THINKING, LANGUAGE, AND INTELLIGENCE (CHAPTER 7) by Ma'am Diopol GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

1. THINKING, LANGUAGE,
AND INTELLIGENCE
CHAPTER 7

2. Cognitive Processes
• Are the key assets that have enabled
humans to survive and prosper.

3. THINKING

4. Thinking
• Refers to conscious, planned attempts
to make sense of and change the world.
• Paying attention to information,
representing it mentally, reasoning about
it, and making judgments and decisions
about it.

5. CONCEPTS
• Mental categories used to group together
objects, relations, events, abstractions, or
qualities that have common properties.

6. Concepts
prototypes
• Good examples
exemplars
• A specific example

7. Organization of Concepts into
Hierarchies
Objects that
store
information
Printed
matter
newspapers
College
textbooks
novels catalogs
iPod DVDs

8. PROBLEM SOLVING
• What are the next two letters in this
series?
• O T T F F S S E _ _?

9. UNDERSTANDING THE
PROBLEM

10. The Use of ALGORITHMS
• A systematic procedure for solving a
problem that works invariably when it is
correctly applied.
• Guarantee a correct solution
– E.g., mathematical formulas (Pythagorean
theorem); anagrams (scrambled words)

11. The Use of HEURISTIC Devices
• Rules of thumb that help us simplify and
solve problems
• Do not guarantee a correct solution
• E.g., means-end analysis
We assess the difference between our
current situation and our goals and do
what we can to reduce this difference.

12. The Use of ANALOGIES
• Is a partial similarity among things that
are different in other ways.
• We try to solve a new problem by
referring to a previous problem.

13. The Use of ANALOGIES
• Look at the following series of number and
find the rule that governs their order:
•8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7, 6, 3, 2, 0
•OTTFFSSENT

14. Factors that Affect Problem
Solving
Expertise
Mental Sets
Insight

15. Expert vs. Novice
• Unscramble the following anagrams:
• DNSUO
• RCWDO
• IASYD

16. Parallel
processing
simultaneous
expert
Serial
processing
One at a
time
novice

17. Mental Sets
• The tendency to respond to a new
problem with the same approach that
helped solve similar problems.
• Solve our work easier, but can mislead us

18. Insight
• “Aha! experience”
• In Gestalt psychology, a sudden
perception of relationships among
elements of the mentally represented
elements of a problem that permits its
solution.

19. • A woman who lived in a small town
married 20 different men in that same
town. All of them are still living, and she
never divorced any of them. Yet she broke
no laws. How could she do this?

20. • The woman who was involved in multiple
marriages is a minister. To solve this
problem, you had to redefine your
interpretation of the term married.
– Perhaps the woman was an actress and
only married the men in her role as an
actress;
– Perhaps the woman’s multiple marriages
were annulled so she never technically
divorced any of the men

22. Incubation
• Refers to standing back from the
problem for a while as some process
within may continue to work on it.

23. Functional Fixedness
• What is a pair of pliers?

24. Functional Fixedness
• Tendency to think of an object in terms of
its name or its familiar function.
• ....PSYC 60VIDEOSProblem solving
functional fixedness.mp4

25. JUDGMENT AND DECISION
MAKING

26. Heuristics in Decision Making
• Imagine that you flip a coin six times. In
the following three possible outcomes, H
stands for heads and T stands for tails.
Circle the most likely sequence:
• H H H H H H
• H H H T T T
• T H H T H T

27. • People tend to select T H H T H T
because of the representative
heuristic.

28. 1. Representative Heuristic
• People make judgments about events
(samples) according to the populations of
events that they appear to represent.
• The probability of achieving it is
• ½ x ½ x ½ x ½ x ½ x ½, or 1/64th

29. 2. Availability Heuristic
• Our estimates of frequency or probability
are based on how easy it is to find
examples or relevant events.

30. 3. Anchoring and Adjustment
Heuristic
• Anchor – initial view or presumption
– E.g., if you grow up believing that one religion
or one political party is the “right” one, that
belief serves as a cognitive anchor. When
inconsistencies show up in your religion or
political party, you may adjust your views of
them, but perhaps not willingly.

31. 3. Anchoring and Adjustment
Heuristic
• For group A, estimate the possible
answer:
8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1

32. 3. Anchoring and Adjustment
Heuristic
• For group B, estimate the possible
answer:
1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8

33. 3. Anchoring and Adjustment
Heuristic
• Group A = 2,250
• Group B = 512

34. The Framing Effect
• Refers to the way in which wording, or
the context in which information is
presented, affects decision making.
– E.g., proponents of legalized abortion refer
to themselves as “pro-choice” (freedom)
and opponents refer to themselves as
“pro-life” (life)

35. LANGUAGE

36. “It is only by language
that we rise above
(the lower animals)—
by language, which is
the parent, not the
child , of thought.”
- Oscar Wilde (Irish
playwright)

37. Language
• The communication of information by
means of symbols arranged according to
rules of grammar.

38. Properties of Language (Hoff, 2005)

39. Language and Cognition
• Can you think without using language?
• Would you be able to solve problems
without using words or sentences?

40. Language and Cognition
• Jean Piaget believed that language
reflects knowledge of the world but
that much knowledge can be
acquired without language.
– E.g., it is possible to understand the
concepts of roundness or redness even
when we do not know or use the words
round or red.

41. Language and Culture
• Different languages have different words
for the same concepts, and concepts do
not necessarily overlap.

42. LINGUISTIC-RELATIVITY
HYPOTHESIS
• The view that language structures
the way we view the world.
• Benjamin Whorf (1956)
• Therefore, speakers of various
languages conceptualize the world in
different ways.

