1. Thinking, Language & Intelligence Cognition – the mental activities of acquiring, storing, retrieving, and using knowledge Cognitive Psychology – Seeks to study how people think, problem solve, make decisions, communicate, understand concepts and access memory

2. Components of Thinking - Concepts w Concepts Definition: A mental grouping of similar objects, people, events, etc. Function: Help us to order our world into categories and communicate with fewer words Artificial Concepts: created from logical rules or definitions like “triangle” Prototypes: Our best/most typical ex. of a concept Ex: concept: dogprototype: your Poodle (the image that pops into your head when you think of “dog”) Hierarchies: Some of our concepts develop when we create hierarchies…categories and subcategories

3. Make a hierarchy of food w Examples of hierarchies: w Cab drivers organize their cities into geographical sectors, then are subdivided into neighborhoods, and then into blocks, and again into streets. w Animals page 396, domesticated/ wild, dogs and cats…or mammals/ reptiles/ amphibians/ birds/ fish/ insects/invertebrates

4. Components of Thinking - Problem Solving Trial and Error: Trying one solution after another in no particular order Ex: Thomas Edison – light bulb, it would not be a good idea to use trial and error on diffusing a bomb or performing an operation on a patient. Insights: Sometimes answer just comes to us out of nowhere when we are not focusing hard on it “Aha!” experience Ex: Coming up with a jumbled word ITIGKHNN Ex: a young robin in a thirty foot hole Ex: crab, pine, sauce Insight can be identified in the brain in the right temporal lobe above the ear. The maker doesn’t want it, the buyer doesn’t use it, and the user doesn’t see it. What is it? (Watch video clips)

5. Other insight problems to solve… you just me What does the phrase mean? Hint: What is the relative position of “just”? stood well view What do the words communicate? Hint: “Stood” is above “well” and both words are above “view”

6. Components of Thinking - Problem Solving Algorithm: A systematic procedure that guarantees a solution, although it may take longer than a Heuristic approach. -Like a recipe to solve something - 2 x 4 = 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 - well suited to computers Think of examples of algorithms you use in your daily life. Heuristics: Using a rule of thumb strategy to problem solve and make decisions. -Often comes from our past experiences and personal judgments. -Usually quicker, but more error-prone, than algorithms. -Sometimes called “mental shortcuts” Ex: If you are having difficulty understanding a problem, try drawing a picture. If you can't find a solution, try assuming that you have a solution and seeing what you can derive from that ("working backward"). If the problem is abstract, try examining a concrete example.

7. Decision Making Definition: The process of choosing among a number of alternatives w Representativeness Heuristic – When we make a decision based on how much a new situation or object resembles our old prototypes w (Ex: tall man NBA player not bank president) What is the most likely sequence for the next 6 babies born in the U.S. (b=boy, g=girl) 1) BBBBBB 2) BBBGGG 3)GBBGGB A professor likes to write poetry is rather shy, and is small in stature. Which of the following is his field? 1) Chinese studies 2) Psychology

8. Answers: w Correct mathematical probability theory says #1 because there are slightly more boys than girls born in the US. However, 1 2 and 3 are about equal in probability. The reason why people would lean towards #3 is because it looks like it is random distribution. Most people know that the gender of a child is random. w Correct answer would be Psychologists, based on the fact that the total number of psychologist is greater than the total number of people in the field of Chinese studies. Therefore, one could expect many psychologists to express these characteristics. We often ignore the total number of occurrences (base rate) in a population when making these kinds of decisions.

9. Decision Making w Availability Heuristic – When we base a decision on what we have most available in our memory. Things that come to mind are presumed to be more common. Which of the following do more people die of: Motor Vehicle Accidents or Stroke Which of the following do more people die of: Homicide or Diabetes Are there more words that begin with the letter "r" or that have "r" as the third letter?

10. Answers: w Correct answer: Stroke. Although motor vehicle accidents are more widely publicized and we encounter them more in every day life (for example on the side of the road on our way to work or school), these accident's are rarely fatal. Strokes are less publicized (found in the obituary section) and account for more deaths in the US. w Correct answer: Diabetes. For the same reasons as the previous example: people are more drawn to choosing homicide. Homicide is more frequently portrayed in TV dramas. w Correct answer is R as the third letter. Because it is easier for us to list off words which start with "R" than have "R" as the third letter, we are more susceptible to choose what is readily available to us.

