COGNITION AND INTELLIGENCE

Chapters 7 and 8

What is Cognition? Cognition is our ability to think…

Organize thoughtsSolve problemsThink rationallyImagine an image in our mindConstruct sentencesMake decisions

How are our thoughts organized? Schema

Mental framework to help us organize thoughts

Popular Schemas (aka Schemata):○ School- What does this include? What is

expected of you? How does it look?○ Others?

“Concepts” are examples of schemata

How are our thoughts organized? Concepts

Mental categories for classifying specific people, things, or events

Allow us to group new experiences with old ones… Like placing all socks (soccer socks, ankle socks, stockings) into one drawer

Prototypes- a member of a concept with the most typical features○ Can help us to make quick decisions about

new experiences.. Does it fit into this concept because it resembles the stereotype?

○ “Protypical” genius… does the jock “align”? ○ Stereotypes?

Concepts and Prototypes Which do you see as the most “typical”

example of the concept dog?

How do we solve problems? How do we solve problems?

InterpretationStrategyEvaluation

Interpretation of the Problem First step= Problem Representation

Interpreting or defining the problem○ What is the cause of this issue?○ I.E. Gun violence in the U.S.

Verbal vs. Visual○ How can I approach this problem? Should I write it down?

Draw a picture? Chart? Graph? Web?○ I.E. Identifying correlations between murderers, weapons, SES

background, mental health- VISUALLYGaining expertise consists of your ability to represent and

categorize problems so that they can be solved quickly and effectively○ i.e. calling football plays, making chess moves, etc… you can

practice!!!

Now for the solving: Strategies Trial and error-

Works best when there are a limited amount of choices otherwise it is too time consuming○ i.e. trying different keys to open a lock

Information retrieval- recalling how problems were solved in the past..

Can help or hinder!○ i.e. how do other countries solve violence issues?○ **problem: could the issue be the result of something

different? Back to problem representation.

Strategies (cont.) Algorithms-

guarantees a solution but can be tedious Heuristics- rules of thumb; no guaranteed

solutionHill climbing- moving towards goal (process of

elimination)Subgoals- break problem into small, more

manageable partsMeans-end analysis- looking at the whole picture;

more flexible than hill-climbing Working backward- knowing goal and working

backwards from there (shopping?)

Obstacles to Problem-Solving Motivation Emotional Arousal Mental Set- our tendency to approach a

problem in a certain way but that excludes different approaches to a problemNeed flexibility!!

Functional Fixedness- assigned meaning to a problem

**Abandoning the problem for a while may lead to insight upon return (i.e. Incubation)

Return to your Worksheet! What problem solving devices did you

use? What obstacles did you encounter? Other real world examples? How can you use this to make better

decisions in the future?

Decisions- How do we make them? Compensatory Model

Rational decision-making model in which choices are systematically evaluated on various criteria

i.e. pros and cons, ratings Non-compensatory

“going with your gut”Role of emotion/intuitionNot willing to allow one feature your decision

“make up for” another, lacking feature of your decision

Decisions- How do we make them? Representativeness

A heuristic by which a new situation is judged on the basis of its resemblance to a stereotypical model

Who is sensitive, smart, and creative: football player or stage actor?

AvailabilityA judgment or decision is based on information that

is most easily retrieved from memoryHow fresh is something in your mind?Are there more words that start with “r” or have “r” as

the third letter?Jackie was cruel to you three weeks ago but did you

a favor yesterday… which is more “available”?

Put your Decision Making Skills to the Test! Read the decision-making scenarios

and employ your devices, making sure you try to avoid the heuristics that may lead you astray!

Decision Making Cont. Confirmation Bias- The tendency to look for

evidence in support of a belief and to ignore evidence that would disprove this believe.“All short people have “Napoleon Complexes”Other stereotypes??

FramingPerspective or phrasing of information that is used to

make a decision (how it is presented)“This contraceptive is 90% effective”“You have a 1 in 10 chance of getting pregnant”You are at risk of losing something vs. have the

opportunity to gain something? (i.e. gambling)

Decisions Under Pressure Stress causes decision making to

deteriorate Training under emergency situations is

critical to prepare people for efficient and effective decision making in unanticipated situations

Emotion can also hinder decisionsAmygdala is active! It is up to your Frontal

Lobe to calm it down!

