Chapter 8 Review; Cognition, language and creativity

8-1 What is the nature of thought

8-1 -1 - Thinking is the manipulation of internal representations of external stimuli or situations

8-1-2 - Thinking can be either automatic experiential processing or more effort full reflective processing

8-1-3 - The three basic units of thought consist of images, concepts and language ( or symbols )

8-2 In what ways are images similar related to thinking

8-2-1 - Most people have internal images of one kind or another, sometimes they cross normal sense boundaries in a type of image called synthesia

8-2-2 - images may be three dimensional; they may be rotated in space and their sizing may change

8-2-3 - the same brain areas are involved in both vision and visual imagery

8-2-4 - kinesthetic images are used to represent movement and action

8-3 What are concepts, and how are they learned

8-3-1 - a concept is a generalized idea of a class of objects of events

8-3-2 - concept information may be based on positive and negative instances or rule learning

8-3-3 - concepts may be conjunctive (“and” concepts), disjunctive (“either / or”) or relational

8-3-4 - in practice, concept identifications frequently make use of prototypes, or ideal models

8-3-5 - the denotative meaning of a word or concept is its dictionary definition. Connotative meaning is personal or emotional

8-4 What is language, and what role does it play in thinking

8-4-1 - language encodes events into symbols for easy mental manipulation. The study of meaning in language is called semantics

8-4-2 - bilingualism is a valuable ability. Two- way bilingual education allows children to develop additive bilingualism while in school

8-4-3 - language carries meaning by combining a set of symbols according to a set of rules ( grammar) which includes a set of rules about word order (syntax)

8-4-4 - true languages are productive and can be used to generate new ideas and possibilities

8-4-5 - complex gestural systems, such as ASL are true languages

8-4-6 - chimpanzees and other primates have learned to use word symbols systems about as well as 2 year old humans

8-5 what do we know about problem solving

8-5-1 - the solution to a problem may be arrived at mechanically (by trial and error or rote applications of algorithm), but mechanical solutions are often insufficient

8-5-2 - solutions by understanding usually begin with the discovery of the general properties of an answer, followed by a functional solution.

8-5-3 - problem solving is often aided by heuristics, which narrow the search for a solution

8-5-4 - when understanding leads to a rapid solution, insight has occurred, three elements of insight are: selective encoding, selective combination and selective comparison.

8-5-5 - insight can be blocked by fixations, functional fixedness is a common fixation, but emotional emotional blocks, cultural values, learned conventions and perceptual habits are also problems

8-5-6 - problem solving experts also engage in automatic processing and pattern recognition

8-6 What is the nature of creative thinking

8-6-1 - to be creative, a solution must be practical and sensible as well as original. Creative thinking requires divergent thought, characterized by fluency, flexibility and originality. Tests of creativity, measure these qualities

8-6-2 - five stages often seen in creative problem solving are: orientation, preparation, incubation, illumination and verification

8-6-3 - studies suggest that the creative personality has a number of characteristics, most of which contradict popular stereotypes. Only a very small correlation exists between IQ and creativity

8-6-4 - some creative thinking can be learned

8-7 How accurate is intuition

8-7-1 - Intuitive thinking can be fast and accurate but also often leads to errors, wrong conclusions may be drawn when an answer seems highly representative of what we already believe is true

8-7-2 - another problem is ignoring the base rate (underlying probability), of an event

8-7-3 - clear thinking is usually added by stating or framing problems with broad terms

8-7-4 - emotions can also lead to intuitive thinking and poor choices

8-8 What can be done to improve thinking and promote creativity

8-8-1 - various strategies that promote divergent thinking tend to enhance creative problem solving

8-8-2 - in group situations, brainstorming may also lead to creative solutions. The principles of brainstorming can also be applied to individual problem solving