11. Errors Made in Problem Solving w Fixation- the inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. w Two examples of fixations is functional fixedness and mental set. w Functional Fixedness: The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions, an impediment to problem solving. EX: People typically see a pen as only used for writing. A pen could also be used to pull ones hair into a bun. Ex: Popcorn, besides its tradition use as food, popcorn could be used to fill a box to put a vase in to protect the vase from breaking. Ex: Need a flashlight? Use your cell phone. Ex: Someone who does not show functional fixedness is a robber who uses women’s hosiery placed over his head to distort his facial features w If one can escape functional fixedness they will be a better problem solver. w Activities

12. Mental Set: When people continue to use problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past rather than trying new ones Ex: if you want to enter a room, as a result you may try to push and/or pull the door to open it. Q1:There are six eggs, six people take one of the eggs each. How is it that one will still be left in the basket? Q2: What occurs in June and twice in August? Ex: NASA

13. Faulty Decision Making Confirmation Bias – A tendency to seek out information that confirms our previously held beliefs Ex: An employer who believes that a job applicant is highly intelligent may pay attention to only information that is consistent with the belief that the job applicant is highly intelligent What are some other examples of confirmation bias? Belief Bias: the tendency for our beliefs to distort our logic. Belief Perseverance – The tendency to hold onto our belief even in the face of evidence against our belief…our beliefs distort our logic Ex: If Carl is a believer in herbal nutritional supplements, he may willingly accept research that supports their benefits while ignoring or rejecting research that disproves their benefits.

14. Overconfidence – The tendency to be more confident than correct- to overestimate the accuracy of one’ beliefs and judgments Ex: Stockbrokers and investment managers market their services with confidence that they can outperform the market average in picking stocks, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Framing Decisions – The way we are presented the information needed for making the decision can impact what we decide Ex: coat for $100 or same coat for $150 at 33% off Ex: 75% lean or 25% fat

15. Visualize Yourself Studying The effects of mental practice on skilled motor performance. Many athletes mentally ski their slalom course, make their free throws, or execute their gymnastic routine. Might there also be payoffs to mentally simulating successful academic performance? In 1998 UCLA researchers explored the surprising benefits derived by mentally simulating how one might achieve a goal. Study: Engaged intro psych students who would be taking a midterm exam in five to seven days. One group ½ told to imagine a positive outcome (visualizing themselves scanning the posted grade list, seeing their A, beaming with joy, feeling confident, feeling proud) and to repeat this "outcome simulation" for five minutes each day before the exam. ½ were controls and did nothing differently ***This had little effect, adding only two points to exam scores compared to control subjects not engaged in mental simulation. Second group ½ instructed to imagine themselves studying in a way that would lead to an A (visualizing themselves studying the chapters, going over notes, eliminating distractions, declining an offer to go out). Were also told to repeat this "process simulation" for five minutes each day. ½ were controls and did nothing differently ***Compared to the control students, these students began studying earlier, spent more hours studying, and beat the control group exam average by nearly eight points. Based on this and other experiments, they conclude that it is better to spend your fantasy time planning how to get there than it is to dwell on the destination.

16. English is difficult! w A farm can produce produce. w The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. w The present is a good time to present the present. w At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum. w The dove dove into the bushes. w I did not object to the object. w The insurance for the invalid was invalid. w The bandage was wound around the wound.  They were too close to the door to close it.

17. Language and the Brain w As a child grows, his/her language develops. Usually, understanding language occurs before the production of language. Wernicke’s Area understand speech Broca’s Area produce speech

18. Language Development (Year One) w Infant – Crying w 4 to 6 months – Babbling ex: ah-goo (sounds present in all languages) phonemes w 10 months – Babbling (narrow to sounds reflected back to them) w 1 year – One-word stage – Use sounds to communicate ex: ma, da, or doggie Overextension: Applying a word to a wide variety of similar items (Ex: using “horse” to refer to any four-legged animal) Underextension: Using a word to define only one object as though it were a proper name (Ex: using “bird” to refer to only the child’s pet and not to wild birds in the yard or other winged creatures) Overgeneralization- Misuse of rules “goed” “sheeps”

