Chapter 7 - Thinking and Intelligence

Cognition = thinking
a) Encompasses the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving,
judgment, language, and memory
Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think

←
Information, sensations → Emotions, memories → Thoughts → Behavior

Sensations and information are received by our brains, filtered through emotions and memories,
and processed to become thoughts.

Concepts - categories or groupings of linguistic information, images, ideas, or memories

● Big ideas generated by observing details, and categorizing and combining
● these details
● Show relationships among different elements of experiences
● Keep information in your mind organized and accessible
● Formed by semantic memory and are everywhere
● Simple, Complex, and Abstract

Prototype
● To determine category membership, compare it to a best/typical example of a
concept–exemplar–or “typical” category member prototype
● Prototype:
○ Not always a concept member
○ Abstract mixture of concepts in a category
○ Contains common and salient features
○ Chimeric faces experiment
● Example: In 1930, Mohandas Gandhi led a group in peaceful protest against a British tax
on salt in India (Exemplar)

Natural and Abstract

● Natural concept – occur “naturally” or organically through experiences either direct or
indirect (e.g., snow)
● Artificial concept - defined by a specific set of characteristics
○ Examples: Various properties of geometric shapes, like squares and triangles

Organizing Concepts
● Schema is a mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts
● Different schemata help organize information
● When schema is activated → brain makes immediate assumptions about person or
object being observed (automatic processing)
Types of Schemata
● Role schema - assumptions about how individuals in certain roles will behave
○ Teachers & Professors
● Event schema (cognitive script) – set of behaviors for a given “event”.
○ Think about what you do when you walk into an elevator
● Automatic processing

Language - communication system uses words and rules to organize ideas & transmit
information
● Not all communication is language
● Many species communicate with postures, movements, odors / chemicals, or
vocalizations

Language Components
● Lexicon - words of a given language ; language’s vocabulary
● Grammar - set of rules used to convey meaning through use of lexicon

Language Development
● B.F. Skinner (1957) Verbal Behavior
○ Language learned through reinforcement
○ Skinner developed Operant Conditioning
● Noam Chomsky (1957) Syntactic Structures
○ Human language coded in genes
■ language acquisition device
○ Underlying basis of all language is similar - universal
○ Children produce sentences they have never heard and have never been
reinforced
○ Critical period for development
○ Ability to detect syntax
○ Special nature of phoneme processing
● Phoneme - basic sound unit of a language
○ Different languages have different sets of phonemes
○ Lose ability to produce all phonemes by ~8 months and focus on native language
or parent tongue
● Morpheme - smallest unit of language that conveys some type of meaning
○ Combine phonemes
● Construct Language with semantics and syntax
○ Part of grammar
○ Semantics - meaning of morphemes & words
○ Syntax - way words are organized into sentences
Geine Case
In the fall of 1970, a social worker in the Los Angeles area found a 13-year-old girl who was
being raised in extremely neglectful and abusive conditions. The girl, who came to be known as
Genie, had lived most of her life tied to a potty chair or confined to a crib in a
small room that was kept closed with the curtains drawn. For a little over a decade, Genie had
virtually no social interaction and no access to the outside world. As a result of these conditions,
Genie was unable to stand up, chew solid food, or speak (Fromkin, Krashen, Curtiss, Rigler, &
Rigler, 1974; Rymer, 1993). The police took Genie into protective custody.

