but they only produce one-word utterances. The child’s early vocabulary is limited to familiar objects or events, often nouns. Although children in this stage only make one-word utterances, these words often carry larger meaning (Fernández & Cairns, 2011). So, for example, a child saying “cookie” could be identifying a cookie or asking for a cookie.

As a child’s lexicon grows, she begins to utter simple sentences and to acquire new vocabulary at a very rapid pace. In addition, children begin to demonstrate a clear understanding of the specific rules that apply to their language(s). Even the mistakes that children sometimes make provide evidence of just how much they understand about those rules. This is sometimes seen in the form of  overgeneralization . In this context, overgeneralization refers to an extension of a language rule to an exception to the rule. For example, in English, it is usually the case that an “s” is added to the end of a word to indicate plurality. For example, we speak of one dog versus two dogs. Young children will overgeneralize this rule to cases that are exceptions to the “add an s to the end of the word” rule and say things like “those two gooses” or “three mouses.” Clearly, the rules of the language are understood, even if the exceptions to the rules are still being learned (Moskowitz, 1978).

LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT

When we speak one language, we agree that words are representations of ideas, people, places, and events. The given language that children learn is connected to their culture and surroundings. But can words themselves shape the way we think about things? Psychologists have long investigated the question of whether language shapes thoughts and actions, or whether our thoughts and beliefs shape our language. Two researchers, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, began this investigation in the 1940s. They wanted to understand how the language habits of a community encourage members of that community to interpret language in a particular manner (Sapir, 1941/1964). Sapir and Whorf proposed that language determines thought, suggesting, for example, that a person whose community language did not have past-tense verbs would be challenged to think about the past (Whorf, 1956). Researchers have since identified this view as too absolute, pointing out a lack of empiricism behind what Sapir and Whorf proposed (Abler, 2013; Boroditsky, 2011; van Troyer, 1994). Today, psychologists continue to study and debate the relationship between language and thought.

Think about what you know of other languages; perhaps you even speak multiple languages. Imagine for a moment that your closest friend fluently speaks more than one language. Do you think that friend thinks differently, depending on which language is being spoken? You may know a few words that are not translatable from their original language into English. For example, the Portuguese word  saudade  originated during the 15th century, when Portuguese sailors left home to explore the seas and travel to Africa or Asia. Those left behind described the emptiness and fondness they felt as  saudade  ( Figure ) .  The word came to express many meanings, including loss, nostalgia, yearning, warm memories, and hope. There is no single word in English that includes all of those emotions in a single description. Do words such as  saudade  indicate that different languages produce different patterns of thought in people? What do you think??

Language may indeed influence the way that we think, an idea known as linguistic determinism. One recent demonstration of this phenomenon involved differences in the way that English and Mandarin Chinese speakers talk and think about time. English speakers tend to talk about time using terms that describe changes along a horizontal dimension, for example, saying something like “I’m running behind schedule” or “Don’t get ahead of yourself.” While Mandarin Chinese speakers also describe time in horizontal terms, it is not uncommon to also use terms associated with a vertical arrangement. For example, the past might be described as being “up” and the future as being “down.” It turns out that these differences in language translate into differences in performance on cognitive tests designed to measure how quickly an individual can recognize temporal relationships. Specifically, when given a series of tasks with vertical priming, Mandarin Chinese speakers were faster at recognizing temporal relationships between months. Indeed, Boroditsky (2001) sees these results as suggesting that “habits in language encourage habits in thought” (p. 12).

One group of researchers who wanted to investigate how language influences thought compared how English speakers and the Dani people of Papua New Guinea think and speak about color. The Dani have two words for color: one word for  light  and one word for  dark . In contrast, the English language has 11 color words. Researchers hypothesized that the number of color terms could limit the ways that the Dani people conceptualized color. However, the Dani were able to distinguish colors with the same ability as English speakers, despite having fewer words at their disposal (Berlin & Kay, 1969). A recent review of research aimed at determining how language might affect something like color perception suggests that language can influence perceptual phenomena, especially in the left hemisphere of the brain. You may recall from earlier chapters that the left hemisphere is associated with language for most people. However, the right (less linguistic hemisphere) of the brain is less affected by linguistic influences on perception (Regier & Kay, 2009)

Language is a communication system that has both a lexicon and a system of grammar. Language acquisition occurs naturally and effortlessly during the early stages of life, and this acquisition occurs in a predictable sequence for individuals around the world. Language has a strong influence on thought, and the concept of how language may influence cognition remains an area of study and debate in psychology.

