Chapter 8: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
belief perseverance
clinging to beliefs and ignoring evidence that proves they are wrong
overconfidence
tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments
confirmation bias
tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort evidence that contradicts them
aptitude test
test designed to predict a person's future performance; capacity to learn
intelligence test
method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores
longitudinal study
research in which the same people are restudied are retested over a long period
heuristics
simple thinking strategy that often allows you to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; speedier, but error prone
one-word stage
stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words; from about age 1 to 2; "Doggy!"
two-word stage
stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements; beginning at about age 2; "Want juice."
babbling stage
stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language; beginning at about 4 months
practical intelligence
street smarts; skill at handling everyday tasks; Sternberg
achievement test
test designed to assess what a person has learned
age 7
When does the critical period for language learning end?
intellectual disability
condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life
stereotype threat
________ ________ can lead to poor performance on tests by undermining test-takers' belief that they can do well on the test.
down syndrome
condtion of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21
mental age
measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance
concept
mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, and people
prototype
mental image or best example of a category; provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories
concept
A mental grouping of similar things is called a ________.
general intelligence
Charles Spearman suggested we have one ________ ________ underlying success across a variety of intellectual abilities.
1 year
Children reach the one-word stage of speech development at about ________.
country x
In prosperous country X everyone eats all they want. In country Y the rich are well fed, but the semistarved poor are often thin. In which country will the heritability of body weight be greater?
How is intelligence influenced by nature and nurture?
Intelligence is influenced by nature and nurture in the following ways: genes play a huge role in intelligence, demonstrated by twin studies and adoption studies; children who were raised in depriving environment, such as those in Romaninan orphanages (1990s), had developmental delays; exposing children to educational lessons early on won't make them a genius, but all babies should be normally exposed to sights, sounds, and speech in order to foster normal development.
Are intelligence tests biased and discriminatory?
Intelligence tests not biased or discriminatory if they are valid and predict future behavior for all test-takes, not just some.
communicate; symbols
Most researchers agree that apes can ________ through ________.
How do psychologists define intelligence?
Psychologists define intelligence as the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.
What does it mean to say that a test has been standardized, and is reliable and valid?
To say that a test has been standardized, and is reliable and valid means that it has been pretested on a representative group to allow for future comparisons, it will produce consistent scores, and it measures or predicts what it is supposed to.
variability; intelligence; group; genetic
To say that the heritability of intelligence is about 50 percent of the _________ in ________ within a ______ of people is attibutable to ________ factors.
How do today's tests differ from early intelligence tests?
Today's tests differ from early intelligence tests in that they no longer compute an IQ and instead, they represent the test-taker's performance relative to the average performance of others the same age.
algorithms
a methodological, logical rule or procedure that guarantees you will solve a particular problem; requires time and effort
emotional intelligence
ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions; part of social intelligence
creativity
ability to produce new and valuable ideas
fluid intelligence
ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood
crystallized intelligence
accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
cognition
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
intelligence quotient
defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100; on contemporary intelligence tests the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100
Stanford-Binet
widely-used American revision of Binet's original intelligence test; by Terman at Stanford University
universal grammar
According to Chomsky, all languages share a(n) ________ ________.
general intelligence (g)
factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test
inability; new perspective
A major obstacle to problem-solving is fixation which is a(n) ________ to view a problem from a _____ ________.
availability
After the 9/11 attacks by foreign-born terrorists, some observers initially assumed that the 2003 U.S. East Coast blackout was probably also the work of foreign-born terrorists. This assumption illustrates the _________ heuristic.
What brain areas are involved in language processing and speech?
Brain areas involved in language processing and speech include specifically Broca's area, in your left frontal lobe, that contributes to your ability to speak words, and Wernicke's area, in your left temporal lobe, that contributes to your ability to understand language. However, many parts of your brain work together to form neural networks that help you process language.
What is cognition, and what are the functions of concepts?
Cognition describes the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating information. The function of concepts is to simplify our thinking. By grouping similar things together in our mind, concepts give us much information with little mental effort.
What is creativity and what fosters it?
Creativity is the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas and it is fostered by a solid knowledge base, imaginative thinking skills, a venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and a creative environment.
What are crystallized and fluid intelligence, and how does aging affect them?
Crystallized intelligence is our accumulated vocabulary knowledge, and fluid intelligence is our ability to quickly and abstractly reason when solving unfamiliar logic problems. Aging increases crystallized intelligence and decreases fluid intelligence.
perceive; understand; manage; use
Emotionally intelligent people can ______, ______, ______, and _______ emotions.
creativity
Expertise, imaginative thinking skills, a venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and a creative environment are all ingredients to ________.
How stable are intelligence scores across people's lives and how do psychologists study this question?
Intelligence scores across people's lives are very stable. Psychologists study this question using cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.
When and why were intelligence tests created?
Intelligence tests were created in 1904 because Alfred Binet wanted to help identify appropriate school placements with children of similar abilities in French public schools.
What is intuition?
Intuition is our fast automatic, unreasoned thoughts and feelings.
How and why do racial and ethnic groups differ in mental ability scores?
Racial and ethnic groups differ in mental ability scores because of culture and environment.
How do smart thinkers use intuition?
Smart thinkers use intuition as analysis "frozen into habit", they recognize it is adaptive, and that by incubating ideas in the mind while attending to other tasks, intuition usually leads to insight.
academic; creative; practical
Sternberg's three types of intelligence are ________, ________, and ________.
What strategies help us solve problems, and what tendencies work against us?
Strategies that help us solve problems include, insight, algorithms, and heuristics and tendencies that work against us include confirmation bias and fixation.
