Thinking and Intelligence

Chapter 9

Thinking and Intelligence Thought: Using what we know Reasoning rationally Barriers to reasoning rationally Measuring intelligence: The psychometric

approach Dissecting intelligence: The cognitive approach Animal minds

Thought: Using What We Know The elements of cognition. How conscious is thought?

The Elements of Cognition Concept

Mental category that groups objects, relations, activities, abstractions, or qualities having common properties.

A basic concept has a moderate number of instances and is easier to acquire.

A prototype is an especially representative example of a concept.

Proposition A unit of meaning that is made up of

concepts and expresses a single idea.

The Elements of Cognition Cognitive Schema

An integrated mental network of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations concerning a particular topic or aspect of the world.

Mental Image A mental representation that mirrors or resembles the thing

it represents.

How Conscious is Thought? Subconscious Processes

Mental processes occurring outside of conscious awareness but accessible to consciousness when necessary.

Nonconscious Processes Mental processes occurring outside of and not available

to conscious awareness. Implicit learning occurs when you have:

acquired knowledge about something without being aware of how you did so, and without being able to state exactly what you have learned.

How Conscious is Thought? Mindlessness

We may act, speak, and make decisions out of habit, without stopping to analyze what we are doing or why.

Keeps people from recognizing when a change in a situation requires a change in behaviour.

Mindless processing of information has obvious benefits, but can also lead to errors and mishaps.

Reasoning Rationally Formal reasoning: Algorithms and logic Informal reasoning: Heuristics and dialectical

thinking Reflective judgment

Formal Reasoning: Algorithms and Logic Deductive Reasoning

A tool of formal logic in which a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of observations or propositions (premises).

Inductive Reasoning A tool of formal logic

in which a conclusion probably follows from a set of observations or propositions or premises, but could be false.

Informal Reasoning: Heuristics and Dialectical Thinking Heuristic

A rule of thumb that suggests a course of action or guides problem solving but does not guarantee an optimal solution.

Dialectical Reasoning A process in which opposing facts or

ideas are weighed and compared, with a view to determining the best solution or resolving differences.

Reflective Judgment Skills

The ability to question assumptions. Evaluate and integrate evidence. Relate that evidence to a theory or opinion. Consider alternative interpretations. Reach defendable conclusions. Be able to reassess those conclusions in face of new

information. Developmental stages include prereflective,

quasi-reflective, and reflective.

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally Exaggerating the improbable Avoiding loss Biases due to mental sets The hindsight bias The confirmation bias The need for cognitive consistency Overcoming our cognitive biases

Exaggerating the Improbable Availability Heuristic

The tendency to judge the probability of an event by how easy it is to think of examples or instances.

For example, in the wake of September 11, most people overestimated their odds of dying in a plane crash even though they continued to take higher risks by driving in their cars.

Avoiding Loss People try to minimize

risks and losses when making decisions.

Responses to the same choice will differ based on whether outcome is framed as gain or loss. In the example,

outcomes are the same in Problems 1 & 2

Biases Due to Mental Sets A tendency to solve problems using

procedures that worked before on similar problems.

Mental sets make learning and problem solving more efficient. For example, we look for patterns in events.

Not helpful when a problem calls for fresh insights or a new approach.

The Nine-Dot Problem Connect all 9 dots Use only 4 lines Do not lift your

pencil from the page after you begin drawing

The Hindsight Bias The tendency to overestimate one’s ability

to have predicted an event once the outcome is known. Also known as the “I knew it all along”

phenomenon. Common in political judgments, medical

judgments, military decisions.

The Confirmation Bias The tendency to look for or pay attention

only to information that confirms one’s own beliefs.

Test this rule: If a card has a vowel on one side, it has an even number on the other side.Which 2 cards to turn over?

Need for Cognitive Consistency Cognitive Dissonance:

A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent, or

when a person’s belief is inconsistent with his or her behaviour.

Conditions which may reduce dissonance

When you need to justify a choice or decision you freely made.

When you need to justify behaviour that conflicts with your view of yourself.

When you need to justify the effort put into a decision or choice.

