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