Chapter 8: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

Language

A system of communication using sounds and symbols according to grammatical rules.

Exemplar Model

A way of thinking about concepts: All members of a category are examples (exemplars); together they form the concept and determine category membership.

Prototype Model

A way of thinking about concepts: Within each category, there is a best example - a prototype - for that category.

Symbolic Representations

Abstract mental representations that do not correspond to the physical features of objects or ideas.

Explain how language develops.

According to linguistic relativity theory, language determines, or at least influences thought. Speech normally progresses from babies' coos and laughter to babbling to the use of single words to the combination of words into telegraphic speech to the acquisition of some 60,000 words. Behaviorists believed that language was learned through operant conditioning, but research demonstrates that children acquire language even in the absence of reinforcement. Noam Chomsky proposed instead that humans are born with an innate capability for language, called the language acquisition device, which contains universal grammar rules. Through experience with other speakers, children acquire the rules specific to their native language.

Wernicke's Area

An areas of the left hemisphere where the temporal and parietal lobes meet, involved in speech comprehension.

Mental Age

An assessment of a child's intellectual standing compared with that of same-age peers; determined by comparing the child's test score with the average score for children of each chronological age.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

An index of intelligence computed by dividing a child's estimated mental age by the child's chronological age, then multiplying this number by 100.

Stereotype Threat

Apprehension about confirming negative stereotypes related to one's own group.

Decision Making

Attempting to select the best alternative from among several options.

Normative Decision Theories

Attempts to define how people should make decisions.

Descriptive Decision Theories

Attempts to predict how people actually make choices, not to define ideal choices.

Describe the defining prototype and exemplar models of concepts.

Categorization is grouping objects or events based on share properties, to increase thinking efficiency. Concepts are mental representations that categorize items around commonalities. According to the prototype model, the individual forms a concept around a category and then chooses a prototype that best represents the concept. According to the exemplar model, the individual forms a concept by combining all the examples (exemplars) of a category ever experienced by the individual.

Distinguish between analogical and symbolic representations.

Cognition is thinking and understanding - processes studied by cognitive psychologists. Knowledge about the world is stored in the brain as representations. This storage makes thought possible. Analogical representations are images that include characteristics of actual objects. Symbolic representations are abstract representations with no real connection to actual objects. Mental maps use both analogical and symbolic representations.

Stereotypes

Cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of information about people based on their membership in certain groups.

Concept

A category, or class, or related items; it consists of mental representations of those items.

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

A form of social intelligence that emphasizes the abilities to manage, recognize, and understand emotions and use emotions to guide appropriate thought and action.

Aphasia

A language disorder that results in deficits in language comprehension and production.

Whole Language

A method of teaching reaching in English that emphasizes learning the meanings of words and understanding how words are connected in sentences.

Phonics

A method of teaching reading in English that focuses on the association between letters and their phonemes.

Identify the brain areas involved in language.

A network of left hemisphere brain regions - including Broca's area in the frontal lobes and Wernicke's area at the junction of the temporal and parietal lobes - govern speech production and comprehension.

Restructuring

A new way of thinking about a problem that aids its solution.

Distinguish between normative and descriptive models of decision making.

Decision making is selecting the best alternative from among several options. According to normative theories of decision making, people make decisions by choosing options that will provide the greatest gain. However, people do not always follow this rule. Descriptive theories of decision making try to realistically account for the variability, such as biases and irrationality, in how people decide.

Problem Solving

Finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal.

Contrast phonics and whole language approaches to the teaching of reading.

For most adults, reading is automatic and effortless. We are able to derive accurate meanings even from misspelled words. Phonics is a method of teaching reading by associating letters with phonemes. Phonics is the best way to teach basic reading skills, especially for people unfamiliar with reading. Whole language is a method of teaching reading by emphasizing the meanings of words and how words are connected in sentences. Whole language may help encourage reading.

Review theory and research related to general intelligence, fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and multiple intelligences.

General intelligence (g) is the idea that one general factor underlies intelligence. This factor may consist of two components: fluid intelligence (the ability to think logically about abstract concepts without any previous knowledge) and crystallized intelligence (accumulated knowledge). Several theories propose multiple intelligences, such as emotional intelligence (how well people succeed in social situations). Additional research is needed to verify whether multiple intelligences exist. Savants have minimal intellectual capacities in most domains, but at a very early age they show an exceptional ability in some "intelligent" process.

Discuss the relationship between intelligence and cognitive performance.

High IQ is related to increased speed of mental processing, as measured by reaction time and inspection time tasks. Working memory may be related to intelligence for tasks that require attention. People high on fluid intelligence have been found to have a greater density of neural cell bodies (gray matter) in the frontal lobes, an area of the brain that regulates working memory.

