Thinking and Intelligence

Piaget’s Theory

Intelligence is a basic life function that helps the organism adapt to its environment.

Intelligence is “a form of equilibrium toward which all cognitive structures tend” (1950 pg 6)

All intellectual activity is undertaken with one goal in mind: to produce a balanced, or harmonious, relationship between one’s thought process and the environment – cognitive equilibrium

Interactionist or Constructivist model (we are not passive participants rather we act on novel objects and events to gain understanding)

Piaget: Structure of Intelligence

Schemes- models, or mental structures, that we create to represent, organize, and interpret our experiences Similar to the layperson strategy or concept

Three Types of Schemes Behavioral- organized pattern of behavior that are used to

represent and respond to objects and experiences (ball is an object that bounces and can be bounced and rolled

Symbolic- internal mental symbols that one uses to represent aspects of experience

Operational (cognitive operation)- an internal activity that a person performs to reach a logical conclusion (example in mathmatical symbols)

Piaget’s Theory: Cognitive Development:

Cognitive development consists of mental adaptations to new observations and experiences

Adaptation- the process of adjusting to the demands of the environment

Adaptation takes two forms: Assimilation: Absorbing new information into

existing cognitive structures. Accommodation: Modifying existing cognitive

structures in response to experience and new information.

Piaget: Four Stages of Development

Sensorimotor (birth to 2) Infants coordinate their sensory inputs and motor

capabilities, forming behavioral schemes that permit them to act on and get to know their environment.

Object Permanence Preoperational (ages 2-7)

(Pre) operational Egocentrism Conservation (recognition that the properties of an object

do not change when its appearance is altered in some superficial way

Increase their use of mental symbols(symbolic/ pretend play

“Conservation of Liquid” Task

Conservation of Substance and Number

Conservation of Substance Two identical balls of

clay One is deformed “Do the two pieces have

the same amount of clay?”

Conservation of Number Two identical rows of

blocks One row is rearranged “Do the two rows have

the same number of blocks?

Piaget: Four Stages of Development

Concrete Operational Acquisition of cognitive operations and thinking more

logically about real objects and experiences Conservation (reversibility; clay) Awareness of divergent perspectives

Formal Operational Acquisition of more thinking more rationally and

systematically about abstract concepts and hypothetical events

2X + 5 = 15 (Hypothetical problem which can only be answered by abstract reasoning using a symbol system.

Thinking Like a Scientist

Evaluating Piaget’s Theory

Stage changes are neither as clear-cut nor as sweeping as Piaget believed.

Children sometimes understand more than Piaget believed.

Preschoolers are not as egocentric as Piaget thought.

Cognitive development depends on the child’s education and culture

Piaget overestimated the cognitive skills of many adults.

The Elements of Cognition

Concept: Mental category that groups objects, relations, activities, abstractions, or qualities having common properties.

Proposition: A unit of meaning that is made up of concepts and expresses a single idea.

Mental Image: Representation that mirrors or resembles the thing it represents.

Cognitive Schema: An integrated mental network of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations concerning a particular topic or aspect of the world.

How Conscious is Thought? Subconscious Processes: Mental processes occurring

outside of conscious awareness but accessible to consciousness when necessary. Automaticity- automatic routines performed without thinking

Helpful and Harmful

Nonconscious Processes: Mental processes occurring outside of and not available to conscious awareness. “Aha!” Implicit Learning- learning without an awareness of how you

did so and without being able to state exactly what it is you have learned

Mindlessness- obliviousness to the present context

Reasoning Rationally

Reasoning Rationally: Formal Reasoning

Reasoning- purposeful mental activity that involves operating on information to draw conclusions or inferences from observations, facts, or assumptions

Formal Reasoning: Algorithms Logic

Deductive- A tool of formal logic in which a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of observations or propositions (premises).

Inductive- A tool of formal logic in which a conclusion probably follows from a set of observations or propositions or premises, but could be false.

