Chapter 9



Chapter 9: Thinking, Language, Intelligence

Cognition/cognitive psychology: The branch of psychology that specializes in the study of cognition

covers all of the higher mental processes.

Includes way we know and understand the world; how knowledge and understanding is described

Cognitive Psychologists study these mental activities

concept formation

problem solving

decision making

judgment formation

Thinking

Thinking involves mentally manipulating information by forming concepts, solving problems, reasoning, and making decisions.

The manipulation of mental representations of information

Transforms representation into new and different forms, permits us to answer questions, solve problems, or reach goals.

How we think:

Mental images: Representations in the mind that resemble the object or event being represented.

Thinking involves concepts, which allow us to generalize and relate experience and objects

Concepts: Concepts are mental categories used to group similar objects, events, and characteristics;

concepts are categories of things, events, or qualities that are linked by some common feature or features in spite of their differences.

llows organizing complex phenomena into simpler, more easy to use categories, to generalize and relate experience and objects

The building blocks of thinking

Without concepts, each object, event, activity or idea would appear to be one-of-a-kind--- instead, classify new on basis of past experience efficient

Forming concepts can be difficult, particularly as complexity increases.

Concepts with more features are harder to learn

Prototypes: Typical, highly representative examples of a concept. mental image or best example of a category

matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category Decisions based on most important common features of items in category

Solving Problems:

Problem solving --an attempt to find an appropriate way of attaining a goal when the goal is not readily available.

Good problem solving involves a series of graduated steps: finding and framing the problem, developing subgoals, using algorithms and heuristics, and evaluating solutions.

Some problems approached through trial and error---attempt various solutions until stumbling upon one that works.

other problems—Algorithm---A rule which, if applied appropriately, guarantees a solution to a problem. methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

Can use even if don’t understand why it works (math formulas)

Heuristic--simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently.

An informal rule of thumb or mental shortcut that may lead to a problem solution (but no guarantees)

reduce complexity; efficient

usually speedier than algorithms; more error-prone than algorithms

Insight

sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Confirmation bias, belief perseverance, overconfidence, hindsight bias, fixation, the availability heuristic, and the representative heuristic illustrate that human thinking is vulnerable, and that despite appropriate problem-solving strategies, humans can fail to solve problems

Confirmation Bias: tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions. eagerness to search for information that confirms existing ideas once a wrong idea has been formed, unlikely to alter that idea

tendency to search for and use information that supports our thinking

Fixation—the inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective.

One type of fixation is functional fixedness---tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed and unchanging.

tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions

Perceiving and relating familiar things in new ways is an important aspect of creative problem solving

Making decisions and forming judgments

How heuristics may lead to inaccurate conclusions:

heuristics enable making quick judgments, they can also lead to ignore other relevant information and thus to make error in judgement.

Representativeness heuristic: judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes. People use past information to make judgments about similar circumstances in the present.

The representative heuristic holds that people sometimes make a faulty decision based on how well something matches a prototype

Faulty judgment because it causes you to ignore other types of relevant information, and may not be guided by representativeness ( statistical probability)

Availability heuristic: A rule for judging the probability that an event will occur by the ease with which it can be recalled from memory. estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory

The availability heuristic involves making a prediction about the probability of an event based on recalling or imagining similar events.

When an event has recently occurred, it is highly available in memory, leading us to overestimate its future occurrence.

Overconfidence: tendency to be more confident than correct--- to overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge and judgments

Overconfidence bias is the tendency of people to have more confidence in judgments and decisions than is appropriate based on probability or past experiences

Overconfidence can have adaptive value. People who err on the side of overconfidence live more happily and find it easier to make tough decisions.

Failing to appreciate potential for error when making military, economic, or political judgments can have devastating consequences.

Framing: how problem is represented important--the way a problem is phrased can affect our ability to represent a problem and the kind of solution devised

Framing a question in positive versus negative terms can have dramatic effects on decision making

The same issue presented in two different but logically equivalent ways can bring about different answers

Belief Perseverance

clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

the tendency to hold on to a belief in the face of contradictory evidence.

Once beliefs are formed and justified, it takes more compelling evidence to change them than it did to create them.

Fear Factor: do we fear the right things?

Intuition

Cognition’s instant, intuitive reactions enable quick and usually adaptive reactions

Intuition , smart intuition, comes from experience;

Experienced nurses, firefighters, etc learn to size up situations quickly information

What is intelligence?

Intelligence is problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to and learn from everyday experiences. Capacity to understand the world, think rationally, and to use resources effectively when faced with challenges.

Theories of Intelligence

Gardner’s Eight Intelligences (Frames of Mind)

Gardner thinks that there are eight types of intelligence:

Linguistic or Verbal skills: the ability to think in words and to use language to express meaning.

Logical-Mathematical skills: the ability to carry out mathematical operations.

Musical skills: possessing a sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone.

Spatial skills: the ability to think in three-dimensional ways.

Bodily-kinesthetic skills: the ability to manipulate objects and be physically skilled.

Interpersonal skills: the ability to understand and effectively interact with others.

Intrapersonal skills: the ability to understand one’s self and effectively direct one’s life.

Naturalist skills: the ability to observe patterns in nature and understand natural and human-made systems.

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory: triarchic theory of intelligence states that intelligence comes in three forms:

Analytical intelligence involves the ability to analyze, judge, evaluate, compare, and contrast.

Creative intelligence consists of the ability to create, design, invent, originate, and imagine.

Practical intelligence focuses on the ability to use, apply, implement, and put into practice.

Related to overall success in living--able to solve every day problems Learned through observing others

Creativity: the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Five components of creativity (Sternberg)

expertise

imaginative thinking skills

adventuresome personality

intrinsic motivation

creative environment

Social Intelligence: the know-how involved in comprehending social situations and managing oneself successfully

Emotional Intelligence: ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions

Different from academic intelligence

Four components:

Perceive emotions

Understand emotions

Manage emotions

Use emotions

Evaluating the Multiple Intelligence Approaches

These approaches have stimulated thinking more broadly about what makes up competencies, motivated educators to instruct students in multiple domains, and encouraged the assessment of ability in innovative ways.

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