Chapter 7: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence & Chapter 8: Motivation Flashcards
PROBLEM SOLVING definition
Necessary when we need to overcome obstacles in order to answer a question or achieve a goal
3 strategies of Problem Solving?
Algorithm, Analogy Approach, and Mental Simulation
Algorithm definition? Examples? Issue?
Def: a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution
Examples:
Spell check on document; internal dictionary; looking at every word
Summer barbecue; Algorithm: one person times 2 for hotdogs
Problem: NOT always practical or efficient
Examples:
Sq root of 16,129; you could keep square rooting
Summer barbecue; starting in aisle 1 to find hotdogs
Analogy Approach Definition? Example? Problem?
Def: using a solution to an earlier problem to help solve a new problem
Ex: trying reduce fat consumption, substitute whole milk to regular sour cream, skim milk to light sour cream
Problem: when getting new recipe, don’t know how to make it low fat because there’s no milk
Problem: Often people focus on superficial features rather than underlying similarities
Mental Simulation Definition? Examples?
imagining the steps involved in solving a problem mentally before tackling the problem
Examples:
Going over how to break up with someone
Submit late paper, practicing what to say to professor
Figure out best route for errands on the way home
Mental Simulation – Is “thinking positively” alone helpful?
No.
Study Ex: told psyc students 1st group to imagine the grade they want; 2nd group told to visualize the steps to get the grade they want (notes, tutoring)
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS
Confirmation Bias: Definition? Examples?
searching for information that confirms our ideas, that we’re right
Making little or no effort to search for information that might disprove the belief
Examples:
Subjects generated number sequence that follow the rule; search and gave examples to what they thought and already believed it was true
Social media “11 facts that support all your opinions”
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS Functional Fixedness: Definition? Examples? Non-Example?
our tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed and unchanging
Examples:
Toy needed new battery, couldn’t find the screwdriver, so gave up, and didn’t think about other methods to unscrew toy
Connect 9 dots by 4 lines
6 matchsticks make 3 triangles → 3D triangle
Non-Ex: criminals use coat hanger to break into car
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS Creativity Definition?
ability to produce valued outcomes in a novel way
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS: Creativity: How to measure?
divergent thinking
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS: Creativity: Divergent Thinking definition? example?
ability to generate a variety of unusual solutions to a problem
Ex: given a brick, name all the ways to use it
Personality traits linked to creativity
Intrinsic motivation, nonconformity, curiosity, persistence
Intrinsic motivation definition?
pursue task for internal reasons: enjoyment, satisfaction, NOT external reasons: fame, money
Nonconformity definition?
not overly concerned with other people’s opinion, risk ridicule
Curiosity definition?
open to new experiences; notice when reality contradicts their expectations
Persistence, most or least important attribute?
most important attribute
Decision Making definition
weighing the pros and cons in order to make choice
Heuristics definition
mental shortcuts people use to make judgements quickly and efficiently
Rule of Thumb – to save time
REPRESENTATIVENESS HEURISTIC definition? examples?
Mental shortcut where people classify something according to how similar it is to a typical case
Examples:
Bob likes opera, plays chess, goes to museums → sounds like he’d be a trumpet player over a farmer
Who graduated from Harvard? Sonia Dara or Bill Gates? Sonia Dara.
Steve shy, anti-social, need for order → sounds like librarian over salesman
Base Rate definition? example? issue?
information about the relative frequency of members of different categories
Ex: Percentage of librarians and salesmen in the US. there’s more salesman, so you should assume Steve’s more likely to be a salesman
Problem: People tend to ignore the base rate
AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC definition? examples?
People base a judgment on the ease with which they can bring something to mind
How easily you can retrieve from memory
Mental shortcut
Examples:
How many working moms? Can’t google, so you base judgment on people you know
Most doctor women? Child has only seen female doctors
People think homicides>suicides, but it’s actually suicide>homicide
More tornadoes in Oklahoma or Kansas? Kansas because of Wizard of Oz, but it’s actually Oklahoma
AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC: Mental Shortcut – Problems with bias example?
Ex: celebrities talking about mental illness, more in your mind
6 Properties of Language?
Communicative, Arbitrary, Meaningfully Structured, Multiplicity of Structure, Productive, Dynamic
property of lang – Communicative definition
Writing down what you’re thinking and feelings and have someone understand it
property of lang – Arbitrary definition, ex, exception
symbols, sounds, objects that represent other things, particular things are meaningful to us, but not of the actual thing
Ex: Water bottle, we don’t call it swiffa boofa
Exception: onomatopoeia words (ex: buzz)
Meaningfully Structured definition
patterns of sounds and letters that form meaningful words, patterns of words that form meaningful sentences… etc.
