1. Thinking, Language, and Intelligence Chapter 9

2. Thinking
Thinking, or cognition, refers to a process that involves knowing, understanding, remembering, and communicating.

3. Cognitive Psychologists
Thinking involves a number of mental activities, which are listed below. Cognitive psychologists study these in great detail.
Concepts
Problem solving
Decision making
Judgment formation

4. Concepts
The mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. There are a variety of chairs but their common features define the concept of a chair.
Preview Question 1: What are the functions of concepts?

5. We organize concepts into category hierarchies.
Courtesy of Christine Brune

6. Development of Concepts
We form some concepts with definitions. For example, a triangle has three sides. Mostly, we form concepts with mental images or typical examples (prototypes). For example, a robin is a prototype of a bird, but a penguin is not.
J. Messerschmidt/ The Picture Cube
Daniel J. Cox/ Getty Images
Triangle (definition)
Bird (mental image)

7. Problem solving strategies include:
Trial and Error
Algorithms
Heuristics
Insight
Preview Question 2: What strategies assist problem solving, and what obstacles hinder it?

8. S P L O Y O C H Y G Algorithms
Algorithms, which are very time consuming, exhaust all possibilities before arriving at a solution. Computers use algorithms.
S P L O Y O C H Y G
If we were to unscramble these letters to form a word
using an algorithmic approach, we would face
907,200 possibilities.

9. Heuristics
Heuristics are simple, thinking strategies that allow us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently. Heuristics are less time consuming, but more error-prone than algorithms.
B2M Productions/Digital Version/Getty Images

10. Put a Y at the end, and see if the word
Heuristics
Heuristics make it easier for us to use simple principles to arrive at solutions to problems.
S P L O Y O C H Y G
S P L O Y O C H G Y
P S L O Y O C H G Y
P S Y C H O L O G Y
Put a Y at the end, and see if the word
begins to make sense.

11. Insight
Insight involves a sudden novel realization of a solution to a problem. Humans and animals have insight.
Grande using boxes to
obtain food

12. Insight
Brain imaging and EEG studies suggest that when an insight strikes (the “Aha” experience), it activates the right temporal cortex (Jung-Beeman & others, 2004). The time between not knowing the solution and realizing it is about 0.3 seconds.
From Mark Jung-Beekman, Northwestern
University and John Kounios, Drexel University

13. Obstacles in Solving Problems
Confirmation Bias: A tendency to search for information that confirms a personal bias.
2 – 4 – 6
Rule: Any ascending series of numbers. 1 – 2 – 3 would comply. Wason’s students had difficulty figuring out the rule due to a confirmation bias (Wason, 1960).

14. Fixation
Fixation: An inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. This impedes problem solving. An example of fixation is functional fixedness.
The Matchstick Problem: How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?
From “Problem Solving” by M. Scheerer. Copyright © 1963 by
Scientific American, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

15. The Matchstick Problem: Solution
From “Problem Solving” by M. Scheerer. Copyright © 1963 by
Scientific American, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

16. Using and Misusing Heuristics
Two kinds of heuristics, representative heuristics and availability heuristics, have been identified by cognitive psychologists.
Courtesy of Greymeyer Award, University
of Louisville and the Tversky family
Courtesy of Greymeyer Award, University
of Louisville and Daniel Kahneman
Amos Tversky
Daniel Kahneman

17. Representativeness Heuristic
Judging the likelihood of things or objects in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, a particular prototype.
If you meet a slim, short, man who wears glasses and likes poetry, what do you think his profession would be?
An Ivy league professor or a truck driver?
Probability that that person is a truck driver is far greater than an ivy league professor just because there are more truck drivers than such professors.

18. Availability Heuristic
Why does our availability heuristic lead us astray?
Whatever increases the ease of retrieving information increases its perceived availability.
How is retrieval facilitated?
How recently we have heard about the event.
How distinct it is.
How correct it is.

19. Overconfidence
Intuitive heuristics, confirmation of beliefs, and the inclination to explain failures increase our overconfidence. Overconfidence is a tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.
In the stock market, both the seller and the buyer may be confident about their decisions on a stock.

20. The 9/11 attacks led to a decline in air travel due to fear.
Exaggerated Fear
The opposite of having overconfidence is having an exaggerated fear about what may happen. Such fears may be unfounded.
The 9/11 attacks led to a decline in air travel due to fear.
AP/ Wide World Photos

21. The Effects of Framing
Decisions and judgments may be significantly affected depending upon how an issue is framed.
Example: What is the best way to market ground beef — as 25% fat or 75% lean?

