1. Introduction to Psychology Chapter 8 – Thinking, Language, & Intelligence

2. Cognition Cognition: processes of knowing: Includes attention, perception, memory, thinking & problem solving, planning, intelligence, and language Cognitive scientists work in various domains: ◦ Cognitive therapy ◦ Intelligence testing ◦ Linguistics ◦ Neuroscience ◦ Philosophy ◦ Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence)

3. Cognition and Reality Cognition is the collective of mental processes by which we process reality; in philosophy there is controversy as to how we understand to be the world in relation to the actual world ◦ Is what we understand as reality, actually reality? Allegory of the cave (Plato) Metacognition: thinking about thinking

4. Studying Cognitive Processes Studying cognition is incredibly subjective and makes many assumptions ◦ Typically, to study cognition in an organism, language is required  The cognitive abilities of animals and non-verbal humans are typically either underestimated or ignored ◦ The description of mental processes is largely arbitrary, typically likened to computer processing (information processing theory)

5. Research of Cognitive Processes Think-aloud protocol ◦ Participant self-reports mental processes as they occur while solving a problem  Equivalent of “showing your work” on a math problem

6. Creativity Functional Fixedness: the tendency to perceive an item in terms of its most common use Mental set: people persist in using problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past Divergent thinking: the ability to generate unusual but appropriate solutions to a problem ◦ Alternative uses task  How many uses can you think of for a sock? Convergent thinking: the ability to gather together different sources of information to solve a problem ◦ Remotes associations task  How could these items (flower, friend, scout) be related to each other?

7. Types of Reasoning Deductive Reasoning: a conclusion that is intended to follow logically from two or more statements ◦ If A = B and B = C, then A = C ◦ There is logical certainty with deductive reasoning Inductive Reasoning: a conclusion is made about the probability of some state, based on available evidence and past experience ◦ Inductive reasoning relies on probabilities, therefore it can not promise certainty

8. Heuristics Heuristic: cognitive strategies or “rules of thumb” used as mental shortcuts ◦ Availability heuristic: a judgment based on the information readily available in memory  What is more dangerous, flying or driving? ◦ Representativeness heuristic: assigns an object to a category based on a few characteristics regarded as representative of that category  Is a rat a mammal? Is a platypus a mammal? ◦ Anchoring heuristic: an adjustment up or down from an original starting value when judging the probable value of some event or outcome  Price is Right bids

9. Problem solving problems… Gambler’s Fallacy: the belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn’t occurred recently ◦ Flip a coin! Confirmation Bias: the tendency to only seek information that is likely to support one’s decisions and beliefs

10. Language Language: a socially shared code or conventional system for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rule-governed combinations of those symbols (grammar). ◦ Does not matter if the language is verbal, signed (ASL), or symbolic (pictograms) ◦ Additional Criteria: spontaneous and novel use  The Chinese Room Language is processed and stored in Semantic Memory Using this definition, do animals have language?

11. Language Language: a socially shared code or conventional system for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rule-governed combinations of those symbols. ◦ Phonemes: the smallest units of speech sounds – arbitrary combinations of which create words  babbling ◦ Grammar: the system of rules that determine how thoughts are expressed, the basic structure of language

12. Language Development How language is acquired is still debated ◦ Skinner – it’s all conditioning ◦ Chomsky/Pinker – it’s evolved/genetically determined ◦ Problems with both approaches Any infant can learn any language ◦ Infants have a universal sensitivity to any of the world’s languages – this ability quickly diminishes with experience (perceptual narrowing) ◦ Learning language later in life becomes more and more difficult  Feral children (children “raised by wolves”) Linguistic relativity: What language is learned can influence cognition and perception ◦ Number ◦ Color ◦ Group v. Individual

13. Language Development Language development begins in-utero 0-6 months post-partum: babbling 10-13 months: basic word-like combinations of sounds 18 months – two years: vocabulary development ◦ Fast mapping ◦ Overextension ◦ Underextension ◦ Telegraphic speech 3 years +: ◦ Overregularizations ◦ Beginning to use past/future tense ◦ Mental state language

