Intelligence and Language Flashcards
intelligence
the ability to think, to learn from experience, to solve problems, and to adapt to new situations
language
a system of communication that uses symbols in a regular way to create meaning
general intelligence factor (g)
the construct that the different abilities and skills measured on intelligence tests have in common
includes the abilities to acquire knowledge, to reason abstractly, to adapt to novel situations, and to benefit from instruction and experience
Charles Spearman
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test.
American measure of general intelligence made up of a wide variety of tasks including vocabulary, memory for pictures, naming of familiar objects, repeating sentences, and following commands
specific intelligence (s)
, a measure of specific skills in narrow domains
triarchic (three-part) theory of intelligence
Robert Sternberg
people may display more or less analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence
traditional intelligence tests assess analytical intelligence, the ability to answer problems with a single right answer, but that they do not well assess creativity (the ability to adapt to new situations and create new ideas) or practicality (e.g., the ability to write good memos or to effectively delegate responsibility)
convergent thinking
thinking that is directed toward finding the correct answer to a given problem
divergent thinking
the ability to generate many different ideas for or solutions to a single problem
happens in different areas of the brain compared to convergent thinking
components of creativity
expertise imaginative thinking risk taking intrinsic interest working in a creative environment (ie, creativity is social)
practical intelligence
a type of “street smarts” or “common sense” that is learned from life experiences
certain abilities that help people perform well at specific jobs, and these abilities may not always be highly correlated with general intelligence
though these can also be explained by g
Gardners Eight Intelligences
Howard Gardner
Linguistic
Logico-mathematical
Spatial
Musical
Kinesthetic (body)
Interpersonal (understanding the emotions of others)
Intrapersonal (ability to have insight to the self)
Naturalistic (ability to recognize, identify, and understand animals, plants, and other living things)
standardization
of a test involves giving it to a large number of people at different ages and computing the average score on the test at each age level.
Flynn effect
refers to the observation that scores on intelligence tests worldwide have increased substantially over the past decades
mental age
the age at which a person is performing intellectually
intelligence quotient (IQ)
mental age ÷ chronological age × 100.
Wechsler Adult lntelligence Scale (WAIS)
the most widely used intelligence test for adults
designed to assess intelligence, including working memory, arithmetic ability, spatial ability, and general knowledge about the world
yields scores on four domains: verbal, perceptual, working memory, and processing speed
aptitude tests
designed to measure one’s ability to perform a given task, for instance, to do well in college or in postgraduate training
Personnel selection
the use of structured tests to select people who are likely to perform well at given jobs
Key biological factors of intelligence
brain size, sensory ability, speed and efficience of neural transmission, and working memory capacity
primarily in the outer parts of the cortex, the area of the brain most involved in planning, executive control, and short-term memory
Emotional intelligence
the ability to accurately identify, assess, and understand emotions, as well as to effectively control one’s own emotions
One problem with emotional intelligence tests is that they often do not show a great deal of reliability or construct validity
emotion regulation
the ability to control and productively use one’s emotions
while EI has not beed predictive of effective behaviors, emotional regulation has
Mental retardation
a generalized disorder ascribed to people who have an IQ below 70, who have experienced deficits since childhood, and who have trouble with basic life skills, such as dressing and feeding oneself and communicating with others
Down syndrome
a chromosomal disorder leading to mental retardation caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome
stereotype threat
performance decrements that are caused by the knowledge of cultural stereotypes
individuals who are experiencing stereotype threat show an increased vigilance toward the environment as well as increased attempts to suppress stereotypic thoughts. Engaging in these behaviors takes cognitive capacity away from the task
Broca’s area
an area in front of the left hemisphere near the motor cortex, is responsible for language production
Wernicke’s area
an area of the brain next to the auditory cortex, is responsible for language comprehension
aphasia
a condition in which language functions are severely impaired.
People with Broca’s aphasia have difficulty producing speech, whereas people with damage to Wernicke’s area can produce speech, but what they say makes no sense and they have trouble understanding language
language is generative
the fact that speakers of a language can compose sentences to represent new ideas that they have never before been exposed to
this argues against the idea that all language is learned through experience
deep structure
how the idea is represented in the fundamental universal grammar that is common to all languages
surface structure
how an idea is expressed in any one language
linguistic relativity
The idea that language and its structures influence and limit human thought
e.g., Inuits and snow
But, research has suggested that language has less influence on thinking than might be expected