Review Questions

________ provides general principles for organizing words into meaningful sentences.

• Linguistic determinism

________ are the smallest unit of language that carry meaning.

The meaning of words and phrases is determined by applying the rules of ________.

• overgeneralization

________ is (are) the basic sound units of a spoken language.

Critical Thinking Questions

How do words not only represent our thoughts but also represent our values?

How could grammatical errors actually be indicative of language acquisition in children?

Personal Application Question

Can you think of examples of how language affects cognition?

Problem Solving

People face problems every day—usually, multiple problems throughout the day. Sometimes these problems are straightforward: To double a recipe for pizza dough, for example, all that is required is that each ingredient in the recipe be doubled. Sometimes, however, the problems we encounter are more complex. For example, say you have a work deadline, and you must mail a printed copy of a report to your supervisor by the end of the business day. The report is time-sensitive and must be sent overnight. You finished the report last night, but your printer will not work today. What should you do? First, you need to identify the problem and then apply a strategy for solving the problem.

PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES

When you are presented with a problem—whether it is a complex mathematical problem or a broken printer, how do you solve it? Before finding a solution to the problem, the problem must first be clearly identified. After that, one of many problem solving strategies can be applied, hopefully resulting in a solution.

A  problem-solving strategy  is a plan of action used to find a solution. Different strategies have different action plans associated with them ( Table ). For example, a well-known strategy is  trial and error . The old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” describes trial and error. In terms of your broken printer, you could try checking the ink levels, and if that doesn’t work, you could check to make sure the paper tray isn’t jammed. Or maybe the printer isn’t actually connected to your laptop. When using trial and error, you would continue to try different solutions until you solved your problem. Although trial and error is not typically one of the most time-efficient strategies, it is a commonly used one.

Another type of strategy is an algorithm. An  algorithm  is a problem-solving formula that provides you with step-by-step instructions used to achieve a desired outcome (Kahneman, 2011). You can think of an algorithm as a recipe with highly detailed instructions that produce the same result every time they are performed. Algorithms are used frequently in our everyday lives, especially in computer science. When you run a search on the Internet, search engines like Google use algorithms to decide which entries will appear first in your list of results. Facebook also uses algorithms to decide which posts to display on your newsfeed. Can you identify other situations in which algorithms are used?

A heuristic is another type of problem solving strategy. While an algorithm must be followed exactly to produce a correct result, a  heuristic  is a general problem-solving framework (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). You can think of these as mental shortcuts that are used to solve problems. A “rule of thumb” is an example of a heuristic. Such a rule saves the person time and energy when making a decision, but despite its time-saving characteristics, it is not always the best method for making a rational decision. Different types of heuristics are used in different types of situations, but the impulse to use a heuristic occurs when one of five conditions is met (Pratkanis, 1989):

• When one is faced with too much information
• When the time to make a decision is limited
• When the decision to be made is unimportant
• When there is access to very little information to use in making the decision
• When an appropriate heuristic happens to come to mind in the same moment

Working backwards  is a useful heuristic in which you begin solving the problem by focusing on the end result. Consider this example: You live in Washington, D.C. and have been invited to a wedding at 4 PM on Saturday in Philadelphia. Knowing that Interstate 95 tends to back up any day of the week, you need to plan your route and time your departure accordingly. If you want to be at the wedding service by 3:30 PM, and it takes 2.5 hours to get to Philadelphia without traffic, what time should you leave your house? You use the working backwards heuristic to plan the events of your day on a regular basis, probably without even thinking about it.

Another useful heuristic is the practice of accomplishing a large goal or task by breaking it into a series of smaller steps. Students often use this common method to complete a large research project or long essay for school. For example, students typically brainstorm, develop a thesis or main topic, research the chosen topic, organize their information into an outline, write a rough draft, revise and edit the rough draft, develop a final draft, organize the references list, and proofread their work before turning in the project. The large task becomes less overwhelming when it is broken down into a series of small steps.

Problem-solving abilities can improve with practice. Many people challenge themselves every day with puzzles and other mental exercises to sharpen their problem-solving skills. Sudoku puzzles appear daily in most newspapers. Typically, a sudoku puzzle is a 9×9 grid. The simple sudoku below ( Figure ) is a 4×4 grid. To solve the puzzle, fill in the empty boxes with a single digit: 1, 2, 3, or 4. Here are the rules: The numbers must total 10 in each bolded box, each row, and each column; however, each digit can only appear once in a bolded box, row, and column. Time yourself as you solve this puzzle and compare your time with a classmate.