Framing

In decision making, the tendency to emphasize the potential losses or potential gains from at least one alternative.

Deep Structure

In language, the implicit meanings of sentences.

Surface Structure

In language, the sounds and order of words.

Functional Fixedness

In problem solving, having fixed ideas about the typical functions of objects.

Identify common measures of intelligence, and discuss their validity.

Intelligence is the ability to use knowledge to reason, make decisions, solve problems, understand complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental challenges. The two types of standardized tests of intelligence are aptitude tests, which assess ability and potential, and achievement tests, which measure accumulated knowledge. Two commonly used intelligence tests are the Stanford-Binet test for children, and the WAIS for adults. Intelligence quotient (IQ) is derived by dividing mental age by chronological age, then multiplying the result by 100. IQ tests have been shown to be valid measures of intelligence. Perseverance, zeal, and willingness to work long hours are also important for developing expertise.

Crystallized Intelligence

Intelligence that reflects both the knowledge acquired through experience and the ability to use that knowledge.

Fluid Intelligence

Intelligence that reflects the ability to process information, understand relationships, and think logically, particularly in novel or complex circumstances.

Discuss the roles of morphemes and phonemes in language.

Language is a system of communication using sounds and symbols. Morphemes are the smallest units of language that have meaning. Phonemes are the basic sounds of speech, the building blocks of language.

Availability Heuristic

Making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind.

Analogical Representations

Mental representation that have some of the physical characteristics of object; they are analogous to the objects.

Explain how heuristics influence decision making.

People often use heuristics, or mental shortcuts, to make decisions. Four common heuristics are relative comparisons (anchoring and framing), availability, representativeness, and affective. The paradox of choice is that people prefer to have more choices, but increasing their options decreases their decision-making ability and their satisfaction with decisions.

Explain dyslexia.

People with dyslexia, a reading disorder, have trouble reading, spelling, and writing even though they have normal levels of intelligence.

Representativeness Heuristic

Placing a person or object in a category if that person or object is similar to one's prototype for that category.

Review strategies that facilitate insight and problem solving.

Problem solving is finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal. Problem solving can be improved by breaking problems into subgoals, restricting the problem, working backward from the goal, or transferring an effective strategy from an analogous situation. Mental sets and functional fixedness inhibit problem solving. Insight is the sudden realization of a solution to a problem. Insight can be facilitated by overcoming functional fixedness.

Mental Sets

Problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past.

Discuss the positive and negative consequences of using schemas and scripts.

Schemas are categories used to organize information. Schemas usually work because situations and appropriate behaviors follow general rules. Scripts are schemas that guide behavior in specific situations, such as going to the movies. Schemas and scripts are adaptive because they minimize attentional requirements and help people avoid dangerous situations. A negative consequence of schemas and scripts is that they may reinforce stereotypes and biases.

Heuristics

Shortcuts (rules of thumb or informal guidelines) used to reduce the amount of thinking that is needed to make decisions.

Intelligence

The ability to use knowledge to reason, make decisions, make sense of events, solve problems, understand complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental challenges.

Phonemes

The basic sounds of speech, the building blocks of language.

Linguistic Relativity Theory

The claim that language determines thought.

General Intelligence

The idea that one general factor underlies intelligence.

Cognition

The mental activity that includes thinking and the understandings that result from thinking.

Thinking

The mental manipulation of representations of knowledge about the world.

Morphemes

The smallest language units that have meaning, including suffixes and prefixes.

Insight

The sudden realization of a solution to a problem.

Affective Forecasting

The tendency for people to overestimate how events will make them feel in the future.

Telegraphic Speech

The tendency for toddlers to speak using rudimentary sentences that are missing words and grammatical markings but follow a logical syntax and convey a wealth of meaning.

Anchoring

The tendency, in making judgements, to rely on the first piece of information encountered or information that comes most quickly to mind.

Summarize research examining genetic and environmental influences on intelligence.

There is likely a genetic component to intelligence that involves many genes, but environment plays a large role in how intelligence is expressed. Epigenetics offers an explanation for how intelligence may develop, by describing how environmental influences such as enrichment and education can permit gene expression to increase synaptic connections and brain efficiency to increase intelligence.

Discuss sex and race differences in intelligence, and define stereotype threat.

There is no overall difference in intelligence between men and women, although men tend to score higher on standardized tests of math and visuospatial processing and women often score higher on tests of writing and language use. On standardized tests, white, European Americans tend to score 10-15 points higher than African Americans. There is no clear-cut basis for understanding this difference, but environmental factors likely play a large role. Stereotype threat is a negative effect on test performance caused by the belief that the test-taker's performance will reflect a negative stereotype about the test-taker's group. A few methods exist to counteract stereotype threat.