22. The Belief Perseverance Phenomenon
Belief perseverance is the tendency to cling to our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence.
If you see that a country is hostile, you are likely to interpret their ambiguous actions as a sign of hostility (Jervis, 1985).

23. Perils & Powers of Intuition
Intuition may be perilous if unchecked, but may also be extremely efficient and adaptive.
Preview Question 4: How do smart thinkers use intuition?

24. Language
Language, our spoken, written, or gestured work, is the way we communicate meaning to ourselves and others.
Preview Question 5: What is framing?
M. & E. Bernheim/ Woodfin Camp & Associates
Language transmits culture.

25. Children learn their native languages much before learning to add 2+2.
Language Development
Children learn their native languages much before learning to add 2+2.
We learn, on average (after age 1), 3,500 words a year, amassing 60,000 words by the time we graduate from high school.
Preview Question 6: What are the structural components of a language?
Time Life Pictures/ Getty Images

26. When do we learn language?

27. Explaining Language Development
Operant Learning: Skinner (1957, 1985) believed that language development may be explained on the basis of learning principles such as association, imitation, and reinforcement.
Preview Question 8: How do we learn language?

28. Explaining Language Development
2. Inborn Universal Grammar: Chomsky (1959, 1987) opposed Skinner’s ideas and suggested that the rate of language acquisition is so fast that it cannot be explained through learning principles, and thus most of it is inborn.

29. Explaining Language Development
Childhood is a critical period for fully developing certain aspects of language. Children never exposed to any language (spoken or signed) by about age 7 gradually lose their ability to master any language.

30. Learning new languages gets harder with age.
Critical Period
Learning new languages gets harder with age.

31. Language and thinking intricately intertwine.
Thinking & Language
Language and thinking intricately intertwine.
Preview Question 10: What is the relationship between language and thinking?
Rubber Ball/ Almay

32. Language Influences Thinking
Linguistic Determinism: Whorf (1956) suggested that language determines the way we think. For example, he noted that the Hopi people do not have the past tense for verbs. Therefore, the Hopi cannot think readily about the past.

33. Word Power
Increasing word power pays its dividends. It helps explain the bilingual advantage of bilingual children to inhibit one language while using another.

34. We don’t think in words, when:
Thinking in Images
To a large extent thinking is language-based. When alone, we may talk to ourselves. However, we also think in images.
We don’t think in words, when:
1. When we open the hot water tap.
2. When we are riding our bicycle.

35. Images and Brain
Imagining a physical activity activates the same brain regions as when actually performing the activity.
Jean Duffy Decety, September 2003

36. Traffic runs both ways between language and thinking.

37. Intelligence
Do we have an inborn general mental capacity (intelligence)? If so, can we quantify this capacity as a meaningful number?

38. What is Intelligence?
Intelligence (in all cultures) is the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use our knowledge to adapt to new situations.
In research studies, intelligence is whatever the intelligence test measures. This tends to be “school smarts.”
Preview Question 10: What argues for and against considering intelligence as one general mental ability?

39. Intelligence: Ability or Abilities?
Have you ever thought that since people’s mental abilities are so diverse, it may not be justifiable to label those abilities with only one word, intelligence?

40. Athleticism, like intelligence, is many things
General Intelligence
The idea that general intelligence (g) exists comes from the work of Charles Spearman ( ) who helped develop the factor analysis approach in statistics.
Athleticism, like intelligence, is many things

41. General Intelligence
Spearman proposed that general intelligence (g) is linked to many clusters that can be analyzed by factor analysis.
For example, people who do well on vocabulary examinations do well on paragraph comprehension examinations, a cluster that helps define verbal intelligence. Other factors include a spatial ability factor, or a reasoning ability factor.

42. Contemporary Intelligence Theories
Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) supports the idea that intelligence comes in multiple forms. Gardner notes that brain damage may diminish one type of ability but not others.
People with savant syndrome excel in abilities
unrelated to general intelligence.

43. Howard Gardner
Gardner proposes eight types of intelligences and speculates about a ninth one — existential intelligence. Existential intelligence is the ability to think about the question of life, death and existence.

44. Robert Sternberg
Sternberg (1985, 1999, 2003) also agrees with Gardner, but suggests three intelligences rather than eight.
Analytical Intelligence: Intelligence that is assessed by intelligence tests.
Creative Intelligence: Intelligence that makes us adapt to novel situations, generating novel ideas.
Practical Intelligence: Intelligence that is required for everyday tasks (e.g. street smarts).