Nature and Nurture Support

● Environment is necessary during critical period of language development
● Case studies of linguistically isolated children (Genie)
○ American sign language proficiency is influenced by age ASL is acquired

Language Acquisition
● The 5 Universal Stages
○ Cooing - is universal
■ Reproduce single letter sound
● Phonemes
■ Lose ability to distinguish sounds not relevant to parent language about 8
months
■ “A-a-a-a” “o-o-o-o” “k-k-k-k”
○ Babbling - combining phonemes into meaningful units
■ Babble in phonemes of parent language
■ Repetition of similar/identical syllables first
● “Ba-ba-ba” “ma-ma-ma”
■ End of stage: varied babbling using non-repeated phonemes
○ One-word utterances - combine morphemes into words
■ Blankie! Shoe! Book!
■ Single word conveys thought
■ “Holophrases”
■ Concerned with semantics
○ Two-word utterances - combining of one word-utterance
■ Emerges about 18-24 months
■ 2, 3, or more words
■ “Want juice” “mommy sit”
■ AKA “telegraphic speech”
■ Utterances determined by semantic, not syntactic, concerns
○ Basic adult structure - combine one- and two-word utterances into complete
sentences
■ Syntactically and semantically correct
■ Emerges ~4 to 5 years
● “I want more juice.”
● “I don’t want to go to school.”
Language Rule Errors
● Overgeneralization - an extension of a language rule to an exception of the rule.
● Examples:
○ Deers, mouses, gooses
○ Correct – deer, mice, geese

Language and Thought

● Linguistic determinism - language influences the way we think
● English speakers and Dani people of Papua New Guinea
○ Dani has two words for color: one word for light and one word for dark.
○ English language has 11 color words
● Can the number of color terms limit the ways that Dani people conceptualized color?
● Dani were able to distinguish colors with the same ability as English speakers
● A recent review - suggests that language can influence perceptual phenomena,
especially in left hemisphere
● Left hemisphere is associated with language

What is a Problem?
● Obstacle or gap between a present state and a goal
● Not immediately obvious how to get around obstacle or gap

Problem Solving
● Problem-solving strategy - plan of action used to find solution
● Different strategies use different action plans
● For example, a well-known strategy is trial and error
● The adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” describes trial and error

Heuristics
● Top-down processing
 ● Working backwards - begin solving problem by focusing on end result
○ Getting to class on time
○ Going to a wedding
● Accomplishing a large goal or task by breaking it into a series of smaller steps
○ Scaffolding or working on small pieces or parts

Pitfalls to Problem Solving

● Mental sets
○ Persistence in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past. A set
way of looking at a problem.
■ Becomes a problem when that way is no longer working
● Functional fixedness – inability to perceive an object being used for something other
than what it was designed for

Biases
● Knowledge and reasoning are used to make decisions. However, sometimes our ability
to reason can be swayed by biases.
● Anchoring bias – tendency to focus on one piece of information when making a
decision or solving a problem.
● Confirmation bias – tendency to focus on information that confirms your existing
beliefs.
● Hindsight bias – leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was
predictable, even though it wasn’t.
● Representative bias – tendency to unintentionally stereotype someone or something.
● Availability heuristic – tendency to make a decision based on an example, information,
or recent experience that is readily available to you, even though it may not be the best
example to inform your decision.

Intelligence
● Charles Spearman believed intelligence consisted of one general factor, called g, which
could be measured and compared among individuals

Intelligence (Cattell)
● Crystallized intelligence - acquired knowledge and ability to retrieve it
○ Using it to learn, remember, and recall information
○ Used in coursework by demonstrating mastery of course information
○ Overcome concrete, straightforward problems
● Fluid intelligence - ability to see complex relationships and solve problems
○ Find way home after detour onto unfamiliar route
○ Tackle complex, abstract challenges

Stenberg’s Theory of Intelligence

● Practical Intelligence
○ Sometimes compared to “street smarts”
 ○ It means find solutions that work in everyday life by applying knowledge based on
experiences
○ Appears to be separate from traditional understanding of IQ
● Analytical Intelligence
○ Closely aligned with academic problem solving and computations
○ Demonstrated by ability to analyze, evaluate, judge, compare, and contrast
○ When reading a novel for class, necessary to compare motives of main
characters or analyze historical context
○ In a science course, you must study processes by which the body uses various
minerals in different human systems
● Creative Intelligence
○ Marked by inventing or imagining a solution to a problem or situation
○ Can include finding a novel solution to an unexpected problem or producing a
beautiful work of art or a well-developed short story
○ Imagine you are camping with some friends and realize you’ve forgotten your
camp coffee pot.
○ The person that figures out a way to successfully brew coffee for everyone would
be credited as having higher creative intelligence

