DISCUSSION BOARD
According to Matlin (2013), a simple sentence is the one that is considered to have the three most basic elements namely; a subject, verb as well as the object or a completed thought. An example of a simple sentence can be formulated as follows; James went to school. In this case James is the subject, went is the verb and school is the object.
According to Matlin (2013), a sentence deep structure is basically considered as a basic structure of the sentence while a surface sentence is considered as an actual form of a sentence. The following are examples of the sentences “You push the chair” and “The chair is pushed by you”.
Two ambiguous sentences
According to Matlin (2013), an ambiguous sentence is the one which exhibit the same surface structure but show very different deep structures. When interpreting an ambiguous sentence, it is possible to get two interpretations from one sentence.
For instance sentence one “The man hit the boy with an umbrella”. This sentence is ambiguous in the sense that it can mean that the man is using an umbrella to hit the man or the man hit the boy who was carrying an umbrella. Few words can be added to the sentence in order to make it more specific. For instance, “The man hit the boy who was with an umbrella”
Sentence two includes; “they are looking for teachers of Spanish, Chinese and English”. This sentence is ambiguous in this sense that it can mean that they are looking for a teacher who can teach the three languages or for a teacher who can teach each of the language. This sentence can be made clearer by adding some few words in it; “they are looking for teachers who have studied Spanish, Chinese, and English”
How we were taught to read
When we were initially learning how to read, our teacher emphasized reading phonic approach rather than the whole word approach. In this sense the focus was more on the pronunciation of each word and the sounds that came out rather than having to read a whole statement which may be very difficult to comprehend. Apart from the pronunciation, the sentences were expected to observe the ideal structure which involved having a subject verb and an object. I found this method to be very effective especially in reading since the audience could comprehend easily what one was reading.
Recall two conversations you have had in the last day or so.
I remember having two conversations last week, one with my professor on the topic I didn’t understand quite well. The other conversion was with my cousin regarding a planned family trip that we were to have this coming weekend. Comparing the two conversations, I was very official with my professor I paid attention to the three components of speech production. I remember observing each rule of the sentences structure in order to put across my point. On the other hand my cousin and I were very formal and I did not observe fully the common rule of the sentence structure.
How to produce a better paper
After reading the writing material, one thing that became clear to me was that in order for one to produce a better paper, one needed to pay attention to both the language and the structure of the sentences (Matlin, 2013). On the language part one needs to observe the three components of speech production namely pragmatics, common ground as well as the directives. On the part of the sentence structure the sentences should be simple and clear and one should avoid use of ambiguous sentences for better clarity. The deep and the surface structure of the sentences should be well understood.
Importance of working memory in my life as a writer
Writing in real life has many aspects. According to Matlin (2013), aspects of the real life writing are integrated into the cognitive component of writing namely “Working memory and long term memory.” Working memory is usually considered as a very vital component of writing. As a writer working memory would be of great importance to me. Working memory in writing is considered as a backbone of writing. Working memory contains one component by the name phonological loop. This component helps in the storage of a limited number of sounds for a short duration of time. Phonological loop helps the students in remembering of the syllabus especially when writing and therefore playing a very crucial role especially when writing.
How are mental set and functional fixedness related to each other?
Mental set and functional fixedness are related to each other in the sense that they help in solving problems. According to Matlin (2013), an individual with mental set may find himself solving problems by trying the same solution which he had applied in the previous problem. The same thing is depicted by the functional fixedness where by in this approach an object is subjected to the same alternative which had been previously. These two approaches can limit problem solving mechanisms due to their nature of sticking on the previously used methods instead of devising new ways. These two methods are logical in nature due to their firmly involvement of cognitive approaches.
Reference
Matlin, M. W. (2013). Cognition. 8th. ed. Wiley.
