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Thinking, Language,
and Intelligence
PowerPoint® Presentation by Jim Foley
Chapter 9
Thinking and language are two talents that are part of being human.
But...how unique are these talents to humans?
in what ways are these talents better suited for survival than for thinking like a scientist?
Thinking and Language Questions
How do we form concepts, make judgments, solve problems, and make decisions?
How does our intuitive thinking style, though it may help us survive, lead us astray?
How does language work in words and in the brain, and how unique is human language?
How do thought and language work together?
Thinking Topics to Think AboutConcepts: Categories and PrototypesProblem Solving: Algorithms, Insights, heuristicsJudgment errors: Availability Heuristic, Overconfidence, Belief PerseveranceThe effects of Framing on judgmentCognitive skills in other species
Cognition refers to mental activities and processes associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating information.
Cognition can include reasoning, judgment, and assembling new information into knowledge.
Cognition also supports these other psychological processes: attention, emotion, consciousness, perception, learning, memory, language, mental health, and social interaction.
Thinking, a.k.a. Cognition
Thinking: Topics
Concepts: the building
blocks of thinking
Problem solving
strategies and
obstacles to effective problem solvingDo other
animals have thinking skills like humans
do?
Pieces of Cognition: Concepts
A conceptis a mental grouping
of similar objects, events, states, ideas, and/or people, etc.
A concept can be represented
and communicated by an image, or by a word such
as “chair,” “party,” or
“democracy.”
How do we form/learn concepts? We think we form concepts by definitions. For example,
we define a triangle as an object with three sides. But is this how we actually form concepts? Often, we form concepts by developing prototypes, that
is, mental images of the best example of a concept.
Draw the triangle that you imagine; that is,
draw your prototype of a
triangle.
What does your prototype of the triangle look like?
Conceptualizing a Chair
What is your definition of “chair”?What is your prototype of “chair”?Which of these fit the “chair” concept?
The Urge to Categorize
What was the percentage Asian in this blended Caucasian/Asian face?
What was the percentage Caucasian in the second blended face?
We tend to mold our
memories and perceptions to fit pre-existing
categories/ concepts.
When Prototypes Fail Us
Prototypes fail us when examples stretch our definitions, as in considering whether a stool is a chair.
Prototypes fail us when the boundary between concepts is fuzzy, as in judging blue-green colors or computer-blended faces.
Prototypes fail us when examples contradict our prototypes, such as considering whether a whale is a mammal, or a penguin is a bird.
Problem SolvingProblem solving refers to the thinking we do in order to answer a complex
question or to figure out how to resolve an unfavorable situation.
Strategies for
arriving at solutions include:
trial and error
algorithms
heuristics
insight
Trial and error involves trying various possible solutions, and if that fails, trying others.•When it’s useful: perfecting an invention like the light bulb by trying a thousand filaments•When it fails: when there is a clear solution but trial and error might miss it forever
An algorithm is a step by step strategy for solving a problem, methodically leading to a specific solution.
A heuristic is a short-cut, step-saving thinking strategy or principle which generates a solution quickly (but possibly in error).
Insight refers to a sudden realization, a leap forward in thinking, that leads to a solution.
Clarifying Problem Solving ExamplesTo find a
specific item in a supermarket
Trial and error
Algorithms
Heuristics
Wander around a supermarket randomly to find it.
Create a methodical path to make sure you check every single aisle.
Check only related aisles.
Where’s the apple juice? Do I look on every shelf in the store, or do I
search where there is similar stuff?
Trial and Error vs. Algorithms
Trial and error--randomly trying different combinations in no particular orderAn algorithm (below)--carefully checking every single combination beginning with the letter “C” before moving on to a different starting letter.
To solve a word jumble, you can use:
1. C L O O Y S P H Y G2. C O L O Y S P H Y G3. C O O L Y S P H Y G…
The problem with using trial and error to solve a word jumble is that there are 782,200 (10!/(2!*2!)) different ways to combine those letters. At least with the algorithm method, you are sure to get through them all without counting any of them twice.
To solve a word jumble, you can try a heuristic.
To solve the jumbled word more quickly, It would help to use heuristics, shortcuts that save steps, to reduce the options we need to try, such as:
1. putting a “Y” at the end. 2. thinking about where the other “Y” could go. 3. trying the “H” preceded by “C” and “S” and “P” before trying
other combinations.4. speculating that with so few vowels, the “O”s will probably
not be together.
1. C L O O Y S P H Y G
S P L O Y O C H G YP S L O Y O C H G YP S Y C H O L O G Y
Algorithms: Not Just ThoroughnessA father and a son are currently 40 and 10; when will the son be half the father’s age?
It might be tempting to use trial and error, but algebra gives us an algorithm, a single, certain, systematic path to the answer:
x = ½ (x + 30)2x = x + 30
x = 30Answer: when the son is 30, the father will be 60.
