examplesCh 7 *No one word answers, please use complete sentences and elaborate with examples

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Essentials of Psychology: Concepts and Applications, 6e Chapter 7: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

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Icebreaker

Each student is asked to reflect upon the following questions to begin thinking about concepts related to thinking, language, and intelligence.

To what extent have you found brainstorming to be useful?

Do you think brainstorming inspires creativity or squelches it? Why?

What are alternative ways to generate novel ideas and solutions?

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Chapter Objectives (1 of 3)

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

07.01 Define thinking.

07.02 Describe several ways in which we represent information in our minds.

07.03 Explain the difference between logical and natural concepts.

07.04 Identify and describe mental strategies we can use to solve problems more effectively.

07.05 Identify and describe mental roadblocks that impede problem solving and decision making.

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Chapter Objectives (2 of 3)

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

07.06 Describe the basic processes of creative thought and explain the difference between divergent and convergent thinking.

07.07 Apply skills of problem solving to become a creative problem solver.

07.08 Identify and describe the basic components of language and the milestones in language development, and describe the roles of nature and nurture in language development.

07.09 Evaluate the linguistic relativity hypothesis and whether language is unique to humans.

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Chapter Objectives (2 of 3)

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

07.10 Define intelligence, identify different tests of intelligence, and evaluate the characteristics of a good test of intelligence.

07.11 Evaluate gender differences in cognitive abilities.

07.12 Describe the characteristics of the two extremes of intelligence and the misuses of intelligence tests.

07.13 Describe the major theories of intelligence and evaluate the roles of heredity and environment in intelligence.

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Module 7.1

Thinking

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Mental Images: In Your Mind’s Eye

Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on processes such as perception, thinking, problem-solving, decision making, and language.

Thinking is the process of mentally representing and manipulating information.

Mental images help us perform various cognitive functions, such as remembering directions and seeking creative solutions to problems.

Think about the route you take when traveling from your home to the grocery store.

What mental images are going through your mind?

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Discussion Activity 1

Top athletes frequently use mental imagery as a means to build on their strengths and reduce their weaknesses.

What are the cognitive processes by which mental imagery results in improved sports performance?

Have you used mental imagery to improve your athletic skills? How did it affect your performance?

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Think-Pair-Share Activity 1

Students pair up and answer the following questions:

Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology that explores processes such as perception, thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and language.

Is “thinking” integral to all of these processes? Why or why not?

Can a person engage in any of these processes without also engaging in thinking? Why or why not?

Student pairs should then share their answers with the class.

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Concepts: What Makes a Bird a Bird?

Concepts are mental categories for classifying events, objects, and ideas on the basis of their common features or properties.

There are two major types of concepts:

Logical concepts are concepts with clearly defined roles for membership.

We know these concepts by a specific set of characteristics they always exhibit, such as what defines basic shapes.

Natural concepts are concepts with poorly defined or fuzzy rules for membership.

For example, what makes a fruit a fruit? Is a pumpkin a fruit?

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Knowledge Check Activity 1

Which of the following is an example of a logical concept?

Dogs

Vegetables

Snow

Triangle

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Knowledge Check Activity 1: Answer

Which of the following is an example of a logical concept?

Answer: d. Triangle

The concept “triangle” is used to describe any three-sided form or figure. Dogs, vegetables, and snow are all examples of natural concepts, as they all are poorly defined concepts. For example, the concept of ”vegetable” includes items such as green beans, carrots, beetroot, and lettuce, which are dissimilar in color, shape, texture, and size.

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Problem Solving: Applying Mental Strategies to Solving Problems

Problem solving is a form of thinking focused on finding a solution to a particular problem.

Strategies for problem solving include trial-and-error, insight, algorithms, and heuristics.

An algorithm is a step-by-step set of rules that will always lead to a correct solution to a problem.

Mathematical formulas are examples of algorithms.

A heuristic is a rule of thumb for solving problems or making decisions.

Heuristics do not guarantee a solution, but may help you make a decision more quickly.

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Mental Roadblocks to Problem Solving

We have a tendency to rely on strategies that previously worked well in similar situations, which is called a mental set.

While a mental set can aid in reaching an appropriate solution more quickly, it can also impede problem-solving when the new situation requires a different solution.

Another barrier to problem-solving is functional fixedness, the tendency to perceive objects as limited to the customary functions they serve.

We also tend to allow irrelevant information to distract our attention from the relevant information needed to solve a problem.

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Why It Matters: Mental Roadblocks in Decision Making (1 of 2)

We are constantly making decisions, whether they are simple everyday ones such as what to wear, or important life decisions such as what to major in.

Decision making is a form of problem solving in which we must select a course of action from among the available alternatives.

Our decision making is often influenced by underlying cognitive biases.