Here is another popular type of puzzle ( Figure ) that challenges your spatial reasoning skills. Connect all nine dots with four connecting straight lines without lifting your pencil from the paper:

Take a look at the “Puzzling Scales” logic puzzle below ( Figure ). Sam Loyd, a well-known puzzle master, created and refined countless puzzles throughout his lifetime (Cyclopedia of Puzzles, n.d.).

PITFALLS TO PROBLEM SOLVING

Not all problems are successfully solved, however. What challenges stop us from successfully solving a problem? Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Imagine a person in a room that has four doorways. One doorway that has always been open in the past is now locked. The person, accustomed to exiting the room by that particular doorway, keeps trying to get out through the same doorway even though the other three doorways are open. The person is stuck—but she just needs to go to another doorway, instead of trying to get out through the locked doorway. A  mental set  is where you persist in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past but is clearly not working now.

Functional fixedness  is a type of mental set where you cannot perceive an object being used for something other than what it was designed for. During the  Apollo 13  mission to the moon, NASA engineers at Mission Control had to overcome functional fixedness to save the lives of the astronauts aboard the spacecraft. An explosion in a module of the spacecraft damaged multiple systems. The astronauts were in danger of being poisoned by rising levels of carbon dioxide because of problems with the carbon dioxide filters. The engineers found a way for the astronauts to use spare plastic bags, tape, and air hoses to create a makeshift air filter, which saved the lives of the astronauts.

Check out this  Apollo 13  scene  where the group of NASA engineers are given the task of overcoming functional fixedness.

Researchers have investigated whether functional fixedness is affected by culture. In one experiment, individuals from the Shuar group in Ecuador were asked to use an object for a purpose other than that for which the object was originally intended. For example, the participants were told a story about a bear and a rabbit that were separated by a river and asked to select among various objects, including a spoon, a cup, erasers, and so on, to help the animals. The spoon was the only object long enough to span the imaginary river, but if the spoon was presented in a way that reflected its normal usage, it took participants longer to choose the spoon to solve the problem. (German & Barrett, 2005). The researchers wanted to know if exposure to highly specialized tools, as occurs with individuals in industrialized nations, affects their ability to transcend functional fixedness. It was determined that functional fixedness is experienced in both industrialized and nonindustrialized cultures (German & Barrett, 2005).

In order to make good decisions, we use our knowledge and our reasoning. Often, this knowledge and reasoning is sound and solid. Sometimes, however, we are swayed by biases or by others manipulating a situation. For example, let’s say you and three friends wanted to rent a house and had a combined target budget of $1,600. The realtor shows you only very run-down houses for $1,600 and then shows you a very nice house for $2,000. Might you ask each person to pay more in rent to get the $2,000 home? Why would the realtor show you the run-down houses and the nice house? The realtor may be challenging your anchoring bias. An  anchoring bias  occurs when you focus on one piece of information when making a decision or solving a problem. In this case, you’re so focused on the amount of money you are willing to spend that you may not recognize what kinds of houses are available at that price point.

The  confirmation bias  is the tendency to focus on information that confirms your existing beliefs. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis.  Hindsight bias  leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did.  Representative bias  describes a faulty way of thinking, in which you unintentionally stereotype someone or something; for example, you may assume that your professors spend their free time reading books and engaging in intellectual conversation, because the idea of them spending their time playing volleyball or visiting an amusement park does not fit in with your stereotypes of professors.

Finally, the  availability heuristic  is a heuristic in which you make a decision based on an example, information, or recent experience that is that readily available to you, even though it may not be the best example to inform your decision .  Biases tend to “preserve that which is already established—to maintain our preexisting knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and hypotheses” (Aronson, 1995; Kahneman, 2011). These biases are summarized in  Table .

Please visit this  site  to see a clever music video that a high school teacher made to explain these and other cognitive biases to his AP psychology students.

Were you able to determine how many marbles are needed to balance the scales in  Figure ? You need nine. Were you able to solve the problems in  Figure  and  Figure ? Here are the answers ( Figure ).

Many different strategies exist for solving problems. Typical strategies include trial and error, applying algorithms, and using heuristics. To solve a large, complicated problem, it often helps to break the problem into smaller steps that can be accomplished individually, leading to an overall solution. Roadblocks to problem solving include a mental set, functional fixedness, and various biases that can cloud decision making skills.

