Memory, Thinking And Language: Topics In Cognitive Psychology (new Essential Psychology)

General editor Peter Herriot New Essential Psychology Memory, Thinking and Language ALREADY PUBLISHED IN THIS SERIES Applying Psychology in Organizations Frank Blackler and Sylvia Shimmin Cognitive Development and Education Johanna Turner Experimental Design and StatisticsSecond edition Steve Miller Individual Differences Vivian Shackleton and Clive Fletcher Instinct, Environment and Behaviour S.E.G.Lea Learning Theory and Behaviour Modification Stephen Walker Personality Theory and Clinical Practice Peter Fonagy and Anna Higgitt Selves in Relation An introduction to psychotherapy and groups Keith Oatley Social Interaction and its Management Judy Gahagan FORTHCOMING TITLES IN THE SERIES Attitudes and Decisions J.Richard Eiser and Joop van der Pligt Human Physiological Psychology Tony Gale Multivariate Design and Statistics Steve Miller Judith Greene Memory, Thinking and Language Topics in cognitive psychology Methuen London and New York First published in 1987 by Methuen & Co. Ltd 11 New Fetter Lane, LondonEC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 1987Judith Greene All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Greene, Judith Memory, thinking and language: topics in cognitive psychology. —(New essential psychology). 1. Cognition I. Title II. Greene, Judith. Thinking and language III. Series 155.4` 13 BF311 ISBN 0-203-97873-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-416-33800-3 (Print Edition) To the 3 Js, Janet, John and Jonathan from the 4th J Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Thinking and knowledge 7 3 The structure of knowledge 17 4 Active memory 37 5 Language and knowledge 59 6 Language and communication 85 7 Knowledge, speech and action: the halfway mark 99 8 Problem-solving 103 9 Learning, acting and speaking 127 10 Implications for teaching 145 11 Knowing and doing: what’s it all about? 157 Suggestions for further reading 165 References and name index 167 Subject index 175 My grateful thanks to Pat Vasiliou for all the work she has put into typing the many drafts of this book. viii 1 Introduction There is a special difficulty about trying to write a book about memory, thinking and language, since these are just the processes which have gone into writing it. (At least one hopes some memory and thinking have gone into it and it is certainly presented in written language.) The equivalent volume to this in the earlier Essential Psychology series had the title Thinking andLanguage. The implication was that thinking and language could be treated as independent psychological activities. Interestingly there were many scattered references to the influence of memory on thought and language. Ten years on, the role of knowledge stored in memory has moved to the