Thinking, Language, & Intelligence

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”

Lines 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