Three Methods of Problem Solving
Area = Width times length = W times half of what’s left after making the widths, or ½ (100-2W). We could graph all the different W’s and all the areas produced by different values for W, but instead of trial and area we graphed a function, Area = W x ½(100-2W), or Area = 50x – x2,, which makes a parabola, shown at the left. Notice that at W = 25, the area is at a maximum, and length = ½(100-2(25)) = 25 also.
Heuristic: a square encloses the most area
Trial and error approach: make a lot of rectangles
Problem: given 100 one-foot lengths of fence, construct a rectangle that encloses the biggest area.
Different values for Width
For e
ach
wid
th: T
otal
Are
a
Maximum area is when width is
25, which means all sides are 25
½ (100-2W)
W W
Insight and the BrainIn one study, participants monitored by fMRI and EEG were asked, “which word will form a compound word with the words pine, crab, and sauce?”What the brains did along with the “aha!” of getting the answer:
Insight: The “Aha” MomentInsight refers to a sudden realization, a leap forward in thinking, that leads to a solution.We say “aha” and feel a sense of satisfaction when an answer seems to pop into our minds.We also may laugh; joke punchlines rely on sudden insight.
1. extra frontal lobe activity
2. experiencing the “aha!” moment and stating the answer
3. a burst of activity in right temporal lobe (shown here)
A Use of Insight to Find the Right Heuristic
Problem: can the 62 squares of this clipped chess-board be tiled with 2-square dominoes?How did you arrive at your solution?
Obstacles to Effective Problem Solving
There are certain tendencies in human cognition which make it more difficult to find correct
solutions to problems.
Fixation/ mental set
Confirmation bias
Heuristics(which help solve problems
quickly but can lead to mistaken conclusions)
Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias refers
to our tendency to search for information which confirms our current theory, disregarding contradictory evidence.
Natural tendency: “If I’m right, then fact “C” will confirm my theory. I must look for fact “C.”
Scientific practice: “If I’m right, then fact “D” will disprove or at least disconfirm my theory. I must search for fact “D.”
Studying Confirmation Bias:Peter Wason’s Selection Test
1.He gave the sequence of numbers “2, 4, 6.”2.He asked students to guess his rule, and ask him whether other certain numbers fit the rule.The problem was not the students’ theory, but their strategy. If you think the rule is “even numbers,” what numbers would you need to ask him about to TEST rather that CONFIRM your theory?
Confirmation Bias TestHypothesized rule/fact: everyone who drinks alcohol at this party is at least 21 years of age.
You meet four people about whom you know limited information:
If you could find out more about just two of these people, which two would you investigate to help find out whether your hypothesis is true?
Holding a beer
Holding a cola
Age is 25 Age is 18
Confirmation Bias Test
You are given the cards below, that have a letter on one side and a numeral on the other side.Claim: if a card has a vowel on one side, then it has an odd number on the other side.
Which two cards would you turn over to find out if the claim is true?
Confirmation Bias Test: Research
The ultimate test of our mastery of confirmation bias in psychology might be our ability to avoid confirmation bias in research.
Kids who: 1.eat a lot of sugar.2.do not eat candy.3.have ADHD.4.do not have ADHD.
If we believe that overeating candy is the main cause of ADHD symptoms, what types of people do we need to look for to really test our theory?
Mental set The tendency to
approach problems using a mindset (procedures and methods) that has
worked previously.Fixation
The tendency to get stuck in one way of thinking; an inability
to see a problem from a new perspective.
Other Problem-Solving Habits
Mental Set: Demonstration
O, T, T, F, F, ___, ___,J, F, M, A, M, ___, ___,S, M, T, N, U, ___, ___,W, I, N, I, T, ___?
O,T,T,F,F, S, S (numbers)J,F,M,A,M, J, J (months)S,M,T,N,U,O,V,P,W,Q,X,RW, I, N, I, T, S ?
If you are “primed” to use a certain problem-solving strategy, you can form a mental set that makes it harder to solve a new, similar problem.
What is next in these sequences?
Fixation Problem: how can you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?
When people struggle with this, what fixation is going on?
Hint: what assumption might be fixed in their minds?
Our mental set, perhaps from our past experiences with matchsticks, assumes we are arranging them in two dimensions.
Fixation: The Nine-dot Problem
Use four straight lines to connect the nine dots. Solving this requires escaping fixation by thinking outside the box. Literally.
Fixation: The Nine-dot Problem
Use four straight lines to connect the nine dots. Solving this requires escaping fixation by thinking outside the box. Literally.
Nine-dot Problem: The SequelCan you use only THREE straight lines to connect these nine dots?
Intuition The human cognitive style
of making judgments and decisions is more efficient than logical.
The quick-acting, automatic source of ideas we use instead of careful reasoning is known as intuition.
Using intuition to make a decision has some downsides, as we’ll soon see, but it also has some benefits.
As with problem-solving, there are mental habits which make intuition-style judgments simpler and quicker, but may lead to errors:1.the availability heuristic2.overconfidence3.belief perseverance4.framing
All of these habits enable us to quickly make hundreds of
small “gut” decisions each day without bothering with systematic reasoning.
