Chamberlain 2012 AP Psychology—Unit 6 Thinking, Language, Testing & Intelligence.
Thinking, Language, and Intelligence Chapter 8. Thinking, Language, & Intelligence Intelligence ...
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Transcript of Thinking, Language, and Intelligence Chapter 8. Thinking, Language, & Intelligence Intelligence ...
Thinking
Thinking, or cognition, refers to a process that involves knowing, understanding,
remembering, and communicating.
Cognitive Psychologists
Thinking involves a number of mental activities, which are listed below. Cognitive
psychologists study these in great detail.
1. Concepts2. Problem solving3. Decision making4. Judgment
formation
Problem Solving
Problem solving strategies include:
1. Trial and Error2. Algorithms3. Heuristics4. Insight
Algorithms
Algorithms, which are very time consuming, exhaust all possibilities before arriving at a
solution. Computers use algorithms.
S P L O Y O C H Y G
If we were to unscramble these letters to form a word using an algorithmic approach, we would face
907,200 possibilities.
Heuristics
Heuristics are simple, thinking strategies that
allow us to make judgments and solve problems
efficiently. Heuristics are less time consuming, but more error-
prone than algorithms.
B2M
Productions/D
igital Version/G
etty Images
Heuristics
Heuristics make it easier for us to use simple principles to arrive at solutions to problems.
S P L O Y O C H Y GS P L O Y O C H G YP S L O Y O C H G YP S Y C H O L O G Y
Put a Y at the end, and see if the wordbegins to make sense.
Insight
Insight involves a sudden novel
realization of a solution to a
problem. Humans and animals have
insight.
Grande using boxes toobtain food
Insight
Brain imaging and EEG studies suggest that when an insight
strikes (the “Aha” experience), it
activates the right temporal cortex (Jung-
Beeman & others, 2004). The time
between not knowing the solution and
realizing it is about 0.3 seconds.
From M
ark Jung-Beekm
an, Northw
estern U
niversity and John Kounios, D
rexel University
Making Good (and Bad) Decision & Forming Judgments
Each day we make hundreds of judgments and decisions based on our intuition, seldom using systematic reasoning.
Obstacles in Solving Problems
Confirmation Bias: A tendency to search for information that confirms a personal bias.
2 – 4 – 6
Rule: Any ascending series of numbers. 1 – 2 – 3 would comply. Wason’s students had difficulty figuring out the rule due to a confirmation bias
(Wason, 1960).
Using and Misusing Heuristics
Heuristics such as the availability heuristic, have been identified by
cognitive psychologists.
Amos Tversky Daniel Kahneman
Courtesy of G
reymeyer A
ward, U
niversity of L
ouisville and the Tversky fam
ily
Courtesy of G
reymeyer A
ward, U
niversity of L
ouisville and Daniel K
ahneman
Availability Heuristic
Why does our availability heuristic lead us astray?Whatever increases the ease of retrieving
information increases its perceived availability.
How is retrieval facilitated?
1. How recently we have heard about the event.
2. How distinct it is.3. How correct it is.
Fixation
Fixation: An inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. This impedes
problem solving. An example of fixation is functional fixedness.
The Matchstick Problem: How
would you arrange six matches to form
four equilateral triangles?
From
“Problem
Solving” by M
. Scheerer. C
opyright © 1963 by
Scientific A
merican, Inc. A
ll Rights R
eserved.
Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?
Candle-Mounting Problem
From
“Problem
Solving” by M
. Scheerer. C
opyright © 1963 by
Scientific A
merican, Inc. A
ll Rights R
eserved.
The Matchstick Problem: Solution
From
“Problem
Solving” by M
. Scheerer. C
opyright © 1963 by
Scientific A
merican, Inc. A
ll Rights R
eserved.
Overconfidence
Intuitive heuristics, confirmation of beliefs, and the inclination to explain failures
increase our overconfidence. Overconfidence is a tendency to overestimate the accuracy of
our beliefs and judgments.
In the stock market, both the seller and the buyer may be
confident about their decisions on a stock.
The Effects of Framing
Decisions and judgments may be significantly affected depending upon how an issue is
framed.
Example: What is the best way to market ground beef — as 25% fat or 75% lean?
The Belief Perseverance Phenomenon
Belief perseverance is the tendency to cling to our beliefs in the face of contrary
evidence.
If you see that a country is hostile, you are likely to interpret their ambiguous
actions as a sign of hostility (Jervis, 1985).
Assessing Risk
The opposite of having overconfidence
is having an exaggerated fear about what may
happen. Such fears may be unfounded.
The 9/11 attacks led to a decline in air travel due to fear.
AP
/ Wide W
orld Photos
Perils & Powers of Intuition
Intuition may be perilous if unchecked, but may also be extremely efficient and
adaptive.
Language and Thought
Language, our spoken, written, or gestured work, is the way we communicate meaning
to ourselves and others.
Language transmits culture.
M. &
E. B
ernheim/ W
oodfin Cam
p & A
ssociates
Language Development
Children learn their native languages
much before learning to add 2+2.