Justification of Effort The tendency of individuals to

increase their liking for something they have worked hard for or suffered to attain.

A common form of dissonance reduction.

After listening to a boring group discussion, those who went through severe initiation to join, rated it most highly. (Aronson & Mills, 1959)

Measuring Intelligence: The Psychometric Approach

Defining intelligence The invention of IQ tests Can IQ tests be culture-free?

Defining Intelligence Intelligence

An inferred characteristic of an individual, usually defined as the ability to profit from experience, acquire knowledge, think abstractly, act purposefully, or adapt to changes in the environment.

g factor A general intellectual ability assumed by many theorists

to underlie specific mental abilities and talents. Psychometrics

The measurement of mental abilities, traits and processes.

The Invention of IQ tests Binet believed we should measure a child’s mental

age. Binet and Simon developed a test which measured

memory, vocabulary, and perceptual discrimination.

Mental age was divided by chronological age and multiplied by 100 to get a IQ or intelligent quotient score.

Now IQ scores are derived from norms provided for standardized intelligence tests.

The Psychometric Approach IQ scores are distributed

“normally” Bell-shaped curve

Very high and low scores are rare

68% of people have IQ between 85-115 99.7% between 55-145

Can IQ Tests be Culture Free? Attempts to make IQ tests culture fair and culture

free have backfired because different cultures have different problem-solving strategies.

Cultural values and experiences affect a person’s: Attitude toward exams, Comfort in the settings required for testing, Motivation Rapport with test provider, Competitiveness, and Ease of independent problem solving.

Expectations, Stereotypes and IQ Scores Scores are affected by expectations for

performance. These expectations are shaped by cultural

stereotypes. Stereotype threat

A burden of doubt one feels about his or her performance due to negative stereotypes about his or her group’s abilities.

Research has shown effects of stereotype threat on many visible minorities, low-income people, women, and elderly people.

An Illustration of Stereotype Threat

Beyond the IQ Test Many argue for the continued use of IQ

tests because of their ability to predict school success and identify gifted and non-gifted students.

Critics contend that IQ tests are only a limited assessment of intelligence.

Dissecting Intelligence: The Cognitive Approach

The triarchic theory Domains of intelligence Motivation and intellectual success

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory Componential - a.k.a. “Analytic”

Comparing, analyzing, and evaluating. This type of processes correlates best with IQ.

Experiential - a.k.a. “Creative” Inventing or designing solutions to new problems. Transfer skills to new situations.

Contextual - a.k.a. “Practical” Using (i.e., applying) the things you know in

everyday contexts.

Domains of Intelligence

Emotional intelligence The ability to:

identify your own and other people’s emotions accurately,

express your emotions clearly, and regulate emotions in yourself and others.

Appears to be biologically based (Damasio, 1994)

Motivation and intellectual success Comparing the 100 most successful men

with 100 least successful, researchers found that motivation, not IQ made the difference.

Motivation to work hard at intellectual tasks differs as a function of culture.

North American children are as knowledgeable as Asian children on general skills.

Beliefs about intelligence Asian parents, teachers, and students are more

likely to belief that math ability comes from studying.

North Americans more likely to view ability as innate.

North American parents had lower academic standards for kids.

North American children did not value education as much.

Animal Minds Animal intelligence Animals and language Thinking About the Thinking of Animals

Animal Intelligence Cognitive Ethology

The study of cognitive processes in nonhuman animals.

Studies in cognitive ethology have shown evidence that some animals can Anticipate future events. Use numbers to label quantities. Coordinate activities with other animals.

Animals and Language Language is a critical element of human

cognition. Many animal species can be taught to

communicate in ways that resemble language. Chimpanzees and bonobos converse using American

Sign Language and symbol board systems An African grey parrot has been taught to count,

classify, and compare objects using English words Whether these behaviours are language depends

on how you define “language.”

Thinking About Animal Thinking Anthropomorphism

The tendency to falsely attribute human qualities to nonhuman beings.

Anthropodenial The tendency to think, mistakenly, that

human beings have nothing in common with other animals.