For example, the confirmation bias is the tendency to stick with an initial hypothesis despite strong evidence to the contrary.

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Why It Matters: Mental Roadblocks in Decision Making (2 of 2)

Heuristics can help us solve problems but they can also lead to bad decisions.

The representative heuristic is a rule of thumb for making a judgement that assumes a given sample is representative of the larger population from which it is drawn.

For example, we may assume an individual dressed in unconventional clothes with facial piercings to be an artist rather than an accountant.

The availability heuristic is the tendency to judge events as more likely to occur when information pertaining to them comes readily to mind.

We might purchase a particular brand of ice cream because we recall seeing it advertised.

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Discussion Activity 2

News outlets provide information – even the same news – differently from each other, frequently using sensational headlines and images.

People tend to read news or social media posts that align with their perspectives.

What are implications of this confirmation bias?

What are ways that confirmation bias can be mitigated?

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Creativity: Are You Tapping Your Creative Potential? (1 of 2)

Creativity refers to originality of thought associated with the development of new, workable products or solutions to problems.

We all have the ability to think creatively.

Creativity can be measured via divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is the ability to conceive of new ways of viewing situations and new uses for familiar objects.

Conversely, convergent thinking is the attempt to narrow down a range of alternatives to ‘converge’ on the one correct answer to a problem.

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Creativity: Are You Tapping Your Creative Potential? (2 of 2)

When we think creatively we use several cognitive processes:

Mental imaging, the forming of mental representations of objects or events.

Concept formation, the grouping of objects, events, and ideas on the basis of their common features.

Problem-solving, the process of arriving at a solution to a given problem.

Decision making, the process of deciding which of two or more courses of action to take.

Creativity, the generation of novel, workable products or ideas. Creativity involves the use of analogy, conceptual combination, and conceptual expansion.

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Discussion Activity 3

Students should form groups of 4-5.

Each group is provided the following materials: a piece of string several meters long, scissors, paper bucket, piece of cloth, rock, spoon, duct tape, and a plastic bottle filled with water.

Each group should spend 20 minutes making as many things as they can using the materials provided. They don’t have to use all of the materials, just what is needed.

Each group should then select the most interesting designs for presentation and state why they thought their design was interesting.

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Discussion Activity 3: Debrief

What approach did you use to come up with ideas on how to use the objects?

Did you observe a difference in contribution by team members in terms of divergent and convergent thinking?

Which process did you find more difficult, divergent or convergent thinking? Why?

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Written Assignment Activity 1

Why do you think some people are better at solving problems than others?

Do you think this a learned skill, or are some people just more talented in this area?

What types of mental strategies do you think people who are good at solving problems tend to use? Why?

How can you improve your own problem-solving abilities?

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Module 7.2

Language

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Components of Language

Language refers to a system of communication consisting of symbols arranged according to a set of rules, called grammar, to express meaning.

Language consists of four basic components:

Phonemes, the basic units of sound in a spoken language.

Morphemes, the smallest units of meaning in a language; phonemes are combined to form morphemes.

Syntax, the rules of grammar that determine how words are ordered within sentences and phrases to form meaningful expressions.

Semantics, the set of rules governing the meaning of words.

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Language Development

Language development appears to be universal: children all over the world develop language in basically the same stages, which unfold at similar ages.

Noam Chomsky proposed humans have an innate, prewired mechanism in the brain that allows children to acquire language naturally. Chomsky called this concept the language acquisition device.

This is an abstract concept of how language centers in the brain work, not an actual structure in the brain.

While this does not explain the mechanisms by which language is produced, scientists are identifying specialized neural networks responsible for speech and language processing.

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Culture and Language: Does the Language We Use Determine How We Think?

The linguistic relativity hypothesis (or Whorfian hypothesis ) proposes that the language we use determines how we think and how we perceive the world.

Some cultures have many different words for colors, while other cultures have only a few words. Yet, people have the capacity to recognize colors regardless of differences in the words they use to describe them.

Overall, the linguistic relativity hypothesis is a controversial viewpoint and has not been supported by scientific evidence.

However, a weaker version of this hypothesis proposes that the culture in which we are raised and the language we use are important influences that shape how we think and perceive the world.

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Written Assignment Activity 2

Assume you overheard a parent tell their young child “That’s right. That’s a dog.”

To what extent is reinforcement, like praise, important in learning language?

Do you think language acquisition can be explained by behaviorist theories? Why or why not?

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Discussion Activity 4

Suppose you are adopting a child who has been raised in a large group facility and as a result, has had very little interaction with adults other than essential care such as feeding. The child is now 4 years old and has very limited language skills but is believed to have normal intelligence.

What are steps you can do to help your child acquire language?

Do you think the child will be able to catch up with their language abilities? Why or why not?