We learn, on average (after age 1), 3,500
words a year, amassing 60,000
words by the time we graduate from high
school.
Tim
e Life Pictures/ G
etty Images
When do we learn language?
Babbling Stage: Beginning at 4
months, the infant spontaneously utters various sounds, like ah-goo. Babbling is
not imitation of adult speech.
When do we learn language?
One-Word Stage: Beginning at or around his first birthday, a child starts to speak one word at a time and is able to make family members understand him. The word doggy may mean look at the dog out there.
When do we learn language?
Two-Word Stage: Before the 2nd year, a child starts to speak in two-word sentences. This form of speech is called telegraphic speech because the child speaks like a telegram: “Go car,” means I would like to go for a ride in the car.
When do we learn language?
Longer phrases: After telegraphic speech, children begin uttering longer phrases (Mommy get ball) with syntactical sense, and by early elementary school they are employing humor.
You never starve in the desert because of all the sand-which-is there.
Explaining Language Development
Childhood is a critical period for fully developing certain aspects of language. Children never exposed to any language (spoken or signed) by about age 7 gradually lose their ability to master any language.
Do animals have a language?
Animal Thinking & Language
Honey bees communicate by dancing. The dancemoves clearly indicate the direction of the nectar.
Do Animals Think?
Common cognitive skills in humans and apes
include the following:
1. Concept Formation
2. Insight3. Problem Solving4. Culture
African grey parrot assorts redblocks from green balls.
William
Munoz
Problem Solving
Apes are, much like us, shaped by
reinforcement when solving problems.
Chimpanzee fishing for ants.
Courtesy of Jennifer B
yrne, c/o Richard B
yrne, D
epartment of P
sychology, University of S
t. Andrew
s, Scotland
Animal Culture
Animals display customs and culture that are learned and transmitted over generations.
Dolphins using sponges asforging tools.
Chimpanzee mother using andteaching a young how to use
a stone hammer.
Copyright A
manda K
Coakes
Michael N
ichols/ National G
eographic Society
Do Animals Exhibit Language?
There is no doubt that animals
communicate.
Vervet monkeys, whales and even
honey bees communicate with members of their species and other
species.Rico (collie) has a
200-word vocabulary
Copyright B
aus/ Kreslow
ski
The Case of Apes
Gardner and Gardner (1969) used American Sign Language (ASL) to
train Washoe, a chimp, who learned 181 signs by the age of 32.
Gestured Communication
Animals, like humans, exhibit communication through gestures. It is
possible that vocal speech developed from gestures during the course of evolution.
But Can Apes Really Talk?1. Apes acquire their limited vocabularies
with a great deal of difficulty, unlike children who develop vocabularies at amazing rates.
2. Chimpanzees can make signs to receive a reward, just as a pigeon who pecks at the key receives a reward. However, pigeons have not learned a language.
3. Chimpanzees use signs meaningfully but lack human syntax.
4. Presented with ambiguous information, people tend to see what they want to see (perceptual set).
Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is instrumental in teaching chimpanzees
a form of communication.
When asked, this chimpanzee usesa sign to say it is a baby.
Paul Fusco/ Magnum
Photos
Syntax Comprehension
Others have shown that pygmy chimpanzees can develop even greater vocabularies and perhaps
semantic nuances in learning a language (Savage-Rumbaugh, 1993). Kanzi (shown below)
developed vocabulary for hundreds of words and phrases.
Copyright of G
reat Ape T
rust of Iowa
Conclusions
If we say that animals can use meaningful sequences of signs to communicate a
capability for language, our understanding would be naive… Steven Pinker (1995)
concludes, “chimps do not develop language.”
What is Intelligence?
Intelligence (in all cultures) is the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use our knowledge to adapt to new
situations.
In research studies, intelligence is whatever the intelligence test measures.
This tends to be “school smarts.”
Intelligence: Ability or Abilities?
Have you ever thought that since people’s mental abilities are so diverse, it
may not be justifiable to label those abilities with only one word, intelligence?
General Intelligence
The idea that general intelligence (g) exists comes from the work of Charles
Spearman (1863-1945) who helped develop the factor analysis approach in
statistics.
Athleticism, like intelligence, is many things
General Intelligence
Spearman proposed that general intelligence (g) is linked to many clusters that can be analyzed by factor analysis.
For example, people who do well on vocabulary examinations do well on
paragraph comprehension examinations, a cluster that helps define verbal
intelligence. Other factors include a spatial ability factor, or a reasoning
ability factor.
Contemporary Intelligence Theories
Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) supports the idea that intelligence comes in
multiple forms. Gardner notes that brain damage may diminish one type of ability
but not others.
People with savant syndrome excel in abilitiesunrelated to general intelligence.
Howard Gardner
Gardner proposes eight types of intelligences and speculates about a ninth one — existential intelligence. Existential intelligence is the ability to think about the
question of life, death and existence.
