© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Thinking Language Intelligence

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

• Thinking• Language• Intelligence


Things You’ll Learn in Chapter 8Q1 Why might some medical treatments be judged

as more effective than they really are?

Q2Can studying in a coffee shop improve your creativity?

Q3Can babies begin to learn language even before they are born?

Q4 Do bigger brains indicate greater intelligence?

Q5 Does caregiving in the first years of life have a lasting impact on brain size and development?

• Cognition = the mental activities involved in acquiring, storing, retrieving, and using knowledge

• Thinking is both localized and distributed throughout the brain in networks of neurons

Cognition


• Imagine yourself at the beach. What do you see? Smell? Hear? Feel?

• Mental image = the mental representation of a previously stored sensory experience, including visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, motor, or gustatory imagery

Cognitive Building Blocks


• Concept = the mental representation of a group or category

• Concepts developed through 3 building blocks1. Prototype = the example that embodies the

“best” or most typical feature of a concept



Think of a bird…..



2. Artificial concept = a clearly defined concept based on a set of logical rules, also known as a formal concept

When something doesn’t fit the prototype, must review artificial concept

Did anyone think of a penguin?

3. Hierarchies = subcategories within broader concepts• We learn basic-level before higher- and lower-

order



• Solving problems means moving from the given state (problem) to a goal state (solution)

• Three steps:1. Preparation – define goal, outline limits2. Production – test possible options using• Algorithms: logical, step-by-step procedure that will

always eventually solve the problem• Heuristics: cognitive strategy or “rule of thumb” used as a

shortcut for problem solving; does not guarantee a solution but does narrow down alternatives

3. Evaluation – determine if solution solves problem

Solving Problems


• In what section of the grocery store can you find sun-dried tomatoes?

• How could you find them?– Algorithm – walk each isle until you find them– Heuristic – guess which section they might be in

(Fresh produce? Canned vegetables?)

Solving Problems


Other problem-solving techniques• Insight: remember Kohler’s chimps from

Chapter 6 who stacked boxes to reach bananas?

• Incubation period: mentally set the problem aside for a while until the solution comes without conscious thought.

Solving Problems


• Sometimes we struggle to solve problems because:

• Mental set = a problem-solving strategy that has worked in the past, which we continue to use rather than trying new strategies

• Functional fixedness = the inability to think of an object functioning only in its usual or customary way; adversely affects problem solving and creativity

Barriers to Problem Solving


• Confirmation Bias = the bias of preferring information that confirms preexisting positions or beliefs, while ignoring or discounting contradictory evidence



Treatment outcomes in medical research studies were judged to be more positive when the evaluator knew what treatment each patient received (not blind to condition).

How might this affect a doctor’s

treatment decisions?

Q1 Why might some medical treatments be judged as more effective than they really are?

• Ever heard of the Sports Illustrated “cover jinx”?

• That’s confirmation bias!


Improper use of heuristics• Availability heuristic = a cognitive strategy

(shortcut) that involves making judgments based on information that is readily available in memory

• Representativeness heuristic = a cognitive strategy (shortcut) that involves making judgments based on how well an object or event matches (represents) an existing prototype in our minds



• In sum, potential biases limit good judgment and problem solving

• BUT availability and representativeness heuristics are shortcuts that are more likely to help us than hurt us by providing “inferences that are fast, frugal, and accurate” (Todd & Gigerenzer, 2000, p. 736)



• Creativity = the ability to produce original, appropriate, and valued outcomes in a novel way

• Has three characteristics:

Creativity


• Three groups of participants experienced varying levels of ambient noise (50 dB, 70 dB, and 85 dB) while performing a test of creativity.

• Who performed best? Those with moderate background noise (70 dB).


Q2 Can studying in a coffee shop improve your creativity?

• Divergent thinking = an aspect of creativity characterized by an ability to produce unusual but appropriate alternatives from a single starting point

Creative Thinking


LANGUAGE


• Language = a form of communication using sounds and symbols combined according to specific rules

• To produce language, we use .…– Phonemes – smallest basic unit of speech or sound,

which combine into ….– Morphemes – smallest meaningful unit of language,

which combine into ….– Grammar – the system of rules (syntax and semantics)

used to create language and communication

Language


Language


• Language doesn’t determine thought– Whorf (1956) proposed the linguistic relativity

hypothesis, which suggested that the language you speak determines how you reason, think, and perceive the world (Inuits’ multiple words for snow)

• Language does influence thought– People who speak both Chinese and English say

the language they are using affects their sense of self, influencing which cultural norms they adopt.

Language and Thought



Language Development

• Newborns heard their native language or a different language (English and Swedish) while sucking on a pacifier hooked to a computer

• The babies who heard the foreign language sucked more frequently, suggesting babies are more interested in hearing new sounds … they had already become accustomed to their native language while in utero



Is language development nature or nurture?• Language acquisition device (LAD) = according

to Noam Chomsky, an innate mechanism that enables a child to analyze language and extract the basic rules of grammar– Children everywhere progress through the same

stages of language development, regardless of language

• Nurturists argue that children learn language through rewards, punishment, and imitation

Language Development


• Apes lack the anatomical structure needed to vocalize like humans

• Gardner (1969): recognized chimp’s manual dexterity and ability to imitate gestures

• The chimp Washoe learned 132 ASL signs and could combine them into simple sentences

• The gorilla Koko knew 1000 words

Can Animals Talk?


