Thinking, Language and Intelligence (Modules 31-35) Flashcards

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1
Q

Cognition

A

The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating

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2
Q

Concepts

A

Mental grouping (schemas) based on prototypes; mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas or people

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3
Q

Prototypes

A

Ideals of thought; a mental image or best example of a category (Ex. Comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin.)

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4
Q

Algorithms

A

A rule that guarantees the right solution to a problem, usually by using a formula (Ex. the Quadratic Formula)

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5
Q

Heuristics

A

A rule of thumb that generally but not always can be used to make a judgment to solve a problem; quick, but prone to error (Ex. Checking the drink aisle for fruit juice instead of checking every single aisle)

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6
Q

Insight

A

A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy based solutions.

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7
Q

Confirmation Bias

A

We look for evidence to confirm our beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts them; tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore/distort contradictory evidence. (Ex. Being presented with 2-4-6 and believing the pattern is counting by 2’s when the rule is actually any sequence of ascending numbers.)

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8
Q

Mental Set

A

Established thought patterns we are hesitant to break, aka rigidity. Ex. Functional fixedness – the inability to see a new use for an object.

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9
Q

Representative Heuristic

A

Judging a situation based on how similar the aspect are to the prototypes the person knows in their mind. (Ex. A short, slim person who likes to read poetry would better fit our preconceived notion of an Ivy League professor more so than a truck driver.)

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10
Q

Availability Heuristic

A

Judging a situation based on things that “pop into mind” based on recency, vividness, or distinctiveness. Vivid examples in media are often the cause of this. (Ex. Labeling all Muslims as terrorists after the Paris attacks)

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11
Q

Overconfidence

A

The tendency to be more confident than correct – to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements (Ex. George W. Bush marched into Iraq to eliminate supposed WMDs.)

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12
Q

Belief Perserverance

A

Maintaining a belief even after it’s been proven wrong

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13
Q

Intuition

A

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

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14
Q

Framing

A

The way statement are presented – can drastically affect the way we view and react to it

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15
Q

Language

A

Spoken, written or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning – crown jewel of cognition and what sets humans apart from other animals

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16
Q

Phonemes

A

Smallest distinctive sound unit in language (Ex. ch, a, t)

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17
Q

Morphemes

A

Smallest unit that carries meaning; a word or part of the word, like a prefix

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18
Q

Grammar

A

Rules for language that enable us to communicate with and understand others

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19
Q

What is receptive language? How old are babies when they understand that?

A

Ability to comprehend speech; 4 months old

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20
Q

What is productive language?

A

Ability to produce words, matures after receptive language

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21
Q

Babbling Stage

A

Beginning at about 4 months, stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

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22
Q

One-Word Stage

A

Around age 1, speaking in single words

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23
Q

Two-Word Stage

A

Around age 2, speaking mostly 2 word sentences

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24
Q

Telegraphic Speech

A

Speaking like a telegraph; understandable speech but not necessarily proper grammar (ex. give cookie)

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25
Q

What does Noam Chomsky believe about language development?

A

We are born with the ability to learn language, and all languages have the same grammatical building blocks (concept of universal language). Ex. Children learn to say things that they are never taught.

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26
Q

What happens to children who have not been exposed to any speaking language before their critical period ends?

A

They will likely never be able to speak with proper grammar.

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27
Q

Aphasia

A

Impairment of language, usually caused by the left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s Area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s Area (impairing understanding)

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28
Q

Broca’s Area

A

Controls language expression – an area, usually in the left frontal lobe, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

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29
Q

Wernicke’s Area

A

Controls language reception – a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

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30
Q

Linguistic determinism

A

Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think (Ex. Newspeak in 1984)

31
Q

Intelligence

A

A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others using numerical scores

32
Q

Intelligence Test

A

Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

33
Q

Spearman’s “g” General Intelligence

A

A general intelligence factor that underlies specific mental abilities and is measured by every task

34
Q

Why is Spearmen’s single intelligence score controversial?

A

On an intelligence test, some people excel in one thing yet will score low on IQ test (like savants)

35
Q

Savant Syndrome

A

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing

36
Q

What disorder to many people with Savant Syndrome also have?