43. Language Development: The
Two-Year Explosion
• Prelinguistic Vocalizations
crying cooing babbling

44. Development of Grammar
• Holophrase – a single word used to
express complex meanings.
• Telegraphic Speech – two-word
sentences; brief but grammatically
correct. E.g., “Sit chair;” “My shoe;”
“Mommy go”

45. Overregularization
• The application of regular grammatical
rules for forming inflections (e.g., past
tense and plurals) to irregular verbs and
nouns.
Overregularization Correct Grammar
“Daddy goed away.” “Daddy went away.”
“I seed it.” “I saw it.”
“Mommy sitted down.” “Mommy sat down.”

46. NATURE AND NURTURE IN
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

47. Learning Theory and Language
Development
• Imitation and reinforcement
• Social-cognitive perspective, parents
serve as models

48. The Nativist Approach to
Language Development
• Holds that innate factors—which
make up children’s nature—cause
children to attend to and acquire
language in certain ways.
• Children bring neurological
“prewiring” to language learning

49. Psycholinguistic Theory
• Language acquisition involves the
interaction of environmental
influences—such as exposure to parental
speech and reinforcement—and the
inborn tendency to acquire language.

50. Psycholinguistic Theory
• Noam Chomsky refers to the inborn
tendency as a language
acquisition device (LAD).
• The LAD prepares the nervous
system to learn grammar.

51. INTELLIGENCE

52. Intelligence
• A general mental capability that involves
the ability to reason, plan, solve
problems, think abstractly, comprehend
complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn
from experience

53. THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

54. 1. Factor Theories
• Intelligence is
made up of a
number of
mental abilities,
ranging from one
kind of ability to
hundreds.
• Charles
Spearman
(1904)
General
intelligence
People
who excel
in one area
are also
likely to
excel in
other areas
g Specific
abilities
People are
relatively
superior in
some areas
s

55. Primary Mental Abilities
(Louis Thurstone, 1938)
• Eight specific factors
• Contain the types of items measured on
the most widely used intelligence tests
today.

56. Primary Mental Abilities, According to Thurstone
ABILITY DEFINITION
Visual and Spatial
Abilities
Perceptual Speed
Numerical Ability
Verbal meaning
Memory
Word Fluency
Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
Visualizing forms and spatial relationships
Grasping perceptual details rapidly, perceiving
similarities and differences between stimuli
Computing numbers
Knowing the meaning of words
Recalling information (e.g., words and sentences)
Thinking of words quickly (e.g., rhyming and doing
crossword puzzles)
Deriving examples from general rules
Inferring general rules from examples

57. Theory of Multiple Intelligences
by Howard Gardner (1983, 2002, 2006)
Nine Intelligences in Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Type of
Intelligence
Definition
Linguistic Knowing the meanings of words, having the ability to use
words to understand new ideas, and using language to
convey ideas to others.
Logical-
mathematical
Understanding relations that exist among objects,
actions, and ideas as well as the logical or mathematical
operations that can be performed on them.
Spatial Perceiving objects accurately and imagining in the “mind’s
eye” the appearance of an object before and after it has
been transformed.
Musical Comprehending and producing sounds varying in pitch,
rhythm, and emotional tone.
Bodily-
kinesthetic
Using one’s body in highly differentiated ways as dancers,
craftspeople, and athletes do.

58. Nine Intelligences in Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Type of
Intelligence
Definition
Interpersonal Identifying different feelings, moods, motivations,
and intention in others.
Intrapersonal Understanding one’s emotions and knowing one’s
strengths and weaknesses.
Naturalistic Understanding the natural world, distinguishing
natural objects from artifacts, grouping and labeling
natural phenomena.
Existential Considering “ultimate” issues, such as the purpose of
life and the nature of death.
Theory of Multiple Intelligences
by Howard Gardner (1983, 2002, 2006)

59. The Triarchic
Theory of
Intelligence
(Robert Sternberg,
2000; 2006)
Analytic
Creative
Intelligence
Practical

60. • Academic ability; solve problems and acquire
new knowledge
Analytical (Theoretical intelligence)
• Ability to cope with novel situations and
generate many possible solutions to problems.
Creative (Productive intelligence)
• To deal with other people, including difficult
people, and to meet the demands of the
environment
Practical (Street Smarts)

61. Emotional Intelligence
(Daniel Goleman, 1995)
• Social and emotional skills
• Intrapersonal and interpersonal skills
• Self-insight and self-control (abilities to
recognize and regulate one’s moods)
Emotional
intelligence
Ability to cope with
stress, depression, and
aggressive behavior

62. Creativity and Intelligence
Creativity IntelligenceModerate
(Simonton,
2009)

63. Creativity and Intelligence
Thought is
limited to
present facts
Find the best
solution;
multiple choice
question
convergent
Associates
freely to the
elements of
the problem
Generate
ideas to
answer an
essay question
divergent

64. THE MEASUREMENT OF
INTELLIGENCE

65. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence
Scale
• Binet-Simon Scale (Alfred Binet and
Theodore Simon, 1905)
• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
(SBIS) by Louis Terman (1916) used
in Stanford University for children aged
2 to 16
• Binet assumed that intelligence
increases with age.

66. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence
Scale
Mental Age (MA)
• Shows the intellectual level at
which a child is functioning
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
• Relationship of a child’s mental age
and his/her chronological age (CA)

67. IQ
Mental Age (MA)
Chronological Age (CA)
= x 100

68. The Wechsler Scales
• David Wechsler
• Children and adults
• Each subtest measures a different
intellectual task
• Verbal and performance IQs
• Highlight relative strengths and
weaknesses, as well as measure
overall intellectual functioning