Making Quick Judgments and Decisions
The Availability Heuristic
We use the availability heuristic when we estimate
the likelihood of an event based on how much it
stands out in our mind, that is, how much it’s available
as a mental reference.
Example: thinking that winning at a slot machine is likely because we vividly recall the times we’ve won before (thanks to bells, lights, and flowing coins)
Weighted Attention: Why We Fear the Wrong Things
The availability heuristic misleads us about whether a plane ride or a motorcycle ride is more dangerous. Of the many experiences available to us in forming our judgments, we tend to give more weight to some experiences than others.We know of both plane crashes and motorcycle crashes, but the plane crashes scare us more, and stand out more in the news and in memory.Why do some dangers stand out more?Perhaps biology or natural selection predisposes us to fear heights, lack of control, and confinement… all of which are part of our image of a plane ride.
The Overconfidence Error
Examples: thinking you can put off work and still get it done well thinking you have test material mastered when you scan it and it feels familiar.
Overconfidence in judgments refers to our
tendency to be more confident than correct.
We overestimate the accuracy of our
estimates, predictions, and knowledge.
The Overconfidence
ErrorQuestion: Why do we tend to be overconfident even though it leads to false convictions, bad investments, and disappointing test scores?Answer: It may have had survival value: overconfidence allows quick decisionsfeeling certainty reduces stress and anxietyoverconfident people may gain social power
Preventing the Overconfidence
Error When you plan to state an
opinion, prediction, or judgment, say “I think” rather than “I know.”
Be open to feedback and to correction.
ASK for other opinions, predictions, and factors you have not considered.
Keep track of when you were wrong.
Belief Perseverance Error
“My mind is made up; do not confuse me with the facts.”Belief perseverance is the tendency to hold onto our beliefs when facing contrary evidence.We interpret information in a way that fits our beliefs. We might claim that the new information is wrong, biased, or just “doesn’t make sense.”
Overcoming Belief
Perseverance You can’t cure someone
else of belief perseverance. Just telling someone the “right” information won’t override it.
Instead, watch for this in yourself. Take opposing views and information seriously, always assuming that you could be wrong.
Confirmation Bias vs. Belief Perseverance
Definition: not bothering to seek out information that contradicts your ideas
Definition: holding on to your ideas over time, and actively rejecting information that contradicts your ideas
Benefits and downsides: enables quick solutions, but misses finding out when first guesses are wrong
Benefits and downsides: less internal mental conflict, but more social conflict
Framing
everyday low prices?
work 95 percent of the
time?
fail 5 percent of the time?
Framing is the focus, emphasis, or perspective that affects our judgments and decisions.Example: are condoms effective if they…
Do you want to go to a store today if prices are:
20 percent off? an average of $6 off?
Intuition
We have seen that in complex situations, it helps to use careful reasoning to avoid mistakes made by intuitive judgments.
However, research supports the idea that sometimes we need to let our unconscious mind do some work.
Incubation refers to the power of taking a break from careful thinking, even to “sleep on it,” to allow leaps in cognition.
Judging quickly what to eat and what might kill us might have helped our ancestors survive long enough to reproduce.
The times that our intuition was incorrect may not have been fatal; if humans avoided all red plants instead of poisonous berries, they might have been hungry, but still alive.
Intuition is effective when it is a product of expertise built up from trial and error; this hones one’s judgment to the point of being more accurate than logical analysis.
Examples: knowing the sex of a chick, making a diagnosis, speed chess, quarterback decisions
The mind’s ability to judge a situation from experience is more efficient than any step-by-step analysis.
How it may have been adaptive
How to use it well
When it’s effective
CreativityCreativity refers to the ability to produce ideas that are novel and valuable.[Creative intelligence involves using those ideas to adapt to novel situations.]
Convergent thinking is a left-brain activity involving zeroing in on a single correct answer.
Creativity uses divergent thinking, the ability to generate new ideas, new actions, and multiple options and answers.
Does chess involve creativity?
Robert Sternberg’s Five Components of Creativity
Expertise: possessing a well-developed base of
knowledge
Expertise: possessing a well-developed base of
knowledge
Imaginative thinking: having the ability to see new
perspectives, combinations, and connections
Imaginative thinking: having the ability to see new
perspectives, combinations, and connections
Venturesome personality: tending to seek out new experiences despite risk, ambiguity, and obstacles
Venturesome personality: tending to seek out new experiences despite risk, ambiguity, and obstacles
Intrinsic motivation: enjoying the pursuit of
interests and challenge, without needing external
direction or rewards
Intrinsic motivation: enjoying the pursuit of
interests and challenge, without needing external
direction or rewards
Creative environment: having support, feedback, encouragement,
and time and space to think
Creative environment: having support, feedback, encouragement,
and time and space to think
To Boost Creativity: Four Strategies Pursue an interest until you
develop expertise. Allow time for incubation
(“sleeping on it”) with your attention away from projects, during which unconscious connections can form.
Allow time for mental wandering and aimless daydreaming with no distractions.
Improve mental flexibility by experiencing other cultures and ways of thinking.
Do Other Species Think?
