This document provides an overview of key concepts related to thinking, language, and intelligence from Myers' Exploring Psychology textbook. It discusses topics such as cognition, problem solving, decision making, concepts and categorization, algorithms versus heuristics, language development in infants and children, intelligence testing, assessing intelligence with tests, the influence of genes and environment on intelligence, and group differences in intelligence.

1. Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (6th Ed) Chapter 9 Thinking, Language, and Intelligence James A. McCubbin, PhD Clemson University Worth Publishers

2. Thinking Cognition mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating Cognitive Psychologists study these mental activities concept formation problem solving decision making judgment formation

3. Thinking Concept mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people Prototype mental image or best example of a category matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)

4. Thinking Algorithm methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem contrasts with the usually speedier–but also more error-prone--use of heuristics

5. Thinking Heuristic simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently usually speedier than algorithms more error-prone than algorithms

6. Thinking Unscramble S P L O Y O C H Y G Algorithm all 907,208 combinations Heuristic throw out all YY combinations other heuristics?

7. Thinking Insight sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem contrasts with strategy-based solutions Confirmation Bias tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions Fixation inability to see a problem from a new perspective impediment to problem solving

8. The Matchstick Problem How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?

9. The Candle-Mounting Problem Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

10. Thinking Functional Fixedness tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions impediment to problem solving

11. The Matchstick Problem Solution to the matchstick problem

12. The Candle-Mounting Problem Solving this problem requires recognizing that a box need not always serve as a container

13. Heuristics Representativeness Heuristic judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes may lead one to ignore other relevant information

14. Heuristics Availability Heuristic estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common Example: airplane crash

15. Thinking Overconfidence tendency to be more confident than correct tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments

16. Thinking Framing the way an issue is posed how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments Example: What is the best way to market ground beef--as 25% fat or 75% lean? Belief Perseverance clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

17. Language Language our spoken, written, or gestured works and the way we combine them to communicate meaning

18. Language We are all born to recognize speech sounds from all the world’s languages 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Percentage able to discriminate Hindi t’s Hindi- speaking adults 6-8 months 8-10 months 10-12 months English- speaking adults Infants from English-speaking homes

19. Language Babbling Stage beginning at 3 to 4 months the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language One-Word Stage from about age 1 to 2 the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words

20. Language Two-Word Stage beginning about age 2 the stage in speech development during which a child speaks in mostly two-word statements Telegraphic Speech early speech stage in which the child speaks like a telegram-–“go car”--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting “auxiliary” words

21. Language Summary of Language Development Month (approximate) Stage 4 10 12 24 24+ Babbles many speech sounds. Babbling reveals households language. One-word stage. Two-world, telegraphic speech. Language develops rapidly into complete sentences.

22. Language Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience activates them as it modifies the brain

23. Language New language learning gets harder with age 100 90 80 70 60 50 Native 3-7 8-10 11-15 17-39 Percentage correct on grammar test Age at school

24. Language Linguistic Determinism Whorf”s hypothesis that language determines the way we think

25. Language The interplay of thought and language

26. Animal Thinking and Language Gestured Communication

27. Animal Thinking and Language Is this really language?

28. Origins of Intelligence Testing Intelligence ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

29. Origins of Intelligence Testing Mental Age a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8

30. Origins of Intelligence Testing Stanford-Binet the widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test revised by Terman at Stanford University

31. Origins of Intelligence Testing Intelligence Quotient (IQ) defined originally the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 IQ = ma/ca x 100 on contemporary tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

32. What is Intelligence? Factor Analysis statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one’s total score General Intelligence (g) factor that Spearman and others believed underlies specific mental abilities measured by every task on an intelligence test

33. Are There Multiple Intelligences? Savant Syndrome condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill computation drawing

34. Are There Multiple Intelligences? Social Intelligence the know-how involved in comprehending social situations and managing oneself successfully Emotional Intelligence ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions

35. Intelligence and Creativity Creativity the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas expertise imaginative thinking skills venturesome personality intrinsic motivation creative environment

36. Assessing Intelligence Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) most widely used intelligence test subtests verbal performance (nonverbal)

37. Assessing Intelligence Aptitude Test a test designed to predict a person’s future performance aptitude is the capacity to learn Achievement Test a test designed to assess what a person has learned

38. Assessing Intelligence Standardization defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested “standardization group” Normal Curve the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes

39. The Normal Curve

40. Assessing Intelligence Reliability the extent to which a test yields consistent results assessed by consistency of scores on: two halves of the test alternate forms of the test retesting Validity the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

41. Assessing Intelligence Content Validity the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest driving test that samples driving tasks Criterion behavior (such as college grades) that a test (such as the SAT) is designed to predict the measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity

42. Assessing Intelligence Predictive Validity success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior also called criterion-related validity

43. The Dynamics of Intelligence Mental Retardation a condition of limited mental ability indicated by an intelligence score below 70 produces difficulty in adapting to the demands of life varies from mild to profound Down Syndrome retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup

44. The Dynamics of Intelligence

45. Genetic Influences The most genetically similar people have the most similar scores

46. Genetic Influences Heritability the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes variability depends on range of populations and environments studied

47. Genetic Influences

48. Environmental Influences The Schooling Effect

49. Group Differences The Mental Rotation Test Which two of the other circles contain a configuration of blocks identical to the one in the circle at the left? Standard Responses

50. Group Differences Stereotype Threat A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype