Thinking, Language, and Intelligence KNOW SOME TERMS Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

Cognition

the mental activities involved in acquiring, retaining, and using knowledge

Thinking

The manipulation of mental representations of information in order to draw inferences and conclusions

Mental Image

A mental representation of objects or events that are not physically present

Concept

A mental category that is formed by learning the rules or features that define it

Natural Concept

A mental category that is formed as a result of everyday experience

Prototype

The most typical instance of a particular concept

Problem solving

Thinking and behavior directed toward attaining a goal that is not readily available

Trial and Error

A problem-solving strategy that involves attempting different solutions and eliminating those that do not work

Algorithm

A problem- solving strategy that involves following a specific rule, procedure, or method that inevitably produces the correct solution

Heuristic

A problem-solving strategy that involves following a general rule of thumb to reduce the number of possible solution

Insight

The sudden realization of how problem can be solved

Intuition

Coming to a conclusion or making a judgment without conscious awareness of the thought in their usual or customary way

Functional Fixedness

The tendency to view objects as functioning only in their usual or customary way

Mental set

The tendency to persist in solving problems with solutions that have worked in the past

Availability heuristic

A strategy in which the likelihood of an event is estimated on the basis of how readily available other instances of the even are in memory

Representativeness heuristic

A strategy in which the likelihood of an event is estimated by comparing how similar it is to the prototype

Language

A system for combining arbitrary symbols to produce an infinite number of meaningful statements

Linguistic relativity Hypothesis

The notion that differences among languages cause differences in the thoughts of their speakers

Animal Cognition

The study of animal learning, memory, thinking, and language

Intelligence

The global capacity to think rationally, act purposefully, and deal effectively with the environment.

Mental Age

A measurement of intelligence in which an individual’s mental age is expressed in terms of the average abilities of a given age group

Intelligence Quotient

An global measure of intelligence derived by comparing an individual's scores of others in the same age group

Achievement test

A test designed to measure a person’s level of knowledge, skill, or accomplishment in a particular areas

Aptitude Test

A designed to assesses a person’s capacity to benefit from education or training

Standardization

The administration of a test to a large, representative sample of people under uniform conditions for the purpose of establishing norms

Normal Distribution

A bell shaped distribution of individual differences in a normal population in which most scores cluster around the average score

Reliability

The ability of a test to produce consistent results when administered on repeated occasions under similar conditions

Validity

The ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure

G factor or General intelligence

The notion of a general intelligence factor that is responsible for a person’s overall performance on tests of mental ability

Triarchic theory of intelligence

Sternberg’s theory that there are three distinct forms of intelligence; analytic, creative, and practical

Heritability

The percentage of variation within a given population that is due to heredity

Stereotype threat

A psychological predicament in which fear that you will be evaluated in terms of negative stereotype about a group to which you belong creates anxiety and self-doubt, lowering performance in a particular domain that is important to you

People

Alfred Binset

French psychologist who, along with Simon, developed the first widely used intelligence test

Howard Gardner

Contemporary American psychologist whose theory of intelligence states that there is not one intelligence, but multiple independent intelligence

Charles Spearman

British psychologist who advanced the theory that a general intelligence factor, called the g factor, is responsible for overall intellectual functioning

Lewis Terman

American psychologist who translated and adapted the Binet-Simon intelligence test used in the US; he also began a major longitudinal study of the lives of gifted children in 1921

Louis L. Thurstone

American psychologist who advanced the theory that intelligence is composed of several primary mental abilities and cannot accurately described by an overall general or g factor measure

David Wechsler

American psychologist who developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, the most widely used intelligence test.