If thinking consists of understanding concepts, including words, numbers, and qualities, then...many creatures can memorize the names of many objects. Parrots can speak the names.birds can sort objects by shape, color, and type.Alex the African parrot could add numbers, and answer complex questions such as “what color bigger”? [“Tell me the color of the object that is the bigger of these two.”]
Do Other Species Think?
If thinking consists of solving problems with insight, devising behaviors that were not trained or rewarded, and putting strategies together in new combinations, then... chimpanzees do not say, “Aha,” but one showed sudden leaps in problem-solving. After putting down a short stick that could not reach a fruit, he jumped up suddenly to use that short stick to reach a longer stick.
Do Other Species Think?
If thinking consists of using and passing on cultural (learned, not instinctual) practices such as tool use, then...chimpanzees have local customs for tool use, grooming, communication, hunting, and courtship. These are “customs”, not instincts, because:they vary not by family, but by group.they are learned/acquired by observation.they involve varied tools and strategies, such as crafting a flexible stick to “fish” for termites.
Animal Socio-cognitive Skills Baboons can recognize 80
individual voices; sheep can recognize individual faces.
Chimpanzees and some monkeys can read intention in your facial expression and actions.
Dolphins, apes, elephants, and social birds appear to recognize themselves in a mirror.
Language and ThoughtTopics to talk aboutStructure, and Use of LanguageStages of Language DevelopmentHow Language Develops: Nature, Nurture, and Critical PeriodsLanguage and the BrianLanguage in other Species?Thinking and language influence each otherThinking in images, not verbal language
LANGUAGE: Definitions
Language consists of the use of symbols to represent, transmit, and store meaning/information.
Symbols include organized patterns of sounds, visual representations, and movements.
Meaning includes concepts, quantities, plans, identity, feelings, ideas, facts, and customs.
Ѭ
Language: Uses and Structure We can hear about
and understand phenomena we have never experienced.
We can connect to people far away.
We can make plans and have others carry them out.
We can know what another person is thinking more directly than just by observing their behavior.
We can store information.
What is language made of?Phonemes are the smallest units of sound (vowels and consonants).Morphemes are the units of meaning, i.e. words and meaningful parts of words such as suffixes, prefixes).Grammar refers to the rules for using words, including semantics, definitions, connotations, and syntax (how the order of words makes meaning).
Language Development is an Amazing Process We acquire the use of 10 new words per
day (on average) between ages 2 and 18. Children learn the basic grammar of
language before they can add 2 + 2. Most kids can recall words and meanings,
and assemble words into sentences, while simultaneously following social rules for speaking and listening.
abbreviateabsorbentacceptaccessaccessibleaccessoryacousticsaccumulateadjustaerialaffectsalienallotmentallottedalreadyaltercationamassamendmentamorousancestoranecdoteangularanonymousantidoteantiqueantisepticarchitectarrangementasphaltassignmentasteriskattorneysaudibleaviatorbachelorbankruptcybarbaricbaskbatterybehaviorbenefitedberserkbesiegedbicycleblanchbrilliancebudgetbulletinbusinesscachetcalluscancellationcanvascanvasscapriciouscarburetorcashiercatastrophecentripetalcharacteristicchasteirksomeirresistibleirrevocableissuingitemizedjewelryjudiciousjurorjustifiablelandslidelegitimateleisureliaisonlibrarylicenselieutenantloopholelunarluncheonmagnifymalefactormaliciousmarkupmattressmesmerizemeteormetricmischievousmisgivingmodernmodicummysterynegligenceneonneutralnewsstandnineteenthnonentitynoticeablenotorietynuisancenumeratornylonobesityobliqueobstinateobsoleteofficiousoppositeoptimismoreganooverratepageantparliamentpassablepaucitypenaltyperseverancepersonalitypicnickingplaintiffcinnamonclassiccollateralcolleaguecollegecomedycommercecommercialcommitteecommunicatecommutercompelcompensationcompetentconsidercontiguouscorporalcouncilcounselcountrycreatorcritiquecustomarycustomerdaybreakdeceivedefendantdeficientdeficitdepreciationdesirabledesolatedetaindevourdiagnosisdiffidencediminishdisappeareddisapprovaldisbursementdiscerniblediscrepancydisinteresteddisobligedissociatedistressdiurnaldivinedomesticdomesticatedominanceeasierecstasyeffectejecteligibleeliminateerroneousespeciallyexceptionalexcessiveexistenceexoticexpressionextremityextricatefacsimilefamiliarfantasticfaultyfederalfeudflexiblefloutfluorescentfolkloreforciblefortunatelyfranchisefrivolousfrostbittenfurthergalaxygallinggenuinegesturegeologygiganticgnawinggorgeousgrotesquegymnasiumhandicappedhandlinghandsomehaphazardharnesshazardousheadquartershomogenizehorrifichumidoridiosyncrasyimpatienceimpingeincandescentinconsolableindelibleineptinfluenceinnocenceinnumerableinsistentinsolubleintegrityintensifypoignantpotentialprecedingprecipicepreoccupyprospectusquestquestionnairequixoticradioactiverapaciousrayonrazerecentlyreconcilerelevantreliefrepulsereviverhymerhythmroommaterostersanctuarysandwichscarcelyscheduleschismscholarschoonerseditionsemesterseminarysessionshrinesievesignalsincerelysoccersolitarysubvertstatutoryterrificthievestragedytransienttransmutationturpitudetyrannyunacceptableuniqueunmovedusherutopiavengeancevocalvoucherwithholdwrestlewrittenativeinvariable
How do we learn language?Language Development
Age (months) Talent/Behavior/Stage0-4 months
In fantis (“not speaking”)
Receptive language: associating sounds with facial movements, and recognizing when sounds are broken into words
4 months Productive language: babbling in multilingual sounds and gestures
10 months Babbling sounds more like the parents’/household’s language
12 months One-word stage: understanding and beginning to say many nouns
18-24 months Two-word, “telegraphic”/tweet speech: adding verbs, and making sentences but missing words (“See bird! Ree book? Go park!”)
