Thinking, Intelligence, and Language PDF

Because learning changes everything. ® Chapter 7: Thinking, Intelligence, and Language Copyright 2022 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.  Chapter Preview Th...

Because learning changes everything. ® Chapter 7: Thinking, Intelligence, and Language Copyright 2022 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.  Chapter Preview The Cognitive Revolution in Psychology. Thinking. Intelligence. Language. © McGraw Hill LLC 2  The Cognitive Revolution in Psychology 1 Cognition: the way in which information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing. In the 1950s, computer science contributed to the birth of the study of human information processing. The computer is used as an analogy for the relationship between cognition and the brain. © McGraw Hill LLC 3  Figure 1: Computers and Human Cognition An analogy is sometimes drawn between human cognition and the way computers work. The physical brain is analogous to a computer’s hardware, and cognition is analogous to a computer’s software. Access the text alternative for slide images. © McGraw Hill LLC (photo): Creatas/Getty Images 4  The Cognitive Revolution in Psychology 2 Inanimate computers and human brains function quite differently in some respects. Most computers receive information from a human who has removed much of the information’s ambiguity. In the human brain, each neuron can respond to ambiguous information transmitted through sensory receptors. Computers can do some things better. Unlike the computer, however, the human mind is aware of itself. © McGraw Hill LLC 5  The Cognitive Revolution in Psychology 3 Artificial intelligence (AI): a scientific field focused on creating machines capable of performing activities that require intelligence when they are done by people. Cognitive robotics: a field seeking to endow a robot with intelligent behavior. Cognitive psychology: seeks to explain observable behavior by investigating the mental processes and structures that cannot be directly observed. © McGraw Hill LLC 6  Thinking Thinking: manipulating information mentally. Forming concepts. Solving problems. Making decisions. Reflecting critically or creatively. © McGraw Hill LLC 7  Concepts 1 Concepts: mental categories that are used to group objects, events, and characteristics. Allow us to generalize. Allow us to associate experience and objects. Aid memory, making it more efficient so that we do not have to reinvent the wheel each time we come across a piece of information. Provide clues about how to react to a particular object or experience. © McGraw Hill LLC 8  Concepts 2 Prototype model: emphasizes that when people evaluate whether a given item reflects a certain concept, they compare the item with the most typical item(s) in that category. Look for a “family resemblance.” © McGraw Hill LLC (platypus): JohnCarnemolla/Getty Images; (tiger): John Giustina/Getty Images 9  Problem Solving 1 A problem exists when a person has a goal with no clear way to achieve it. Problem solving: the mental process of finding an appropriate way to attain a goal when the goal is not readily available. © McGraw Hill LLC 10  Problem Solving 2 Steps in problem solving: 1. Find and frame problems. 2. Develop good problem-solving strategies. 3. Evaluate solutions. 4. Rethink and redefine problems and solutions over time. © McGraw Hill LLC 11  Problem Solving 3 Some problem-solving strategies: Subgoals: intermediate goals or problems to solve that put one in a better position for reaching a final goal or solution. Algorithms: strategies—formulas, instructions, testing—that guarantee a solution to a problem. Heuristics: shortcut strategies or guidelines that suggestion a solution but do not guarantee an answer. © McGraw Hill LLC 12  Problem Solving 4 One obstacle to problem solving is becoming fixated. Fixation: using a prior strategy and failing to look at a problem from a fresh new perspective. Functional fixedness: failing to solve a problem as a result of fixation on a thing’s usual functions. © McGraw Hill LLC 13  Figure 2: Maier String Problem How can you tie the two strings together if you cannot reach them both at the same time? Access the text alternative for slide images. © McGraw Hill LLC 14  Figure 3: Solution to the Maier String Problem Use the pliers as a weight to create a pendulum motion that brings the second string closer. Access the text alternative for slide images. © McGraw Hill LLC 15  The Candle Problem: How would you mount a candle on a wall so that it won’t drip wax on a table or a floor while it is burning? Figure 4a: Example of How Fixation Impedes Problem Solving Tasks like this one help psychologists measure creative problem solving. © McGraw Hill LLC 16  The Nine-Dot Problem: Take out a piece of paper and copy the arrangement of dots shown below. Without lifting your pencil, connect the dots using only four straight lines. Figure 4b: Example of How Fixation Impedes Problem Solving Tasks like this one help psychologists measure creative problem solving. Access the text alternative for slide images. © McGraw Hill LLC 17  The Six-Matchstick Problem: Arrange six matchsticks of equal length to make four equilateral triangles, the