Chap 8 (Thought, Language, Intelligence)

Question 1

Define:
A) Cognitions
B) Cognitive psychology
C) Mental representations

Answer 1

A) Mental activities associated with thinking, including knowing, remembering, solving problems, making judgements and decisions, and communicating
B) Study of cognitions and how they work
C) An internal mental symbol that stands for an object, event, or state of affairs in the world (e.g. think of pickles without actually having any)

Question 2

Define
A) Concepts
B) And the three types

Answer 2

A) A mental category that groups similar objects, events, ideas, or people
B)
i) Superordinate concept: more abstract concept (e.g. furniture)
ii) Basic-level concept: basic, between superordinate and subordinate (e.g. chair)
iii) Subordinate concept: a specific concept, or subset of a concept (e.g. rocking chair)

Question 3

Define:
A) Hierarchy
B) Prototype

Answer 3

A) Humans represent their knowledge in hierarchies of concepts which include basic, superordinate, and subordinate levels
B) A best example or average member of a concept that incorporates most of the features most commonly associated with it

Question 4

Strategies to problem solve:
Define:
A) Algorithms
B) Insight
C) Mental set

Answer 4

A) step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution
B) a sudden, conscious change in a person’s understanding of a situation
C) a mental framework for how to solve a problem based on prior experience with similar problems

Question 5

Define:
A) Functional fixedness
B) Restructuring

Answer 5

A) tendency to focus on an object’s typical functions and thus fail to recognize unusual functions that could solve a problem
B) the process of reorganizing one’s understanding of a problem to facilitate a solution

Question 6

Define:
A) Bounded rationality
B) Dual-processing theory

Answer 6

A) The idea that rational decision making is constrained by limitations in people’s cognitive abilities, available information and time
B) the proposal that people have two types of thinking that they can use to make judgements and decisions: the controlled system which is slower, more effortful, and leads to more thoughtful and rational outcomes, and the automatic system which is fast, fairly effortless, and leads to decent outcomes most of the time

Question 7

A) Define heuristics
B) What are three types of heuristics?

Answer 7

A) A mental shortcut that allows people to efficiently solve problems and make judgements and decisions
B)
i) Representative heuristic: a mental shortcut for judging the likelihood of something based on how well it seems to represent some category (e.g. think tall person in athletic clothes plays basketball)
ii) Availability heuristic: a mental shortcut for deciding how frequent or probable something is based on how easily examples come to mind (e.g. know of more car accidents than plane accidents)
iii) Affect heuristic: a mental shortcut for making judgements and decisions that involves relying on affect- the good-for-me or bad-for-me feelings we have (e.g. see a commercial with a super attractive person, we want to buy product)

Question 8

Define:
A) Confirmation bias
B) Belief perseverance

Answer 8

A) Tendency to look for evidence that confirms pre-existing beliefs
B) Tendency for people to resist changing their beliefs, even when faced with disconfirming evidence

Question 9

Define:
A) Framing
B) Loss aversion

Answer 9

A) the particular way that an issue, decision, or set of options is described. Framing can change decisions by shifting the decision maker’s reference point
B) the tendency to make choices, even riskier ones, to minimize loss

Question 10

Define:
A) Overconfidence bias
B) Hindsight bias

Answer 10

A) the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s knowledge and judgements
B) the tendency, once some outcome is known, to overestimate the likelihood that one would have predicted it in advance

Question 11

Define:
A) phonemes
B) morphemes

Answer 11

A) the smallest unit of language, such as the individual sounds which make up speech
B) smallest units of language that carry bits of meaning, such as words and word parts which change meaning (e.g. ing)

Question 12

Define:
A) grammar
B) syntax
C) pragmatics

Answer 12

A) a system of rules that governs the way that language parts are put together so people can understand each other
B) grammatical rules that govern how words and phrases combine into well-formed sentences
C) rules that govern the practical aspects of language use, such as taking turns, using intonation and gestures, and talking to different types of people

Question 13

What is linguistic determinism hypothesis (AKA Whorfian hypothesis)?

Answer 13

Benjamin Whorf’s proposal that different languages impose different ways of understanding the world that can shape our thinking

Question 14

Define:
A) Babbling
B) Overregularization errors
C) Sensitive period

Answer 14

A) the production of speech sounds by infants, usually beginning at 6-7 months of age
B) A language error made by children that involves extending rules of word formation (such as adding an -ed for past tense to all words, even irregular ones)
C) an early period in life where one is best for learning language

Question 15

Define language acquisition device

Answer 15

An innate mechanism that linguist Noam Chomsky proposed to explain the process of language acquisition in children. Chomsky argued that the language acquisition device is activated by language exposure and guides language development with little to no explicit teaching from adults

Question 16

Define:
A) Factor analysis?
B) The three tests of factor analysis:
i) General intelligence
ii) Fluid intelligence
iii) Crystallized intelligence

Answer 16

A) a statistical technique developed by Charles Spearman that involves analyzing the interrelations among different tests to look for the common factors underlying the scores
B)
i) g factor, a general mental ability that Charles Spearman hypothesized is required for virtually any mental test
ii) abbreviated g(F), a component of general intelligence that involves the ability to deal with new and unusual problems
iii) abbreviated g(C), a component of general intelligence that involves accumulated knowledge and skills

Question 17

Define:
A) Savant syndrome
B) Mental age

Answer 17

A) the presence of unusual talents in disabled individuals with low levels of general intelligence, this inspired Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences
B) a number that represents the average age at which children perform closest to a given child’s score on an intelligence test

Question 18

Define
A) Intelligence quotient (IQ)
B) Achievement tests
C) Aptitude tests

Answer 18

A) derived from the Stanford-Binet test, calculated by dividing a child’s mental age by the chronological age and then multiplying by 100
B) a test that is designed to determine how much one has learned over a certain period of time
C) designed to measure a person’s potential to learn new skills

Question 19

What is Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)?

Answer 19

An intelligence test composed of many subtests that can be combined into a single composite to capture overall ability. Scores on separate subtests of the WAIS can be used to identify relative strengths and weaknesses that are useful to educators and therapists

Question 20

Define:
A) Standardization
B) Stereotype threat
C) Achievement gaps

Answer 20

A) Process of making test scores more meaningful by defining them in relation to the performance of a pretested group
B) A concern that one’s performance or behaviour might confirm a negative stereotype about one’s group
C) Persistent differences in the performance of certain groups of people, usually based on characteristics like gender and race

Question 21

Define:
A) Heritability
B) Self-fulfilling prophecy (AKA Pygmalion effect)
C) Mindsets

Answer 21

A) a measure that describes, for a given population in a given environment, what proportion of the variance of a trait is due to genetic differences
B) A cycle by which others’ beliefs or our own can affect behaviour in ways that make the beliefs true
C) a set of attitudes or beliefs that shape how a person perceives and responds to the world. In the domain of intelligence, a mindset may be an implicit belief about where intellectual ability comes from