Chapter 7: Thinking and Intelligence

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

  • Cognition: The process of thinking that includes various aspects like:
    • Perception
    • Knowledge
    • Problem-solving
    • Judgment
    • Language
    • Memory

COGNITION

  • The process of cognition involves:
    • Information and Sensations: Received by the brain.
    • Emotions and Memories: Filtered through our past experiences.
    • Thoughts: Formed from processed information.
    • Behavior: Resulting action from processed thoughts.

CONCEPTS & PROTOTYPES

  • Prototype: The best example of a concept (e.g., Gandhi as a prototype for civil disobedience).
  • Concepts: Categories formed by linguistic information, images, ideas, or memories to illustrate relationships among experiences.
    • Can be complex (justice) or concrete (types of birds).

NATURAL & ARTIFICIAL CONCEPTS

  • Natural Concepts: Formed through experience (e.g., concept of snow).
  • Artificial Concepts: Defined by specific attributes (e.g., geometric shapes).

SCHEMATA

  • Schema: A mental framework comprised of related concepts.
    • Role Schema: Assumptions about how people in roles act (e.g., a librarian).
    • Event Schema: Automatic behaviors in routines (e.g., standing in an elevator).

EVENT SCHEMA

  • Event schemas can become rigid; examples include:
    • Automatic smartphone reply when a text is received.
    • Difficult behaviour to alter, such as resisting texting while driving.

LANGUAGE

  • Language: A structured system of communication using words.
    • Lexicon: The vocabulary of a language.
    • Grammar: Rules for structuring sentences.
    • Phoneme: Basic sound unit (e.g., ah, eh).
    • Morpheme: Smallest unit of meaning.
    • Semantics: Meaning derived from words.
    • Syntax: Arrangement of words into structured sentences.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

  • Noam Chomsky's Theory:
    • Language acquisition is biologically predisposed and follows a critical period for optimal learning.
    • Children deprived of language during critical periods struggle in language use.
    • Genie Case Study: Exemplified language deprivation effects.

STAGES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

  • Stages by age:
    • 0-3 months: Reflexive communication.
    • 3-8 months: Reflexive communication, interest in others.
    • 8-13 months: Intentional communication.
    • 12-18 months: First words.
    • 18-24 months: Two-word sentences.
    • 2-3 years: Three or more words per sentence.
    • 3-5 years: Complex sentences and conversations.

PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES

Strategies:
  • Trial and Error: Trying various solutions until success.
  • Algorithm: Step-by-step solution process (e.g., installation rules).
  • Heuristic: General rules for problem-solving (e.g., working backwards).

PITFALLS TO PROBLEM SOLVING

  • Functional Fixedness: Limitation in using an object beyond its intended purpose (e.g., using a box for a candle).
  • Mental Sets: Persistently using past solutions even when ineffective.

BIASES IN DECISION MAKING

  • Anchoring Bias: Focus on one piece of information.
  • Confirmation Bias: Emphasizing information that confirms existing beliefs.
  • Hindsight Bias: Viewing unpredictable outcomes as having been predictable.
  • Representativeness Bias: Stereotyping.
  • Availability Heuristic: Judging based on readily available information.

CLASSIFYING INTELLIGENCE

  • Intelligence: Various definitions exist in psychology:
    • Spearman: Intelligence as a general factor (g).
    • Cattell: Two types - Crystalized (knowledge retrieval) & Fluid (problem-solving).

TRIARCHIC THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE

  • Robert Sternberg's Types:
    • Analytical: Academic problem-solving.
    • Creative: Innovative problem-solving.
    • Practical: Street smarts.

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES THEORY

  • Howard Gardner’s 8 Intelligences:
    1. Linguistic
    2. Logical-mathematical
    3. Musical
    4. Bodily kinesthetic
    5. Spatial
    6. Interpersonal
    7. Intrapersonal
    8. Naturalist
  • Emotional Intelligence: Understanding and managing emotions in oneself and others.

CREATIVITY

  • Creativity: Ability to generate new ideas.
    • Traits of creative individuals:
    • Deep knowledge
    • Years of work
    • Novel solution seeking
    • Risk-taking.
    • Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking: Divergent thinks outside the box vs. convergent provides established answers.

MEASURES OF INTELLIGENCE

  • IQ Tests: Assess cognitive abilities.
  • Stanford-Binet Scale: Developed to identify academic struggles in children, standardized for reliability.
  • Wechsler Scales: Assesses various skills through verbal and nonverbal tests.

BELL CURVE IN IQ TESTING

  • IQ scores represented in a bell curve:
    • Average score = 100; Standard deviations = 15.
    • 82% of people have scores between 85 and 115.

NATURE VS. NURTURE IN INTELLIGENCE

  • Nature: Inherited traits affecting intelligence (twin studies).
  • Nurture: Environmental impacts on intellectual growth.
  • Range of Reaction: Individual responses to environment based on genetic makeup.

LEARNING DISABILITIES

  • Cognitive disorders affecting language/reading:
    • Dysgraphia: Difficulty in writing.
    • Dyslexia: Difficulty in processing letters (most common learning disability).