sides of which are one matchstick long. Figure 4c: Example of How Fixation Impedes Problem Solving Tasks like this one help psychologists measure creative problem solving. © McGraw Hill LLC 18  Reasoning and Decision Making 1 Reasoning: the mental activity of transforming information to reach conclusions. Inductive reasoning: reasoning from specific observations to make generalizations. Deductive reasoning: reasoning from a general case that is known to be true to a specific instance. © McGraw Hill LLC 19  Figure 5: Inductive and Deductive Reasoning (left) The triangle represents inductive reasoning—going from specific to general. (right) The triangle represents deductive reasoning—going from general to specific. © McGraw Hill LLC 20  Reasoning and Decision Making 2 Decision making: the mental activity of evaluating alternatives and choosing among them. Two types of reasoning and decision making: Automatic: processing that is rapid, heuristic, and intuitive. Controlled: processing that is slower, effortful, and analytical. The type of problem may dictate the type of processing to be used. Mood is another factor. © McGraw Hill LLC 21  Reasoning and Decision Making 3 Biases and heuristics: Loss aversion: the tendency to strongly prefer to avoid losses compared to attempting to acquire gains. Confirmation bias: the tendency to search for and use information that support’s one’s ideas rather than refutes them. Hindsight bias: the tendency to report falsely, after the fact, that one has accurately predicted an outcome. Availability heuristic: a prediction about the probability of an event based on the ease of recalling or imagining similar events. © McGraw Hill LLC 22  Reasoning and Decision Making 4 Biases and heuristics, continued: Base rate neglect: the tendency to ignore information about general principles in favor of very specific but vivid information. Representativeness heuristic: the tendency to make judgements about group membership based on physical appearances or the match between a person and one’s stereotype of a group rather than on available base rate information. © McGraw Hill LLC 23  Thinking Critically and Creatively 1 Critical thinking means thinking reflectively and productively and evaluating the evidence. It is vital to effective problem solving. Mindfulness: the state of being alert and mentally present for one’s everyday activities. Open-mindedness: the state of being receptive to other ways of looking at things. © McGraw Hill LLC 24  Thinking Critically and Creatively 2 Coming up with the best solution to a problem may involve thinking creatively. Creativity: the ability to think about something in novel and unusual ways and to devise unconventional solutions to problems. Divergent thinking: produces many solutions to the same problem. Convergent thinking: produces the single best solution to a problem. © McGraw Hill LLC 25  Thinking Critically and Creatively 3 People who think creatively also show the following characteristics: Flexibility and playful thinking. Inner motivation. Willingness to face risk. Objective evaluation of work. © McGraw Hill LLC 26  Intelligence 1 Intelligence: generally defined in the United States as an all-purpose ability to do well on cognitive tasks, to solve problems, and to learn from experience. Charles Spearman introduced cognitive tests based on this idea that intelligence captures a common general ability. He called this general ability g. © McGraw Hill LLC 27  Figure 7: Iatmul and Caroline Island Intelligence The intelligence of the Iatmul people of Papua New Guinea involves the ability to remember the names of many clans. On the 680 Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines, the intelligence of the inhabitants includes the ability to navigate by the stars. © McGraw Hill LLC (Iatmul): National Geographic Creative/Alamy Stock Photo; (Caroline): Angelo Giampiccolo/Shutterstock 28  Intelligence 2 Note that the science of intelligence has a difficult, even shameful, often racist history. Eugenics: the belief in the possibility of improving the human species by encouraging reproduction only among those with characteristics considered more desirable, such as high intelligence. © McGraw Hill LLC 29  Measuring Intelligence 1 Psychologists measure intelligence using tests that produce an intelligence quotient (IQ). Criteria for a good intelligence test: Validity: the extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure. Reliability: the extent to which a test yields a consistent, reproducible measure of performance. Standardization: development of uniform procedures for administering and scoring a test, and creation of norms (performance standards) for the test. © McGraw Hill LLC 30  Measuring Intelligence 2 Mental age (MA): an individual’s level of mental development relative to that of others. To think about a person’s intelligence, we might compare the person’s MA to the chronological age (CA). The concept of MA was developed by Alfred Binet, whose test (known as the Stanford-Binet), is still used today. Alfred Binet (1857–1911) Binet constructed the first intelligence test after being asked to create a measure to determine which children would benefit from instruction in France’s