© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Psychology in Action, Fifth Edition by Karen Huffman, Mark Vernoy, and Judith Vernoy PowerPoint  Lecture Notes Presentation Chapter 7: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence Paul J. Wellman Texas A&M University

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Lecture Overview Thinking Language Intelligence

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Cognition The senses bring information about the external world into the brain –The brain and spinal cord process sensory information Reflexes allow for rapid responding to stimuli Cognitive systems allow for extended processing of stimuli Cognitive mental activities include memory, language, and thought

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Thought Thought involves mental manipulations –Images are mental representations of information Images can represent concrete objects (e.g. duck) –Propositions are verbal descriptions of information; are defined as the smallest unit of knowledge that can be validated as true or false Dual-coding hypothesis: thought involves both images and propositions

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Concept Learning Concepts are mental structures used to categorize information that shares similar characteristics (color, size, function) Theories that explain the learning of new concepts: –Hypothesis-testing argues that people focus on whether various attributes contribute to the concept –Prototype theory argues that people compare unknown items to their mental prototypes

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Problem Solving  Preparation lays the groundwork –Identify given facts –Distinguish relevant from irrelevant facts –Define the ultimate goal  Production involves generating hypotheses –Algorithms will generate a solution –Heuristics are educated guesses  Evaluation asks whether the hypotheses satisfy the problem

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Barriers to Problem Solving Mental blocks for solving new problems include: –Problem-solving set occurs when prior experiences in solving problems lead to an inability to solve future problems (person is stuck using old strategies) –Functional fixedness occurs when a person is unable to recognize a new use for a familiar object

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Water Jar Problems From Luchins, A.S., & Luchins, E.H. / New experimental attempts at preventing mechanization in problem solving / Journal of General Psychology / 1950 / Journal of General Psychology, 42, Page 280, reprinted with permission of the Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation. Published by Heldref Publications, 4000 Albemarie St., NW, Washington, DC Copyright © 1950.

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Creativity Creativity is the ability to originate problem solutions that are unique as well as practical and useful There are many different measures of creativity –Unusual uses –Problem-solving Can creativity be trained?

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Tests of Creativity

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Language Language is a form of communication in which sounds and symbols are combined according to formal rules –Phonemes are the basic speech sounds (English has phonemes) –Morphemes are the smallest meaningful units of language –Grammar provides rules for a language Syntax are the rules for word order in a sentence Pragmatics: matching language to the audience

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Animal Language Attempts to have apes speak have failed –Apes lack appropriate vocal cords –Apes can be trained to use nonvocal language Washoe acquired American Sign Language –Dolphins can respond to hand signals and vocal commands Language in animals is not comparable to human language –Lacks complexity and syntax

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Intelligence Intelligence is a set of cognitive abilities –Single general ability (g) –Multiple cognitive abilities Cattel: two types of intelligence –Fluid: ability to gain new knowledge and solve problems –Crystallized: accumulated knowledge Thurstone proposed that intelligence was a function of seven cognitive abilities Guilford argued for 120 different abilities

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences People vary in their profile of 8 distinct forms of intelligence: Linguistic: related to language Logical-mathematical: related to problem-solving Spatial: related to mental maps Musical: related to musical skills Bodily-Kinesthetic: related to bodily movements Interpersonal: related to social skills Intrapersonal: understanding oneself Naturalistic: being attuned to nature

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Measurement Issues Intelligence tests require –Norms that indicate where in the distribution a score lies (below, at, or above the mean) –Standardized testing procedures –Reliability: consistency of measurement Assessed using test-retest –Validity: assesses what the test actually measures Criterion-related: the correlation between a test score and some criterion.

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Intelligence Tests The Stanford-Binet test was devised in 1916 –Intelligence quotient (IQ) score is defined as the ratio of (mental age to actual age) times 100 The norms for IQ scores: –Mean = 100 –Standard deviation = 16 –68% of persons have an IQ score within one SD of the Mean (84 to 116) IQ scores predict school achievement

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e IQ Issues IQ scores are influenced by –Socioeconomic status: middle class kids do better –Language status: children from the dominant culture do better –Age: IQ scores on timed tests decline with age –Heredity: IQ scores of identical twins raised apart are quite similar

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Statistical Norms for IQ

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Mental Giftedness Gifted are those persons whose IQ score exceeds 140 –Terman’s study of gifted students started with 1,500 children in By 1950, many of these students had achieved much in life –Were more likely to have professional careers –Were more likely to earn more money –Were happier and healthier

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Copyright Copyright 2000 by John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner.