Cognition: Thinking/problem solving and intelligence/testing

Mid unit ngl but it was sorta easy at least

Cognition

All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Metacognition

Cognition about our cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes

Analysis and reflection is useful to lead to improved academic performance

Concept

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Prototype

A mental image or best example of a category

Matching new items to a prototype is a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (feathered creatures compared to crows)

Schema

A concept or framework that organises and interprets information (categorise what type of question each question is on a test)

Have to be added to or adjusted when we learn new information

Assimilation

Adapting our current schemas (understandings) to incorporate new information (using knowledge you have learnt on a test)

Accomodation

Adapting current schemas/understandings to incorporate new information (knowing what you got wrong on a test and adapting your knowledge to what is the right answer)

Creativity

The ability to produce new and novel ideas

Aptitude plays a role but is not the only factor in fostering it

Convergent thinking

Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solutions (cross out wrong answers on a test)

Divergent thinking

Expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions

Leads to more novel solutions

Robert Sternberg’s 5 components of creativity (EImVInC)

Expertise (expert skill and knowledge)

Imaginative thinking skills (using your imagination to generate new thinking skills)

Venturesome personality (adventurous, risk-taking, open to new information and insights)

Intrinsic motivation (drive to engage in activities because they are enjoyable)

Creative environment (encouragement of creative thinking)

Executive functioning

Cognitive skills that work together, enabling us to generate, organise, plan, and implement goal-directed behaviour

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem, which contrasts with the usually speedier and more error prone heuristics

Heuristics

A simple thinking strategy - a mental shortcut - that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently (categorisation)

Insight

A sudden realisation of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Confirmation bias

Tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Fixation

In cognition, an inability to see the problem from a new perspective; an obstacle in problem solving

Mental set

Tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

Intuition

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted to explicit conscious reasoning

Representativeness heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent or match particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Availability heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we assume such events are common

Overconfidence

The tendency to more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements

Lead to underplanning or planning fallacy, falling short on time or costs

Procrastination is an example

May have extreme effects in the real world

Belief preserverance

The persistence of one’s initial conceptions even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Work together with confirmation bias; can be decreased if we open our minds and think critically

Framing

The way an issues is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgement

Nudge

Framing choices in a way that encourages people to make beneficial decisions

Intelligence

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Influences of nature and nurture debated

If intelligence is stable or if it can grow through experience

Charles Spearman’s general intelligence(g)

According to Charles Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Factor analysis

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score

L. L. Thurstone’s clusters of primary mental abilities

Word fluency

Verbal comprehension

Spatial ability

Perceptual speed

Numerical ability

Inductive reasoning

Memory

Fluid intelligence (Gf)

Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age

Crystallised intelligence (Gc)

Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory

Theory that intelligence is based on g as well as specific abilities bridged by Gf and Gc

Savant syndrome

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in men tal ability has an exceptional skill

Grit

In psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

Howard Gardner

Argues that intelligence should be measured in plurality rather than singularity (8 relatively independent intelligences)

Different parts of the brain have different roles in intelligence

Savant syndrome is a clear example

Gardner’s 8 intelligences

Linguistic

Logical-mathematical

Musical

Spatial

Bodily

Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Effects of general intelligence on the real world

Predict performance on complex tasks in various jobs

Correlated with exceptional achievements and increased education

It alone cannot predict overall success

Success is a combination of talent and grit

Intelligence and environment both play a role

Emotional intelligence

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

Has been overlooked

The higher it is the happier the person is

4 abilities of emotional intelligence (PUMU)

Perceiving

Understanding

Managing

UsingS

Sternberg’s triarchic theory

Intelligence is best classified into 3 areas that predict real-world success

Creative

Analytical

Practical

(CAP)

Intelligence test

Method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

Achievement test

Test designed to assess what a person has learnt

Aptitude test

A test designed to predict a person’s future performance - capability to learn

Correlates with general intelligence

Simon Benet’s Mental age

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Simon Benet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age

Lewis Terman’s Stanford-Binet

Widely used American revision (Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) by William Stern

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronical age multiplied by 100, and the average performance is assigned a score of 100

(mental/chronological) * 100

Francis Galton’s eugenics

Measure abilities to limit people’s reproductive rights, but his theories were discarded; however his contributions on genetic influence on intelligence and the terms nature and nurture remain

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

The WAIS and it companion versions for children are the most widely used intelligence test that contain both verbal and performance subtests

Psychometrics

The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

Standardisation

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

Tests must be periodically restandardised to adapt to changes in the population

Normal curve

The bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes

Most scores fall near the average and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes

Flynn effect

The rise in an intelligent test performance over time and across cultures

Caused by better education, nutrition, and better standards

Acts as a counterargument to eugenics

Reliability

The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on 2 halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting.

Validity

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it’s supposed to

Content validity

The extent to which a test samples the behaviour that is of interest

Predictive validity

Success with which a test predicts the behaviour it is designed to predict; correlation between test scores and criterion behaviour