Download - Ch9
Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (6th Ed)
Chapter 9
Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
James A. McCubbin, PhDClemson University
Worth Publishers
Thinking
Cognition mental activities associated with thinking,
knowing, remembering, and communicating
Cognitive Psychologists study these mental activities
concept formation problem solving decision making judgment formation
Thinking
Concept mental grouping of similar objects,
events, ideas, or people Prototype
mental image or best example of a category matching new items to the prototype
provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)
Thinking
Algorithm methodical, logical rule or procedure
that guarantees solving a particular problem
contrasts with the usually speedier–but also more error-prone--use of heuristics
Thinking
Heuristic simple thinking strategy that often
allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently
usually speedier than algorithms more error-prone than algorithms
Thinking
Unscramble
S P L O Y O C H Y G Algorithm
all 907,208 combinations Heuristic
throw out all YY combinations other heuristics?
Thinking
Insight sudden and often novel realization of
the solution to a problem contrasts with strategy-based solutions
Confirmation Bias tendency to search for information that
confirms one’s preconceptions Fixation
inability to see a problem from a new perspective
impediment to problem solving
The Matchstick Problem
How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?
The Candle-Mounting Problem
Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?
Thinking
Functional Fixedness tendency to think of things only in
terms of their usual functions impediment to problem solving
The Matchstick Problem
Solution to the matchstick problem
The Candle-Mounting Problem
Solving this problem requires recognizing that a box need not always serve as a container
Heuristics
Representativeness Heuristic judging the likelihood of things in
terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes
may lead one to ignore other relevant information
Heuristics
Availability Heuristic estimating the likelihood of events
based on their availability in memory if instances come readily to mind
(perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common
Example: airplane crash
Thinking
Overconfidence tendency to be more confident
than correct tendency to overestimate the
accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments
Thinking
Framing the way an issue is posed how an issue is framed can
significantly affect decisions and judgments
Example: What is the best way to market ground beef--as 25% fat or 75% lean?
Belief Perseverance clinging to one’s initial conceptions
after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
Language
Language our spoken, written, or gestured
works and the way we combine them to communicate meaning
Language We are all born to recognize speech sounds from
all the world’s languages
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Percentage ableto discriminateHindi t’s
Hindi-speaking
adults
6-8 months
8-10months
10-12months
English-speaking
adultsInfants from English-speaking homes
Language
Babbling Stage beginning at 3 to 4 months the stage of speech development in
which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
One-Word Stage from about age 1 to 2 the stage in speech development
during which a child speaks mostly in single words
Language
Two-Word Stage beginning about age 2 the stage in speech development
during which a child speaks in mostly two-word statements
Telegraphic Speech early speech stage in which the child
speaks like a telegram-–“go car”--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting “auxiliary” words
Language
Summary of Language Development
Month(approximate)
Stage
4
10
12
24
24+
Babbles many speech sounds.
Babbling reveals households language.
One-word stage.
Two-world, telegraphic speech.
Language develops rapidly intocomplete sentences.
Language
Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience activates them as it modifies the brain
Language
New language learning gets harder with age
100
90
80
70
60
50Native 3-7 8-10 11-15 17-39
Percentage correct ongrammar test
Age at school
Language
Linguistic Determinism Whorf”s hypothesis that language
determines the way we think
Language
The interplay of thought and language
Animal Thinking and Language
Gestured Communication
Animal Thinking and Language
Is this really language?
Origins of Intelligence Testing
Intelligence ability to learn
from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
Origins of Intelligence Testing
Mental Age a measure of intelligence test
performance devised by Binet chronological age that most
typically corresponds to a given level of performance
child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8
Origins of Intelligence Testing
Stanford-Binet the widely used American
revision of Binet’s original intelligence test revised by Terman at Stanford
University
Origins of Intelligence Testing
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) defined originally the ratio of
mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 IQ = ma/ca x 100
on contemporary tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100
What is Intelligence?
Factor Analysis statistical procedure that identifies clusters
of related items (called factors) on a test used to identify different dimensions of
performance that underlie one’s total score
General Intelligence (g) factor that Spearman and others believed
underlies specific mental abilities measured by every task on an intelligence
test
Are There Multiple Intelligences?
Savant Syndrome condition in which a person otherwise
limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill computation drawing
Are There Multiple Intelligences?
Social Intelligence the know-how involved in
comprehending social situations and managing oneself successfully
Emotional Intelligence ability to perceive, express, understand,
and regulate emotions
Intelligence and Creativity
Creativity the ability to produce novel and
valuable ideas expertise imaginative thinking skills venturesome personality intrinsic motivation creative environment
Assessing Intelligence
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) most widely used intelligence test subtests
verbal performance (nonverbal)
Assessing Intelligence
Aptitude Test a test designed to predict a person’s
future performance aptitude is the capacity to learn
Achievement Test a test designed to assess what a person
has learned
Assessing Intelligence Standardization
defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested “standardization group”
Normal Curve the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that
describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes
most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes
The Normal Curve
Assessing Intelligence Reliability
the extent to which a test yields consistent results
assessed by consistency of scores on: two halves of the test alternate forms of the test retesting
Validity the extent to which a test measures or
predicts what it is supposed to
Assessing Intelligence Content Validity
the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest driving test that samples driving tasks
Criterion behavior (such as college grades)
that a test (such as the SAT) is designed to predict
the measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity
Assessing Intelligence
Predictive Validity success with which a test predicts
the behavior it is designed to predict
assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior
also called criterion-related validity
The Dynamics of Intelligence
Mental Retardation a condition of limited mental ability indicated by an intelligence score below
70 produces difficulty in adapting to the
demands of life varies from mild to profound
Down Syndrome retardation and associated physical
disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup
The Dynamics of Intelligence
Genetic Influences
The most genetically similar people have the most similar scores
Genetic Influences
Heritability the proportion of variation among
individuals that we can attribute to genes
variability depends on range of populations and environments studied
Genetic Influences
Environmental Influences The Schooling Effect
Group Differences
The Mental Rotation Test Which two of the other circles contain a configuration of blocks
identical to the one in the circle at the left?
Standard Responses
Group Differences
Stereotype Threat A self-confirming concern that one will
be evaluated based on a negative stereotype