Psy 201 Exam 3 (Ch. 7) Matthews

Algorithms

A systematic procedure for solving a problem that works invariably when it is correctly applied. A specific procedure for solving a type of problem. An -- invariably leads to the solution—if it is used properly, that is. Mathematical formulas like the Pythagorean theorem are examples of --. They yield correct answers to problems as long as the right formula is used. Finding the right formula to solve a problem may require scanning one's memory for all formulas that contain variables that represent one or more of the elements in the problem. The Pythagorean theorem concerns right triangles. Therefore, it is appropriate to consider using this formula for problems concerning right triangles, but not others.

Problem Solving

An important aspect of thinking.

Personal Intelligence (Gardner Multiple Theory)

Awareness of one's own inner feelings and sensitivity to other people's feelings

Analytical Intelligence (Sternberg Multiple Theory)

Can be defined as academic ability. It enables us to solve problems and acquire new knowledge. It is the type of intelligence measured by standard intelligence tests. Problem solving skills include encoding information, combining and comparing bits of information, and generating a solution.

IQ=Mental Age (MA) / Chronological Age (CA) x 100

How do you compute IQ?

In taking the test, children earned "months" of credit for each correct answer. Their MA was determined by adding up the years and months of credit they attained.

How do you compute Mental Age?

Factor Theories

Many investigators have viewed intelligence as consisting of one or more --. -- argue that intelligence is made up of a number of mental abilities, ranging from one kind of ability to hundreds.

Existential Intelligence (Gardner Multiple Theory)

Means dealing with the larger philosophical issues of life.

Serial Processing (Expertise)

Novices were more likely to engage in --—that is, to handle one element of the problem at a time.

Mental Sets

The tendency to respond to a new problem with an approach that was successfully used with similar problems. They usually make our work easier, but they can mislead us when the similarity between problems is illusory.

Representativeness, availability, anchoring and adjustment.

What are the Heuristic Devices in Judgment and Decision Making?

Factor, Multiple, Emotional and Social Intelligence, and Creativity and Intelligence

What are the Theories of Intelligence?

Spearman and Thurstone

What are the Two Factor Theories?

Expertise, mental sets, incubation, insight, and functional fixedness.

What are the factors that affect problem solving?

Overconfidence (Judgment and Decision Making)

Whether our decisions are correct or incorrect, most of us tend to be -- about them. We also tend to view our situations with 20/20 hindsight. When we are proven wrong, we frequently find a way to show that we "knew it all along." We also become -- that we would have known the actual outcome if we had had access to the information that became available after the event. For example, if we had known that a key player would pull a hamstring muscle, we would have predicted a different outcome for the football game. If we had known that it would be blustery on Election Day, we would have predicted a smaller voter turnout and a different outcome. There are several reasons for --, even when our judgments are wrong: 1) We tend to be unaware of how flimsy our assumptions may be. 2) We tend to focus on examples that confirm our judgments and ignore those that do not. 3) Because our working memories have limited space, we tend to forget information that runs counter to our judgments. 4) We work to bring about the events we believe in, so they sometimes become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Definition of Thinking

Means paying attention to information, mentally representing it, reasoning about it, and making decisions about it. -- refers to conscious, planned attempts to make sense of and change the world. Mental processes such as dreaming and daydreaming do not represent --; they may be unplanned and proceed more or less on their own. We begin with concepts, which provide many of the building blocks for --.

Naturalist Intelligence (Gardner Multiple Theory)

Refers to the ability to look at natural events, such as kinds of animals and plants, or the stars above, and to develop insights into their nature and the laws that govern their behavior.

Prototype Categorization

A concept of a category of objects or events that serves as a good example of the category. They best match the key features of categories. Many simple --, such as dog and red, are taught by means of examples, or exemplars. Children's -- become refined after they are shown positive and negative instances and given explanations.

Incubation

In problem solving, a process that may sometimes occur when we stand back from a frustrating problem for a while and the solution suddenly appears. Standing back from the problem may help by distancing us from unprofitable but persistent mental sets.

Heritability (Genetic Influences of Nature and Nurture)

The degree to which the variations in a trait from one person to another can be attributed to, or explained by, genetic factors. In sum, studies generally suggest that the -- of intelligence is between 40% and 60%. In other words, about half of the difference between your IQ score and the IQ scores of other people can be explained by --.

Genetic Influences, Environmental Influences, and the Flynn Effect

What are the influences in nature and nurture?

Intelligence Quotient (IQ), Group Tests, and Differences in Intellectual Functioning

What are the methods of measuring intelligence?

