Thinking, Language, & Intelligence “The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”...
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Transcript of Thinking, Language, & Intelligence “The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”...
Thinking, Language, & Intelligence
“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”
Linus Pauling
ThinkingWhat is it? Manipulation of words & images
Cognitive psychology Studies how the mind
Organizes perceptions Processes information Interprets experience
Concept FormationConcept A mental grouping of persons, places,
ideas, events, or objects that share common properties
Priming When one concept is ‘activated’, others
nearby in the network are primed
Concept FormationPrototype Best representative of a concept Ex: Sport
FootballBasketballGolf ChessNASCAR
Problem Solving StrategiesTrial & error
Problem Solving – Trial & Error
Identify problem Car won’t start
Gather information Outta gas? Dead battery?
Try a solution Not outta gas, so I’ll dry off the wires
Evaluate results Car starts - yeah! Car doesn’t start - try another solution
Problem Solving StrategiesTrial & errorAlgorithm A systematic, step-by-step problem-
solving strategy, guaranteed to provide a solution
Heuristic A rule of thumb that allows one to make
judgments that are quick but often in error
L K C C O
Insight
Water ProblemWant: A B C
100 21 127 3
5 18 43 10
21 9 42 6
6 14 36 8
Problems with Problem Solving
Mental set The tendency to use a strategy that
has worked in the past
Functional Fixedness A tendency to think of objects only in
terms of their usual functions, a limitation that disrupts problem solving
Problems with Problem Solving
Confirmation Bias The inclination to search only for
evidence that will verify one’s beliefs
Belief Perseverance The tendency to cling to beliefs even
after they have been discredited Anderson (1980)
Decision MakingTry to make best choice from alternatives Utility: value of given outcome Probability: likelihood you’ll achieve it
Representativeness Heuristic A tendency to estimate the likelihood of an event
in terms of how typical (how similar to the prototype) it seems
Availability Heuristic A tendency to estimate the
likelihood of an event in terms ofhow easily instances of it can berecalled
LanguageFormal system of communication Spoken,written, and/or gestures
Between 5,000 and 6,000 languages, worldwide Most languages also have many dialects
Properties of LanguageSemantic There are separate units in a language and
these units have meaning Phoneme: basic building block of spoken
language Morpheme: smallest unit that carries meaning
Generative Combing language in novel ways
Displacement The property of language that accounts for the
capacity to communicate about matters that are not in the here-and-now
Structure of LanguageGrammar The rules of a language Syntax
Specifies how words can be arranged Semantics
Specifies how meaning is understood & communicated
Transformational grammar Any one thought can be expressed
in different ways
Language Acquisition
Birth Cooing, crying, gurgling
4-6 months Babbling
12 months First words
2 yrs & up Telegraphic speech Overextension
Language AcquisitionNo one disputes the stages of language development
But there are two main questions in terms of what it all means Is language acquisition a product of
nature or nurture? Which comes first – language or
thought?
…the answers…Is it nature or nurture? Skinner vs. Chomsky
Skinner: Children learn language the way animals learn mazes
Chomsky: The brain is hard-wired for learning lang.
Critical period During the first few years of life, we are most
receptive to language learning
What comes first – thought or language? Both: sometimes children use words to
communicate what they already know and sometimes they form concepts to fit the words they hear
Linguistic Relativity
Hyde, 1984 Wudgemaker story: “he” “she” “he or she” “they” Males equally good regardless Females better in “she” stories, worse in “he”
version
The hypothesis that language determines, or at least influences, the way we think
Eyeglasses
Dumbbell
Intelligence
…the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function…
F. Scott Fitzgerald
IntelligenceWhat is intelligence? The capacity to learn from experience
and adapt successfully to one’s environment
Reflects how well we function
Francis Galton Believed that intelligence was inherited Based intelligence on:
Muscular strength Size of your head Speed at reacting to signals Your ability to detect slight differences
Binet-Simon & Stanford-Binet Scales
Binet-Simon scale (1905) Assigned mental age based on # items
correct
Stanford-Binet Lewis Terman at Stanford (1916) Added items suitable to adults Converted scale to a single score IQ = mental age x 100
chronological age This doesn’t work for adults & was adjusted
The Wechsler ScalesDavid Weschler Intelligence is
The global capacity to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with the environment
IQ ratio breaks down as we get older Deviation IQ
Compares scores to the mean of peer group WAIS
Measures intelligence for late adolescence through adulthood
Two parts: verbal & performance subtests
Issues to Consider in IQ Testing
Standardization The procedure by which existing norms
are used to interpret an individual’s test score
Distribution of IQ scores
100
115
85 130
70
68%
95%
Mental Retardation
Mentally Gifted
Issues to Consider in IQ Testing
Standardization The procedure by which existing norms are
used to interpret an individual’s test score
Reliability Degree to which test gives consistent
results
Validity Does the test measure what it
claims to measure
Factor Theories of Intelligence
Spearman’s G factor (1904) Proposed that general intelligence (g) underlies
all mental abilities Factor analysis
A statistical technique used to identify clusters of test items that correlate with another
Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities 7 factors which correlate but not enough to
represent 1 underlying factor Verbal comprehension, word fluency, number facility
(math), associative memory, perceptual speed for stimulus recognition, reasoning, and spatial visualization
Factor Theories of Intelligence
Triarchic theory of intelligence Robert Sternberg Analytical
The mental steps of ‘components’ used to solve problems
This is what traditional IQ tests assess Creative
Intellectual and motivational processes that lead to novel solutions, ideas, artistic forms, or products
Practical The ability to size up new situations and adapt
to real-life demands
Gardner’s ‘Frames of Mind’
Multiple intelligences There are seven types of intelligence
Linguistic: verbal aptitudeLogical-mathematical: mathematical aptitudeSpatial: ability to visualize objectsMusical: ability to appreciate the tonal
qualities of sound, compose, and playBodily-kinesthetic: ability to control
movement Interpersonal: ability to understand people Intrapersonal: ability to understand oneself
The Nature & Nurture Debate
Nature’s influence on IQ Identical twins reared together are more similar than
fraternal twins reared together Siblings who grow up together are more similar than
unrelated individuals who grow up in the same house Children are more similar to their biological parents
than to adoptive parents
Nurture’s influence on IQ Prenatal care, exposure to alcohol and other toxins,
birth complications, malnutrition in the first few months of life, intellectual stimulation at home, stress, high-quality education, the amount of time spent in school
Head Start programs (and those like it)
Extremes in IntelligenceMental retardation IQ below 70 Difficulties with:
Self-care School / work Social relationships
Four categories Mild, Moderate, Severe, Profound
Causes of Mental Retardation
Cultural-familialInadequate mental stimulationPoor diet, little or no medical care
Genetic defectsDown syndrome
Brain damageFetal alcohol syndromeHypoxia
Mental GiftednessIQ above 130
MENSA Limits membership to top 2% of
population
Sidis Fallacy Contrary to popular belief, geniuses
don’t tend to “burn out” at early age