24+ months,2+ years
Speaking full sentences and understanding complex sentences
How do we learn language?Language Talents and Stages
Explaining Language Acquisition:Nature and Nurture
The Role of Genes We seem to have an inborn (genetic) talent for
acquiring language, though no particular kind of language is in the genes.
The Role of Experience We also seem to have a “statistical” pattern
recognition talent. Infants quickly recognize patterns in syllable frequency and sequence, preparing them to later learn words and syntax.
MID
CAN
TION
NAV
PER
ABA
GACT
Critical Periods
According to one study with immigrants, beginning a language later made it harder to learn the pronunciation and the grammar of the second language.
It is important to begin appropriate language exposure/education early so that language centers of the brain continue to develop.
Language might never develop if not begun by age seven.
Sign language has the syntax, grammar, and complex meaning of any spoken language.
Deaf and Blind Children
Deaf and blind children can use complex adapted languages by using other senses that are heightened.
“Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people.”—Helen Keller
What happens if a deaf infant’s parents don’t use sign language? Hint: critical period
Brain and Language: Lessons from damage
Examples of aphasia: having the ability to speak but not read, to produce words in song but not in conversation, and to speak but not repeat; or producing words in jumbled order
Aphasia: an impairment in the ability to produce or understand language, usually caused by damage to the brain
Broca’s area, in the left temporal lobe
Wernicke’s area, left temporal lobe
Damage to Broca’s area leads to difficulty in putting words together in sentences or even speaking single words, although a person can sing a song.
Damage to Wernicke’s area leads to difficulty comprehending speech and producing coherent speech (not easily monitoring one’s own speech to make sure it makes sense).
Language and the Brain How to read a word, steps 1 to 5
Remember: language
functions are divided in the
brain.
Can other species communicate with us through language?Washoe the chimpanzee learned to use 245 signs to express what she wanted or noticed.Fellow chimpanzees learned signs from each other without training and without rewards.A deaf N.Y. Times reporter visited Washoe and said, “I realized I was conversing with a member of another species in my native tongue.”
Do Other Species Use Language? Receptive language for
individual human words seems to exist for a few species; dogs can follow hundreds of commands.
Productive language: many animals have “words”: sounds, gestures, dances (bees) to communicate information, including different “words” for different objects, states, and places
Is the chimp signing really language? Washoe seemed to combine words in new ways to
convey meaning; Washoe used the phrase “apple which is orange” for an orange (fruit).
Chimps do not pick up words as easily as human children.
Chimp word production lacks syntax, but a bonobo correctly understood “make the dog bite the snake.”
Signing “baby”
Thinking and Language, Language and Thinking
How does language
shape the way we think?
How does our style of
thinking shape our use of language?
Can we think without
language by using images?
For example, Benjamin Whorf (1897-1941) proposed that because the Hopi do not have past tense forms for verbs, it is hard for them to think about the past.
Can you think about something that you do not have a name for? If so, does that disprove linguistic determinism?
Linguistic determinism: the idea that our specific language
determines how we think
Language Influencing Thought
Language’s Influence on ThoughtDoes language shape emotions or reflect them?
Speaking in Japanese provides many extra words for interpersonal emotions such as sympathy and empathy, which Americans might have trouble differentiating. Speaking English gives us many words for self-focused emotions, such as sadness.
Do language differences shape personality differences?Bilingual people appear to have different personality profiles when describing themselves in different languages. “Learn a new language and get a new soul.”--Czech proverb.
Color PerceptionWe use our native language to classify and to remember colors. Different languages may vary in where they put the separation between “blue” and “green,” or they may not have separate words for these colors. Which squares are green? teal? blue?
Language Influences Thought Even if “he” and
“mankind” are meant at times to be gender-inclusive, people do create a male image in their mind when they hear these terms.
Instead of replacing “he” with “he/she” or “their”, we can rewrite sentences without pronouns and possessives; for example, “his” can become “the.”
Gender neutral vs.
male-based usage
Languages Improve ThinkingThe Bilingual Advantage
People who are bilingual have numerous brain connections and neural networks.