Multiple Intelligences Theory

● Developed by Howard Gardner
● Refined for more than 30 years
● More recent theory of intelligence
● Each person possesses at least
eight intelligences
● Typically excels in some and
falters in others
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
● Inter- and intra- personal intelligences are often combined: emotional intelligence.
● Emotional intelligence - ability to understand emotions of self and others, show empathy,
understand social relationships and cues, and regulate own emotions and respond in
culturally appropriate ways
● People with high emotional intelligence typically have well-developed social skills.
● Could be better predictor of success than IQ

Collectivistic Cultures
● Some cultures highly value working together
● Importance of group supersedes importance of individual achievement
● How well you relate to values of that culture exemplifies your cultural intelligence,
sometimes referred to as cultural competence

Creativity - ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities.
● Very creative people often:
○ have intense knowledge about something
○ work on it for years
○ look at novel solutions
○ seek out the advice and help of other experts
○ take risks
● Although associated with arts, actually a vital form of intelligence that drives many
disciplines to discover something new
● May refer to:
○ The product
○ The person / personality creating the product
○ The process
■ Steps followed to create the product
○ The environment
○ A synthesis of all of above
● Creative Problem-Solving
○ Creativity
■ Innovative thinking
■ Novel ideas
■ New connections between existing ideas
● Creativity can be found in every area of life, from the way you decorate your residence to
a new way of understanding how a cell works
● Creativity is often assessed as a function of one’s ability to engage in divergent thinking
● Divergent thinking - thinking “outside the box;” it allows arrival at unique, multiple
solutions to problems.
○ Creative Problem Solving
■ Generate multiple solutions to problem
■ Open-ended; large number of potential “solutions”
 ● Convergent thinking - ability to provide a correct or well-established answer or solution
to a problem
○ Creative Problem Solving
■ Narrow down to best answer
■ One correct answer

Measures of Intelligence
● Intelligence Quotient (IQ) - describes a score earned on a test designed to measure
intelligence
● IQ tests have been subject of debate throughout their development and use

History of IQ
● Francis Galton → first broad test of intelligence
● Reliable intelligence testing (earlier chapters) began in early 1900s with Alfred Binet
● Binet asked by French government develop an intelligence test to identify children with
difficulty in school → included many verbally based tasks

Stanford-Binet
● Louis Terman modified Binet’s work by standardizing the administration of test
● Tested thousands of different-aged children to establish an average score for each age
● It was normed and standardized
● Standardization refers to a consistent manner of administration, scoring, and
interpretation of results
● Norming involves giving test to large population so data can be collected to compare
groups, like age groups
● French psychologist Alfred Binet helped to develop intelligence testing. (b) This page is
from a 1908 version of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale. Children being tested were
asked which face, of each pair, was prettier.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Wais)

● David Wechsler developed a new IQ test
● Combined several subtests from other intelligence tests
● Tapped into a variety of verbal and nonverbal skills
● Believed that intelligence encompassed “the global capacity of a person to act
purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment”

WISC-V
● Composed of 14 subtests → comprise five indices → then render an IQ score
● Five indices are Verbal Comprehension, Visual Spatial, Fluid Reasoning, Working
Memory, and Processing Speed.
● Scoring reflects intelligence is comprised of multiple abilities in several cognitive realms
and focuses on the mental processes used to arrive at answers to each test item
● How valid are intelligence tests?
 ● The degree to which any test can truly measure an individual’s intelligence, and the use
of the results of IQ tests are still issues of debate

Fixing IQ Tests
● Periodic recalibrations have led to Flynn effect
● Refers to observation that each generation has a significantly higher IQ than the last
● Increased IQ scores do not necessarily mean that younger generations are more
intelligent

