Problem Solving & Intelligence

Question 1

How did researcher, Edwin Boring define intelligence? What was the problem with it? How could it be fixed?

Answer 1

He defined intelligence as “intelligence is whatever intelligence tests measures.” Although, it does hold some truth, it fails to capture the cognitive features of intelligence. Hence, psychologists make two assumptions about to broaden our definition - intelligence involves the ability to perform cognitive tasks, and capacity to learn from experience and adapt.

Question 2

What is deductive and inductive reasoning?

Answer 2

These are two broad categories used to solve problems. Problem solving is seen as a reliable indicator of intelligence. Deductive reasoning is when a person works from ideas and general information to arrive at specific conclusions. Inductive reasoning is the opposite, it is when a person works from specific facts to form a general idea.

Question 3

How does deductive and inductive reasoning resemble or guide the scientific method?

Answer 3

In scientific setting, we start with a general theory about the world and using deductive reasoning to generate a specific hypothesis. Through experimentation, we can then collect data and use inductive reasoning to relate it to our general theory.

Question 4

You have a midterm coming up for one of the courses. When you ask the teacher, what kind of questions are gonna be on test, your teacher tells you that there will be problems that require you to “think outside the box.” What kind of problems may your teacher be referring to?

Answer 4

Insight problems are a special category of problems that are designed to test your ability to think outside the box.

Question 5

You are given a box of tacks, a candle, and a bulletin board. Your task is to try to attach the candle to the bulletin board without burning the board when lighting the candle. You struggle to come up with a solution. Why might this be?

Answer 5

This may be due to functional fixedness. Functional fixedness is our difficulty to see alternative uses for common objects.

Question 6

List the two important qualities of a test.

Answer 6

Reliability and validity. Reliability measures the extent to which repeated testing produces consistent results, while validity measures if the test is actually measuring what the researcher claims to be measuring.

Question 7

What established the modern study of intelligence?

Answer 7

Francis Galton’s study on reaction time established the modern study of intelligence. He determined that the faster an individual’s reaction time to sensory motor tasks, the higher intelligence.

Question 8

What was the Stanford-Binet Intelligence test?

Answer 8

This test was the first intelligence scale which included 30 short tasks related to everyday life. This test determined admission into a public school.

Question 9

What was the difference between Spearman and Gardner’s belief on intelligence?

Answer 9

Spearman believed in the idea of a single-type of intelligence, which is the idea that individuals who do well in one category is capable of doing well in all the others. Gardner proposed a multiple intelligences theory, which revolves around the idea that there are eight types of intelligences, and each one is independent of each other.

Question 10

What are the most commonly used intelligence tests today?

Answer 10

The Weschler Scales of intelligence are the most popular ones. There are two types - Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC).

Question 11

Define IQ scoring.

Answer 11

IQ scores are standardized relative to the population scores. The tests are standardized so that someone who achieves the mean score will be assigned an IQ score of 100.

Question 12

What is the Flynn Effect?

Answer 12

Flynn Effect describes that fact that raw IQ scores have been on the rise since 1932. This increase may be due to the increase in the quality of life.

Question 13

Define schema.

Answer 13

Schema is a mental framework for interpreting the world around us.

Question 14

How does the child actively learn and develop as they interact with the environment?

Answer 14

Children use assimilation and accommodation to actively learn and develop as they interact with the environment. Assimilation is the incorporation of new information into existing schemas, while accommodation is modifying existing schemas to fit incompatible information.

Question 15

What are the four sequential stages of cognitive development in children?

Answer 15

Sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage and the formal operational stage.

Question 16

A child that is 2 years old begins to realize that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible. What stage does this occur in?

Answer 16

This is called object permanence, and occurs at the end of the sensorimotor stage from 0-2 years old. During this stage children begin to recognize that they can have an impact on the changes in the environment.

Question 17

What happens during the preoperational stage?

Answer 17

This stage lasts from 2-7 years old. Kids at this stage are egocentric, meaning they experience difficulty understanding the world from a perspective other than their own. For example, the child would think that when they wanted to play, their mom would want to play then too. Kids at this age experience difficulty with seriation tasks (ordering a series of objects), reversible relationships, and conservation tasks.

Question 18

You ask six year old Sara, if the boy standing next to her is her brother, she says yes. Your friend then later comes along and asks her if her brother has a sister. She tells you no. Why might this be?

Answer 18

This is because Sara is in the preoperational stage. In this stage she is experiencing difficulty in reversible relationships. Individuals in this stage also experience difficulty in conservation tasks. An example of that is to say you have two equal-sized glasses of milk in front of the child. He/she would agree that it is equal. In front of them you pour one of the glasses into a new narrower glass, but they would tell you that it is different sized.

Question 19

In what stage is the child able to do all the difficulties that the child experiences in the preoperational stage?

Answer 19

This is called the concrete operational stage and lasts from 7-12 years. Individuals in this stage struggle with abstract concepts.

Question 20

At what stage are children able to think in abstract terms?

Answer 20

This occurs during the formal operational stage, which is 12+.

Question 21

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 21

The tendency to seek out information that directly supports the hypothesis.

Question 22

What is heuristic? What are the two types?

Answer 22

Heuristic is the mental shortcut used to solve problems quickly and reducing effort and simplify decision making. There are two types - availability heuristic and the representativeness heuristic. Availability heuristic is our tendency to make decisions based on the information that is most quickly available for us. Representativeness heuristic is our tendency to estimate the likelihood of a current example by comparing it to an existing prototype in our mind.