They also have a hidden talent, the ability to suppress one language while learning another.
This ability tends to go along with other forms of executive control, such as resisting distraction and inhibiting impulses.
Thinking in Images Without
Words Is there conscious
thinking that goes on without being formed as words?
Some everyday decisions, such as which turn to take while driving, are certainly made based on images or other nonverbal content such as mental maps.
Using Imagery to Improve Learning
Image rehearsal can help us improve behavior, even skilled performance such as playing piano or playing sports.If you imagine getting an A (outcome simulation), it may shift your mood up or down but will not improve your grade. Imagining the detailed actions of studying (process simulation), though, does improve grades.
Think about the road, not the destination.
Conclusions
Thinking affects our language, which then affects our thought.1.Thinking in a culture affects the formation of a language, especially its vocabulary.2.Thinking and language develop together in an individual as they grow.3.Learning a language and using a language as an adult can affect one’s style and content of thinking.
IntelligenceOverview
Definitions of intelligence One ability or many? The role of creativity and emotional intelligence
How to construct tests to try to assess intelligence Intelligence stability, change, and extremes Genetic vs. environmental influences Group differences in ability Racial difference or cultural test bias?
Overall question to consider:does each of us have an inborn level of talent, a general mental capacity or set
of abilities, and can that level be measured and represented by a score on
a test?
Intelligence: An Introduction
Topics: What do we mean by intelligence?Defining intelligenceTypes and components of intelligence:
Spearman’s g, Gardner’s 8, Sternberg’s 3
Intelligence and creativityEmotional Intelligence
Intelligence tests are a series of questions and other exercises which attempt to assess people’s mental abilities in a way that generates a numerical score, so that one person can be compared to another.
Intelligence can be defined as “whatever intelligence tests measure.” Your college entrance test
measures how good you are at scoring well on that test.
“Definition” of Intelligence
Definition of Intelligence: Beyond the Test?
The text defines intelligence,
whether it’s math ability or a rainforest
dweller’s understanding of
plants, as the ability to learn from
experience, solve problems, and use
knowledge to adapt to new situations.
General Intelligence, also known as g
Charles Spearman (1863-1945) performed a factor analysis* of different skills and found that people who did well in one area also did well in another. Spearman speculated that these people had a high “g” (general intelligence).
*Factor analysis refers to a statistical technique that determines how different variables relate to each other; for example whether they form clusters that tend to vary together.
Multiple IntelligencesThe “savant syndrome” refers to having isolated “islands” of high ability amidst a sea of below-average cognitive and social functioning. This suggest that there can be isolated pieces of intelligence.
Howard Gardner’s Multiple IntelligencesHoward Gardner (b. 1943) noted that different people have intelligence/abilities in different areas. He felt that levels of these “intelligences” could vary independent of each other.Factor analysis suggests, though, that for most people there may be a correlation among these intelligences.
Howard Gardner’s Eight Intelligences
Robert Sternberg (b. 1949) proposed that “success” in life is related to three types of ability.
Practical intelligence: expertise and
talent that help to complete the
tasks and manage the complex challenges of everyday life
Sternberg’s Intelligence Triarchy
Analytical intelligence: solving a well-
defined problem with a single
answer Creative intelligence:
generating new ideas to help
adapt to novel situations
The different intelligence factors tend to correlate with each other, and with a general level of intelligence.
Success, financial and otherwise, correlates with overall intelligence
Success also correlates with hard work, connections, and the development of expertise (The 10 year Rule regarding intensive daily practice).
Critique of Multiple Intelligence theories
Social intelligence refers to the ability to understand and
navigate social situations.
Social and Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence
involves processing and managing the
emotional component of those
social situations, including one’s own
emotions.
•Recognizing emotions in facial expressions, stories, and even in music
Perceiving emotions
•Being able to see blended emotions, and to predict emotional states and changes in self and others
Understanding emotions
•Modulating and expressing emotions in various situations
Managing emotions
•Using emotions as fuel and motivation for creative, adaptive thinking
Using emotions
Emotional Intelligence: Components
Benefits of Emotional Intelligence
People with high emotional intelligence often have other beneficial traits, such as the ability to delay gratification while pursuing long-term goals.
The level of emotional intelligence, including the skill of reading the emotions of others, correlates with success in career and other social situations.
Assessing Intelligence Binet’s mental age test:
Predicting school learning challenges
Terman and the Stanford-Binet IQ test: Innate intelligence
Wechsler tests Standardization, Reliability, and
Validity Is intelligence stable over the
lifespan? Cross-sectional vs. longitudinal
studies Extremes of Intelligence
Alfred Binet’s intelligence testing: to predict school achievement In the late 1800s, a new law in
France required universal education.
Alfred Binet knew that some new students would need help to succeed.
Binet develop tests to predict a child’s level of success in regular education.
Goal: to determine which students would need support.
Intelligence: a place on the path of development?
Alfred Binet assumed that all children follow the same course of development, some going more quickly, and others more slowly.
