week 10

Question 1

What is a savant

Answer 1

prodigious and outstanding talent can co-occur with learning or developmental disabilities.
Although highly unusual some people can acquire savant abilities usually from brain trauma
Very rare not recognised by DSM-V

Question 2

Kim Peek

Answer 2

IQ of 87
Remembered almost everything he read, memorising a vast array of subject
Damaged cerebellum meant poor motor skills. Agenesis of the corpus callosum so didn’t exist but other connections formed

Question 3

Flo and Kay Lyman

Answer 3

only pair of savant twins
extraordinary memory abilities
Difficulties with social communication

Question 4

Alonso Clemons

Answer 4

can sculpt incredibly accurate figurines of animals using his bare hands
Suffered a head injury as a toddler changed way he communicated
IQ 40-50

Question 5

Stephan Wiltshire

Answer 5

extraordinary artistic memory. Can draw entire city landscapes with incredible accuracy from only one helicopter ride
Verbal IQ measured at 52

Question 6

Derek Paravicini

Answer 6

Extraordinary musical abilities. An incredible musical repertoire entirely memorised
Can improvise any piece of music into any genre and any key.

Question 7

What makes savant prodigious

Answer 7

Do savant develop skills through hours of practice because of traits associated with their learning difficulty
Do the unique skills of savants originate from the same cause of their learning difficulty
Are savant skills aided by fundamental cognitive and perceptual differences

Question 8

Propensity relationship

Answer 8

personal traits may lead to behaviours that increase one’s ability to practice and master talents

Question 9

Correlational relationships

Answer 9

the same biological/neurological cause underpins both skills and learning difficulty

Question 10

Causal

Answer 10

Savant skills derive from cognitive and perceptual difference

Question 11

Challenges of measurement

Answer 11

incredibly small sample
each talent is unique
each learning difficulty may also be unique
communication with savant may be difficult
it is hard to imagine something you can’t yourself do

Question 12

Convergent thinking

Answer 12

a term used to describe the ability to use accuracy, logic and speed to develop a single well-established answer to problem
Will synthesise multiple points of information to derive an answer
Suited to deductive and factual endeavours

Question 13

Divergent thinking

Answer 13

A term used to describe the ability to generate multiple possible solutions
Personality traits associated with divergent thinking include openness and extraversion
Suited to creative endeavours

Question 14

Torrance test for creative thinking

Answer 14

test for fluency
Flexibility- the number of different categories of relevant responses
Originality- the statistical rarity of the responses
Elaboration- the amount of detail in the responses

Question 15

Theoretical background of flow

Answer 15

aims to be a holistic understanding of attention and consciousness within and between people
flow states are optimal states of performance and wellbeing

Question 16

What does flow involve

Answer 16

1) focus and concentration
2) a sense of ecstasy
3) greater inner clarity
4) knowing that activity is doable
5) a sense of serenity
6) timelessness
7) intrinsic motivation

Question 17

How do we access flow

Answer 17

people tend to enter into flow more easily when a task has clear proximal goals and offers immediate informational feedback on one’s progress
For flow to be enjoyable it has to be voluntary
Flow is balance between task difficulty and level of ability. there are other states possible such as anxiety and apathy

Question 18

Monotropism theory

Answer 18

a mind that focusses on a small number of interests and tends to miss things outside it’s attentional tunnel
Hyperfocus can make it hard to redirect attention

Question 19

Criticisms of flow

Answer 19

It is correlational not causational, skills-challenge fit very cognitive. Flow cannot be induced in a lab so it has been hard to study it under controlled conditions
What about contextual variables abilities and task complexity can vary
is attention wholly controlled by conscious choices
current methodologies impact the course of flow