Understanding, algorithms vs. heuristics, and use of analogies.

What are the methods of problem solving?

Naturalist and Existential Intelligence

What are the more recently added intelligences of Gardner?

Stanford-Binet and Wechsler

What are the two IQ methods?

Practical Intelligence (Sternberg Multiple Theory)

("Street smarts") enables people to deal with other people, including difficult people, and to meet the demands of their environment. For example, keeping a job by adapting one's behavior to the employer's requirements is adaptive. But if the employer is making unreasonable demands, finding a more suitable job is also adaptive. Street smarts appear to help people get by in the real world, especially with other people, but are not particularly predictive of academic success.

Gardner (Multiple Theory)

-- (1983/1993, 2009) theory of multiple intelligences proposes, instead, that there are a number of intelligences, not just one. -- refers to each kind of intelligence in his theory as "an intelligence" because they can differ so much. Two of these "intelligences" are familiar ones: language ability and logical-mathematical ability. -- also refers, however, to bodily-kinesthetic talents (of the sort shown by dancers and athletes), musical talent, spatial-relations skills, and two kinds of personal intelligence: awareness of one's own inner feelings and sensitivity to other people's feelings. -- (2001) more recently added "naturalist intelligence" and "existential intelligence." Naturalist intelligence refers to the ability to look at natural events, such as kinds of animals and plants, or the stars above, and to develop insights into their nature and the laws that govern their behavior. Existential intelligence means dealing with the larger philosophical issues of life. According to --, one can compose symphonies or advance mathematical theory yet be average in, say, language and personal skills. Critics of -- view agree that people function more intelligently in some aspects of life than in others. They also agree that many people have special talents, such as bodily-kinesthetic talents, even if their overall intelligence is average. But these critics question whether such talents are best thought of as "intelligences" or special talents. Language skills, reasoning ability, and ability to solve math problems seem to be more closely related than musical or gymnastic talent to what most people mean by intelligence.

Expertise

-- solve problems more efficiently and rapidly than novices do. Generally speaking, people who are -- at solving a certain kind of problem share the following characteristics 1) They know the particular area well. 2) They have a good memory for the elements in the problems. 3) They form mental images or representations that facilitate problem solving. 4) They relate the problem to similar problems. 5) They are more goal-directed and have efficient methods of problem solving. These factors are interrelated. Art historians, for example, acquire a database that permits them to understand the intricacies of paintings. As a result, their memory for details of paintings mushrooms. Novick and Coté (1992) found that the solutions to the anagram problems seemed to "pop out" in under two seconds among --. The -- apparently used more efficient methods than the novices. -- seemed to use parallel processing. That is, they dealt simultaneously with two or more elements of the problems. In the case of DNSUO, for example, they may have played with the order of the vowels (CO or OU) at the same time that they tested which consonant (D, N, or S) was likely to precede them, arriving quickly at sou and sound. Novices were more likely to engage in serial processing—that is, to handle one element of the problem at a time.

Anchoring and Adjustment (Heuristic)

A decision-making heuristic in which a presumption or first estimate serves as a cognitive --; as we receive additional information; we make -- but tend to remain in the proximity of the --. Suggests that there can be a good deal of inertia in our --. In forming opinions or making estimates, we have an initial view, or presumption. This is the --. As we receive additional information, we make --, sometimes grudgingly. That is, if you grow up believing that one religion or one political party is the "right" one, that belief serves as a cognitive --. When inconsistencies show up in your religion or political party, you may adjust your views of them, but perhaps not very willingly. Example is the math problem with 8 leading the sequence and 1 leading the sequence. Students who saw 8 in the first position offered an average estimate of 2,250. Students who saw 1 in the first position gave an average estimate of 512. That is, the estimate was larger when 8 served as the --.

Availability (Heuristic)

A decision-making heuristic in which our estimates of frequency or probability of events are based on how easy it is to find examples. Let me ask you whether there are more art majors or sociology majors at your college. Unless you are familiar with the enrollment statistics, you will probably answer on the basis of the numbers of art majors and sociology majors that you know.

Representativeness (Heuristic)

A decision-making heuristic in which people make judgments about samples according to the populations they appear to represent. Most people choose the THHTHT sequence of the coin flips because of this. In this case, the sample of events is six coin tosses. The "population" is an infinite number of random coin tosses. If the question had been whether heads and tails would be more likely to be consecutive or in random order, the correct answer would have been random order. But each of the three sequences is a specific sequence.