Multiplicity of Structured definition, ex
Any meaningful utterance can be analyzed at any level, more than one way. Patterns of words can have more than one meaning
Ex: the cat ate the bird = the bird was eaten by the cat
Productive defintion
produce an infinite number of sentences, meaningful combinations of words of what we’re feeling, thinking, we can express that. Can come up with different ways to express ourselves
Dynamic
constantly evolving, new words, phrases, meanings,
Ex: .com, “i” in Apple products, slang
Sapir-Whorf 2 Hypotheses, what did they study
Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic Relativity, how language is related to thought
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis – Linguistic relativity definition, examples
language shapes thought
Speakers of different languages may have different cognitive systems as a result of their language; language shapes thought
Examples:
“He” as a generic pronoun
Outdated terms – Flight attendant used to be Stewardess (Waitress)
Sexist terms – No “Mistress” word for men; No “Bossy” word for boys, Men = Assertive
Gender neutral options – Chair person instead of Chairmen, Fireman → Firefighter, Policeman → Police Officer
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis – Linguistic determinism definition, any support?
language strongly influences or determines perception and reasoning; Determines thought
No support
Color identification task study, what did they do, conclusion?
match different color sticks
Subjects: english speakers, Dani people of New Guinea
English – 11 words for common colors
Dani – 2 words (light and dark)
Who can match color chips better?
If language determines thought, Dani should fail this task.
Dani did just as good as English
Conclusion – Linguistic determinism NOT correct
Languages with Grammatical Gender Study, what did they do, conclusion?
gendered nouns
Does speaking 1 of these languages make it easier or harder for its speakers to think about gender in non-binary terms?
Study using Spanish and German words for same object
Describe object with stereotypical gender terms
“Key” is fem in Spanish, masculine in German
Results – Yes, it’s harder they describe it differently
Conclusion: Language shapes thought
Relevance for bilingual speakers
people think of the world differently depending what language you speak
what did Descartes believe about language
Descartes believed language is what distinguishes humans from other species
Distinction between communication and language
Video Ex conclusions about students and pigeons listening to tick patterns, Can pigeons identify human objects, Can dogs understand language, Can dolphins accurately use syntax?
Students and Pigeon listen if there was a tick after different patterns
Pigeons find it easy, but humans fail because we try to find meanings of relationships and connections
Pigeons can identify human objects
Dogs can understand language
Doesn’t stop his brain from working
Dolphins ability to call semantically reversible sentences – syntax
Does it accurately
INTELLIGENCE defintion 3 abilities
Ability to understand and control thinking processes
Ability to learn from experience
Ability to adapt to the surrounding environment
Single factor theory definition; Factor “g” =? Who invented
single factor underlies all our intelligent behavior Factor “g” = general intelligence
Charles Spearman
Multiple intelligences theory definition; example, who invented
don’t have an intelligence, MULTIPLE intelligences; some are we don’t even think about it
Each intelligence is independent of the others
Ex: good hand-eye coordination (sports)
Howard Gardner
Binet’s 1904 test; Age graded; Mental age score
identify kids who need help in school
Age graded – items the kid would mostly get right depending on their age
Mental age score – how well you do compared to others the same age
Terman created Stanford Binet Test, what else did he create, equation?
Translated to English, adjusted
Created the IQ score
IQ = Mental Age/Chronological Age x 100
Wechsler – WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) and WISC (Wechsler Intelligence for Children Scale)
Looked at what
verbal and non-verbal ability (visual spatial tasks)
PROS AND CONS OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS VIDEO EXAMPLE
Believed intelligence was inborn and fixed characteristic
Provide single summary score allow placement children into proper classroom,
Cons leadership in US army needed; needed in WWI; screen certain immigrant populations into US De facto means of shaping nature of immigration in US
No adjustment for cultural background
Popularized notion that false conclusions of intellectual capacity
May not get at real life intelligence in practical sense; may not give us info of every aspect of a person
Until 1950s Wechsler – WAIS can see breakdown of strengths and weaknesses
what are the ASSESSING INTELLIGENCE TESTS: PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES
Standardization, Reliability, Validity