A specific formula for solving a problem is called ________.

• an algorithm
• a heuristic
• a mental set
• trial and error

A mental shortcut in the form of a general problem-solving framework is called ________.

Which type of bias involves becoming fixated on a single trait of a problem?

• anchoring bias
• confirmation bias
• representative bias
• availability bias

Which type of bias involves relying on a false stereotype to make a decision?

What is functional fixedness and how can overcoming it help you solve problems?

How does an algorithm save you time and energy when solving a problem?

Which type of bias do you recognize in your own decision making processes? How has this bias affected how you’ve made decisions in the past and how can you use your awareness of it to improve your decisions making skills in the future?

[glossary-page] [glossary-term]algorithm:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]problem-solving strategy characterized by a specific set of instructions[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]anchoring bias:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]faulty heuristic in which you fixate on a single aspect of a problem to find a solution[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]availability heuristic:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]faulty heuristic in which you make a decision based on information readily available to you[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]confirmation bias:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]faulty heuristic in which you focus on information that confirms your beliefs[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]functional fixedness:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]inability to see an object as useful for any other use other than the one for which it was intended[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]grammar:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]set of rules that are used to convey meaning through the use of a lexicon[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]heuristic:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]mental shortcut that saves time when solving a problem[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]hindsight bias:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]belief that the event just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]language:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]communication system that involves using words to transmit information from one individual to another[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]lexicon:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]the words of a given language[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]mental set:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]continually using an old solution to a problem without results[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]morpheme:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]smallest unit of language that conveys some type of meaning[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]overgeneralization:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]extension of a rule that exists in a given language to an exception to the rule[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]phoneme:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]basic sound unit of a given language[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]problem-solving strategy:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]method for solving problems[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]representative bias:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]faulty heuristic in which you stereotype someone or something without a valid basis for your judgment[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]semantics:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]process by which we derive meaning from morphemes and words[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]syntax:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]manner by which words are organized into sentences[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]trial and error:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]problem-solving strategy in which multiple solutions are attempted until the correct one is found[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]working backwards:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]heuristic in which you begin to solve a problem by focusing on the end result[/glossary-definition] [/glossary-page]

General Psychology Copyright © by Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Supporting Social Play: Helping Children Learn Social Skills from Play

by Diane Goyette View Bio

Diane Goyette is a trainer, consultant and speaker. As owner of Early Childhood Specialties, she educates the adults who care for and work with young children.  She is a frequent presenter at local, state, national and international conferences and has recently has begun delivering keynote addresses.   Diane holds a master’s degree in Child Development and has over has over 30 years of experience in early childhood education.  She has been a teacher of young children in many settings, including public school kindergarten, university lab schools, faith-based preschools and child care programs.  She has served as an adjunct professor in universities as well.

Diane has always believed that play is absolutely the best means by which young children develop in all areas and learn about themselves, others and the world. She encourages adults to value play, to provide ample time for free choice play, and to guide young children’s early play experiences with other children.   She has more recently learned to appreciate the value of play throughout the lifespan and now advocates for more play for adults in the workplace as well as for children at school.

During most of her career, Diane has been raising a child with challenges that include autism, ADHD and sensory processing issues.  This experience has heightened her awareness of and empathy for challenges other parents and teachers may be facing and has drawn her to help them.  She is passionate about sharing what she has learned through her decades-long parenting journey, her experience in early childhood education, and her own professional development:  the important role of relationships in children’s lives, how to foster all children’s social and emotional development – and, of course, how to help children learn and develop through play!

You may contact Diane at [email protected] or visit her website at www.EarlyChildhoodSpecialties.com to learn more.

Find more play ideas here !

Social play happens when children are playing with adults or with other kids.  In early childhood, play gradually gets more social and more complex.  By about age four, children begin to engage in sociodramatic play, cooperating to take on roles and creating their own rules. 

“ Let’s pretend we’re at the grocery store.  I’ll be the shopper and you be at the checkout.”

This is an especially valuable type of play. Besides having fun (which has value in itself!), children learn social skills that include: communication, cooperation, problem-solving, and perspective taking. Research shows that social skills help children succeed in school and in life, too.