Intelligence and Creativity
Creativity is the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable. It correlates
somewhat with intelligence.1. Expertise: A well-developed knowledge base.2. Imaginative Thinking: The ability to see things
in novel ways.3. A Venturesome Personality: A personality that
seeks new experiences rather than following the pack.
4. Intrinsic Motivation: A motivation to be creative from within.
5. A Creative Environment: A creative and supportive environment allows creativity to bloom.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand, and use emotions (Salovey and others, 2005). The test of emotional intelligence measures overall
emotional intelligence and its four components.
Emotional Intelligence: Components
Component Description
Perceive emotionRecognize emotions in
faces, music and stories
Understand emotion
Predict emotions, how they change and blend
Manage emotionExpress emotions in different situations
Use emotionUtilize emotions to adapt or
be creative
Emotional Intelligence: Criticism
Gardner and others criticize the idea of emotional intelligence and question whether
we stretch this idea of intelligence too far when we apply it to our emotions.
Assessing Intelligence
Psychologists define intelligence testing as a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with others
using numerical scores.
Alfred Binet
Alfred Binet and his colleague Théodore Simon practiced a
more modern form of intelligence testing by developing questions
that would predict children’s future
progress in the Paris school system.
Lewis TermanIn the U.S., Lewis Terman adapted Binet’s test for
American school children and named
the test the Stanford-Binet Test. The following is the
formula of Intelligence Quotient (IQ), introduced by
William Stern:
David Wechsler
Wechsler developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
(WAIS) and later the Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children (WISC), an
intelligence test for school-aged children.
WAISWAIS measures overall intelligence and 11 other aspects related to intelligence that
are designed to assess clinical and educational problems.
Reliability
A test is reliable when it yields consistent results. To establish reliability researchers
establish different procedures:
1. Split-half Reliability: Dividing the test into two equal halves and assessing how consistent the scores are.
2. Test-Retest Reliability: Using the same test on two occasions to measure consistency.
Validity
Reliability of a test does not ensure validity. Validity of a test refers to what the test is
supposed to measure or predict.
1. Content Validity: Refers to the extent a test measures a particular behavior or trait.
2. Predictive Validity: Refers to the function of a test in predicting a particular behavior or trait.
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence
No other topic in psychology is so passionately followed as the one that asks
the question, “Is intelligence due to genetics or environment?”
Genetic InfluencesStudies of twins, family members, and
adopted children together support the idea that there is a significant genetic
contribution to intelligence.
Adoption Studies
Adopted children show a marginal correlation in verbal ability to their adopted
parents.
Heritability
The variation in intelligence test scores attributable to genetics. We credit
heredity with 50% of the variation in intelligence.
It pertains only to why people differ from one another, not to the individual.
Environmental Influences
Studies of twins and adopted children also show the following:
1. Fraternal twins raised together tend to show similarity in intelligence scores.
2. Identical twins raised apart show slightly less similarity in their intelligence scores.
Early Intervention Effects
Early neglect from caregivers leads children to develop a lack of personal control over the
environment, and it impoverishes their intelligence.
Romanian orphans with minimalhuman interaction are delayed in their development.
Schooling Effects
Schooling is an experience that pays dividends, which is reflected in intelligence scores. Increased schooling correlates with
higher intelligence scores.
To increase readiness for schoolwork,projects like Head Start facilitate leaning.
Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores
Why do groups differ in intelligence? How can we make sense of these differences?
Ethnic Similarities and Differences
1. Racial groups differ in their average intelligence scores.
2. High-scoring people (and groups) are more likely to attain high levels of education and income.
To discuss this issue we begin with two disturbing but agreed upon facts:
Racial (Group) Differences
If we look at racial differences, white Americans score higher in average
intelligence than black Americans (Avery and others, 1994). European New
Zealanders score higher than native New Zealanders (Braden, 1994).
White-Americans Black-Americans
Average IQ = 100 Average IQ = 85
Hispanic Americans
Environmental Effects
Differences in intelligence among these groups are largely environmental, as if one environment is more fertile in developing
these abilities than the other.
Reasons Why Environment Affects Intelligence
1. Races are remarkably alike genetically. 2. Race is a social category.3. Asian students outperform North American
students on math achievement and aptitude tests.
4. Today’s better prepared populations would outperform populations of the 1930s on intelligence tests.
5. White and black infants tend to score equally well on tests predicting future intelligence.
6. Different ethnic groups have experienced periods of remarkable achievement in different eras.
Gender Similarities and Differences
There are seven ways in which males and females differ in various abilities.
1. Girls are better spellers
2. Girls are verbally fluent and have large vocabularies
3. Girls are better at locating objects
4. Girls are more sensitive to touch, taste, and color
5. Boys outnumber girls in counts of underachievement
6. Boys outperform girls at math problem solving, but under perform at math computation
7. Women detect emotions more easily than men do
The Question of Bias
Aptitude tests are necessarily biased in the sense that they are sensitive to performance differences caused by cultural differences.
However, aptitude tests are not biased in the sense that they accurately predict
performance of one group over the other.