Cognition, Creativity & Intelligence
Definition (#f7aeae)
Important (#edcae9)
Extra (#fffe9d)
Key Concepts:
Basic units of cognition: Mental imagery, concepts and language
Problem solving
Creative thinking
Intelligence
Thinking:
Cognition: Process of thinking, gaining knowledge and dealing with knowledge.
Human cognition can take many forms, from experiential daydreaming to reflective problem solving and reasoning.
Experiential processing: Thought that is passive, effortless and automatic.
Reflective: Thought that is active effortful and controlled.
3 basic units: Mental images, concepts and language.
Mental Images:
It involves the ability to create and manipulate mental representations of sensory experiences, even in the absence of external stimuli.
Crucial for various cognitive functions like memory, problem-solving, and creative thinking.
Concepts:
A concept is an idea that represents a category of objects or events.
Concept formation: Process of classifying information into meaningful categories.
Adults require concepts by learning or forming conceptual rules or guidelines.
Language:
Language is a means to express ideas that exist as a vague image or feeling.
It consists of:
Symbols: To symbolize objects and ideas.
Phonemes: Basic speech sound
Morpheme: Speech sound collected into meaningful units, such as symbols.
Structure of language consists of:
Grammar: Set of rules for making sounds into words and words into sentences.
Semantics: study of meaning in words and languages, denotative or connotative.
Problem Solving:
Methods:
Algorithms:
Achieved by following a series of set-by-step rules, usually for routine problems.
Heuristic:
Shortcut for finding a solution to a problem.
Insight:
Sudden mental reorganization of a problem that makes the solution obvious.
Problems:
Fixations: Tendency to get ‘hung up’ on wrong solutions or not see alternatives.
Functional fixedness: Tendency to perceive an item only in terms of it’s most common use.
Emotional Barriers: inhibition and fear of making a fool of oneself.
Cultural barrier: Values that hold that fantasy is a waste of time.
Learned Barriers: Conventions about uses, meanings, taboos, possibilities.
Methods to Solve:
2 key elements of any problem:
Surface Structure: A problem’s superficial features.
Deep Structure: The problem’s fundamentals.
As your understanding expands, the ability to assess a problem’s deep structure improves considerably.
Expertise also involve fast automatic processing, information is organized in chunks or patterns.
Creative thinking:
The ability to combine mental elements in new and useful ways.
Divergent thinking: Thinking that produces many ideas or alternatives.
Major element in original and creative thought.
Stages of creative thought:
Orientation: The problem is identified, and important dimensions are identified.
Preparation: Becoming saturated with as much information about the specific problem.
Incubation: Problems solving may happen on a subconscious level.
Illumination: Insight or solutions appear rapidly.
Verification: testing and evaluating solutions based during illumination stage.
Creative Personality & Honing it:
Open to wide variety of experiences.
Stereotypes: eccentric, neurotic, socially inept.
Prefer complexities.
Ask questions: Willingness to challenge conventions
Make associations: Connecting ideas, questions ir concepts.
Seek varied input through networking.
Intelligence:
Overall capacity to think rationally, to act purposefully and to adapt to one’s surrounding.
G-factor: Measure of an individual’s overall intelligence as opposed to specific abilities.
Fluid intelligence: Ability to solve novel problems involving perceptual speed or rapid insight.
Crystallised intelligence: Effective use of prior information.
Challenges in Defining Intelligence:
Which specific mental abilities actually constitute intelligence
Is there really a g-factor, or do we all possess very different unconnected intelligences?