Binet’s tests attempted to measure mental age--how far the child had come along on the “normal” developmental pathway.
The implication was that children with lower ability were delayed (with a mental age below their chronological age), and not disabled; with help, they could improve.
Others saw intelligence as innate and fixed, including: Lewis Terman, who turned Binet’s test into the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test.
Binet Terman Stanford-Binet IQ
Stern described Intelligence as a Quotient, a ratio comparing mental age to chronological age.
Lewis Terman, of Stanford University, adapted Alfred Binet’s test, adding new test items and extending the age range into adulthood.
Terman also tested many California residents to develop new norms, that is, new information about how people typically performed on the test.
The result was the Stanford-Binet intelligence test.
William Stern added a way of scoring of the Stanford-Binet test known as the Intelligence Quotient.
Binet reported scores as simply one’s mental age; a 10 year old with below average intelligence might have a mental age of 8.
Q: What IQ score do we get for
What do scores mean?
Lewis Terman, of Stanford University, began with a different assumption than Binet; Terman felt that intelligence was unchanging and innate (genetic).
Later, Terman saw how scores can be affected by people’s level of education and their familiarity with the language and culture used in the test.
What to do if you score low on an IQ test?
Binet
Terman
Study, and develop self-discipline and
attention span.
Remove your genes from the
population
IQ
SAT scores (verbal + quantitative)
Aptitude vs. Achievement Achievement tests measure what you already have learned.
Examples include a literacy test, a driver’s license exam, and a final exam in a psychology course.
Aptitude tests attempt to predict your ability to learn new skills. The SAT, ACT, and GRE are supposed to predict your ability to do
well in future academic work.
If the SAT is an aptitude test,
should it correlate with
IQ?
Wechsler’s Tests: Intelligence PLUSThe Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) measure “g”/IQ. Challenges include: Describing similarities
and differences Timed math problems Vocabulary knowledge Re-sequencing and
recall of letters and numbers
Arranging blocks to produce designs
In order for intelligence or other psychological tests to generate results that are considered useful, the tests (and their scores) must be:
standardized.
Principles of Test Construction
reliable.
valid.
Many intelligence tests generate a raw score based on the number of answers correct. Can we turn this into a number that tells us how smart/capable a person is compared to the general population? Yes: by Standardizing.
Standardization: How we know whether your IQ score is average.
Standardization: defining the meaning of scores based on a comparison with the performance of others who have taken the test before.
The current method for generating an IQ score is to determine where your raw score falls on a distribution of scores by people of your chronological age. (Next slide).
Standardization: How “Normal” is Your Score?
If we stacked a bunch of intelligence tests in piles ordered by raw score (#of test items correct), there would be a few very high scores and a few low scores, and a big pile in the middle; this bell-shaped set of scores is called the normal curve. Standardization: Calling the average raw score “IQ 100.”
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ith th
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Comparing your score to this standard set of
scores: if you score higher than 50
percent of people, you your IQ is 100.
If your score is higher than 98 percent of the
population, your IQ is around what
number?
A test or other measuring tool is reliable when it generates consistent results.
Reliability and Validity of Measures
Split-half reliability: two halves of the test yield the same results.
Test-retest reliability: the test gives the same result if administered again.
Example: If your height was measured with a ruler made of stretchy dough.
A test or measure has validity if it accurately measures what it is supposed to measure. Content validity: the test
correlates well with the actual trait being measured
Predictive validity: the test accurately predicts future performance .
Example: If your height was measured with a yardstick on which the “inches” varied in size.
Stability of Intelligence during Aging: Based on this chart, at what
age might you do best at completing a crossword puzzle completely? Quickly?
Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence
Fluid intelligence: the ability to think quickly and abstractly. This type of intelligence tends to be strongest in youth.
Crystallized intelligence: accumulated wisdom, knowledge, expertise, and vocabulary.These stay strong into old age.
Extremes of Intelligence
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale is set so that about 2 percent of the population is above 130 and about 2 percent of the population is below 70.
Very High Intelligence,
GiftedIntellectual Disability
Extremes of Intelligence
“Intellectual disability” refers to people who have an IQ around 70 or below.have difficulty with adaptive skills, such as:
conceptual skills (literacy and calculation). social skills, including making safe social choices. practical daily living skills such as hygiene, occupational skills, and
using transportation.
Although some people with high intelligence test scores can seem socially delayed or withdrawn, most are “successful.”
“Gifted” children, like any children, learn best with an appropriate level of challenge.
Segregated, “tracked” programs, however, often unfairly widen achievement gaps.
What we are born with, what we can changeHeritabilityResults from Twin and Adoption StudiesEnvironmental Influences: Early Childhood and SchoolGroup Differences in Intelligence Scores: Due to Genes or Environment? Gender Similarities and Differences in IQ scoresRacial/Ethnic Similarities and Differences in IQ scoresThe Effect of Stereotype threat on IQ scoresTwo Meanings of “Bias” in test design: group harm vs. predictive effectiveness
Influences on Intelligence: Genes and Environment
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence(Nature and Nurture)
Even if we agree for argument’s sake that “success” in life is caused in part by some kind of intelligence, there is still a debate over the origin of that intelligence. – Are people “successful” because of inborn talents?– Or are they “successful” because of their unequal
access to better nurture? Information to tease out the answers can be found in
some twin and adoption studies.