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 The concept of -- is closely related to thinking. Whereas thinking involves the understanding and manipulating of information, -- is the underlying ability to understand the world and cope with its challenges. That is, -- is seen as making thinking possible. Although these concepts overlap, psychologists tend to be concerned with how we think, but laypeople and psychologists are often concerned with how much -- we have. Although --, like thinking, cannot be directly seen or touched, psychologists tie the concept to achievements such as school performance and occupational status. Although psychologists have engaged in thousands of studies on --, they do not quite agree on what -- is. Psychologists have therefore developed theories to help them understand and define --.

Primary Mental Abilities (Thurstone Factor Theory)

According to Thurstone, the basic abilities that make up intelligence, examples include word fluency and numerical ability.

Education Environment (Environmental Influences)

Although intelligence is viewed as permitting people to profit from --, -- also apparently contributes to intelligence. Government-funded efforts to provide preschoolers with enriched early environments have led to intellectual gains. Head Start programs, for example, enhance the IQ scores, achievement test scores, and academic skills of disadvantaged children by exposing them to materials and activities that middle-class children take for granted. These include letters and words, numbers, books, exercises in drawing, pegs and pegboards, puzzles, toy animals, and dolls.On the other hand, many children's IQ scores and achievements tend to decrease again in the years following the Head Start experience if they return to the less intellectually stimulating environment that preceded Head Start. Later schooling also contributes to IQ. When children of about the same age start school a year apart because of admissions standards related to their date of birth, children who have been in school longer obtain higher IQ scores. Moreover, test scores tend to decrease during the summer vacation

Measurement (Intelligence)

Although psychologists disagree about the nature of intelligence, laypeople and educators are concerned with "how much" intelligence people have, because the issue affects educational and occupational choices. However, we must keep in mind that "intelligence" is a moving target, and that IQ scores are at best somewhat fuzzy snapshots of an individual's intellectual functioning at a specific point in time

Thurstone (Factor Theory)

American psychologist -- (1938) analyzed tests of specific abilities and concluded that Spearman had oversimplified intelligence. -- data suggested the presence of eight specific factors, which he labeled primary mental abilities. -- primary mental abilities contain the types of items measured on the most widely used intelligence tests today. The question remains as to whether his primary mental abilities are distinct or whether they are different ways of assessing g.

Use of Analogies

An -- is a partial similarity among things that are different in other ways. The -- heuristic applies the solution of an earlier problem to the solution of a new one. We use the -- heuristic whenever we try to solve a new problem by referring to a previous problem Actually, you use the -- heuristic regularly. For example, when you begin a new term with a new instructor, you probably consider who the instructor reminds you of. Then, perhaps, you recall the things that helped you get along with the -- instructor and try them on the new one. We tend to look for things—--—that have helped us in similar situations.

Spearman (Factor Theory)

British psychologist -- suggested that the behaviors we consider intelligent have a common underlying factor that he labeled g, for "general intelligence" or broad reasoning and problem-solving abilities. -- supported his view by noting that people who excel in one area (e.g., vocabulary) are also likely to excel in others (e.g., math).But he also noted that even the most capable people are relatively superior in some areas—such as music or business or poetry. For this reason, he suggested that specific, or s, factors account for specific abilities. Contemporary psychologists continue to use the term g in research, speaking, for example, of the extent to which they believe a particular kind of test, such as the SATs, measure g

Divergent Thinking (Creativity and Intelligence)

Creative problem solving demands -- rather than convergent thinking. In this, the problem solver associates freely to the elements of the problem, allowing "leads" to run a nearly limitless course. A thought process that attempts to generate multiple solutions to problems. You may use -- when you are trying to generate ideas to answer an essay question on a test. Problem solving can involve both kinds of thinking. At first, -- helps generate many possible solutions. Convergent thinking is then used to select likely solutions and reject others.

Heuristics in Judgment and Decision Making

Example of flipping coin 6 times and have to choose which sequence is most likely to occur.

Parallel Processing (Expertise)

Experts seemed to use --. That is, they dealt simultaneously with two or more elements of the problems. In the case of DNSUO, for example, they may have played with the order of the vowels (CO or OU) at the same time that they tested which consonant (D, N, or S) was likely to precede them, arriving quickly at sou and sound.

Systematic Random Search (Algorithm)

How many words can you make from the pool of letters DWARG? If you were to use the -- algorithm, you would list every possible letter combination, using from one to all five letters. You could use a dictionary or a spell-checking program to see whether each result is, --: an algorithm for solving problems in which each possible solution is tested according to a particular set of rules.