150
The IQ of a 6-year-old with a measured mental age of 9 would be _____.
reliability
The Stanford-Binet, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children yield consistent results, for example on retesting. In other words, these tests have high ________.
compares; vocabulary; arithmetic reasoning
The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is best able to tell us how the test-taker ______ with other adults in _______ and _________ ________.
What are the arguments for general intelligence?
The arguments for general intelligence include that people with a special talent in one area typically have above average abilities in other areas and that good things are often clustered together.
How can the availability heuristic, overconfidence, belief perseverance, and framing influence our decisions and judgments?
The availability heuristic influences our decisions and judgments by making events seem more common by how often they come to mind. Overconfidence influences our decisions and judgments by making us overestimate the accuracy of our decisions and judgments. Belief perseverance influences our decisions and judgments by making us tend to believe our beliefs even when evidence contradicts them. Framing influences our decisions and judgments by presenting information that is meant to sway them one way or another.
economically disadvantaged
The environmental influence that has the clearest, most profound effect on intellectual development is growing up in an ________ _________ home or neighborhood.
Gardner's; multiple intelligences
The existence of savant syndrome seems to support ________ theory of ________ ________.
What four abilities make up emotional intelligence?
The four abilities that make up emotional intelligence are perceiving emotions (recognizing them in faces, music, and stories), understanding emotions (predicting them and how they may change and blend), managing emotions (knowing how to express them in varied situations), and using emotions to enable adaptive or creative thinking.
How and why do the genders differ in mental ability scores?
The genders differ in mental ability scores by not much, mostly just in specific tasks. Boys are likely to perform better in spatial ability and also have greater variability and girls are likely to perform better at verbal/spelling tasks and memory of objects/location. This could be because of evolution, or social expectations and opportunity.
What are the milestones in language development, and how do we acquire language?
The milestones in language development are receptive language, our ability to understand what is being said to us and about us, and productive language, our ability to produce sounds and eventually words. We acquire language through are babbling nonsense (4 months), babbling that resembles household language (ma-ma) (10 months), one-word stage (12 months), two-word stage (24 months), 24 months and after is marked by rapid development into complete sentences.
algorithm
The most systematic procedure for solving a problem is a(n) ________.
What is the normal curve?
The normal curve is a bell-shaped pattern that shows the distribution of many physical and psychological traits. More people will fall in the average than in the extremes.
identical; siblings; identical
The strongest support for heredity's influence on intelligence is the finding that ________ twins, but not other ________, have nearly ________ intelligence test scores.
How can thinking in images be useful?
Thinking in images can be useful because it helps us mentally practice. Mental practice allows us to mentally rehearse future behaviors which triggering brain activity in the same areas that are active during the actual activity.
What are the traits of those at the low and high intelligence extremes?
Traits of those at the low and high intelligence extremes include the following: individuals with intelligence scores below 70, who have difficulty adapting to life demands are diagnosed with an intellectual disability; individuals with high scores are usually healthy, well-adjusted, academically successful, more likely to attain high levels of education, including doctorates.
What are two theories of multiple intelligences, and what criticisms have they faced?
Two theories of multiple intelligences include Gardner's eight intelligences (interpersonal, intrapersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, musical, logical-mathematical, linguistic, naturalist) and Sternberg's three intelligences (analytical, creative, practical). Criticisms they have faced include the fact that both Gardner and Sternberg have renounced the importance of general intelligence, when in fact general intelligence does matter. Also, intelligence plays just a big of a role as motivation does in achieving success.
What do we know about other species' capacity for language?
We know other species capacity for language depends on the definition of language we use. If language means verbal/signed expression of complex grammar, we are the only species capable. Apes and chimps are able to use sign language and communicate with each other, but psychologists do not consider this language persay.
What do we know about thinking in other species?
What we know about thinking in other species is that other species are capable of forming concepts, some mathematical, chimpanzees display insight, tools, and customs, elephants have demonstrated self-awareness. Many species are capable of a variety of thinking processes.
framing
When consumers respond more positively to ground beef described as "75% lean" than to the same product labeled "25% fat," they have been influenced by ________.
What does it mean when we say that a trait is heritable?
When we say a trait is heritable, it means that we can attribute some portion of variation among individuals to genes.
telegraphic speech
When young children speak in short phrases using mostly verbs and nouns, this is referred to as ________ ________.
normal curve
bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes; most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores like near the extremes
savant syndrome
condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill
Broca's area
controls language expression; area of the frontal lobe, usually in left hemisphere; directs muscle movements involved in speech; if damaged, might impair your ability to speak words
Wernicke's area
controls language reception; brain area involved in language comprehension; usually in left temporal lobe; if damaged, might impair your ability to understand language
standardization
defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group
telegraphic speech
early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram using mostly nouns and verbs; "Go car!"
intuition
effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought
divergent thinking
expands the number of possible problem solutions
validity
extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to
reliability
extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting
grammar
in a specific language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others
fixation
inability to see a problem from a new perspective; obstacle to problem solving
availability heuristic
judging the likelihood of an event based on its availability in memory; if an event comes readily to mind, we assume it must be common
intelligence
mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests; 15 subtests including: similarities, vocabulary, block design, and letter-number sequencing.
convergent thinking
narrow the available problem solutions to determine single best solution
language
our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
heritability
portion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes; may vary, depending on population and environment
analytical intelligence
school smarts; traditional academic problem solving; Sternberg
stereotype threat
self-confirming concern that we will be judged based on a negative stereotype; affects personal performance depending on personal identity and social expecations of said identity
cross-sectional study
study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
insight
sudden realization of the solution to a problem; increased brain activity
framing
the way an issue is posed; can significantly affect decisions and judgments
creative intelligence
trailblazing smarts; ability to generate novel ideas; Sternberg