Reasoning Rationally: Informal Reasoning

Heuristic: A rule of thumb that suggests a course of action or guides

problem solving but does not guarantee an optimal solution.

Dialectical Reasoning: A process in which opposing facts or ideas are weighed

and compared, with a view to determining the best solution or resolving differences.

Pro vs Con

Reflective Judement

Synonymous with Critical Thinking

Three Stages Pre-reflective Judgment Quasi-reflective Judgment Reflective Judgment

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally

Exaggerating the Improbable Avoiding Loss The Confirmation Bias Biases Due to Mental Sets The Hindsight Bias The Need for Cognitive Consistency Overcoming Our Cognitive Biases

Exaggerating the Improbable

Availability Heuristic: The tendency to judge the probability of an event by

how easy it is to think of examples or instances. For example, most people overestimate the odds of

dying in a plane crash. Dying in an automobile accident is far more likely.

Avoiding Loss

People try to minimize risks and losses when making decisions.

Responses to the same choice will differ based on whether outcome is framed as gain or loss. In the example, outcomes

are the same in Problems 1 and 2.

The Confirmation Bias

Confirmation Bias: The tendency to look for or pay attention only to information that confirms one’s own beliefs.

E J 6 7

Test this rule: If a card has a vowel on one side, it has an even number on the other side.

Which 2 cards to turn over?

Biases Due to Mental Sets

Mental Set: A tendency to solve problems using procedures that worked before on similar problems. Mental sets help us solve most problems

efficiently. Not helpful when a problem calls for fresh insights

or a new approach.

The Nine-Dot Problem

Connect all 9 dots Use only 4 lines Do not lift your pencil

from the page after you begin drawing

The Hindsight Bias

Hindsight Bias: The tendency to overestimate one’s ability to have predicted an event once the outcome is known. Also known as the “I knew it all along” phenomenon. “The older they get the better they were when they were

younger.” (Jim Bouton, professional baseball player)

Need for Cognitive Consistency

Cognitive Dissonance: A state of tension that

occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent, or when a person’s belief is inconsistent with his or her behavior.

Likely to Reduce When: Choice Made Freely Justify Behavior that

Conflicts with Views of Self Justification of Effort

Intelligence

Intelligence

Intelligence: An inferred characteristic of an individual, usually defined as the ability to profit from experience, acquire knowledge, think abstractly, act purposefully, or adapt to changes in the environment.

g factor: A general intellectual ability assumed by many theorists to underlie specific mental abilities and talents.

The Psychometric Approach

IQ scores are distributed “normally” Bell-shaped curve

Very high and low scores are rare 68% of people have IQ

between 85-115 99.7% between 55-145

The Cognitive Approach

Metacognition: The knowledge or awareness of one’s own cognitive processes.

Tacit Knowledge: Strategies for success that are not explicitly taught but that instead must be inferred.

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory

Components - a.k.a. “Analytic” Comparing, analyzing, and evaluating. This type of processes correlates best with IQ.

Experiential - a.k.a. “Creative” Inventing or designing solutions to new problems. Transfer skills to new situations.

Contextual - a.k.a. “Practical” Using (i.e., applying) the things you know in everyday contexts.

The Origins of Intelligence

The Origins of Intelligence

Genes and Intelligence The Environment and Intelligence Attitudes, Motivation, and Intellectual Success

Correlations in Siblings’ IQ Scores

IQ scores of siblings were highly correlated, even when they were reared apart.

Identical twins have higher correlations than fraternal twins. Suggests a genetic link

Explaining Group Differences

Within a group with all treated exactly the same, differences may reflect genetics.

When one group differs from another, the differences may reflect environmental differences.

Environment and Intelligence

Factors associated with reduced IQ: Poor prenatal care Malnutrition Exposure to toxins Stressful family circumstances

Healthy and stimulating environments can raise IQ, sometimes dramatically.