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Is Language Unique to Humans?

Whether apes can acquire and use language is controversial.

Koko, a gorilla, and Washoe, a chimpanzee, were trained to use American Sign Language to communicate with researchers.

Psychologist David Premack developed an artificial language in which plastic chips of different sizes, colors, and shapes symbolized different words. He trained a chimpanzee named Sarah to use these chips to communicate with researchers.

However, critics claim that these apes only learn to imitate gestures and other responses for which they were reinforced and did not learn complex syntax of a true language.

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Discussion Activity 5

Chaser is a border collie that “knows” 1,000 words. Chaser’s owner, a psychologist, claims that he understands language, as evidenced by Chaser’s ability to understand novel linguistic stimuli, such as the names of unknown toys. Critics state the Chaser has been conditioned or trained to discriminate certain sounds.

Does Chaser understand language? Why or why not?

What are key differences between human communication and that of other animals, such as dogs and nonhuman primates?

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Module 7.3

Intelligence

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What Is Intelligence?

Though psychologists define intelligence in different ways, a widely used and accepted definition holds that intelligence is the capacity to think and reason clearly and to act purposefully and effectively in adapting to the environment and pursuing one’s goals.

Some psychologists believe there are many different forms of intelligence, perhaps even multiple intelligences.

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Discussion Activity 6

What is intelligence?

What definition of intelligence makes the most sense for primary and secondary schools to use? Why?

Which tests of intelligence would be most useful for universities to consider when making admissions decisions? Why?

What definition of intelligence makes the most sense for the work environment? Why?

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Think-Pair-Share Activity 2

Students pair up and answer the following questions:

Suppose you suddenly found yourself on the streets in a nation where the culture and language were unfamiliar to you. You know no one and do not have access to any resources, such as your smart phone.

How will your intelligence help you navigate and survive?

What type of intelligence do you think will be most useful to you in this situation? Why?

Student pairs should then share their answers with the class.

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How Is Intelligence Measured? (1 of 2)

One measure of intelligence is the intelligence quotient (IQ), which is based on performance on tests of mental abilities, expressed as a ratio between one’s mental age and chronological age or derived from the norms for those of one’s age group.

Mental age is a representation of a person’s intelligence based on the age of people who are capable of performing at the same level of ability.

The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale is commonly used to measure intelligence in children and young adults.

The most widely used intelligence test in the United States and Canada is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. The Wechsler scales introduced the concept of deviation IQ – an IQ score based on the deviation of a person’s test score from the norms for the person’s age group.

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How Is Intelligence Measured? (2 of 2)

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What Are the Characteristics of a Good Test of Intelligence? (1 of 2)

Tests of intelligence must be standardized, reliable, and valid.

Standardization is the process of establishing norms for a test by administering the test to large numbers of people who constitute a standardization sample.

The average (mean) IQ score is 100, plus or minus 15 points.

Reliability is the stability of test scores over time.

An individual should receive a similar IQ score when the test is repeated.

Validity is the degree to which a test measures what it purports to measure.

Predictive validity is the degree to which test scores accurately predict future behavior or performance.

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What Are the Characteristics of a Good Test of Intelligence? (2 of 2)

Intelligence tests can be misused by teachers and parents, if they set low expectations for children who receive low IQ scores.

Misuse also occurs when too much emphasis is placed on IQ scores. While IQ scores do predict future performance, they are not perfect predictors.

Intelligence tests may be biased against children who are not part of the White majority culture.

In response, several culture-fair tests have been developed, which are designed to eliminate cultural biases. However, these are not widely used, largely because they do not predict academic performance as well as standard IQ tests.

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Gender Differences in Cognitive Abilities (1 of 2)

On average, girls outperform boys on some verbal skills, such as reading, writing and spelling.

Boys typically perform better on some visual-spatial tasks, such as map reading and mental rotation of three-dimensional images.

However, the gender differences in cognitive abilities tend to be rather small in magnitude.

Boys are more likely to have problems in reading, including dyslexia.

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Gender Differences in Cognitive Abilities (2 of 2)

Traditionally, boys have performed better in math. This gender gap has narrowed in recent years, such that there is now essentially no difference in math performance between boys and girls on standardized tests, and little difference in math grades in school.

The narrowing of gender differences in math and science in recent years supports the influence of cultural and social factors on expectations and performance.

In all likelihood, both biological and psychosocial factors account for gender differences in cognitive abilities.

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Written Assignment Activity 3

How might public education be restructured to encourage full intellectual development for all children?

How could evaluation be changed to reflect broader definitions of intelligence?

What do you think would be the consequence of such restructuring?

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Extremes of Intelligence: Intellectual Disability and Giftedness (1 of 2)

Intellectual disability refers to a generalized deficit or impairment in intellectual skills and adaptive functioning.