We can support children’s social skill development by playing with our kids and modeling the positive social behaviors we want them to use. Learning the skills that children practice in social play also takes lots of sensitive adult support.  Here’s why:

• Young children often do not know what is expected in different social situations;
• They lack experience and knowledge of appropriate ways to solve conflicts;
• They are naturally egocentric, so it is hard for them to understand others’ intentions and feelings.

We can also teach them social skills using a technique called “scaffolding” – giving just enough help at first, then letting them do more and more on their own.

Here’s how to scaffold children’s development of social skills:

Communication Different methods of communication will benefit different play situations.

• Teach children appropriate ways of getting people’s attention: “When you want Nikko’s attention, say ‘Nikko,’ gently tap his shoulder, then wait for him to look at you.”
• Help children tell each other directly what they want or need: “Tell Sharon, ‘I want to pretend the that the baby is sick and needs to go to the doctor.’”
• Show them how to join a play group – asking to play is not always the best strategy!  Socially competent children often watch the children playing then find a way to ease into the ongoing play. “Look! They are building a road with the blocks. Would you like to put some of these signs next to the roads?”

Cooperation Explain what cooperation looks like in different play situations:

• Sharing: “Hold the book so Tim can see the pages.” “Roll the ball to Rachel, then she can roll it to you.”
• Taking turns:  Help kids negotiate who goes first and the time for each turn.
• Compromising:  Give children ideas about how each can get a little of what they want.

Problem-Solving When children play together, conflicts are inevitable.  Help kids learn to solve problems collaboratively by teaching them steps to negotiate:

• State the problem – everyone gets a say.
• Brainstorm on solutions – again, everyone contributes.
• Choose the solution that everyone agrees on.
• Implement the solution – decide on the logistics (length of turns, who goes first, etc.)
• Evaluate the solution – how is it working?

Perspective-Taking We can help children understand the perspective of others by pointing out:

• How others feel: “Her face is saying ‘I’m sad.’”
• How your child’s behavior affects others: “When you insist on having your way, friends may not want to play with you.”
• How other children might see things differently: “John may not like to be pulled that fast in the wagon.”

With your support and many opportunities for social play, your children will develop the social skills they need to get along with others throughout their lives.  And they will have had lots of fun, too!

• Children’s social skills develop slowly over time.
• Children need lots and lots of practice to learn how to get along with others!
• The development of social skills also takes sensitive support from adults.
• Playing with your child is a great way to help them learn how to share, take turns, and join in a group of children playing! After you have modeled and taught them what to do and say, they can practice the skills with friends, first with your help, then eventually on their own.

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Formulating Problem-Solving Moves Throughout Your Day

Have you thought about how much problem-solving you typically do each day? If you don’t think very much, you may not be giving yourself enough credit.

Individuals typically solve numerous problems throughout the day for both personal and work. While many problems are solved consciously, you also engage in an unconscious problem-solving process throughout the day. These may involve automatic or instinctual responses to familiar situations as well as subconscious processing of information and experiences that influence decision-making. It could involve routine tasks, strategic decisions, and unexpected situations.

Problem-solving skills are essential because of their wide-ranging impact (and are listed as a required skill in many job descriptions). It fosters adaptability and resilience, enhances decision-making, enhances critical thinking and analytical skills, and drives innovation and creativity. So, learning from failures and adapting your approach based on feedback and new information is important.

There are several problem-solving techniques. Depending on the situation, some techniques will lend themselves and be more effective than other techniques. Some popular problem-solving techniques are brainstorming, PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act), and root cause analysis (RCA).

Different Problem-Solving Techniques

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Brainstorming is a creative technique that involves generating many ideas. It encourages individuals to generate ideas without judgment, potentially leading to innovative solutions. To generate a diverse collection of ideas, it’s crucial to have a diverse group of individuals with varied backgrounds, perspectives, expertise, and roles. Other considerations:

• Clearly articulate the problem you’re addressing and any specific goals or outcomes you hope to achieve,
• Establish ground rules to ensure productive and respectful participation,
• Capture and document ideas in real time using visual aids such as whiteboards or digital collaboration tools, and
• Summarize the key ideas generated and identify the next steps for further exploring, evaluating, or implementing promising ideas.

For example, if the organization wants to revamp its social media strategy utilizing gen AI, it may benefit from having a brainstorming session. Afterward, it may use the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) technique to see how well the implemented strategy is going.

The PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) is a continuous improvement cycle used to address problems or make improvements systematically and iteratively. It involves planning a solution, implementing it, checking the results, and acting on the findings to further refine or adjust the solution. PDCA’s popularity stems from its simplicity, flexibility, and effectiveness in driving continuous improvement.

