Ch. 7: Intelligence, Reasoning, Creativity, and Wisdom

Question 1

In Sternberg’s study of what traits experts and laypeople believe show intelligence, what three traits were commonly mentioned?

Answer 1

Problem-solving, verbal ability, and social competence.

Question 2

What are the two parts of intelligence proposed in the dual-component model of intellectual functioning?

Answer 2

Mechanics of Intelligence and Pragmatic Intelligence

Question 3

What are the mechanics of intelligence?

Answer 3

Basic building blocks that form most cognitive abilities.
Ex. attention, reasoning, spatial orientation, and perceptual speed.

Question 4

What is pragmatic intelligence?

Answer 4

Knowledge acquired from the environment. Ex. verbal knowledge, wisdom, and practical problem-solving.

Question 5

What are the three approaches that researchers have used to study intelligence?

Answer 5

Psychometric approach, cognitive structural approach, and information-processing approach.

Question 6

What does the psychometric approach focus on?

Answer 6

The psychometric approach focuses on one’s performance on standardized tests

Question 7

What does the information processing approach focus on?

Answer 7

The information processing approach focuses on analyzing aging-associated changes in parts of cognitive mechanisms and how they affect performance.

Question 8

What does the cognitive structural approach focus on?

Answer 8

The cognitive structural approach focuses on examining developmental changes in styles of thinking and how these changes play out in everyday life.

Question 9

What does the structure of intelligence do?

Answer 9

It organizes interrelated intellectual abilities in a hierarchy.

Question 10

What are primary and secondary mental abilities?

Answer 10

Primary mental abilities are groups of related skills based on standardized tests while secondary mental abilities are broad-ranging skills that are made up of several primary mental abilities.

Question 11

What are the five representative primary mental abilities that researchers focus on?

Answer 11

• Numbers
• Word Fluency
• Verbal Meaning
• Inductive Reasoning
• Spatial Orientation

Question 12

What is Fluid Intelligence?

Answer 12

Abilities that help you adapt to your environment. Ex. inductive reasoning, integration, abstract thinking, etc.

Question 13

What is Crystallized Intelligence?

Answer 13

Knowledge gained from education and life experiences Ex. facts, book smarts

Question 14

What is the relationship between fluid/crystallized intelligence and aging?

Answer 14

Fluid intelligence has been found to decline with age while crystallized intelligence increases with age.

Question 15

According to the Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory, what is fluid and crystallized intelligence related to?

Answer 15

Brain Structures

Question 16

Neural Efficiency Hypothesis

Answer 16

A theory of intelligence that states intelligent people process information more efficiently by having weaker neural activations in a smaller number of areas.

Question 17

What are four social factors that modify intellectual development?

Answer 17

Socioeconomic status, exposure to stimulating environments, utilizing cultural/educational resources, and social relationships.

Question 18

How does personality affect intellectual abilities as one ages?

Answer 18

Having a positive attitude and open mind has been linked with a less fluid intelligence decline and an increase in crystallized intelligence.

Question 19

Terminal Decline

Answer 19

Gradual decline in cognitive function that occurs relatively near death

Question 20

What two psychological factors are the best shown indicators of mortality?

Answer 20

Subjective ratings of health and processing speed

Question 21

What is intellectual development (according to Piaget)?

Answer 21

Adaptation through activity

Question 22

What are the two processes that undermine intellectual adaptation?

Answer 22

Assimilation and Accommodation

Question 23

Define assimilation and give an example

Answer 23

Assimilation is the use of available knowledge to make sense of incoming information. An example would be a child calling any four-legged creature a dog.

Question 24

Define accommodation and give an example

Answer 24

Changing one’s thought to make it a better approximation of the world experience. An example would be a child learning that not every four-legged creature is a dog and therefore making separate categories for animals.

Question 25

In Piaget’s theory, what are the four cognitive stages involved in the development of mature thought?

Answer 25

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational

Question 26

What is the sensorimotor period? What is the most important thing learned during this period?

Answer 26

• Period in which infants use their sensory and motor skills to gain knowledge as well as learn basic reflexes.
• The most important thing learned is that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight (object permanence).

Question 27

What is the preoperational period?

Answer 27

Period in which the child’s thinking is egocentric. They believe all people and inanimate objects experience the world just as they do. They also possess the ability to reason but their reasoning is not based on logic.

Question 28

What is the concrete operational period?

Answer 28

Period in which children can engage in more logical reasoning (ex. mentally reversing a sequence of events, categorizing objects into groups, and understanding conservation and transitivity). Children still cannot deal with abstract concepts (ex. love).

Question 29

What is the formal operational period?

Answer 29

Period that marks the end of cognitive development. Is when an adult can conceive abstract concepts and think about them step by step to provide solutions to abstract problems. the goal is to arrive at one right solution.

Question 30

What is one major flaw of Piaget’s theory?

Answer 30

One major flaw is that many adults do not attain formal operations. Tends to appear only in individuals who are highly trained or specialized.

Question 31

What is postformal thought?

Answer 31

Recognition that the correct answer may vary from situation to situation, solutions must be realistic to be reasonable, ambiguity/contradiction are the rule rather than the exception, and emotion/subjective factors play a role in thinking.

Question 32

What is reflective judgment?

Answer 32

A way adults reason through dilemmas involving current affairs, religion, science, personal relationships, etc.

Question 33

What are the three different stages of reflective judgment?

Answer 33

• Prereflective reasoning (stages 1-3): Viewing knowledge with such certainty that you are unable to acknowledge that knowledge is uncertain and there can be multiple “correct” answers to one question or problem.
• Quasi-Reflective Reasoning (stages 4 - 5): Viewing knowledge as subjective and changing conclusions based on situation and evidence. Stating that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and one cannot force their opinions onto someone else.
• Reflective Reasoning (stages 6 -7): Viewing knowledge as something obtained after careful analysis of problem and situation. Realizing that one must continually reevaluate beliefs after new evidence is presented.

Question 34

How does decision-making in older adults differ from decision-making in younger adults?

Answer 34

• When decision-making involves choosing the best option from many choices, older adults need less information than younger adults when making a decision. They also rely on easily accessible information and like to avoid risk.
• When it involves relevant information and experience, older adults are just good or better at making decisions than younger adults.

Question 35

True or False: When making a decision, older adults tend to focus more on the negative information than the positive information.

Answer 35

False. Studies have shown that older adults focus more on positive than negative information.