Thinking and Intelligence Flashcards

1
Q

What is cognitive psychology?

A

Cognition (thinking) encompasses the processes associated with:
- perception
- knowledge
- problem-solving
- judgement
- language
- memory

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2
Q

the way of cognition

A

sensations and informations are received by our brains, filtered through emotions and memories and processed to become thoughts

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3
Q

How does the brain organize information?

A

through concepts

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4
Q

what are concepts?

A

categories of linguistic information, images, ideas or memories
- used to see relationships among different elements of experience
- can be complex and abstract (idea of justice) or concrete (types of birds)

  • prototypes: best example of concepts
    -> eg mahatma gandhi as prototype for category of civil disobedience
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5
Q

what are natural concepts?

A

created naturally through either direct or indirect experience (eg snow)

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6
Q

what are artificial concepts?

A

defined by a specific set of characteristics
(defined shaped of geometric)

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7
Q

What are schemata?

A

a mental construct consisting of a collection of related concepts
- when a schema is activated, we automatically make assumptions about the person/object/situation

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8
Q

what is role schema?

A

makes assumptions about how individuals in certain roles will behave

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9
Q

what is event schema?

A

= cognitive script
a set of routine or automatic behaviours
- can vary between cultures and countries
- dictates behaviour
- makes habits difficult to break because their automatic
- eg in an elevator everyone faces the door
dangerous eg texting while driving, because we have the urge to check our phone when it rings

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10
Q

What is language and what are its components?

A

= a communication system that involves using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one individual to another
- lexicon (words of a given language)
- grammar ( set of rules to convey meaning through the use of lexicon)
- phoneme ( basic unit sounds, eh , uh)
-morphemes (smallest unit of language that conveys meaning)
- semantics ( meaning we derive from morphemes and words)
- syntax ( the way words are organized into sentences)
-> syntax and semantics constructs language

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11
Q

How does language develop?

A
  • Noam Chomsky: proposed that the mechanisms underlying language acquisition are biologically determined -> language develops in the absence of formal instruction, language acquisition follows similar patterns in children from different cultures / backgrounds
  • critical period: proficiency at acquiring language is maximal early in life
    -> being deprived of language during that period impedes the ability to fully acquire and use language
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12
Q

the case of Genie

A

the effects of language deprivation during the critical period can be seen in this case
- Genie was found at age 13 after being raised in neglectful and abusive conditions
- grew up with virtually no social interactions and was unable to speak when found
- with help, was able to acquire vocabulary but was not able to learn the grammatical aspects of language

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13
Q

what are the stages of language and communication development?

A
  1. 0-3 months -> reflexive communication
  2. 3-8 months -> reflexive communication, interest in others
  3. 8-13 months -> intentional communication, sociability
  4. 12-18 months -> first words
  5. 18-24 months -> simple sentences of two words
  6. 2-3years -> sentences of three or more words
  7. 3-5years -> complex sentences, has conversations
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14
Q

what are the problem-solving strategies?

A
  • trial and error: continue trying different solutions until problem is solved (restarting phone)
  • algorithm: step-by-step problem-solving formula (instruction manual)
  • heuristics: general problem-solving framework -> shortcuts, rule of thumb, working backwards
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15
Q

what are heuristics?

A
  • problem solving strategy
  • short cuts
  • rule of thumb
  • working backwards (begin problemsolving by focusing on the endresult)
  • breaking large tasks into smaller steps
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16
Q

when do people use heuristics?

A
  • when one is faced with too much info
  • when the decision time is limited
  • when the decision is unimportant
  • when there is access to little information to use in making the decision
  • when an appropriate heuristics happens to come to mind in the same moment
17
Q

what are the pitfalls to problem-solving?

A

mental sets:
= persistence in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past
- problem when that way is no longer working
- functional fixedness

18
Q

what is functional fixedness?

A

inability to perceive an object being used for something other than what it was designed for

19
Q

what are the 5 biases in making a decision?

A
  • anchoring bias : tendency to focus on one piece of information when making a decision or solving a problem
  • confirmation bias: tendency to focus on the information that confirms your existing beliefs
  • hindsight bias: leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, eventhough it wasnt
  • representative bias: tendency to unintentionally stereotype someone or something
  • availability heuristic: tendency to make a decision based on an example/information/recent experience that is readily available to you, even though it may not be the best to inform your decision
20
Q

What are the different definitions of intelligence?