IQ Distribution
● The results of intelligence tests follow a bell curve, or normal distribution
● Without a large sample size, it is less likely that results represent wider population
● Representative sample - subset of the population that accurately represents the
general population

Interpreting IQ Score
● Individuals earn a score called an intelligence quotient (IQ).
● Different types of IQ tests have evolved, but scores interpretations remain same
● The average IQ score is 100.
● Standard deviations – dispersion of data in population and give context
● In modern IQ testing, one standard deviation is 15 points.
● So a score of 85 would be described as “one standard deviation below the mean.”
● How would you describe a score of 115 and a score of 70? Any IQ score that falls within
one standard deviation above and below the mean (between 85 and 115) is considered
average, and 68% of the population has IQ scores in this range.
● An IQ score of 130 or above is considered a superior level.

What’s My Name?
● IQ scores below 70 with significant adaptive and social functioning delays were
diagnosed as mental retardation
● When first named, title held no social stigma
● However, the degrading word “retard” sprang from this diagnostic term.
● “Retard” was frequently used as a taunt, especially among young people, until the words
“mentally retarded” and “retard” became an insult.
● As such, the DSM-5 now labels this diagnosis as “intellectual disability”

Source of Intelligence
● High Intelligence: Nature or Nurture?
● Where does high intelligence come from?
● Some believe that intelligence is inherited
● Research uses twin studies to determine heritability
● Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart
 ● Researchers found that identical twins raised together and identical twins raised apart
exhibit a higher correlation between their IQ scores than siblings or fraternal twins raised
together
● Suggests a genetic component to intelligence
● Others believe that intelligence is shaped by developmental environment
● The correlations of IQs of unrelated versus related persons reared apart or together
suggest a genetic component to intelligence.

Nature and Nurture

● Both are probably correct
● Although genetics seem to predispose level of intelligence, environmental influences
provide both stability and change to trigger manifestation of cognitive abilities
● Some behaviors support development of intelligence, but the genetic component of high
intelligence should not be ignored.
● As with all heritable traits, however, it is not always possible to isolate how and when
high intelligence is passed on to the next generation

Range of Reaction
● Range of Reaction - theory that each person responds to the environment in a unique
way based on their genetic makeup
● Accordingly, your genetic potential is a fixed quantity, but whether you reach your full
intellectual potential is dependent upon the environmental stimulation you experience,
especially in childhood

Confounds with IQ
● Another challenge is the confounding nature of our human social structures.
● Troubling to note that some ethnic groups perform better on IQ tests than others—
● It is likely that the results do not have much to do with the quality of each ethnic group’s
intellect.
● Same for socioeconomic status
● Children who live in poverty experience more pervasive, daily stress
● Can negatively affect how the brain functions and develops, causing a dip in IQ scores.
● Children living in poverty demonstrated reduced prefrontal brain functioning comparable
to children with damage to the lateral prefrontal cortex

What are Learning Disabilities?

● Cognitive disorders that affect different areas of cognition, particularly language or
reading
● Learning disabilities are not intellectual disabilities
● Considered specific neurological impairments rather than global intellectual or
developmental disabilities
● A person with a language disability has difficulty understanding or using spoken
language
● Someone with a reading disability has difficulty processing what he or she is reading
Dysgraphia
● Learning disability that results in a struggle to write legibly
● The physical task of writing with a pen and paper is extremely challenging
● Extreme difficulty putting their thoughts down on paper
● This difficulty is inconsistent with a person’s IQ.
● Children with dysgraphia may also have problems with spatial abilities

Dyslexia
● Most common learning disability in children
● Exhibits an inability to correctly process letters
● The neurological mechanism for sound processing does not work properly – Wernicke’s
● May not understand sound-letter correspondence
● May mix up letters within words and sentences—letter reversals or skip whole words
while reading