Thought, Language and Intelligence (Ch. 8) Flashcards
cognitive psychology
study of cognition (mental activities associated with thinking) and how they work
can we immediately recall what we are thinking about at that moment?
no, because much of mental activities occurs outside of conscious awareness
mental representations
TBD (office hours)
concepts
how mental representations are organized: categories that group objects
types of concepts
prototype (best example of concep that incorporates most feature associated with it)
hierarchies (levels of specificity: superordinate, basic, subordinate)
examples of hierarchies
furniture –> chair –> high chair
approaches to thinking
trial and error(try random things), algorithm(step by step, guarantees solution), insight(aha! unconscious thinking)
study to demonstrate insight
unscrambling letters before see letters, actual word flashed on screen, shows how brain working unconsciously even if don’t realize
what has an impact on ability to think besides strategies?
mood, can change number of questions answered (maybe bc good mood broadens attention
how can experience help with problem solving?
ANALOGY, can help use prior experience as a metaphor for complex problems. MENTAL SET, can provide a mental framework for solving problems with similar problems.
how does mental set work?
ex. hear story before asking to solve similar problem, story gives idea to solving problems because can apply a similar solution
how can experience hurt problem solving?
FUNCTIONAL FIXEDNESS, means that we have a tendency to focus on the traditional utility of tools to solve problems and aren’t able to see the unusual and different ways to utilize things to solve problems. This requires RESTRUCTURING, to change your understanding when prior experience gets in the way
bounded rationality
rational decision making bound by people’s limited resources (constraints to decision making)
dual processing theory
2 types of decision-making thinking: controlled (requires time and energy) & autonomic system (is fast, bit dirty judgment)
heuristics
mental tools to navigate judgment and decisions (part of automatic system), quick mental shortcuts
representative heuristics
shortcut for judging the likelihood of things with how well they represent some category (ex. police looking for a suspect, look in black neighborhoods bc rep. heuristic - stereotype, makes them want to look disproportionately at black people)
availability heuristics
strategy for deciding how frequent and probable something is based on how easily something comes to mind (ex. asking whether homicide or suicide is more likely, if can think of more examples of homicide, say homicide even though its suicide)
affect heuristic
tendency to use the affect we associate with objects to make a judgment (gut feeling)
what happens if your ventromedial frontal cortex is damaged?
you may not be able to properly evaluate the emotional consequence of actions. This can be manipulated (ex. nice music in ads)
belief perseverance
(based on confirmation bias) tendency for people to resist change in beliefs even with evidence that refutes their stance (once know smth, hard to unknow it)
how does framing affect how we view an issue
framing, the way an issue is presented makes us have different perspectives on the same topic (ex. number lost vs. number saved, could be the same value but changes decision bc of how framed)
loss aversion
the tendency to make choices, even riskier ones that minimize loss. we are more likely to consider the status quo over other options
overconfidence bias
tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our own knowledge and judgments
hindsight bias
once some outcome known, tendency to overestimate the likelihood one would have predicted an outcome in advance
language
a shared set of symbols (spoken, written or signed) and set of rules that can be combined to create meaning.
phonemes
smallest unit of language. individual sounds of speech (diff phenomes in diff languages)
morphemes
smallest unit of language with meaning. words and word parts (prefixes and suffixes)
grammar
rules to govern way language parts are put together, so people understand each other
syntax
words combing to form well-formed sentences
pragmatics
rules that govern practical aspects of language and how it impacts meaning (ex. a sarcastic tone)
linguistic determination hypothesis (Whorfian hypothesis)
theory that different languages create different ways of thinking and understanding the world (ex. in US, screwdriver, in German, screwpuller)
was Whorf right?
only partly right, language doesn’t fully define how we think, but it guides thinking best suited for the cultures we live in
amazon language study
don’t have language for numbers, verbal interference study, on english speakers, also not able to pull out numbers by filling phonological loop
what is babbling?
a baby (6-7 months) immediately practicing the sounds they hear)
progression of langauge understanding with age
1-1/2 years (understanding of single words), 2 years (two-words statements), 3 years (short sentences and grammar), 5 years (mastery)
are 5 year olds really masters at grammar?
phenomenon of overregulation errors, when children extend rules (runned, eated) w/o knowing exceptions yet
how do children connect words to objects?
able to follow the gaze of adults and understand what they are referring to
are we naturally selected to learn language?
Skinner(same as learning any other associations) vs. Chomsky(language acquisition device, turns on when exposed to language and guides language learning automatically)
was Skinner or Chomsky right?
Skinner was right, bc learn too fast to be any other association
universal grammar
grammar featured in all languages that children innately learn (nouns, verbs, subject, object, “no”)
how old is too old to learn language?
babies learn rhythm of language in womb and early in life. “Isabelle” found at age 6 w/o language and was able to learn after. “Genie” tied to chair till age 14 w/o language and wasn’t able to learn after, only in pieces.
sensitive period
early period in life when especially sensitive to and able to learn specific info from environment, there is a limited window for language
factor analysis
statistics technique developed by Spearman, to analyze patterns of correlations to common factors
general intelligence (g factor)
general mental ability required for any mental test
what are the components of g
fluid intelligence g(F): the ability to tackle new and unusual situations (challenging problems and decisions). crystallized intelligence g(C): accumulated knowledge (language, facts, skills).
how does g factor manifest itself in behavior?
analytical intelligence (“book smarts”), creative intelligence (innovative ideas & solutions), practical intelligence (“street smarts”).
what does stanford-binet test, test?
innate intelligence, to derive intelligence quotient (IQ)
types of intelligence tests
achievement tests (determine how much learned over time), aptitude tests (measure potential to learn skills)
what are the elements necessary for an intelligence test?
standardization (defined in relation to pretested group, values meaningful). reliability (produces consistent results). validity (test measures intent of tests)
what are the forms of test anxiety?
emotionality (feeling of anxiety, pounding heart, dry mouth, etc.) & worry (fear and mental anxiety)
what form of test anxiety negatively impacts test performance?
worry, because it uses mental resources needed to perform
why does our body have physical response to anxiety?
it is our body preparing to perform by mobilizing resources to muscle and brain and taking it from unnecessary parts (digestion, etc. that’s why dry mouth, etc.)
stereotype threat
extra psychological burden, increases doubt and anxiety and decreases ability to concentrate during the test
what is the larger affect of stereotype threat?
achievement gaps, which are the persistent differences in educational outcomes of groups of people (gender, race, etc.)
how can we combat stereotype threat?
a study asked students to reflect on characteristics they valued and it led to them doing better because thinking more about their values and less about not fulfilling society’s
heritability
proportion of traits due to genetic differences
what is the heritability of genetic traits?
genetics has a heritability of 50%, meaning genetics explains half of the differences in intelligence between people. (only explains how much of the difference in a group between intelligence is based on genes) [NOT that genetics are 50% of differences in intelligence]
how does age impact genetic heritability of intelligence?
larger impact when older. Possibly bc genetics est. capacity and only measurable when older or bc as older change environments bc of genetic tendencies)
what are environmental factors that influence intelligence?
nutrition, exercise, opportunities for enrichment
how does belief impact intelligence?
someone’s belief in someone can change mindset and propagate a self-fulling prophecy, where a belief about something –> actions –> eventually makes it true
is a self-fulfilling prophecy always positive?
no, it can be negative too, where a belief that someone is unintelligent makes them act negatively towards them, which causes them to feel unintelligent, not work hard, and then actually become unintelligent