schools. © McGraw Hill LLC Source: National Library of Medicine/NIH 31  Measuring Intelligence 3 Intelligence quotient (IQ): developed by William Stern; an individual’s mental age divided by chronological age multiplied by 100. If a person’s mental age is the same as chronological age, the individual’s IQ is 100. Today the most popular measures of intelligence are the Wechsler scales. For those aged 16 and older, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). © McGraw Hill LLC 32  Measuring Intelligence 4 Both the Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler scales provide measures of Spearman’s g. When scores for many people are examined, these approximate a normal distribution. Normal distribution: a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve. A majority of test scores (or other data) fall in the middle of the possible range. Few scores (or other data points) appear toward the extremes. © McGraw Hill LLC 33  Figure 9: The Normal Curve and Stanford-Binet IQ Scores The distribution of IQ scores approximates a normal curve. Remember that the area under the curve represents the number of people who obtain a given score. Access the text alternative for slide images. © McGraw Hill LLC 34  Bias in Testing Many early tests favored people who were: From urban rather than rural environments. Of middle rather than low socioeconomic status. Non-Latino white rather than Black. Men rather than women. Culture-fair tests: intelligence tests that are intended to be culturally unbiased. © McGraw Hill LLC 35  Figure 10: Sample Item from the Raven Progressive Matrices Test For this item, the respondent must choose which of the numbered figures would come next in the order. Why is number 6 the right answer? Access the text alternative for slide images. © McGraw Hill LLC Source: Raven’s Progressive Matrices (Advanced Progressive Matrices), 1998. 36  Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence 1 Heritability: the proportion of observable differences in a group that can be explained by differences in the genes of the group’s members. Twin studies have found the heritability of intelligence to be about 50 percent. Heritability is a statistic. Heritability estimates can change over time and across different groups. Intelligence is a polygenic trait—a large number of genetic characteristics are involved. © McGraw Hill LLC 37  Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence 2 Even if the heritability of a characteristic is high, the environment still matters. Environmental interventions can change IQ scores considerably. Experiences in childhood that influence IQ: Dietary supplements. Educational interventions. Interactive reading. Preschool. © McGraw Hill LLC 38  Figure 11: The Increase in IQ Scores from 1832 to 1997 As measured by the Stanford-Binet intelligence test, American children seem to be getting smarter. Scores of a group tested in 1932 fell along a bell-shaped curve, with half below 100 and half above. Note that if children’s scores from 1997 were plotted on this same scale, the average would be 120. Access the text alternative for slide images. © McGraw Hill LLC SOURCE: Winerman, L. (2013, March). Smarter than ever? Monitor, 44(1), 30. 39  Genes, Environment, and Group Differences in IQ 1 In large samples, there are mean level (or average) differences between groups in IQ scores. Asians (and Asian Americans) score higher than Europeans or European Americans, who score higher than Africans or African Americans. It is important to understand that race is simply not a good indicator of genetics. Historically, it has been used to classify people based primarily on skin color and other physical features. Race is now recognized as a social category. © McGraw Hill LLC 40  Genes, Environment, and Group Differences in IQ 2 Environment matters very much; and IQ differences between groups continue to shrink. Over time, each new generation moves toward its maximum potential, disproving the notion that categories such as “race” limit our abilities. Note that a key difference between Black and white Americans is wealth. Differences in performance on IQ tests indicate differences in experiences such as educational opportunities. © McGraw Hill LLC 41  Extremes of Intelligence 1 Gifted: possessing high intelligence (an IQ of 130 or higher) and/or superior talent in a particular area. Like intelligence itself, likely a product of both heredity and environment. One important factor in gifted education is identifying children as gifted. Qualifying for gifted instruction often first involves someone else’s social perception; and social perception is influenced by stereotypes. © McGraw Hill LLC 42  Extremes of Intelligence 2 Intellectual disability: limited mental ability and a low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional intelligence test, along with difficulty adapting to everyday life. Organic intellectual disability: caused by a genetic disorder or brain damage. Cultural-familial intellectual disability: no brain damage. The American Association on Intellectual and Development Disabilities assesses adaptive behavior in three skill domains: conceptual, social, and practical. © McGraw Hill LLC 43  Theories of Multiple