Explaining Our Decisions Hindsight bias-

Tendency to view outcomes as inevitable and predictable after we know the outcome and to believe we could have or did predict what happened

“Hindsight is 20:20” Counterfactual thinking

Imagined alternatives… “If only….”Attempts to reverse a course of events that led to

a negative experience; explaining atypical or abnormal events, etc to regain sense of control”

What Happens When We Are Wrong? Overconfidence-

we are more confident about our thoughts and our experiences than we should be

Belief perseverance- we cling to what we originally believed and have

difficulties accepting opposite truths Intuition-

fast, unreasoned, automatic feeling and thought Justification

Whether it’s conscious or not, we justify our decisions- think back to choice blindness!

Your decisions? What are some major decisions you’ve

had to make in the past? For example, in relationships you have

with friends, family, or significant others? College decisions?

Intelligence How do we define

intelligence? Are you intelligent? Is there a difference

between males and females?

Intelligence Exactly what makes up intelligence is a

matter of debate David Wechsler’s Definition

Act purposefullyThink rationallyDeal effectively with the environment

THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

Early Theories of Intelligence Charles Spearman

Believed intelligence is generalPeople who are bright in one area are usually

bright in other areas as well“g” factor

L. L. ThurstoneBelieved that intelligence is made up of seven

distinct, independent abilities○ Spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability,

verbal meaning, memory, word fluency, and reasoning

○ What is still missing?!

Contemporary Theories of Intelligence Robert Sternberg

Triarchic theory of intelligence posits three types of intelligence (prototype of 3 grad school applicants)

Analytical intelligence includes the ability to learn how to do things, solve problems, and acquire new knowledge (Alice)

Creative intelligence includes the ability adjust to new tasks, use new concepts, and respond well in new situations (Barbara)

Practical intelligence includes the ability to select contexts in which you can excel and solve practical problems (Celia)

Which one are you?!

Contemporary Theories of Intelligence

Logical-mathematical Linguistic Spatial Musical

Bodily-kinesthetic Interpersonal Intrapersonal Naturalistic

Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences

Contemporary Theories of Intelligence Daniel Goleman

Proposed theory of emotional IntelligenceEmotional intelligence has five components

○ Knowing one’s own emotions○ Managing one’s own emotions○ Using emotions to motivate oneself○ Recognizing the emotions of other people○ Managing relationships

According to Gardner, what type of intelligence are the following people displaying a high level of?

Tiger WoodsNick CannonBarack ObamaJustin TimberlakeBeyonceAlbert Einstein

CopernicusF. Scott FitzgeraldGeorge WashingtonBrittany SpearsMia HammMonet

Comparing Contemporary Theories

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Sternberg’s Triarchic Intelligences

Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence

Logical-MathematicalLinguistic

Analytical

SpatialMusicalBody-Kinesthetic

Creative

Interpersonal Practical Recognizing emotions in others and managing relationships

Intrapersonal Knowing, managing, and motivating yourself with emotions

Intelligence Tests: How do we measure “smartness”? Binet-Simon scale

First test of intelligence, developed to identify children who might have difficulty in school

Binet developed the concept of mental age in children

Mental Age = age at which you perform intellectually - may or may not correspond with chronological age

Stanford-Binet scaleL. M. Terman’s adaptation of the Binet-Simon scaleEugenics, Immigration Act of 1924

Stern introduced the I.Q. score

Intelligence Tests The Wechsler Intelligence Scales

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Third Edition is the most commonly used test of intelligence for adults

WAIS-III is divided into to parts, one that focuses on verbal abilities and one that focuses on performance skills

Also a version for children, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Third Edition

Intelligence Tests Group Tests

Intelligence tests that can be given to large groups

Advantages○ Quick scoring○ No examiner bias○ Easier to establish norms

Disadvantages○ Less likely to detect someone who is ill or confused○ Might make people nervous○ Learning disabled children often perform worse

Intelligence Tests Performance tests

Tests that minimize the use of languageUsed to test very young children or people

with retardationAlso can be used to test those unfamiliar

with English Culture-fair tests

Tests designed to reduce cultural biasMinimize skills and values that vary from

one culture to another

What Makes a Good Test? Reliability

Ability of a test to provide consistent and stable scores

What does the IQ predict? SAT? Correlation?

ValidityAbility of a test to measure what it was

designed to measure

What Makes a Good Test? Standardization uniform rules for

administering, taking and scoring the test.

Norms – performance benchmarks established during test development used to establish “average” performance.

Representative Sample – group used to establish norms that adequately reflects the demographics of those who will be taking the test.