14. Language Development Bilingualism ◦ Infants that co-acquire multiple first languages have many irregularities  May take longer for initial language milestones  Code Switching  Children who co-acquire multiple languages tend to have cognitive benefits long-term, including better ability concerning abstract concepts such as math.  Languages become increasingly harder to acquire the older someone becomes.  Not impossible, just more difficult

15. Language Sophisticated language has been shown to be a pre-requisite for a variety of higher mental processes ◦ Episodic Memory/Episodic Future Thinking ◦ Theory of Mind ◦ Abstract problem solving ◦ Spatial relations ◦ Evidence from  Bilingual Children  Deaf children of hearing parents  Nicaraguan Sign Language study  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjtioIFuNf8 (Maria Noname) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjtioIFuNf8  Animals taught human (or human-ish) language  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utVXZAflESo (Panbanishba) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utVXZAflESo  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTTuiE1_Oe8 (dogs) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTTuiE1_Oe8  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Fpad20Zbk (parrots) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Fpad20Zbk

16. Intelligence "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.“ – Albert Einstein Intelligence: The global capacity to profit from experience and to go beyond given information about the environment When assessing intelligence, it is imperative to consider the organism’s environment and performance compared to conspecifics

17. Intelligence Fluid Intelligence: reflects the ability to reason abstractly, solve puzzles, and think creatively Crystallized Intelligence: the accumulation of information and skills that are learned from previous experiences

18. Intelligence Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence ◦ Logical-Mathematic ◦ Linguistic ◦ Naturalist ◦ Musical ◦ Spatial ◦ Bodily-Kinesthetic ◦ Interpersonal ◦ Intrapersonal ◦ Existential*

19. Intelligence Emotional Intelligence ◦ The ability to perceive, appraise, and express emotions accurately and appropriately ◦ The ability to use emotions to facilitate thinking ◦ The ability to understand and analyze emotions and to use emotional knowledge effectively ◦ The ability to regulate one’s emotions to promote both emotional and intellectual growth ◦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tif4U3OjT2M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tif4U3OjT2M

20. Intelligence Testing Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test ◦ Mental Age: the age at which a child is performing intellectually  Series of puzzles and tasks ◦ Chronological Age: the number of years the child has traveled around the sun ◦ IQ (Intelligence Quotient) = (Mental Age) / (Chronological Age) x 100  Genus kid who goes to college at 10  IQ = (18/10) x 100 = 180  MR adult  IQ (10/30) x 100 = 33

21. The WAIS The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was developed in 1939 ◦ Disagreed with Stanford-Binet test on several issues  Not one IQ, but many sub-domains that are individually assessed  Comparing mental are to actual age biases scores of children v. older adults

22. WAIS (Picture Completion)

24. WAIS (Block Design)

25. WAIS (Matrix Reasoning)

27. WAIS (Digit Symbol Coding)

28. WAIS (Symbol Search: stim)

29. WAIS (Symbol Search: response)

30. Intelligence Intellectual Disability (formerly Mental Retardation): Marked by an IQ score lower than 70  AND Demonstrate functional limitations in the ability to interact with their environment, including: Conceptual Skills  Language  Number Social Skills  Following rules  Avoiding victimization Practical Skills  Health and hygiene  Occupational skills

31. Intelligence “Giftedness” Marked by an IQ over 130  AND Creativity  AND Task Commitment Gifted children may be superior in one domain, but average in others There is disproportionate representation of minorities labeled as gifted Some cultures are more/less likely to be nominated by teachers or get tested Being labeled as “gifted” in childhood and segregated from the general education population may have adverse effects Isolation Perfectionism “underacheivement”

32. Intelligence Twice-ExceptionalSavants Children that have giftedness and disabilities in different domains The gifted domains is often masked by the disability Demonstrate: Creativity Great at problem solving Curiosity Stubbornness Sensitivity/frustration Has an exceptional ability in a single domain (calculations, music) The ability is far greater than even gifted individuals Otherwise has a profound mental disability (MR; Autism) and difficulty functioning