Most people with intellectual disability are able to acquire basic reading and arithmetic skills and can learn to function relatively independently and perform productive work.

Many children with intellectual disability are taught in a regular classroom environment, a process called mainstreaming.

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Extremes of Intelligence: Intellectual Disability and Giftedness (2 of 2)

People with IQ scores of 130 are greater are generally classified as intellectually gifted.

Children may benefit from enriched educational programs that allow them to progress at a faster pace than standard programs.

Today, the concept of giftedness includes children with high IQ scores but also those with special talents, such as musical or artistic ability.

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Discussion Activity 7

How would you define “gifted?”

Why are such definitions important?

What are the negative consequences of defining intelligence and giftedness?

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Theories of Intelligence (1 of 6)

Does intelligence consist of one general ability or a cluster of different abilities?

Psychologists have been debating the nature of intelligence ever since intelligence tests were first introduced.

The major theories of intelligence are:

Spearman’s concept of general intelligence

Thurstone’s primary mental abilities

Gardner’s model of multiple intelligences

Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence

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Theories of Intelligence (2 of 6)

British psychologist Charles Spearman observed that people who scored well on one test of mental ability tended to score well on other tests.

He reasoned there was an underlying general factor of intelligence, which he labeled “g” for general intelligence.

The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler scales were developed to measure Spearman’s concept of general intelligence.

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Theories of Intelligence (3 of 6)

Psychologist Louis L. Thurstone’s research led him to conclude there were seven primary mental abilities:

Verbal comprehension

Numerical ability

Memory

Inductive reasoning

Perceptual speed

Verbal fluency

Spatial relations

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Theories of Intelligence (4 of 6)

Psychologist Howard Gardner believes there are different types of intelligence, termed multiple intelligences, that vary from person to person.

This model has had tremendous influence, especially in educational settings.

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Theories of Intelligence (5 of 6)

Psychologist Robert Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence focuses on how we bring together the analytic, creative, and practical aspects of our intelligence to solve the range of problems we face in everyday situations.

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Theories of Intelligence (6 of 6)

A review of evidence of cognitive abilities of people from several cultures suggests that a general factor of intelligence or “g” is likely a universal human phenomenon.

Human intelligence clearly consists of multiple abilities.

We need to account for cultural contexts in which intelligent behavior occurs.

The abilities a society values determine how intelligence is defined and measured.

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Discussion Activity 8

An organization called the Repository for Germinal Choice in Escondido, California served as a sperm bank for Nobel Prize winners and others possessing high IQ. Dozens of babies reportedly were produced by artificial insemination from the sperm bank.

Do you regard this as wise or unwise, ethical or unethical, inspired or foolish?

What contributions do heredity and environment have on intelligence?

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Self-Assessment (1 of 2)

Can you define thinking and describe the field of cognitive psychology?

What are ways that people represent information in their minds?

Can you distinguish between logical concepts and natural concepts?

What are problem solving strategies that people use?

How do mental roadblocks impair problem solving?

Can you distinguish between convergent and divergent thinking, and give an example of each?

What steps can you take to become to creative problem solver?

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Self-Assessment (2 of 2)

What are the components of language? What is the typical timeline of language development?

Can you identify the key characteristics that differentiate the communication systems of humans and other animals?

What are the various definitions of intelligence? What are the characteristics of a good intelligence test?

Can you identify the gender differences in cognitive abilities and describe the factors contributing to these differences?

What are the implications of the identifying two extremes of intelligence scores?

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Summary (1 of 4)

Now that the lesson has ended, you should have learned how to:

Define thinking.

Describe several ways in which we represent information in our minds.

Explain the difference between logical and natural concepts.

Identify and describe mental strategies we can use to solve problems more effectively.

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Summary (2 of 4)

Now that the lesson has ended, you should have learned how to:

Identify and describe mental roadblocks that impede problem solving and decision making.

Describe the basic processes of creative thought and explain the difference between divergent and convergent thinking.

Apply skills of problem solving to become a creative problem solver.

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Summary (3 of 4)

Now that the lesson has ended, you should have learned how to:

Identify and describe the basic components of language and the milestones in language development, and describe the roles of nature and nurture in language development.

Evaluate the linguistic relativity hypothesis and whether language is unique to humans.

Define intelligence, identify different tests of intelligence, and evaluate the characteristics of a good test of intelligence.

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Summary (4 of 4)

Now that the lesson has ended, you should have learned how to:

Evaluate gender differences in cognitive abilities.

Describe the characteristics of the two extremes of intelligence and the misuses of intelligence tests.

Describe the major theories of intelligence and evaluate the roles o f heredity and environment in intelligence.

examplesCh 7 *No one word answers, please use complete sentences and elaborate with examples

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