Chapter 9-11

Chapters 9-11

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

metacognition

cognition about our cognition, keeping track and evauating our mental processes;”beyond cognition'“

concepts

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people (aka schema)

prototype

a category; matching new items to a prototype a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories

intelligence

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

general intelligence (g)

Spearman’s theory; 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 variables

Hueristic

a simpler strategy that is usually speedier than an algorithm but prone to more error. need to make fast decisions, heuristics enable quick thinking without conscious awareness

fluid intelligence (Gf)

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood

crystallized intelligence (Gc)

out accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tend to increase with age

existential intelligence

t\`he ability “to ponder large questions about life, death, and existence”

savant syndrome

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental activity has an exceptional specific skill

autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

neurodevelopment disorder

sternberg’s triarchic theory

proposes 3, not 8 or 9; measured by analytical, creative, practical intelligences

Analytical intelligence

assessed by intelligence tests, which present well-defined problems having a single right answer

Creative intelligences

demonstrated in innovative smarts: the ability to adapt to new situations and generate novel ideas

Practical intelligences

required for everyday tasks that may be poorly define an may have multiple solutions

grit

passion and perserverance for long-term and meaningful goals

growth mindset

the belief that people’s most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work; *ability + opportunity + motivation = success*

emotional intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use your own emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you

social intelligence

know-how involved in understanding social situations and managing yourself successfully; a critical part of social and emotional intelligence consist of perceiving, understanding, managing, and using emotions

Perceiving emotions

recognizing them in faces, music, and stories and identifying one’s own emotions

Understanding emotions

predicting them and how they may change and blend

Managing emotions

knowing how to express them in varied situations, and how to handle others’ emotions

Using emotions

to facilitate adaptive or creative thinking

intelligence test

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

achievement tests

A test designed to assess what a person has learned

aptitude test

A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; *aptitude* is the capacity to learn

mental age

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

Stanforf-Binet

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

Intelligence Quotient/IQ

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age (*ma*) to chronological age (*ca*) multiplied by 100 (IQ=*ma/ca* x 100)

On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

eugenics

The practice or advocacy of improving the human species by selectively mating people with specific hereditary traits

The scientifically erroneous and immoral theory of “racial improvement” and “planned breeding,” which gained popularity during the early 20tu century

Eugenicists worldwide believed that they could perfect human veins and eliminate so-called social ills through genetics and hereditary

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) & Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

The WAIS and its companion versions for children are the most widely used intelligence tests they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests

standardization

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

normal curve

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (\~68% fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes

Also called a *normal distribution*

reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scored on 2 halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting

validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is suppose to

content validity

does the test sample the behaviour of interest -- is the WAIS *actually* measuring intelligence?

predictive validity

the success with which a test predicts the behaviour it is deigned to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behaviour

algorithm

a methodical, logical rule, or procedure that guarantees a solution to a problem

representativeness heuristic

judging a situation based on how similar the aspects are to the prototype a person holds in mind

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; instances that come readily to mind are presumed more common

insight

not a strategy-based solution, but rather a sudden flash of inspiration that solves a problem

confirmation bias

predisposes us to verify rather than challenge our hypothesis; we seek information FOR rather than AGAINST our opinions

fixation

may present us from taking the fresh perspective that would lead to a situation; once we form a “belief” this belief can be very hard to change

intuition

an immediate automatic feeling though as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct; to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements; we tend to be most overconfident about things we know the least about

belief perseverance

occurs when we cling to beliefs in the face of contrary evidence; discredit/ignore evidence that proves these beliefs are wrong

framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements

creatitivity

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solutions; aptitude tests (SAT) require convergent thinking

divergent thinking

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

expertise

well developed knowledge; furnishes the ideas, images, and phrases we use as mental building blocks

imaginative thinking skills

provides the ability to see things in noel ways, to recognize patterns and to make connections; having mastered a problem’s basic elements, we can redefine or explore it in a new way

venturesome, determined personality

seeks new experiences, tolerates ambiguity and risk, and preservers in overcoming obstacles; determination is an enduring trait

intrinsic motivation

the quality of being driven more by interest, satisfaction, and challenge than by external pressures

a creative environment

sparks, support, and refines creative ideas

language

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

phonemes

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

morphemes

in a language, the smallest unit that carried meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

grammar

a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.

semantics

the language’s set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds

syntax

set of rules for combing words into grammatically sensible sentences

critical periods (grammar)

childhood is a critical period for mastering certain aspects of language

receptive language

infants’ ability to understand what is said to them begins; around 4 months; faster than production

productive language

infants’ ability to produce words; begins around 10 months

babbling stage

the stage in speech development, beginning around 4 months, during which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds that are not all related to the household language

one-word stage

the stage in speech development, from about age 1-2; during which a child speaks mostly in single words

two-word stage

the stage in speech development, beginning about age 2, during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements

telegraphic speech

the early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram (“go car”) using mostly nouns and verbs

aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s areas (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)

Broca’s area

a frontal lobe brain area, usually in the left hemisphere, that helps control language expression by directing the muscle movements involved in speech

Wernicke’s area

a brain area, usually in the left temporal lobe, involved in language comprehension and expression (understanding)

subfunctions

the brain operates by dividing its mental functions: speaking, perceiving, thinking, remembering; as other forms of information processing

linguistic relativism

the idea that language influences the way we think

Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory

the theory that our intelligence is based on g as well as specific abilities, bridged by Gf and Gc

intellectual disability

neurodevelopment disorder that is apparent before age 18, sometimes with a known physical cause

“gifted child”

any child who is naturally endowed with a high degree of general mental ability or extraordinary ability in a specific sphere of activity or knowledge; tends to not have any other skills

“gifted child” programs

tend to segregate high-scoring children in special classes, often giving them academic enrichment not available to their peers

“remedial” programs

generally mainstream children, but give them access to resources that help them overcome challenges

cohort

a group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as being from a given time period

cross sectional studies

measure different individuals at the same time

longitudinal studies

measure same individual at different times

intellectual decline

decline of mental ability with age is part of the general aging process

intellectual stabilty

findings indicate that intelligence remains stable, and on some tests it even increases

down syndrome

condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21

heritability

the proportion of variation among individuals in a group that we can attribute to genes. the heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environment studied

scienfitic meaning of bias

based on test predictive validity; if a test does not accurately predict future behaviour for all groups of test takers, it is biased

cultural meaning of bias

a test can also be biased if it detects not only innate differences in intelligence but also performance differences caused by cultural experiences

hypotheses about racial differences in intelligence (3)

genetically disposed; socially influenced; tests are inappropriate or biased

self-fulfilling stereotype threat

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype; stereotypes may impair attention, performance, and learning

motivation

need or desire that energies and directs behaviour

instinct theory (evolutionary perspective)

genetically predisposed behaviours; views our instinct as the source of our motivations

drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need; responses to inner pushes

arousal theory

motivated to attain the right levels of stimulation

Yerkes-Dodson law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases; low arousal motivates activities to increase arousal, often through curiosity, novelty/risk seeking; high arousal motivates behaviours to lower these levels

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

priority of some needs over others; physiological needs must be satisfied first before people can fulfill their higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs

physiological needs

need to satisfy hunger and thirst

safety needs

need to feel that the world is organized and predictable; need to feel safe, secure, and stable

belongingness and love needs

need to love and be loved, to belong and be accepted; need to avoid loneliness and separation