A

Autism

37
Q

Summarize Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory.

A

Gardner argues that we don’t have one general intelligence, but eight distinct intelligences: linguistic, logical, spatial, musical, body-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist.

38
Q

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

A

Includes analytical, creative and practical intelligences; this is the most commonly accepted theory.

39
Q

Creativity

A

The tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems; the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

40
Q

Convergent thinking

A

The ability to give the “correct” answer to standard questions that do not require significant creativity

41
Q

Divergent thinking

A

A thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions (Ex. Making a stable platform our of uncooked spaghetti to hold a marshmallow)

42
Q

5 Components of Creativity

A

Expertise, Imaginative Thinking, Venturesome personality, Intrinsic motivation, creative environment

43
Q

Social Intelligence

A

The know-how involved in comprehending social situations and managing oneself successfully

44
Q

Emotional Intelligence

A

Interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences; analyzes emotions in decision-making; abilities to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions

45
Q

What do brain scans of smart people reveal about efficiency?

A

Smart people’s brains develop thicker, heavier cortexes for neural connections. The more connections, the more efficient the brain is in transporting messages.

46
Q

What kinds of things did Galton test as a measure of intelligence?

A

Reaction time, sensory acuity, muscular power and body proportions

47
Q

Binet’s Mental Age

A

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet, the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance

48
Q

Did Binet believe that children are slow because of genes or environment?

A

Environment (nurture)

49
Q

Terman’s Stanford-Binet

A

Modern-day IQ test. IQ = (Mental Age / Chronological Age) * 100

50
Q

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100. Contemporary, average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100.

51
Q

Is IQ still calculated like this?

A

No, now these scores represent the test-taker’s performance relative to the average performance of others the same age.

52
Q

What was Terman’s goal for the use of intelligence tests?

A

To “take account for the inequalities of children in their original endowment” by assessing their vocational fitness

53
Q

Achievement Test

A

A test designed to assess what a person has learned. Ex. AP Tests

54
Q

Aptitude Test

A

A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn. Ex. ACT

55
Q

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

A

Most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance subtests

56
Q

What are four parts to the most recent WAIS?

A

Verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, working memory, processing speed

57
Q

To be widely accepted, psychological test must meet three criteria. What are they?

A
  1. Standardization
  2. Reliability
  3. Validity
58
Q

Standardization

A

Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

59
Q

Normal Curve

A

Symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes distributions

60
Q

Looking at the normal curve, what percentage of scores are within one standard deviation of the mean?

A

68%

61
Q

What is the Flynn Effect?

A

Intelligence test performance appears to be rising with every new generation.

62
Q

Reliability

A

Extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test or on retesting

63
Q

Validity

A

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

64
Q

Content Validity

A

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest; you’re not going to get a chemistry question on the history exam.

65
Q

Predictive Validity

A

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; assessed by computing the correlation between scores and criterion behavior (Ex. A high ACT score indicates success in college.)

66
Q

In cross-sectional studies, what did they find about intelligence over time?

A

Intelligence test results don’t begin to predict adolescent and adult scores by the age of 4.

67
Q

In longitudinal studies, what did they find about intelligence over time?

A

Those with high scores as 11-year-olds were more likely to live independently at age 77 and were less likely to suffer Alzheimer’s. High-scoring adolescents tended to be early readers. So, intelligence likely doesn’t decline with age.

68
Q

Intellectual disability

A

A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life

69
Q

Down Syndrome

A

A condition of intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21

70
Q

Heritability

A

The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes.

71
Q

What is the heritability of intelligence?

A

The variation in intelligence test scores attributable to genetic factors.

72
Q

What do twin studies show about the environmental contribution to IQ scores?

A

IQ scores of identical twins reared together are as similar as those of the same person taking the same test twice. Those reared separately are similar enough to estimate about 70% of variation in scores can be attributed to genetic variation.

73
Q

What becomes more dominant as we age–genes or environment?

A

Genes

74
Q

Stereotype Threat

A

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype