U5 Psychology Class

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Psychology

CHAPTER9

Thinking and

Intelligence

Section

• Thought: Using what we know

– Parallels between mind and machine can be

useful guides to thinking about cognition

because both actively process information by

altering it, organizing it, and using it to make

decisions.

Thought LO9.1 Distinguish between the various elements of cognition, such as concepts,

prototypes, propositions, schemas, and mental images.

• The elements of cognition

– Proposition: A meaningful unit, built of

concepts, expressing a single idea

– Concept: Mental category that groups

objects, relations, activities, abstractions, or

qualities having common properties

– Basic concepts: Have a moderate number of

instances and are easier to acquire

– Prototype: An especially representative

example of a concept

Thought, cont’ LO9.1 Distinguish between the various elements of cognition, such as concepts,

prototypes, propositions, schemas, and mental images.

• The elements of cognition, cont’

– Proposition: A meaningful unit, built of

concepts, expressing a single idea

– Cognitive schema: An integrated mental

network of knowledge, beliefs, and

expectations concerning a particular topic or

aspect of the world.

– Mental image: A mental representation that

mirrors or resembles the thing it represents.

Thought, cont’ LO9.2 Distinguish between the varieties of conscious thought, such as subconscious

thinking, nonconscious thinking, and implicit learning.

• How conscious is thought?

– Subconscious processes

• Mental processes occurring outside of conscious

awareness but accessible to consciousness when

necessary.

– Nonconscious processes

• Mental processes occurring outside of and not

available to conscious awareness.

Thought, cont’ LO9.2 Distinguish between the varieties of conscious thought, such as subconscious

thinking, nonconscious thinking, and implicit learning.

• Types of conscious processes

– Implicit learning

• When you acquire knowledge about something

without being aware of how you did so, and without

being able to state exactly what you have learned.

– Mindlessness: Mental inflexibility, inertia, and

obliviousness in the present context

Thought, cont’ LO9.3 Contrast algorithms and heuristics as problem-solving strategies, and give an

example of each.

• Problem solving and decision making

– Algorithm: A problem-solving strategy

guaranteed to produce a solution even if the

user does not know how it works.

– Heuristic: A rule of thumb that suggests a

course of action or guides problem solving but

does not guarantee an optimal solution.

Reasoning Rationally LO9.4 Discuss the various types of reasoning, such as formal reasoning, informal

reasoning, dialectical reasoning, and stages of reflective judgment.

• Reasoning rationally

– Reasoning: The drawing of conclusions or

inferences from observations, facts, or

assumptions

– Dialectical reasoning: A process in which

opposing facts or ideas are weighed and

compared, with a view to determining the best

solution or resolving differences

Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.4 Discuss the various types of reasoning, such as formal reasoning, informal

reasoning, dialectical reasoning, and stages of reflective judgment.

• Reflective judgment

– Skills

• Question assumptions

• Evaluate and integrate evidence

• Relate evidence to theory or opinion

• Consider alternative interpretations

• Reach defensible conclusions

• Reassess conclusions in face of new evidence

Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.4 Discuss the various types of reasoning, such as formal reasoning, informal

reasoning, dialectical reasoning, and stages of reflective judgment.

• Barriers to reasoning rationally

– Although most people have the capacity

to think logically, reason dialectically,

and make judgments reflectively, it is

clear that they do not always do so.

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally LO9.5 Describe how the affect heuristic and the availability heuristic both illustrate the

tendency to exaggerate the improbable.

• Exaggerating the improbable

– Affect heuristic

• The tendency to consult one’s emotions instead of

estimating probabilities objectively.

– Availability heuristic

• The tendency to judge the probability of a type of

event by how easy it is to think of examples or

instances.

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.6 Explain how the framing effect leads people to avoid loss in probabilistic

judgments.

• Avoiding loss

– Framing effect: The

tendency for people’s

choices to be affected

by how a choice is

presented, or framed,

such as whether it is

worded in terms of

potential losses or

gains.

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.7 Summarize the mechanisms driving the fairness bias, hindsight bias, confirmation

bias, and mental sets, and give an example of each.

The fairness bias

The Ultimatum Game: Your partner gets $10 and must

decide how much to share with you. You can accept

or reject the offer, but if you reject it, neither of you get

any money.

• It is rational to accept any offer: you always end up with

more money if you accept than if you reject the offer.

• In industrial societies, offers of 50% are typical.

• Offers below 20–30% are commonly rejected.

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.7 Summarize the mechanisms driving the fairness bias, hindsight bias, confirmation

bias, and mental sets, and give an example of each.

• The hindsight bias

– The tendency to overestimate one’s ability to

have predicted an event once the outcome is

known.

• The “I knew it all along” phenomenon

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.7 Summarize the mechanisms driving the fairness bias, hindsight bias, confirmation

bias, and mental sets, and give an example of each.

• The confirmation bias

– The tendency to look for

or pay attention only to

information that confirms

one’s own belief.

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.7 Summarize the mechanisms driving the fairness bias, hindsight bias, confirmation

bias, and mental sets, and give an example of each.

The nine-dot problem

• Mentally trace a line to

connect all nine dots.

• Use no more than four

lines.

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.7 Summarize the mechanisms driving the fairness bias, hindsight bias, confirmation

bias, and mental sets, and give an example of each.

• Biases due to mental set

– Mental set

• Tendency to solve problems using

procedures that worked before on similar

problems.

• Mental sets make learning and problem

solving more efficient.

• Not helpful when problem calls for fresh

insights and new methods.

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.8 Explain the process of cognitive dissonance, using an example of someone faced

with the choice of selecting one of two desirable universities to attend.

• The need for cognitive consistency – Cognitive dissonance: A state of tension that occurs

when a person holds two cognitions that are

psychologically inconsistent, or when a person’s

belief is incongruent with his or her behavior.

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.9 Describe three conditions under which feelings of cognitive dissonance are likely to

occur.

You try especially hard to reduce

dissonance…

… when you need to justify a choice or

decision that you made freely

… when you need to justify behavior that

conflicts with your view of yourself

… when you need to justify the effort put

into a decision or choice

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.9 Describe three conditions under which feelings of cognitive dissonance are likely to

occur.

• Justification of effort

– The tendency of people

to increase their liking

for something they have

worked hard for or

suffered to attain

– A common form of

dissonance reduction

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally, cont’ LO9.10 Discuss the conditions under which cognitive biases can be detrimental to

reasoning, and when they might be beneficial.

• Overcoming our cognitive biases

– Sometimes our mental biases are a good

thing: ability to reduce cognitive dissonance

helps us preserve our self-confidence

– Sometimes our mental biases are a bad thing:

people stay stuck with decisions that

eventually prove to be self-defeating, harmful,

or incorrect.

Measuring Intelligence LO9.11 Outline the basic logic underlying factor analysis as a psychometric tool.

• The psychometric approach

– Intelligence: An inferred characteristic of an

individual, usually defined as the ability to

profit from experience, acquire knowledge,

think abstractly, act purposefully, or adapt to

changes in the environment

– g factor: A general intellectual ability

assumed by many theorists to underlie

specific mental abilities and talents

Measuring Intelligence, cont’ LO9.11 Outline the basic logic underlying factor analysis as a psychometric tool.

• Psychometrics

– The measurement of mental abilities, traits,

and processes.

– Factor analysis: A statistical method for

analyzing the intercorrelations among various

measures or test scores; clusters of measures

or scores that are highly correlated are

assumed to measure the same underlying

trait, ability, or aptitude (factor)

Measuring Intelligence, cont’ LO9.12 Summarize the original notion of IQ and some problems associated with it, and

discuss how intelligence tests evolved during the early 1900s.

• The invention of IQ tests

– Binet believed we should measure a child’s

mental age.

– Binet and Simon developed a test which

measured memory, vocabulary, and perceptual

discrimination.

– Mental age was divided by chronological age and

multiplied by 100 to get an intelligence quotient.

– Now IQ scores are derived from norms provided

for standardized intelligence tests.

Measuring Intelligence, cont’ LO9.12 Summarize the original notion of IQ and some problems associated with it, and

discuss how intelligence tests evolved during the early 1900s.

– IQ scores distributed

normally

• Bell-shaped curve

– Very high and very low

scores are rare.

• 68% of people have IQ

scores between 85 and

115.

• 99.7% between 55 and

145

• Expected distribution of IQ scores

Measuring Intelligence, cont’ LO9.12 Summarize the original notion of IQ and some problems associated with it, and

discuss how intelligence tests evolved during the early 1900s.

Wechsler tests performance tasks

Measuring Intelligence, cont’ LO9.12 Summarize the original notion of IQ and some problems associated with it, and

discuss how intelligence tests evolved during the early 1900s.

• Can IQ tests be culture free?

– Attempts to make IQ tests culture fair or culture free

have backfired because different cultures have

different problem-solving strategies.