Intelligences 1 Robert Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence: intelligence comes in three forms. Analytical intelligence. Creative intelligence. Practical intelligence. © McGraw Hill LLC LightField Studios/Shutterstock 44  Theories of Multiple Intelligences 2 Howard Gardner suggests nine “frames of mind”: Verbal. Mathematical. Spatial. Bodily-kinesthetic. Musical. Interpersonal. Intrapersonal. Naturalist. Existentialist. © McGraw Hill LLC 45  Theories of Multiple Intelligences 3 These approaches have helped educators to think broadly about children’s competencies and needs. Doubts persist, however. People who excel at one type of intellectual task are likely to excel in others. © McGraw Hill LLC 46  Language Language: a form of communication—whether spoken, written, or signed—that is based on a system of symbols. Language is not just how we speak to others but how we talk to ourselves. © McGraw Hill LLC 47  The Basic Properties of Language Infinite generativity: the ability to produce an endless number of meaningful sentences. Five rule systems: Phonology: a language’s sound system. Morphology: rules for word formation. Syntax: rules for combining words to form acceptable phrases and sentences. Semantics: the meaning of words and sentences. Pragmatics: the useful character of language; and the ability to communicate more meaning than is verbalized. © McGraw Hill LLC 48  Language and Cognition 1 Language can influence cognition. Benjamin Whorf argued language determines the way we think. Called the linguistic relativity hypothesis. Research has demonstrated the influence of language even on our own personalities. The “bilingual advantage” is the apparent association between being fluent in more than one language and cognitive abilities. © McGraw Hill LLC 49  Language and Cognition 2 Cognition is an important foundation for language. One feature of human language is the capacity to talk about objects that are not currently present. Note that intellectual disability is not always accompanied by poor language skills. Dyslexia: a learning disability characterized by difficulty with learning to read fluently and with accurate comprehension, despite normal intelligence. © McGraw Hill LLC 50  Biological and Environmental Influences on Language 1 In human evolution, changes to the brain, nervous system, and vocal apparatus had to occur before language became possible. Noam Chomsky has argued that humans come into the world biologically prewired to learn language. Strong evidence supports the idea that language has a biological basis. © McGraw Hill LLC 51  Biological and Environmental Influences on Language 2 A child’s experience can strongly influence language acquisition. There is some evidence of a “critical period” for language development. Most children are exposed to a great deal of language. Support and involvement from caregivers and teachers greatly facilitate language learning. Socioeconomic status is a significant factor. © McGraw Hill LLC 52  Age Development 0–6 months Cooing. Discrimination of vowels. Babbling present by 6 months. 6–12 months Babbling expands to include sounds of spoken language. Gestures used to communicate about objects. First words spoken 10–13 months. 12–18 months Understands 50+ words on average. 18–24 months Vocabulary increases to an average of 200 words. Two-word combinations. 2 years Vocabulary rapidly increases. Correct use of plurals. Use of past tense. Use of some prepositions. 3–4 years Mean length of utterances increases to three to four morphemes in a sentence. Use of yes and no questions, wh- questions. Use of negatives and imperatives. Increased awareness of pragmatics. Figure 13: Language Milestones 1 All children are different and acquire language at varying rates, but these milestones provide a general sense of how language emerges in human life. © McGraw Hill LLC 53  Age Development 5–6 years Vocabulary reaches an average of about 10,000 words. Coordination of simple sentences. 6–8 years Vocabulary continues to increase rapidly. More skilled use of syntactical rules. Conversational skills improve. 9–11 years Word definitions include synonyms. Conversational strategies continue to improve. 11–14 years Vocabulary increase with addition of more abstract words. Understanding of complex grammar forms. Increased understanding of the function a word plays in a sentence. Understands metaphor and satire. 15–20 years Understands adult literary works. Figure 13: Language Milestones 2 All children are different and acquire language at varying rates, but these milestones provide a general sense of how language emerges in human life. © McGraw Hill LLC 54  Language Development over the Life Span Although childhood is an important time for language learning, we continue to learn language throughout life. Sensitive periods likely vary across different language systems. For late second-language learners, new vocabulary is easier to learn than new sounds and new grammar. For adults, learning a new language requires a special kind of cognitive exercise. © McGraw Hill LLC 55  End of Main Content Because learning changes everything. ® www.mheducation.com Copyright 2022 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.