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Studies of Twins Raised Apart
Findings from these studies indicate that both nature and nurture affect intelligence test scores.
What explains this difference?
What explains this difference?
Heritability When you see variation
in intelligence between two or more people, the heritability of that trait is the amount of variation that is apparently explained by genetic factors.
This does NOT tell us the proportion that genes contribute to the trait for any one person.
Clarifying HeritabilityIf three people had exactly the same education, nutrition, and experiences, some psychologists speculate that genes might be responsible for perhaps 40 percent of their intelligence; nurture certainly made a big impact.However, such identical nurturing (which is actually impossible) could not create differences in intelligence.With identical nurture, the heritability of intelligence would be virtually 100 percent.
Genetic Influences on Intelligence
Identical twins seem to show similarity in specific talents such as music, math and sports.
The brains of twins show similar structure and functioning.
There are specific genes which may have a small influence on ability.
Adoption Studies With age, the intelligence test scores of adoptees looks more and more like that of their ____________ parents.
In another study, heritability of intelligence test scores continued to increase beyond age 16.
(adoptive? birth/biological?)
Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Environment has more influence on intelligence under extreme conditions such as abuse, neglect, or extreme poverty.
Tutored human enrichment has a larger impact on compensating for deprivation than on boosting intelligence under normal conditions.
Schooling and Intelligence Preschool and elementary
school clearly have at least a temporary impact on intelligence test scores.
College can have a positive impact on intelligence test scores if students have:– motivation and incentives. – belief that people can
improve.– study skills, especially the
willingness to practice.
Understanding Group Differencesin Test Scores
Now, let’s look at: gender differences.“racial” differences.understanding the impact of environment.within-group differences and between-group differences. the impact of test bias and stereotype threat on performance.
Male-Female Ability Differences
Male/female difference related to overall intelligence test score.
Boys are more likely than girls to be at the high or low end of the intelligence test score spectrum.
Girls tend to be better at spelling, locating objects, and detecting emotions.
Girls tend to be more verbally fluent, and more sensitive to touch, taste, and color.
Boys tend to be better at handling spatial reasoning and complex math problems.
It is a myth that boys generally do better in math than girls. Girls do at least as well as boys in overall math performance and especially in math computation.
Male-Female Ability Differences
Standard
Tests of Male and Female Strengths
Ethnic/Racial Differences in Intelligence Test Scores
If Blacks scored at IQ 100 on average and members of the Green race scored 85 on average, there are still lots of Greens with higher IQ than the average Black.There are issues test bias and other factors affecting scores for people who are part of minority ethnic and racial groups.
White Americans, on average, have in past decades scored higher on intelligence tests than other groups. Still, as we can see below, it is incorrect to use race as a basis to prejudge the intelligence of an individual.
But first…
Understanding Group Differences: Within-group vs. Between-group Group differences, including intelligence test score differences between racial groups, can be caused by environmental factors.Below: the difference between groups is caused by poor soil (environment).
The “Racial” Intelligence Test Score Gap
Racial categories are not distinct genetically and are unscientific.
Both “whites” and “blacks” have higher intelligence test scores than “whites” of the 1930s.
“Whites” may have more access to “fertile soil” for developing their potential, such as:
schools and educational opportunities. wealth, nutrition, support,
and educated mentors. relative freedom from
discrimination.
Two Problems Called “Bias” Are Tests Biased? Let’s use the
two definitions:Bias #1: In the popular sense of the word, intelligence tests are often biased. Often, tests have questions which rely on knowledge of “mainstream” culture, which not everyone will be equally familiar with. Bias #2: Aptitude tests seem to predict future achievement equally well for various ethnic groups, and for men and women.
Test makers must prevent “bias” in the popular sense of the word: making it easier for one group than another to score high on a test. Test makers also strive to prevent the scientific form of bias: making it easier for one group than for another to have their abilities accurately assessed, and their future performance predicted.
The Effect of Stereotype Threat
Study result: Women did worse on math tests than men, except when they are told first that women usually do as well as men on the test. Why?
Study result: Blacks/African-Americans did worse on intelligence tests when reminded of their racial/ethnic identification right before the test. Why?
Study result: Blacks/African-Americans scored higher when tested by Blacks rather than being tested by Whites. Why?
The Power of Expectations Stereotype threat: a feeling
that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.
Stereotype threat may interfere with performance by making people use their working memory for worrying instead of thinking.
This worry, then, is self-confirming/fulfilling: worrying about a negative evaluation leads to a negative evaluation.
Is discriminating among college or job applicants based on test scores better than discriminating based on appearance?
Can test scores be used as Alfred Binet suggested: to identify those who would benefit from educational interventions?
Can a person’s worth and potential be summed up in one intelligence test score?
Issues Related to Intelligence Tests