Root cause analysis (RCA) is used to identify the underlying root cause of a problem. It involves identifying the root causes (versus addressing its symptoms) responsible for a problem and then addressing those causes to prevent the problem from recurring. Some components of an RCA are:

• Identify the problem including its symptoms, observed effects, etc.,
• Analyze the impact quantifying the cost, risks, and implications associated with the problem,
• Identify the root cause including the primary and contributory root causes of the problem,
• Propose corrective actions and measures to prevent recurrence of the problem, and
• Remediate and monitor including timeliness, responsible parties, and performance metrics.

I like creating an RCA report after a system outage. It explains the 5 Ws—who, what, where, when, why—and how the outage occurred and to prevent it from happening again. It’s imperative to share the RCA report with your business partners.

Continuously Improving Your Problem-Solving Skills

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Reflect on your problem-solving skills and commit to continuous improvement. If you want to improve your problem-solving abilities start by clearly defining the problem and practicing critical thinking and analysis. Do you have any experiences, insights, and perspectives on problem-solving to share?

For more information on the importance of having strong problem-solving skills, follow me on LinkedIn !

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Spring Cleaning: 4 Ways To Fix Your Job Search

Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.

In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.

For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.

Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach

Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:

• How did I learn about this job?
• How did I apply for the job?
• Did I earn an interview?
• What was the ultimate result?

A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:

Negative Trends

You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.

The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations , and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.

One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.

The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.

This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.

Positive Trends

You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.

The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview . This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.

The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback , and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.

Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.

The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.

Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention

Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.

Let's start with resumes!

Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers . It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.

The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.

Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.

While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.

As for writing a good cover letter , the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter . When you write a disruptive cover letter , you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.

If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.

Build Your Personal Brand

Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand .

Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"

Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.

By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.

You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.

Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search

Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.

There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:

• Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
• Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
• Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle , even better!

Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!

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The Role of General Intelligence:

The notion of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) akin to human cognition suggests a fallacy. Even if AI systems emulate human behavior and adapt to human thinking patterns, their inherent capacities differ fundamentally from those of humans, such as information processing, logical reasoning, and memory. Rather than striving for human-like AGI, focusing on specialized AI systems complementing human capabilities is more beneficial. AI excels in specific tasks like data analysis, while humans remain superior in broader cognitive and social domains, particularly in handling unpredictable situations and creative problem-solving. Therefore, effective collaboration between humans and AI should leverage their strengths, aiming for enhanced decision-making and performance.

Explainability and Trust:

Deep learning AI, resembling layered neural networks, learns patterns without understanding causal links, making its decision-making process opaque. Human introspection is limited, making it challenging to explain unconscious thoughts. However, demanding explainability may limit AI’s potential benefits. Trust in AI should be based on objective performance rather than subjective impressions. Like other complex technologies, AI systems require verification and validation for trustworthiness. Trust should be grounded in empirical validation of the system’s ability to meet its objectives, even if it sacrifices transparency for efficiency.

Synergies and Collaborations:

Rather than aiming for AI systems with human-level intelligence, the focus should be on leveraging AI’s strengths to augment human capabilities. By identifying tasks where AI excels and where human intuition and social intelligence are indispensable, organizations can create synergistic human AI teams for more effective problem-solving and decision-making.

Conclusion:

The comparison between human and artificial intelligence reveals nuanced differences and similarities, emphasizing the need for collaborative utilization rather than replacement. While AI can simulate human behavior to an extent, notable distinctions exist, particularly in strategic preferences and dialogue simulation. Fine-tuning AI models may address some discrepancies but won’t guarantee human-like decision-making. Safety and behavioral guarantees for AI remain challenging due to inherent biases and unpredictable outcomes. Despite limitations, integrating AI into decision-making processes offers scalability and efficiency benefits. However, understanding and managing human and AI cognition differences is crucial for effective collaboration and decision-making.

Sana Hassan

Sana Hassan, a consulting intern at Marktechpost and dual-degree student at IIT Madras, is passionate about applying technology and AI to address real-world challenges. With a keen interest in solving practical problems, he brings a fresh perspective to the intersection of AI and real-life solutions.

