Chapter 8 - Thinking, Decisions, Intelligence, and Language

what is cognition

the mental activity that includes thinking and understanding the results of thinking

cognitive psych used to be based on what two ideas (define thinking)

1. knowledge about the world is stored in the brain in representations

2. thinking is the mental manipulation of representations of knowledge in the world

what are the two types of mental representations (define them)

1. analogical representations: mental representations that have some sort of physical characteristic of what they represent (clocks, maps)

2. symbolic representations: mental representations that do not have a physical component that corresponds to the object/idea (usually words, numbers, or ideas)

what is a concept

a category, or class, of related items (ex: musical instruments or fruits)

what is the prototype model

a way of thinking of concepts: within each category, there is a best example of the category, this is what we think/compare new things to

what is the exemplar model

a way of thinking about concepts: proposes that there is no single best example for the category, rather, each one serves as an example to be compared to

what is a script

script vs schema

a type of schema that directs behavior over time within a situation

script is more specific than schema, and it involves more of a sequence

(ex: going to the movies)

what are stereotypes

cognitive schemas that allow for fast processing of information about people based on the group they belong to

what is decision making

selecting among multiple choices

what is problem solving

finding a way around an obstacle to meet a goal

name relevant bias to this chapter (2)

1. confirmation

2. hindsight

what is an anchor

a reference point used in decision making

what is framing

how is a question presented

in decision making, it emphasizes the positive or negatives of a choice

what is loss aversion

people are more scared of losing rather than gaining

what is the representativeness heuristic

tendency to place a person or object in a category if the person or object is similar to our prototype for that category

Ex: Bob gets 8 hours of slepp, maintains a 4.0, and gets into medical school. Is he happy or sad? most people would say happy because Bob represents the model of the happy category/concept

what is the base rate

how frequently an event occurs

what is affective forecasting

people will overestimate how they will feel about something in the future

integral vs incidental

related vs not related

what is the endowment effect

we value things we own more than what we would buy them for

what are incidental affective states

emotions carry over from unrelated sources and influence current judgment

what are integral affective states

emotions triggered directly from a specific choice

what is restructuring

thinking of a problem in a new way

what are mental sets

problem solving strats that have worked in the past

what are functional fixedness

a type of mental set that in which we have fixed ideas about the typical function of an object

what is an insight

lightbulb! solution to problem becomes clear

what is intelligence

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

what are the two main types of standardized tests

achievement tests assess people’s current level of skill and knowledge

aptitude tests seek to predict what tasks, and jobs, someone would be good at

binet-simon intelligence scale

first intellegence scale used in france

what was the stanford-binet test

based on binet-simon, used for american children

what was the Wechsler intellegence test

for adults, tested a variety of things vs just a single number

what is mental age

determined by comparing the child’s test score with the avg score for children of each chronological age

what is IQ? formula? does it work for adults? mean? sd? what % does it make up of variation in performance at work/schoo?

intelligence quotient

doesn’t work for adults

100 pm 15

25%

what is general intelligence

the idea that one factor/grouping underlies all intelligence/can predict it all

fluid vs crystallized intelligence

fluid intelligence is your ability to understand abstract relationships and think logically without prior experiences

crystallized intelligence is your ability to use prior information to solve problems

what is the triarchic theory? define each part?

there are three types of intelligence

1. analytical - being good at problem solving, puzzles, and other academic things

2. creative - ability to gain new insight

3. practical - dealing with everyday tasks

what is emotional intelligence

a form of intelligence that emphasizes managing, recognizing, understanding emotions, and using them to guide decisions/actions.

how does speed relate to IQ relate to life

higher speed = higher IQ = higher lifespan

gray matter is associated with which type of intellegence (fluid/crystalized)

fluid

what is the Flynn effect

IQ has increasing recently

what is language

a system of communication through sounds and symbols governed by grammatical rules

what are morphemes

the smallest unit of language that have meaning, including prefixes and suffixes

all examples of morphemes:

frost, de, er, defroster

what are phonemes

the basic sounds of speech, the building block of language

kissed has two morphemes (kiss + ed) and four phonemes (the sounds you make)

relate the big 4 units of language

sentence → phrase → words/morphemes → phonemes

what is aphasia

language disorder that results in difficulty understanding and producing language

what is linguistic relativity theory

language determine thoughts (proven wrong)

brocas area vs Wernicke’s aphasia

damage to the left side of brain

vs

difficulty understanding speech and communicating meaningfully due to damage in left temporal region

talk about the ages related to discriminating between phonemes

can discriminate between them for up to 6 months of age

after, only can discriminate in their language

what is telegraphic speech

the way toddlers speak, using rudimentary sentences that lack grammar, but still convey meaning. it does follow a specific syntax

when do toddlers begin to have telegraphic speech

18-24 months

what is surface structure

the sound and order of words

what is deep structure

the implicit meaning of sentences

(fat cat)

what is a creole language

a language that evolves from mixing languages

whole language vs phonics (define)

whole language (learning words in context) motivates students to read, but phonics (mapping letters to sounds) produces stronger readers

what is dslexia? what is the central problem? is it genetic?

the struggle to learn how to read, spell, and write (despite normal level of intelligence)

central problem: inability to hear, identify, and use phonemes

yes it is genetic