COGNITION
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Transcript of COGNITION
COGNITION
Definition
“process of organizing informationto solve a problem”
– thinking, decision making– reasoning, judging, imagining
All depend on learning & memory
History of Intelligence:Plato, Galton, Binet
“No two persons are born exactlyalike, but each differs from the other by
natural endowments, one being more suitedfor one occasion and the other for another”
Alfred Binet and theIntelligence Quotient (IQ)
• First calculate the child’s mental age– corresponds to the age of ability– 9 yr old with a mental age of 7 would struggle
• Divide mental age by chronological age
IQ = 100 * MA / CA
125 = 100*10/8
Intelligence:What is it?
Not a thing, but a concept:“a person’s capacity forgoal-directed behaviour”
• Standardization, Reliability, & Validity• Culture-Free Intelligence Tests• Genetic and Environmental Influence• General vs. Specific Abilities
Intelligence Testing:Standardization, Reliability, Validity
• Standardization– Uniform administration and performance norms
• Reliability– Consistent results; 102 – 53 – 146 in 3 months– Current test reliabilites are >.90 (high reliab.)
• Validity– Test measures what it is supposed to measure– Compare IQ score to other measures of IQ– Stanford-Binet vs. Wechsler (correls of .40-.75)
Consistent Group Differencesin Intelligence Testing
• Male vs. Female
– Males: +45 math, +8 verbal SAT
• Black vs. White (Americans)
– Blacks: -15 Full IQ, -100 verbal/math SAT
• Japanese vs. American
– Japanese: <3% popln, >25% science awards
Bias in Intelligence Testing:What is a ‘regatta’?
• Are current tests of mental ability unfair to minority groups?– African Americans score 10-15 points lower– Review of evidence produced no clear explanation
• Tests typically assume the same educational and cultural experiences– Do the scores reflect a socially disadvantaged
environment; they still have predictive validity
Intelligence:Culture Free Testing
• Intelligent behaviour varies by situation– South Pacific Islands, Manager, Inner City
Can we ever have a test of intelligenceuninfluenced by one’s culture?
(basic cognitive abilities)
• Initial results have been disappointing– Largely perceptual/spacial tasks– High SES and Europeans still score higher
Source of Intelligence:Genetics vs. Environment
Sparks a fierce political debate
• Genetics“Do people with similar geneshave similar mental abilities?”
• Environment“Do life experiences matter,
and if so, how early?”
Six Explanations Why Group Differences are Environmental
Cultural differences in education
Barriers to disadvantaged groups
Adoption studies
Infant Picture Test
African ancestry
Rise & fall of all cultures
Intelligence: GeneralVersus Specific Abilities
Should we represent intelligenceby one number or several numbers?
Specific– talents: math, music, dance, art, writing, sports– single number would be useless
General– general intelligence (g) underlies all abilities– appears to be true with physical ability