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PsychSmart INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

PsychSmart INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY. CHAPTER SEVEN: THINKING, LANGUAGE, AND INTELLIGENCE. Thinking and Reasoning. What is thinking? What processes underlie reasoning and decision making? How do people approach and solve problems? What are the major obstacles to problem solving?.

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PsychSmart INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

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  1. PsychSmart • INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

  2. CHAPTER SEVEN: THINKING, LANGUAGE, AND INTELLIGENCE

  3. Thinking and Reasoning • What is thinking? • What processes underlie reasoning and decision making? • How do people approach and solve problems? • What are the major obstacles to problem solving?

  4. Cognitive Psychology • Branch of psychology that focuses on the study of higher mental processes, including thinking, language, memory, problem solving, knowing, reasoning, judging, and decision making

  5. Thinking • Manipulation of mental representations of information

  6. Mental Images • Representations in the mind of an object or event • Not just visual representations but every modality

  7. Concepts • Concepts • Categorizations of objects, events, or people that share common properties • Prototypes • Highly representative examples of a concept • Example: Vehicle

  8. Algorithms and Heuristics • Algorithm • Rule that, if applied appropriately, guarantees a solution to a problem • a² + b² = c² • Heuristic • Cognitive shortcut that may lead to a solution • Representativeness heuristic • Rule that one applies when he judges people by the degree to which they represent a certain category or group of people • Availability heuristic • Judging the probability of an event on the basis of how easily the event can be recalled from memory

  9. Solving Problems Steps in Problem Solving Figure 2 of Chapter 7

  10. Solving Problems • Preparation: Understanding and Diagnosing Problems • Well-defined Problem • Both the nature of the problem itself and the information needed to solve it are available and clear • Ill-defined Problem • Not only the specific nature of the problem is unclear, but the information required to solve the problem is less obvious

  11. Solving Problems • Preparation: Understanding and Diagnosing Problems • Kinds of Problems • Arrangement problems • Problems of inducing structure • Transformation problems

  12. Solving Problems 3 Major Categories of Problems Figure 3 of Chapter 7

  13. Solving Problems Solutions to Problems on Previous Slide Figure 4 of Chapter 7

  14. Solving Problems • Production: Generating Solutions • Means-end Analysis • Involves repeated tests for differences between the desired outcome and what currently exists • Most frequently applied heuristic in problem solving • Subgoals • Involves dividing a problem into intermediate steps

  15. Solving Problems • Judgment: Evaluating the Solutions • Final stage in problem solving • If solution is less concrete or if there is not a single correct solution, evaluating solutions becomes more difficult

  16. Solving Problems • Obstacles to Problem Solving • Functional Fixedness • Tendency to think of an object only in terms of its typical use • Mental Set • Tendency for old patterns of problem solving to persist • Inaccurate Evaluation of Solutions • Confirmation bias • Problem solvers favor initial hypotheses and ignore contradictory information that supports alternative hypotheses or solutions

  17. Solving Problems 3 Candle Problem: Place the three candles at eye level on a door so that the wax will not drip on the floor as the candles burn – using only the materials shown in the figure below. Figure 6 of Chapter 7

  18. Solving Problems Solution to the 3 Candle Problem Figure 8 of Chapter 7

  19. Creativity and Problem Solving • Creativity • Ability to generate original ideas or solve problems in novel ways • Divergent thinking • Ability to generate unusual, yet appropriate, responses to problems or questions • Convergent thinking • Produces responses that are based primarily on knowledge and logic

  20. Learning to be a Better Thinker • Redefine problems • Use subgoals • Adopt a critical perspective • Consider the opposite • Think divergently • Experiment with various solutions

  21. Language • How do people use language? • How does language develop?

  22. Language • Communication of information through symbols arranged according to systematic rules

  23. Grammar: The Rules of Language • Grammar • System of rules that determines how our thoughts can be expressed • Phonology • Study of the smallest basic units of speech • Phonemes • Syntax • Rules that indicate how words and phrases can be combined to form sentences • Semantics • Meanings of words and sentences

  24. Language Development • Babbling • Speechlike but meaningless sounds • Critical period • Production of Language • Telegraphic speech • Overgeneralization

  25. Theories of Language Acquisition • Learning Theory Approach • Nativist approach • Universal grammar • Language-acquisition device • Interactionist approach • Genetically determined predispositions and environmental circumstances that help teach language

  26. Intelligence? • What are the different definitions and conceptions of intelligence? • What are the major approaches to measuring intelligence, and what do intelligence tests measure?

  27. Intelligence? • How can the extremes of intelligence be characterized? • Are traditional IQ tests culturally biased? • To what degree is intelligence influenced by the environment, and to what degree by heredity?

  28. Intelligence • Capacity to understand the world, think rationally, and use resources effectively when faced with challenges

  29. Theories of Intelligence • G-factor • General factor for mental ability • Was thought to underlie performance in every aspect of intelligence • Recent theories view intelligence as a multidimensional concept

  30. Theories of Intelligence • Fluid Intelligence • Reflects information-processing capabilities, reasoning, and memory • Crystallized Intelligence • Accumulation of information, skills, and strategies that people learn through experience

  31. Theories of Intelligence • Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences: The Many Ways of Showing Intelligence • Eight or more different forms of intelligence • Information Processing as Intelligence • Information-processing approach • Way people store material in memory and use that material to solve intellectual tasks • Speed of processing

  32. Theories of Intelligence Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Figure 9 of Chapter 7

  33. Theories of Intelligence • Practical Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence • Practical Intelligence • Related to overall success in living • Emotional Intelligence • Set of skills that underlie the accurate assessment, evaluation, expression, and regulation of emotions

  34. Theories of Intelligence Major Approaches to Intelligence Figure 10 of Chapter 7

  35. Measuring Intelligence • Intelligence Tests • Quantify and measure intelligence in an objective manner • Sir Frances Galton

  36. Measuring Intelligence • The Development of IQ Tests • Alfred Binet • Mental age (MA) • Chronological age (CA) • Intelligence quotient (IQ) • IQ score = MA/CA x 100 • Deviation IQ scores • Bell-shaped distribution

  37. Measuring Intelligence Intelligence Distribution Curve Figure 11 of Chapter 7

  38. Measuring Intelligence • Contemporary IQ Tests • Achievement and Aptitude Tests • Achievement test • Designed to determine a person’s level of knowledge in a specific subject area • Aptitude test • Designed to predict a person’s ability in a particular area or line of work

  39. Measuring Intelligence • Reliability and Validity of Tests • Reliability • Tests measure consistently what they are trying to measure • Validity • Tests actually measure what they are supposed to measure • Norms • Standards of test performance that permit the comparison of one person’s score on a test to scores of others

  40. Variations in Intellectual Ability • Mental Retardation (Intellectual Disabilities) • Disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills • Mild with an IQ of 55 to 69 • Moderate with an IQ of 40 to 54 • Severe with an IQ of 25 to 39 • Profound with an IQ below 25

  41. Variations in Intellectual Ability • Mental Retardation • Fetal alcohol syndrome • Caused by a mother’s use of alcohol while pregnant • Down Syndrome • Familial retardation • No apparent biological defect exists, but there is a history of retardation in the family • The Intellectually Gifted • Have IQ scores greater than 130

  42. Group Differences in Intelligence • Background and experiences of test-takers have the potential to affect results • Some standardized IQ tests contain elements that discriminate against minority-group members whose experiences differ from those of the white majority

  43. Nature, Nurture, and IQ • Culture-fair IQ Test • One that does not discriminate against the members of any minority group • Heritability • Measure of the degree to which a characteristic can be attributed to genetic, inherited factors

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