A
  • Charles Spearman: believed intelligence consisted of one general facter (g) -> focused on commonalities amongst various intellectual abilities
  • Raymond Cattell: divided intelligence into 2 components -> crystalized intelligence and fluid intelligence
    -> crystalized intelligence: acquired knowledge and ability to retrieve it (knowing facts)
    -> fluid intelligence: ability to see complex relationships and solve problems (knowing how to do something)

Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic theory of intelligence :
-> practical intelligence (street smarts and common sense)
-> analytical intelligence (academic problem solving)
-> creative intelligence (imaginative and innovative problem solving)

Howard Gardner -> multiple intelligences theory

21
Q

What is Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory?

A

He proposed that each person possesses at least 8 intelligences:
- linguistic
-logical-mathematical
- musical
- bodily kinesthetic
- spatial
- interpersonal
- intrapersonal
- naturalist

inter- and intrapersonal = emotional intelligence

22
Q

what is emotional intelligence?

A

the ability to understand the emotions of yourself and others, show empathy, understand social relationships and cues, and regulate your own emotions and respond in culturally appropriate ways

23
Q

What is creativity?

A

= the ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions and possibilities

creative people usually:
- have intense knowledge about sth
- work on it for years
- look at novel solutions
- seek advice and help of other experts
- take risks

-> divergent thinking

24
Q

what is divergent thinking?

A

thinking outside the box
used when more than one possibility exists on a situation

25
Q

what is convergent thinking?

A

ability to provide a correct or well-established answer or solution to a problem

26
Q

what is the stanford-binet intelligence scale?

A
  • developed by Alfred Binet in the early 1900s
  • intelligence test for children to determine which ones might have difficulty in school
  • Louis Terman modified it by standardizing the administration of the test and testing thousands of children to establish a norm
  • Standardisation = the manner of administration, scoring, and interpretation of result is consistent
  • Norming = giving a test a large population so data can be collected comparing groups
    Standardisation and Norming ensure reliability
27
Q

What is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)?

A

David Wechsler’s definition of intelligence : the global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment

  • 1939 -> developed a new IQ test by combining several subtests from other intelligence tests£:
    -> variety of verbal and nonverbal skills
    -> one of the most extensively used tests

Wechsler’s Intelligence Test for Children (WISC-V) used today with verbal comprehension, visual spatial, fluid reasoning, working memory and processing speed

28
Q

What is the Flynn Effect?

A

=After years of use within schools and communities, periodic recalibration of WAIS lead to an observation

the observation that each generation has a slightly higher IQ than the last

29
Q

What are the results of intelligence tests in a graph?

A

they follow the bell curve (the average is the highest)

  • graph demonstrates a representative sample /normal distribution of a trait in the human population
    -> representative sample : a subset of the population that accurately represents the general population (requires a large sample size)
30
Q

the IQ bell curve

A

average is 100
Standard deviation is 15 points
(stand. dev. = how data is dispersed in a population)

31
Q

what is the source of intelligence?

A
  • nature perspective : intelligence is inherited from a person’s parents
    -> heritability is researched in twin studies
    -> identical twins raised together and identical twins raised apart have a higher correlation between IQ than fraternal twins and siblings
  • nurture perspective: intelligence is shaped by a child’s developmental environment
    -> if children have intellectual stimuli from parents, it will be reflected in the child’s intelligence level

-> most believe its combination of nature and nurture

32
Q

What is the range of reaction in intelligence?

A

Theory that each person responds to the environment in a unique way based on his or her genetic makeup
- genetic makeup is a fixed quantity
- wheter you reach your full intellectual potential is dependent on environmental factors

33
Q

Genetic and IQ

A

the correlations of IQ of unrelated vs related persons reared apart or together suggest a genetic component to intelligence

34
Q

what are learning disabilities?

A

= cognitive disorders that affect different areas of cognition, particularly language or reading

  • specific neural impairment, not an intellectual /developmental problem
  • often affect children with average or above-average intelligence
  • exhibit comorbidity with other disorders
35
Q

what is dysgraphia?

A

learning disability resulting in a struggle to write legibly
- difficulty putting their thoughts down on paper

36
Q

What is dyslexia?

A

inability to correctly process letters
- most common disability in children
- may mix up letters within words and sentences