Chapter 7 Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
Cognition
the mental activities involved in acquiring, retaining, and using knowledge 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 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 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 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 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.