– Culture affects a person’s…

• Attitude toward exams

• Comfort in settings required for testing

• Motivation

• Rapport with test provider

• Competitiveness

• Ease of independent problem solving

Measuring Intelligence, cont’ LO9.12 Summarize the original notion of IQ and some problems associated with it, and

discuss how intelligence tests evolved during the early 1900s.

• Expectations and IQ

– Scores are affected by expectations for

performance

– Expectations are shaped by stereotypes

– Stereotype threat

• Burden of doubt a person feels about his or her

performance, due to negative stereotypes about his or

her group’s abilities.

• Stereotype threat affects African Americans,

Latinos/Latinas, low-income people, women, and the

elderly.

Measuring Intelligence, cont’ LO9.12 Summarize the original notion of IQ and some problems associated with it, and

discuss how intelligence tests evolved during the early 1900s.

Stereotype threat

Measuring Intelligence, cont’ LO9.12 Summarize the original notion of IQ and some problems associated with it, and

discuss how intelligence tests evolved during the early 1900s.

Critics of standard intelligence tests point

out that such tests tell us little about how

a person goes about answering questions

and solving problems.

Dissecting Intelligence LO9.13 Describe the components of the triarchic theory of intelligence, and provide an

example of the kinds of skills and abilities associated with each.

• Sternberg’s triarchic theory

– Componential (analytic)

• Comparing, analyzing, and evaluating

• This type of process correlates best with IQ

– Experiential (creative)

• Inventing solution to new problems

• Transfer skills to new situations

– Contextual (practical)

• Applying the things you know to everyday contexts

Dissecting Intelligence, cont’ LO9.14 Discuss how concepts such as emotional intelligence broaden our traditional

understanding of the nature of intelligence.

• Domains of intelligence

– Emotional intelligence

• Ability to identify your own and other people’s

emotions accurately

• Ability to express your emotions clearly

• Ability to manage emotions in self and others

• Appears to be biologically based (Damasio, 1994)

Dissecting Intelligence, cont’ LO9.15 Outline how longitudinal studies and cross-cultural studies shed light on the

interplay of motivation, hard work, and intellectual achievement.

• Motivation and intelligence

– Comparing 100 most successful men with 100

least successful, researchers found that

motivation, not IQ, made the difference.

– Motivation to work hard at intellectual tasks

differs as a function of culture.

– American children are as knowledgeable as

Asian children on general skills.

Dissecting Intelligence, cont’ LO9.15 Outline how longitudinal studies and cross-cultural studies shed light on the

interplay of motivation, hard work, and intellectual achievement.

• Grades, IQ, and

self-discipline

Dissecting Intelligence, cont’ LO9.15 Outline how longitudinal studies and cross-cultural studies shed light on the

interplay of motivation, hard work, and intellectual achievement.

• Beliefs about

intelligence

– Asian parents, teachers, and

students are more likely to

believe that math ability comes

from studying.

– Americans are more likely to

view ability as innate.

– American parents had lower

academic standards for kids.

– American children value

education less.

Dissecting Intelligence, cont’ LO9.15 Outline how longitudinal studies and cross-cultural studies shed light on the

interplay of motivation, hard work, and intellectual achievement.

• Animal minds

– Some biologists, psychologists, and

ethologists are convinced that we are not the

only animals with cognitive abilities.

Animal Minds LO9.16 Summarize the evidence both supporting and refuting the concept of animal

intelligence.

• Animal intelligence

– Cognitive ethology

• The study of cognitive processes in

nonhuman animals.

– Studies show that animals can

• Anticipate future events

• Make plans

• Coordinate their activities with those of their

comrades

Animal Minds LO9.16 Summarize the evidence both supporting and refuting the concept of animal

intelligence.

• Theory of mind

– A system of beliefs about…

• the way one’s own mind and the minds of

others work

• how individuals are affected by their beliefs

and feelings

Animal Minds, cont’ LO9.17 Summarize the evidence both supporting and refuting the concept of animal

language use.

• Animals and language

– Language is a critical element in human

cognition. • Many species can be taught to communicate in ways that

resemble language.

• Chimpanzees and bonobos converse with humans using

American Sign Language and symbol board systems.

• An African grey parrot was taught to count, classify, and

compare objects using English words.

– Whether these behaviors are language depends

on definition of “language.”

Animal Minds, cont’ LO9.18 Explain why both anthropomorphism and anthropodenial are unwise approaches

to understanding animal cognition.

• Thinking about the thinking of animals

– Anthropomorphism: The tendency to falsely

attribute human qualities to nonhuman

beings.

– Anthropodenial: The tendency to think,

mistakenly, that human beings have nothing

in common with other animals.