45. Intelligence and Creativity
Creativity is the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable. It correlates somewhat with intelligence.
Expertise: A well-developed knowledge base.
Imaginative Thinking: The ability to see things in novel ways.
A Venturesome Personality: A personality that seeks new experiences rather than following the pack.
Intrinsic Motivation: A motivation to be creative from within.
A Creative Environment: A creative and supportive environment allows creativity to bloom.
Preview Question 11: What is creativity, and what fosters it?

46. Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand, and use emotions (Salovey and others, 2005). The test of emotional intelligence measures overall emotional intelligence and its four components.
Preview Question 12: What makes up emotional intelligence?

47. Emotional Intelligence: Components
Description
Perceive emotion
Recognize emotions in faces, music and stories
Understand emotion
Predict emotions, how they change and blend
Manage emotion
Express emotions in different situations
Use emotion
Utilize emotions to adapt or be creative

48. Emotional Intelligence: Criticism
Gardner and others criticize the idea of emotional intelligence and question whether we stretch this idea of intelligence too far when we apply it to our emotions.

49. Flynn Effect
In the past 60 years, intelligence scores have risen steadily by an average of 27 points. This phenomenon is known as the Flynn effect.

50. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence
No other topic in psychology is so passionately followed as the one that asks the question, “Is intelligence due to genetics or environment?”

51. Genetic Influences
Studies of twins, family members, and adopted children together support the idea that there is a significant genetic contribution to intelligence.

52. Heritability
The variation in intelligence test scores attributable to genetics. We credit heredity with 50% of the variation in intelligence.
It pertains only to why people differ from one another, not to the individual.

53. Environmental Influences
Studies of twins and adopted children also show the following:
Fraternal twins raised together tend to show similarity in intelligence scores.
Identical twins raised apart show slightly less similarity in their intelligence scores.

54. Early Intervention Effects
Early neglect from caregivers leads children to develop a lack of personal control over the environment, and it impoverishes their intelligence.
Romanian orphans with minimal
human interaction are delayed in their development.

55. Schooling Effects
Schooling is an experience that pays dividends, which is reflected in intelligence scores. Increased schooling correlates with higher intelligence scores.
To increase readiness for schoolwork,
projects like Head Start facilitate leaning.

56. Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores
Why do groups differ in intelligence? How can we make sense of these differences?
Preview Question 15: How and why do gender and racial groups differ in mental ability scores?

57. Ethnic Similarities and Differences
To discuss this issue we begin with two disturbing but agreed upon facts:
Racial groups differ in their average intelligence scores.
High-scoring people (and groups) are more likely to attain high levels of education and income.

58. Racial (Group) Differences
If we look at racial differences, white Americans score higher in average intelligence than black Americans (Avery and others, 1994). European New Zealanders score higher than native New Zealanders (Braden, 1994).
White-Americans
Black-Americans
Average IQ = 100
Average IQ = 85
Hispanic Americans

59. Environmental Effects
Differences in intelligence among these groups are largely environmental, as if one environment is more fertile in developing these abilities than the other.

60. Reasons Why Environment Affects Intelligence
Races are remarkably alike genetically.
Race is a social category.
Asian students outperform North American students on math achievement and aptitude tests.
Today’s better prepared populations would outperform populations of the 1930s on intelligence tests.
White and black infants tend to score equally well on tests predicting future intelligence.
Different ethnic groups have experienced periods of remarkable achievement in different eras.

61. Gender Similarities and Differences
There are seven ways in which males and females differ in various abilities.
1. Girls are better spellers
2. Girls are verbally fluent and have large vocabularies
3. Girls are better at locating objects
4. Girls are more sensitive to touch, taste, and color
5. Boys outnumber girls in counts of underachievement
6. Boys outperform girls at math problem solving, but under perform at math computation
7. Women detect emotions more easily than men do

62. The Question of Bias
Aptitude tests are necessarily biased in the sense that they are sensitive to performance differences caused by cultural differences.
However, aptitude tests are not biased in the sense that they accurately predict performance of one group over the other.
Preview Question 16: Are intelligence tests inappropriately biased?

63. Test-Takers’ Expectations
A stereotype threat is a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.
This phenomenon appears in some instances in intelligence testing among African-Americans and among women of all colors.