19. Language Development (Past 1st Year) w 18-24 months – Two-word stage (telegraphic speech) contains mostly nouns and verbs ex: want juice, they are capable of following rules of syntax the, ex: use adjectives before nouns big doggy w 2 years old – Capable of relating past and present w 3 years old – Uses simple sentence structure and can tell a simple story w 4 years old – Five-word sentences are characteristic of this age group w 5 years old – Capable of complex syntax

20. Parts of Language w Phonemes: Smallest unit of sound that can be understood as part of a language (40 in English) - Ex: The m of mat, the b of boy, or the ch in church w Morphemes: Smallest unit of sound that conveys a meaning in a language. Can be individual or combinations of phonemes - Ex: Unit consisting of a word, such as man - Ex: A word element, such as -ed in walked - Ex: Phoneme such as I ** cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts** w Grammar: Set of rules that enables us to use our language Semantics – Refers to aspects of meaning assigned to language (Ex: adding “ed” means it happened in the past) Syntax – The system of rules we use to string words together into proper sentences (Ex: adjectives come before nouns)

21. Pic: Units of Language

22. Theories of Language Acquisition w Skinner – Learned through association, reinforcement and social imitation w Chomsky – Believed that language acquisition is innate from his observations that children create sentences they have never heard before and learning is too rapid to be explained solely by learning principles *Possibly a combination of the two

23. Language Acquisition as we get older…

24. Thinking and Language Whorf’s Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis Definition: Word order and word choice can affect our thinking “Language itself shapes man’s basic ideas” Examples - English has many words for self-focused emotions such as anger - Japanese have many words for interpersonal emotions such as sympathy - Bilinguals may show different personalities when taking the same personality test in their two languages

25. English is difficult! There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England. Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. If you have a bunch of odds & ends and get rid of all but one, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Why do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on. If Dad is Pop, how come mom isn't Mop?

26. Intelligence w Definition: is the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations w Intelligence is a socially constructed concept. w IQ: intelligence quotient, mental age (chronological age typical of a given level of performance) / chronological age x 100 designed by Binet and Simon w Factor Analysis: identify clusters of test items that measure a common ability Ex: vocabulary items and paragraph comprehension or spatial abilities and reasoning ability

27. Kinds of Intelligence w Spearman - “g” and “s” “g”-general intelligence factor underlies specific mental abilities therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test “s”-specific abilities Thurstone- primary abilities (word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and memory)

28. Kinds of Intelligence w Howard Gardner - Theory of Multiple Intelligences He believed that intelligence could be broken down into eight categories: Savant Syndrome: a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill Ex: computation, drawing, or musical memory

29. Kinds of Intelligence w Sternberg - Triarchic Theory He believed that intelligence could be broken down into three categories creative intelligence-ability to solve problems with novel solutions practical intelligence-”common sense” analytical intelligence-ability to analyze a problem into its integral components

30. Kinds of Intelligence w Social Intelligence: the know how involved in comprehending social situations and managing oneself successfully w Emotional Intelligence: the ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions w Creativity: the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable (intrinsic motivation)

31. Kinds of Intelligence Raymond Cattell w Fluid Intelligence: innate, inherited intelligence including reasoning and problem solving abilities, memory, and speed of info-processing - relatively independent of education - tend to decline with age w Crystallized Intelligence: specific knowledge and skills gained through experience & education - tend to increase over life span

32. History of Intelligence Testing w Binet French Government Mental age Fear test would be abused w Terman (Stanford-Binet Scale) revised the Binet scale created the term IQ “IQ” determined by taking: MA/CA x 100 Extended the test to also assess IQ in adults The normal distribution of intelligence scores w Wechsler Developed a more accurate test for adults First to use standard deviation, bell curve Examples of some of the test developed by Wechsler include Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

33. WAIS Subtests

35. Types & Characteristics of Tests Types w Aptitude: person’s capability (intended to predict ability to learn a new skill) w Achievement: person’s knowledge of subject Characteristics w Validity: the extent to which the test actually measures and predicts what it promises w Reliability: the ability of the test to measure a construct with consistency w Standardization: the use of reference scores for interpreting an individual’s performance compared pretested sample of people