Chapter 9 Flashcards
cognition
mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, communicating
concept
mental grouping of similar objects and events, ideas, people
prototypes
mental image or best example of a category
algorithm
methodical, logical rule, or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem
heuristic
simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently (faster, more error prone)
insight
sudden and often novel realization of the solution
(obstacles of problem solving)
confirmation bias
tendency to search for info that supports our preconceptions and ignore or distort contradictory evidence
(obstacles of problem solving)
fixation
inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set
mental set
tendency to approach a problem in one way, often one that has been successful in the past
representative heuristic
judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent or match particular prototypes (may cause us to ignore important info.)
availability heuristic
estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory
overconfidence
tendeny to be more confident than correct (overestimate accuracy of our beliefs and judgments)
belief perseverance
clinging to ones initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
intuition
an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
framing
the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgment
language
our spoken, written, or signed words and the way we combine them to communicate meaning
When do we learn?
- receptive language (4-7 months)
- productive language: ability to produce words (7-12 mos)
- one-word stage: speaking in single words (1-2 yrs)
- two-word stage: speaking in 2 word statements (2 yrs)
babbling stage
(4 months) infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
(10 months) infant understood by others
Skinner: operant learning
association, imitation, reinforcement
Chomsky: inborn universal grammer
- kids learn too fast to be explained by Skinner’s simple ideas
- language naturally occurs (language acquisition device)
- universal grammar
critical periods
there are periods in a child’s life when they learn
linguistic determinism
(Whorf)
hypothesis that different languages impose different conceptions of reality
(reflecting personalities)
animals
form concepts, display insights, numerical ability, natural tool users (chimpanzees)
-language? (animals communicate, but can it be called a language?)-chimps use ASL and comprehend syntax
intelligence
mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
general intelligence
underlies specific mental abilities and is, therefore measured by every task on an intelligence task
factor analysis
statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (factors) in a test
(used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score)
savant syndrome
condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill
Gardners’s eight intelligences
linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal (self), interpersonal (other people), naturalist
Sternberg’s three intelligences (triarchic theory)
- analytical (academic problem solving): assessed by academic tests
- creative: reacting adaptively to novel situations and generating new ideas
- practical: required for everyday tasks with multiple solutions
(5 components of intelligence and creativity)
1. expertise
well-developed base of knowledge (mental building blocks)
(5 components of intelligence and creativity)
2. imaginative thinking skills
ability to see things in novel ways, recognize patterns, make connections
(5 components of intelligence and creativity)
3. venturesome personality
seeks new experiences, tolerates ambiguity and risk, perseveres in overcoming obstacles
(5 components of intelligence and creativity)
4. intrinsic motivation
driven by more than interest, satisfaction, and challenge than by external pressures
(5 components of intelligence and creativity)
5. creative environment
sparks, supports, refines creative ideas
emotional intelligence
ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions
assessing intelligence
method for assessing individual’s mental aptitude comparing it to others
(Alfred Binet)
mental age
- predicting school achievement
- the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance
(Lewis Terman)
Innate IQ
intelligence quotient (IQ): mental age/chronological age
(David Wechsler)
verbal and performance subtests
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
Other influences on intelligence
genetic, environmental, heritability, ethnicity
