Cognition The act or process of knowing including both awareness and judgment. Not observable (not a behavior) – hence excluded from mainstream psychology

CognitionThe act or process of knowing including both awareness and judgment.

Not observable (not a behavior) – hence excluded from mainstream psychology from 1913 – middle 1950’s

The study of cognitive capabilities includes most importantly:

Problem Solving – active efforts to discover what must be done to achieve a goal that is not readily attainable.

Decision Making – involves evaluating alternatives and making choices between them.

Intelligence – the ability to reason or understand or to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment.

How Do We Solve Problems?

Trial and Error

Algorithms

Heuristics

Insight

Barriers to Effective Problem SolvingConfirmation Bias – a tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions. We seek evidence verifying our ideas more eagerly than we seek evidence that might refute them.

Irrelevant Information – problem solving becomes inefficient when we focus in on information which is irrelevant to solving the problem.

Functional Fixedness – the tendency to perceive an object or a process only in terms of its most common use. Its as if the function of the object has become so fixed in the subject’s mind that he can’t conceive of using it in any other way.

Mental Set – is where a person pursues a problem-solving strategy that has worked in the past even though it may no longer be effective.

Unnecessary Constraints – Effective problem solving requires familiarity with all constraints governing a problem without assuming constraints that don’t exist.

Decision Making

Decision Making involves evaluating alternatives and making choices among them.

Additive Strategies – value of each alternative weighed by considering the pros and cons of each choice

Elimination by Aspects Strategy – if an alternative fails to satisfy some minimum criterion for an attribute, it is eliminated from further consideration

Risky Decision Making – involves making choices under conditions of uncertainty

Individual Differences

Individual Differences – attributes or qualities which make an individual unique

- Basic task is to measure individual on different traits or characteristics

Psychological Tests (Psychometrics)Have been developed to measure most every conceivable psychological or mental characteristic imaginable (intelligence, aptitude, achievement, personality, opinion, etc)

There are more than 10,000 different psychological tests.

Validity – does the test measure what it purports to measure?

Reliability – will the test produce consistency between successive administrations of the test?

Precision – will the test allow us to measure characteristics with a high degree of graduation?

Tests of Abilities

Ability – factor responsible for skillful performance on some task

Aptitude Tests – measures potential for acquiring some skill

Achievement Tests – measure the degree to which the skill is already possessed

E.G., LSAT vs Bar Exam

WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children)

Mental Age (MA)

Chronological Age (CA)= Intelligence Quotient (IQ)X 100

10

10 X 100 = 100 Average, just as expected

given his age

9

12X 100 = 75 Slow, child is not at level

expected given his age

12

10X 100 = 120

Gifted, child performs at a level above that expected for his age

WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children)

Materials Used for Testing

WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale)Chronological Age not factored into the scoring

Eleven subtests included within the WAIS

Information Digit Symbol

Comprehension Picture Completion

Arithmetic Block Design

Similarities Picture Arrangement

Digit Span Object Assembly

Vocabulary

Verbal Tests Performance Tests

Military Related Intelligence Testing


Conscription during World War I – brought millions of men into the armed services many not qualified for duty

Army Alpha – was the first mass administered intelligence test designed to identify and eliminate conscriptees not fit for service.

Army Beta – developed soon thereafter for testing intelligence of illiterate conscriptees

AGCT (Army General Classification Test) was developed in WWII and it provided much more information allowing men to not only be screened for suitability but also to identify superior aptitudes possessed. A particular job in the military (MOS, Military Occupational Specialty) could thus be assigned.

Effects of Age on Intellectual Ability


Cross-Sectional Studies – suggest that intellectual ability increases with age up to about 25 years then begins a gradual decline.

Longitudinal Studies – show no evidence of decline with advancing age (importance of maintaining intellectual stimulation).

Effects of Environment on Intellectual Ability


intellectually stimulating environment – raises intelligence scores

intellectually impoverished environment – lowers intelligence scores

Infants that receive a great deal of sensory stimulation (visual, auditory, and tactile) develop cognitive skills at an earlier age. Most important influence was degree of contact with adults (Effects of family size and birth order).

Rats raised in intellectually stimulating or impoverished environments showed adult learning skills which corresponded to their infant environment.

Genetic Predispositions – Innate Component to Intelligence


Tryon – performed an experiment on selective inbreeding of bright rats vs dull rats.

A population of rats was taught to run a maze. The top performers (5%) were interbred and they gave birth to the B1 generation (“maze-bright”). The B1 rats were trained to run the maze and the top performers (5%) were interbred and they gave birth to the B2 generation. Repeated again and again.

The worse performers (5%) were interbred and they gave birth to the D1 generation (“maze-dull”). The D1 rats were trained to run the maze and the worse performers (5%) were interbred and they gave birth to the D2 generation. Repeated again and again.



Tryon – performed an experiment that showed that selective inbreeding led to inherited intelligence levels

Correlation of Intelligence Scores for Relatives shows that evidence for inheritability of intelligence is just as strong as for inheritability of physical traits.









Identical twins raised together differed in IQ score by average of 5.9 points. Identical twins raised apart differed in IQ score by average of 8.2 points.

The Nature – Nurture Controversy


Is intelligence the product of environment (experience) or heredity (genetics)?

Probable answer is both factors are important. The best evidence suggests that heredity lays the boundaries of intellectual possibilities, environment determines where within these boundaries the actual intelligence will fall.

Stages of Cognitive Development (Piaget)

Documents

Cognition The act or process of knowing including both awareness and judgment. Not observable (not a behavior) – hence excluded from mainstream psychology