Scoring the IQ Test Raw Score -

number of questions answered correctly; doesn’t tell much about performance

Standard Score -score that tells you how you did compared to other test

takers – a much better read of performance○ Percentile Score -

what percentage of test takers you scored better than○ What does it mean to score in the 85th percentile?

You scored better than 85% of the test takers IQ = Mental Age/Chronological Age x 100

Most common IQ score?100! Why?

The “Normal” (Bell) Curve:Approximate Distribution of IQ Scores in the Population

Criticisms of IQ Tests Test content and scores

Critics argue that IQ test measure a narrow set of skills

Some feel that the tests merely measure test taking ability

Tests may discriminate against minorities Use of intelligence tests

Could result in permanent labeling IQ and success

Relationship does exist, but may be the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy

Case of Gladys Burr?

What Determines Intelligence? Nature

Biological similarities in Adoption Studies – ○ IQ scores of child more closely correlated with

biological mother than adoptive mother.Identical Twins reared apart –

○ after identical twins reared together, identical twins reared apart have the highest correlation of IQ scores.

Correlation of IQ Scores of Family Members

What Determines Intelligence? Nurture

Isolated or Deprived Environments ○ individuals living in culturally or physically

impoverished environments have lower IQ scores

Adoption Studies and Improved Environment ○ children demonstrated elevated IQ scores

after being moved from crowded orphanage to parents with high socioeconomic status

What Determines Intelligence? Family Structure?

Intellectual Climate – numerical calculation of the level of intellect in a household, based on the number of family members and their ages.

Example Calculation – adults = 30, teens = 15, children = 5, and newborns = 0:○ 2 adults:

30+30=60/2=intellectual climate of 30○ 2 adults and a newborn:

30+30+0=60/3=intellectual climate of 20Intellectual climate goes down most when there

are many children born in rapid succession.

Heredity vs. Environment:Which is More Important? There is general agreement that both

heredity and environment affect IQ scores

Debate centers around the relative contribution of nature (heredity) and nurture (environment) to the development of intelligence

Males vs. Females Today’s Conclusions

Overall, men and women do not differ significantly in general intelligence

Women show slight advantage in verbal and mathematical computation skills while men show an advantage in spatial ability

Men are more likely to fall in the extremes of intelligence range

There is no explanation for why these minimal differences exist – are they cultural or inborn?

Is there a difference in the way we think?

Determinants of Intelligence Culture

Difference in academic performance between American and Asian students are found from first grade through high school in mathematics and reading

May be related to a difference in cultural attitudes toward ability and effort

Stability of IntelligenceIQ stays relatively steady over course of life

Extremes of Intelligence: Giftedness Definition

top 3% of IQ scores, typically over 132 Superior IQ combined with ability in academics,

creativity, and leadershipGiftedness is often in specific areas“Globally” gifted people are rare

Specialized Programs of Study?

Extremes of Intelligence: Mental Retardation• Definition

• IQ < 70; lowest 3% of IQ scores• not a result of accident• onset before age 18• substantial limitations in functioning.

• Causes – drug abuse during pregnancy, genetic disorders, lack of fetal nutrition

• Levels• Mild - 90% of cases• Moderate - 6% of cases• Severe - 3% of cases• Profound - 1% of cases

• Some people with retardation show savant performance on particular skills

Mental RetardationLevel of Retardation IQ Range

Mild Low 50s-70sindividual may be able to function in society normally, be minimally self supporting, function at level of an 11 year old.

Moderate Mid 30s-low 50scan attain vocational training and do some things independently; function at level of 8 year old.

Severe Low 20s-mid 30scannot learn to talk or take care of basic needs until the age of 6. Very limited functioning.

Profound Below 20 or 25constant care needed; usually other serious complications and neurological deficiencies are present.

Creativity Defined as the ability to produce novel and socially

valued ideas or objects Creativity and Intelligence – Early studies suggested

that there was little relationship between the two, however, later research indicates otherwise: creative individuals tend to have higher IQs AND creative individuals are perceived as being more intelligent as well.

Creativity Tests – Open-ended questions; scoring is based upon the number

and originality of a person’s answers○ Torrance Test – Individuals explain a picture, its origins, and

consequences○ Mednick’s Remote Association Test (RAT) – given three words – you

come up with a fourth word that the other three can be combined with e.g. hand, lone, win (answer = some)

Take the tests! RAT, Torrance IQ Test EQ Test