Cognition, Language, and Intelligence

Cognition, Language, and Intelligence


Definition of Cognition

Intellectual processes• Perception• Memory• Thinking• Language

through which information is

• Obtained• Transformed• Stored• Retrieved• Used


Three Primary Facets of Cognition

• Cognition processes information

• Cognition is active– Information is

• Obtained through senses• Transformed through interpretive processes• Stored and retrieved through memory• Used in problem solving and language

• Cognition is useful

Concepts: The Basic Units of Thinking

• Concepts– Basic units of logical thinking– General categories of things, events, qualities

linked by common feature(s)– Makes most productive thinking possible– Allows efficient processing of information



• Simple concepts have a single common feature

• Complex concepts– Conjunctive: simultaneous

presence of 2 or more common characteristics

– Disjunctive: presence of one common characteristic or another, or both

appleRed t-shirt ball

aunt female

mom’s sister

Schizophrenic person

hears havingvoices distortednot there beliefs

Types of Concepts


Basic Concepts

Station Station wagonwagon

Basic conceptsBasic concepts

VehiclesVehicles

PlanesPlanes

Propeller Propeller planeplane

CarsCars

Luxury Luxury sedansedan

SportsSportscarcar

BoatsBoats

Glider Glider

Jet planeJet plane

KayakKayak

SailboatSailboat

MotorboatMotorboat

Subordinate Subordinate conceptsconcepts

Superordinate Superordinate conceptconcept


Cards used in laboratory studies

Can you tell what the

concept is here?


• Concepts that are easier to learn than others

– Assumption – humans are biologically prepared

– Two primary characteristics

• Natural concepts are basic

• Natural concepts are prototypical – they make good prototypes

Natural Concepts


• Three levels of inclusiveness

– Superordinate concepts are very inclusive

– Basic concept has medium degree of

inclusiveness

– Subordinate concepts are least inclusive

Natural Concepts


• Why basic concepts are easier to learn than superordinate or subordinate concepts – four characteristics make them natural

– Basic concepts share many attributes

– Members share similar shapes

– Members often share motor movements

– Basic concepts are easily named

Natural Concepts

Thinking and Problem Solving

• Sophisticated thinking is based on concepts

– Understanding concepts gives insight into content of thinking

• Problem solving – cognitive process in which information is used to reach a goal blocked by some obstacle

– Steps must be performed in sequence


Steps in Problem Solving

• Formulating the problem

– Clearly define it in specific terms (what is it?)

• Understanding and organizing elements of the problem (what is here and missing?)

– Be flexible in thinking; use insightfulness

– Avoid getting stuck in mental sets – habitual ways of thinking


Steps in Problem Solving

• Generate and evaluate alternative solutions (what if ?)– Try to foresee effects and consequences

– Choose best solution

– Strategies to find best solution• Trial-and-error


Problem Solving

– Strategies to find best solution• Heuristic reasoning using algorithms

– Efficient but subject to error• Representativeness heuristic – judgments

based on assumptions that unknown is similar to what is known

• Problems solving affected by emotions – not totally a cognitive, logical process


Creative Problem Solving

• Creativity – ability to act or think in novel and ways that are valued by others

• Convergent thinking – Logical, factual, conventional, focused thinking

• Divergent thinking– Unconventional, loosely organized and directed– Breaks out of mental sets more easily


Problem Solving• Wallas’ four steps

– Preparation• Initial attempts to look at facts, solutions

– Incubation• Rest period; leave it alone for a while

– Illumination• Sudden insight as to a solution

– Verification• Test the solution


Human Diversity

• Inferential reasoning – reaches conclusion with information going beyond what is known

• Different cultures: more alike than not– Culture does shape thinking– Bicultural individual – goes back-and-forth

between two cultural mind-sets



Which two belong

together?

Chinese thinking

(relationship)

American thinking

(category)

Language

• Symbolic code used in communication

– Semantics – meaning or semantic content

– Generative – infinite set of utterances made into finite set of elements and rules

• Phonemes – smallest units of sound• Morphemes – smallest units of meaning• Syntax – combines morphemes, phonemes

– Prescriptive rules of grammar


Language and Thought

• Whorfian Hypothesis known as linguistic relativity hypothesis

– A culture’s language shapes member’s thinking

• The more important something is to a culture, the more words exist to describe it

– Linguistic relativity led to rethinking certain words in our language - - example: chairman became chairperson


Animal Language

• Humans have most flexible, symbolic communication

• Bees have simple, elegant form of communication– Round dance – distance communicated but

not direction

– Tail-wagging dance – direction communicated by angle to sun and distances through loose figure-eight patterns



Round dance

Direction of flower

Tail-wagging dance

Animal Language

• Teaching primates language

– Washoe – limited use of ASL

– Koko - demonstrated more spontaneous and generative use of language than Washoe

– The primates did not master human syntax

– Accomplishments of both is less than that of 3-year-old humans



Koko

Mastered 600 signs for more generative communication such as

“That Koko”