• Sana Hassan https://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/ Huawei AI Introduces 'Kangaroo': A Novel Self-Speculative Decoding Framework Tailored for Accelerating the Inference of Large Language Models
• Sana Hassan https://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/ Balancing Innovation and Rights: A Cooperative Game Theory Approach to Copyright Management in Generative AI Technologies
• Sana Hassan https://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/ InternVL 1.5 Advances Multimodal AI with High-Resolution and Bilingual Capabilities in Open-Source Models
• Sana Hassan https://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/ OpenVoice V2: Evolving Multilingual Voice Cloning with Enhanced Style Control and Cross-Lingual Capabilities

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Solving Occupational Participation Problems

Capstone projects for touro’s first class of occupational therapy doctors address issues such as breastfeeding and helping older adults use technology.

Touro University’s School of Health Sciences (SHS) graduated its first cohort of Doctor of Occupational Therapy Students. The eleven members of the first class delivered their final presentations in September and were presented with their diplomas during the graduation ceremony.

“It has been a great joy and honor to mentor and guide the students as they conceptualized and brought to life their capstone projects,” said program director Meira Orentlicher, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, CRA. “The students exhibited talent, dedication, persistence, and passion, and in alignment with Touro’s mission and occupational justice principles, developed projects that serve the needs of the underserved. We are certain that they will continue to serve humanity and have real impact on the world around them after graduation.”

Different Backgrounds, Similar Goals

The students emerged from different backgrounds but shared the same ideal of using their occupational therapy background for a social good. Some of the eleven were students in the SHS’s occupational therapy master’s program before attending the doctoral program.

“I’ve always played with the idea of going for a doctorate, but I had my kids and I thought there’s no way and there’s no time,” said Janey Romero-Marano. “I received an email from Touro that mentioned a doctoral program that was geared to working professionals. I had such a great experience in the master’s program that I realized I wouldn’t want to do my doctoral program anywhere else.”

Romero-Marano said she received the same close attention in the doctoral program that she had experienced as a student in the master’s program. “The faculty was able to really guide us through the journey,” she said.

Jennifer Tokash worked the frontlines during the Covid-19 pandemic as a patient supervisor in a rehab unit that was converted into a covid treatment suite. Slightly burnt out after the experience, Tokash began looking into a career in academia, but getting a doctorate didn’t seem feasible until she found herself at an American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) conference.

“I was at an AOTA convention in 2022,” recalled Tokash. “I found myself surrounded by individuals with degrees from Touro. The people and what they represented as the mission of Touro really intrigued me.”

Capstone Projects on Social Needs and Common Goods

For his capstone project Christopher Marotta examined the effect of adapted wheelchair basketball on socialization for individuals with physical disabilities. “Society imposes disability on those with physical impairments,” said Marotta. “There were significant improvements for participants who joined the adapted wheelchair league. These individuals were able to be part of a team and that helps them in many ways: physically, socially, and mentally.”

Romero-Marano examined the low rate of breastfeeding in minority communities.

“As part of the program, we were introduced to the notion of marginalism and health inequality,” said Romero-Marano. “There is an established low rate of breastfeeding in minority communities due to a lack of resources and support as well as complications in hiring lactation consultants because of health insurance issues. I wanted to investigate ways to close the gap. The core idea of occupational therapy is to allow people to participate in occupations that they value and obviously, for mothers, being able to breastfeed is incredibly important for them. Occupational therapists have that ability to create these programs and target performance patterns that impact success.”

Romero-Marano found that most women in minority communities would be more likely to breastfeed if they were given more information before they gave birth. “Most of the classes about lactation are geared towards women who already have infants,” said Romero-Marano. “For many women, that can be too late. If they have the information prior to giving birth, they will know what to look for and what to do immediately if they have difficulties breastfeeding.”

Romero-Marano herself is working towards getting a lactation consultant certification and believes that there are more roles for OTs in increasing breastfeeding in minority communities.

Adapting New Technologies

For her capstone project, Gail Stocks worked with older adults and taught them how to use Amazon’s Alexa device and Echo Show to promote safety and function in the home. Her capstone project fit in perfectly with her work in her OT company, EZ Way To Stay, where she works with clients to age in place. During the capstone presentation, Stocks joked about the setbacks her research suffered—the original building she planned to use for the class was demolished; the new location had no parking for people with disabilities and older adults, and the new location also blocked the Amazon website.

“Older adults are motivated, but they just need the appropriate teaching and support,” said Stocks. “We need to address their true needs, not our assumptions about their needs.”

The class was a success and Stocks spoke about how the older adults she trained in using Alexa were teaching other older adults in their communities.

