PSYCH 111 - Intro to Psychology - Exam II - Professor Schreier - THINKING, DECISIONS, INTELLIGENCE, and LANGUAGE

Thought

Extension of memory

Concepts

Mental representations of a category

Schemas

Cognitive structures that help percieve, organize, and process

Examplar Theory

Categorize by comparison with other instances (or examples) stored in our memory

Prototype Theory

Concepts are defined by a most typical member of a category (takes longer to compare the further from the prototype)

Framing

How a problem is posed may change the decision-making tasks and the solutions

Prospect Theory (AKA Loss Aversion)

Risk management is predicated on avoiding loss or achieving a gain. To people, AVOIDING loss is more important than ACHIEVING gains

Algorithm

Well-defined sequence of procedures or rules that guarantees a solution to a problem

Hypothesis Testing

Make and test an educated guess about a problem

Mental simulation

Mental rehearsal of the steps needed to solve a problem

Inductive Reasoning

Take observations and apply them to a general rule

Mental set

Stick to solutions that worked previously

Functional fixedness

Strictly rely on a specific function of an object, ignoring other possible uses (lack of resourcefulness; Aunt Leslie disapproves)

Confirmation bias

Seeking confirmation of beliefs

Distraction by irrelevant information

People get sidetracked and detract from problem-solving

Unnecessary Constraints

We put restrictions on a problem that don't exist

Insight

The "A-HA" experience

Deductive Reasoning

Draw conclusions from a set of assumptions

Syllogism:

Premise: All A are B

Premise: C is an A

Therefore: C is a B

Belief Bias

Accept conclusions based on BELIEF, not LOGIC

Compensatory Decision Models

Attractive attributes can make up for unattractive ones

Noncompensatory Decision Models

Do not allow attractive attributes to compensate

Gamblers Fallacy

Odds increase if the event hasn't occurred recently

Additive Model

Rating attributes of each option and selecting the highest sum of ratings

Elimination by Aspects Model

Gradually eliminate options that fail to meet the minimum criteria

Conjunction fallacy

Two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event

Heuristics

Shortcuts to reduce the amount of thinking that is needed to make decisions

Availability Heuristics

Decision making based on the fact that things that are easily recalled seem to be common

Representative Heuristics

Placing something in a category if it is similar to one's prototype for the category

Where in the brain is the majority of decision-making?

Prefrontal cortex

Language

A system of symbols that conveys a meaning

Linguistic relativity (Benjamin Whorf)

Language determines one's thoughts

Universal Grammar (Chomsky)

Humans possess an inborn language mechanism that facilitates language learning if appropriately exposed to the necessary "input."

Phonemes

The smallest units of SOUND which can be distinguished

Morphemes

Smallest units of MEANING

Semantics

Understanding the MEANING of words and combinations

Syntax

The STRUCTURE of a language, the underlying rules of function for how words can be combined to form phrases

Gleason Study

Language rules are generative; Wug, Wug(s), Wug(ged)

Overregularizations

Grammar incorrectly generalized to exception cases

Fast-mapping

Children may add words to their vocabulary after one exposure

Overextensions

One word is over-applied to a broader range (every animal is doggie)

Underextensions

One word is incorrectly believed to apply to only one member of a group (Sissy is the only sister in the world)

Expressive (productive) language

Ability to produce language

Receptive language

Ability to comprehend and process language

The Learning Theory of Language Acquisition

Language is learned based on modeling, imitation, exposure, and reinforcement [BEHAVIORIST]

Nativist Theory of Language Development

Humans are neurologically prewired to learn language

Interactionist Theory of Language Development

Both biology and experience make important contributions (i.e., a mix of native behavior theories).

Bi-lingualism

Learned best when younger

Intelligence

Ability to use knowledge to reason, make decisions, make sense of events, solve problems, understand complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental challenges.

Alfred Binet

Developed intelligence tests to identify slow learners and develop remedial programs

Aptitude

Ability to learn or gain proficiency in an area

Achievement

Measures the amount of information a person has acquired

Mental Age

Based on common content knowledge and ability not chronological age

The Flynn Effect

IQ had been on a steady increase from one generation to the next

Wechsler's view of intelligence

"The global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally and deal effectively with their environment."

Intellectual Disability/ Developmental Disorder

A disorder with onset during the developmental period that includes both intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits in SOCIAL, CONCEPTUAL, and PRACTICAL domains

Conceptual Skills

Language and literacy, money, time, number concepts

Social Skills

Interpersonal skills, social responsibility, self-esteem, gullibility, naivete, social problem solving, and the ability to follow rules

Practical Skills

Activities of daily living, occupational skills, healthcare, travel, schedules, safety

Giftedness

Generally believed to be those with IQ>130

Terman

Long-term study of gifted individuals

Precocity

Master things earlier

March to own drummer

Learn in qualitatively different ways

Passion to master

Driven to understand a domain

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Expectations make an event more likely to happen

Stereotype threat

Anxiety associated with the fear of confirming others' stereotypes about one's group (negative impact on performance)

Rosenthal and Jacobson's 1965 study on teacher expectations and student performance

Children whom teachers expected to show greater intellectual growth averaged significantly greater improvement than those who didn't

Heritability coefficient

A statistic that describes the proportion of the difference between people's IQ that is genetically explainable

Reaction Range

Heritability sets a range of intellectual potential, but the environment places individuals within the range

Fluid Intelligence

Ability to see abstract relationships and draw logical inferences; solve novel problems; comparable to working memory

Crystallized Intelligence

Ability to retain and apply knowledge acquired through experience to problem solve

Practical intelligence (Sternberg)

Finding solutions to problems confronted in everyday life

Analytical Intelligence (Sternberg)

Abstract reasoning (good test-taking)

Creative Intelligence (Sternberg)

Generate new ideas/ solutions

Emotional Intelligence (Mayer and Salovey)

The ability to reason about emotions and to use emotions to enhance reasoning