“Finger bracelet”

“I was sad and cried this morning”

Washoe

Mastered 150 signs for limited but useful commands such as

“Gimme sweet drink”

Intelligence

• Sum total of cognitive abilities

• Popularized by Galton in late 1800s

• Differing views– Galton – intelligence is single general factor

– Spearman – g (based on complex mathematical analysis) is general factor of intelligence

– Wechsler agrees with Spearman


Intelligence

• Differing views

– Thurstone – Primary Mental Abilities Test measures seven intellectual abilities

– Guilford – extreme position that some 150 different abilities make up intelligence

– Gardner – 8 independent types of intelligence based on research with savant syndromes



Logical-mathematical

Linguistic

Musical

Spatial (artistic)

Kinesthetic (athletic)

Interpersonal (social skills)

Naturalistic intelligence (understanding nature)

Gardner’s Intelligences

Intrapersonal (personal adjustment)

Biological Basis of General Intelligence

• Genes influence many aspects of intelligence

• High g – believed to have greater ability to form neural connections in the brain

– Better able to learn from experience

– Brain can process information faster including

• Faster reflexes, reaction times

• Less time to make simple judgments


Cognitive Components of Intelligent Behavior

• Sternberg – cognitive steps used

– Encode – put in memory in usable form

– Infer relationships between terms/elements

– Map or identify common characteristics

– Apply identified relationship

– Compare alternative answers

– Respond with an answer


Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence

• Fluid intelligence

– ability to process information quickly, devise strategies to solve problem

• Crystallized intelligence –

– ability to use previously learned skills in problem solving


Measures of Intelligence

• IQ Test– Terman – Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test– Wechsler – WISC-III and WAIS-R– Controversies over intelligence tests

• Use of small samples• Uses for predicting future behavior• Do tests really measure intelligence?



xx

(MA)(MA)

Chronological Chronological Age Age (CA)(CA)

100100Mental AgeMental Age==IQIQ

Construction of Intelligence Tests

• Binet – score is intelligence quotient (IQ)

• Ratio IQ no longer used • New approach: deviation IQ and normal

distribution

Good Intelligence Tests

• Characteristics - – Standardization

– Norms based on large sample of general population

– Objectivity – no bias

– Reliability – same results time after time

– Validity – measures what it is supposed to measure

• Predictive validity


Tacit Intelligence

• Everyday intelligence not taught in school

• General intelligence tests are limited – Predicts success in school, complex occupations– Cannot predict tacit intelligence– Persons with low or limited general intelligence

rarely have high tacit intelligence– Persons with high general intelligence – more

likely to have good practical knowledge across many areas


Individual Differences in Intelligence

• Contributing factors

– Combination of heredity and experience

• Monozygotic twins – evidence of heredity

– Intellectual environment one is raised in

• Enriched environments can increase IQ


Importance of IQ Scores

• Modern society– Persons with higher IQ scores do better in

educational achievement, and obtain higher paying employment• Average truck driver – IQ under 100• Average doctor or lawyer – IQ is 125 or more• High correlation between educational and

occupational success


People Are Becoming More Intelligent

• IQ scores increased over several generations– Tests measured fluid and crystallized IQ

• Larger gains measured by fluid IQ tests– Explanations

• Nutrition and health have improved• Levels of education have increased• Technology made environment more complex• More complex, multicultural society



1940 1950

Rel

ativ

e m

ean

inte

llig

ence

sco

res

1970 1980 1990

105

19601930

110

115

120

100

Year data collected

Intelligence scores of individuals born in different years but tested at the same age

Race-Ethnic Differences

• Intelligence and achievement since 1930s

– African American scores average 15 points below whites

– Hispanic/Latino Americans average scores fall between those of whites and African Americans

– Asian Americans average 5 points higher than scores of whites


Race-Ethnic Differences

• Large increases in IQ since 1930s due to– Lives of African Americans have improved

(more opportunities in education and life)– Less children born benefit from family size– Changes in health and nutrition

• Bell curve – U.S. becoming meritocracy– Society headed toward genetic decline



2%14%34% 34%14%2%

Normal Distribution


Normal Distribution

2.14% 2.14%

13.59%13.59%

34.13%34.13%

Below average

Average

Above average

70 85 115 130 14555 100

Few

Num

ber

of p

erso

ns

obta

inin

g ea

ch s

core

Many

Percent of persons

scoring in each segment under

the normal curve

IQ scores

Extremes in Intelligence

• Mental retardation – IQ of 70 or below– Wide range of conditions resulting from

genetics, trauma, and maternal infections• Mildly retarded – IQ of 50 to 70• Moderately retarded – IQ of 35 to 49• Severely retarded – IQ of 20 to 34• Profoundly retarded – IQ under 20

• Gifted – high IQ and high creativity – High achievers and highly successful in life


The End


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Cognition, Language, and Intelligence