• Nonhuman animal language is less complex, less creative and has fewer rules than human language.– Some argue that animals don’t understand

language but are operantly conditioned to respond

– Others claim that communication can occur but animal ideas are severely limited

Is it language?


INTELLIGENCE


• Intelligence = the global capacity to think rationally, act purposefully, profit from experience, and deal effectively with the environment

• Different cultures have different definitions of intelligence that go beyond “book smarts”

Intelligence


The Nature of Intelligence

Single factor

• General intelligence (g) = Spearman’s term for overall general intellectual ability– g underlies all

intellectual ability, including reasoning and problem solving

– Laid the foundation for today’s standardized intelligence tests

Multiple factors

• Thurstone proposed seven primary mental abilities:– Verbal comprehension, word

fluency, numerical fluency, spatial visualization, associative memory, perceptual speed, and reasoning

• Guilford proposed 120 factors


• Cattell reanalyzed Thurstone’s data and proposed two subtypes of g:– Fluid intelligence (gf) = aspects of innate

intelligence, including reasoning abilities, memory, and speed of information processing; relatively independent of education and tends to decline as people age

– Crystalized intelligence (gc) = knowledge and skills gained through experience and education and the ability to access that knowledge; intelligence that tends to increase over the life span



• Gardner proposed theory of multiple intelligences: people have different profiles of intelligence because they are stronger in some areas than others and use their intelligences differently

• Sternberg’s triarchic theory of successful intelligence suggests three separate, learned aspects of intelligence: analytic, creative, and practical

• Goleman popularized emotional intelligence (EI): the ability to perceive, appraise, express, and regulate emotions accurately and appropriately



• Most IQ tests are designed to predict grades in school

• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: ages 3 to 16. Includes copying geometric designs, identifying similarities, and repeating number sequences

• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale: separate scores for verbal and performance

Measuring Intelligence


• Intelligence Quotient (IQ) = an index of intelligence initially derived from standardized tests and by dividing mental age by chronological age and then multiplying by 100; now derived by comparing individual scores withthe scores of others of the same age.



• Intelligence tests must meet three basic requirements:1. Standardization = a set of uniform procedures

for treating each participant in a test, interview, or experiment or for recording data

2. Reliability = the degree to which a test produces similar scores each time it is used; stability or consistency of the scores produced by an instrument

3. Validity = the degree to which a test measures what it is intended to measure



• Intellectually disabled (previously called mentally retarded): applies to someone significantly below average in intellectual functioning and has significant deficits in adaptive functioning

• Fewer than 3% of people; of this group, 85% have mild intellectual disability; may score low on some areas and average or gifted on others

• Savant syndrome = a condition in which a person with generally limited mental abilities exhibits exceptional skill or brilliance in some limited field

• Disabilities might be caused by genetic condition (Down syndrome, fragile-X, PKU) or by the environment (prenatal exposure to drugs, deprivation early in life, brain damage from accidents)

Extremes in Intelligence


• Gifted or high IQ are usually defined as the top 1 to 2% of IQ scores.

• Terman (1921) followed 1500 kids with IQ of 140+ through childhood and adulthood– Subjects became successful professionals at a

higher rate than others; tended to have extraordinary motivation and support at school and home

– Fared no better than the general population in rates of alcohol abuse, divorce, and suicide.

Extremes in Intelligence


Recent neuroscience research shows:• People with high IQ also respond faster on perceptual

judgment tasks (Bowling & Mackenzie, 1996)• Intelligent brains work more efficiently than less

intelligent brains (Jung & Haier, 2007)

Nature, Nurture, and IQ


• Significant correlation between brain size and intelligence• Einstein’s brain was no larger than normal: some areas were

smaller, but math and spatial info areas were 15% larger


• Minnesota Study of Twins investigated identical twins raised in different homes



• Heredity equips people with innate intellectual capacity; the environment significantly influences whether a person will reach full potential



• Early malnutrition can stunt a child’s physical brain development, which affects responsiveness to environment and motivation to learning, ultimately lowering IQ

Q5 Does caregiving in the first years of life have a lasting impact on brain size and development?

Differences Between vs Within Groups


• Historical group differences in average IQ scores between black and white people in US

• Differences between groups are environmental (different soil) not genetic (same seeds)

• Greatest differences appear within groups: some blacks score high, some score low; some whites score high, some score low

What else affects differences in IQ?• Environmental factors can override genetic potential• Traditional IQ tests may be culturally biased – they reflect white,

middle-class culture, which puts others at disadvantage if knowledge, values, language don’t match test

• Intelligence is not a fixed trait. Flynn effect: IQ scores around the world are increasing

• Dividing scores by race doesn’t take into account difficulty in defining race and racial membership

• Stereotype threat = awareness of negative stereotype that affects oneself and may lead to impairment in performance

Differences Between vs Within Groups



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© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Thinking Language Intelligence