“The professors were so motivated,” recalled Stocks about her time in the Touro program. “They created and developed a program that got me excited. I found out that I wasn’t only learning the material, but I was learning to create something. I could create a program that could make a difference in people’s lives. That’s not something I knew about myself until I did it.”

SHS Dean Dr. Steven Lorenzet praised the graduates.

“We are so proud of our first cohort of OTD graduates,” he said “The students’ grasp and application of the scientific method was very impressive. Our graduates are to be commended on their accomplishment, as are our faculty for developing and providing such a rigorous curriculum.”

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Home » SEL Implementation » Pragmatic Language and IEP Goals: Building Social Communication Skills

Pragmatic Language and IEP Goals: Building Social Communication Skills

Key takeaways.

• Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is crucial for developing social interactions and emotional well-being.
• Pragmatic Language involves using language appropriately in various social contexts and is essential for effective communication.
• IEP goals targeting pragmatic language skills are vital for individuals with social communication difficulties.
• Collaboration with IEP teams, including speech-language pathologists and educators, is key to identifying and targeting specific pragmatic language skills.
• Strategies such as explicit instruction, visual supports, role-playing, and peer interactions are effective in building pragmatic language skills.
• Ongoing assessment is necessary to monitor progress and adjust goals and strategies accordingly.

Introduction: Pragmatic Language and IEP Goals: Building Social Communication Skills

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) plays a crucial role in educational settings, helping individuals develop important skills for social interactions and emotional well-being. One key aspect of SEL is Pragmatic Language, which refers to the ability to use language appropriately in different social contexts. In this blog post, we will explore the significance of Pragmatic Language in social communication skills development and provide guidance on incorporating it into Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals.

Understanding Pragmatic Language

Pragmatic Language encompasses various components, including understanding and using nonverbal cues, turn-taking in conversations, perspective-taking, and problem-solving. Individuals with pragmatic language difficulties often face challenges in these areas, which can significantly impact their social interactions and academic performance.

Incorporating Pragmatic Language into IEP Goals

Individualized goals are essential in addressing pragmatic language deficits effectively. Collaborating with the IEP team, including speech-language pathologists, educators, and parents, is crucial in identifying specific areas of focus. Let’s explore some examples of IEP goals that target pragmatic language skills:

Goal 1: Improving conversational turn-taking skills

Objective: The student will demonstrate the ability to take turns appropriately during conversations by waiting for their turn and responding appropriately.

Goal 2: Enhancing nonverbal communication abilities

Objective: The student will improve their understanding and use of nonverbal cues, such as body language, facial expressions, and gestures, to enhance communication with peers and adults.

Goal 3: Developing perspective-taking skills

Objective: The student will demonstrate the ability to understand and consider other people’s thoughts, feelings, and perspectives during social interactions.

Goal 4: Enhancing problem-solving and conflict resolution skills

Objective: The student will develop effective problem-solving strategies and demonstrate the ability to resolve conflicts in a respectful and constructive manner.

Strategies for Building Pragmatic Language Skills

Implementing effective strategies is key to supporting the development of pragmatic language skills. Here are some strategies that can be incorporated into therapy sessions and classroom activities:

Providing explicit instruction and modeling

Explicitly teach and model appropriate social communication skills, such as taking turns, using appropriate greetings, and maintaining eye contact.

Utilizing visual supports and social stories

Use visual supports, such as visual schedules, social scripts, and social stories, to help individuals understand and navigate social situations.

Engaging in role-playing and social skills groups

Encourage role-playing activities and facilitate social skills groups to provide opportunities for individuals to practice and generalize pragmatic language skills in a supportive environment.

Encouraging peer interactions and cooperative learning activities

Promote peer interactions and cooperative learning activities to foster social communication skills, such as group discussions, collaborative projects, and problem-solving tasks.

Incorporating real-life situations and scenarios for practice

Create opportunities for individuals to practice pragmatic language skills in real-life situations, such as community outings, field trips, and mock job interviews.

Monitoring Progress and Adjusting Goals

Ongoing assessment and data collection are crucial in monitoring progress and determining the effectiveness of interventions. Collaborate with the IEP team to review progress regularly and make necessary adjustments to goals and strategies based on individual needs and progress.

Pragmatic Language is a vital component of social communication skills development. By incorporating pragmatic language goals into IEPs, individuals can receive targeted support to improve their social interactions and academic performance. Prioritizing pragmatic language in educational settings can have a significant impact on individuals’ overall well-being and future success.

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