Insight

In Gestalt psychology, a sudden perception of relationships among elements of the mentally represented elements of a problem that permits its solution. Bismarck, one of psychologist N. R. F. Maier's rats, appeared to suddenly reorganize the pieces of information in a problem with which he was presented, showing evidence of -- in his species. Bismarck had been trained to climb a ladder to a tabletop where food was placed. On one occasion, Maier used a mesh barrier to prevent the rat from reaching his goal. But, as shown a second ladder was provided and was visible to the animal. At first Bismarck sniffed and scratched and tried to find a path through the mesh. Then he spent some time washing his face, an activity that may signal frustration in rats. Suddenly he jumped into the air, turned, ran down the familiar ladder and around to the new ladder, ran up the new ladder, and claimed his just desserts. Did Bismarck suddenly perceive the relationships between the elements of the problem so that the solution occurred by --? He seems to have had what Gestalt psychologists have termed an Aha! experience.

Wechsler (IQ Measurement)

In contrast to the SBIS, -- developed a series of scales for use with children and adults. The -- scales group test questions into a number of separate subtests. Each subtest measures a different intellectual task. For this reason, the test shows how well a person does on one type of task (e.g., defining words) as compared with another (e.g., using blocks to construct geometric designs). In this way, the -- scales highlight children's relative strengths and weaknesses, as well as measure overall intellectual functioning. -- described some of his scales as measuring verbal tasks and others as assessing performance tasks. In general, verbal subtests require knowledge of verbal concepts, whereas performance subtests require familiarity with spatial-relations concepts. -- scales permit the computation of verbal and performance IQs. Nontechnically oriented college students often attain higher verbal than performance IQs. Less-well-educated people often obtain higher performance than verbal IQs. -- also introduced the concept of the deviation IQ. Instead of dividing mental age by chronological age to compute an IQ, he based IQ scores on how a person's answers compared with those attained by people in the same age group. The average test result at any age level is defined as an IQ score of 100. -- distributed IQ scores so that the middle 50% were defined as the "broad average range" of 90 to 110. IQ scores cluster around the average. Only 4% of the population have IQ scores of above 130 or below 70.

Deviation IQ (Wechsler IQ Measurement)

Instead of dividing mental age by chronological age to compute an IQ, he based IQ scores on how a person's answers compared with those attained by people in the same age group. The average test result at any age level is defined as an IQ score of 100.

Creative Intelligence (Sternberg Multiple Theory)

Is defined by the ability to cope with novel situations and generate many possible solutions to problems. It is -- to quickly relate novel situations to familiar situations (ie to perceive similarities and differences). Psychologists who consider -- to be separate from analytical intelligence or academic ability note that there is only a moderate relationship between academic ability and --. To Sternberg, however, -- is a form of intelligence.

Gender Differences (Differences in Intellectual Functioning)

It was once widely believed that males were more intelligent than females because of their greater knowledge of world affairs and their skills in science and industry. But these differences did not reflect differences in cognitive ability. Rather, they reflected exclusion of females from world affairs, science, and industry. Moreover, intelligence tests do not show overall -- in cognitive abilities. Reviews of the research suggest that girls are somewhat superior to boys in verbal abilities, such as vocabulary, ability to generate sentences and words that are similar in meaning to other words, spelling, knowledge of foreign languages, and pronunciation. Girls seem to acquire language somewhat faster than boys do. Also, in the United States, more boys than girls have reading problems, ranging from reading below grade level to severe disabilities. Males seem to do somewhat better at manipulating visual images in working memory. Males as a group excel in visual-spatial abilities of the sort used in math, science, and map-reading. For half a century or more, it has been believed that male adolescents generally outperform females in mathematics, and research has tended to support that belief. Nevertheless, most Americans have different expectations for boys and girls, and these expectations may still dissuade some math-proficient girls from entering so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. But note that the reported -- are group differences. There is greater variation in these skills between individuals within the groups than between males and females. That is, there may be a greater difference in, say, verbal skills between two women than between the typical woman and the typical man. Millions of females outdistance the "average" male in math and spatial abilities. Men have produced their verbally adept Shakespeares. Moreover, in most cases, -- in cognitive skills are small. Differences in verbal, math, and visual-spatial abilities also appear to be narrowing as more females pursue course work in fields that had been typically populated by males. While scholars sit around and debate -- in intellectual functioning, women are voting on the issue by flooding fields once populated almost exclusively by men. Women are tossing these stereotypes out the window by entering the sciences and professional fields ranging from business to law to medicine in increasing numbers.

Stanford-Binet (IQ Measurement) (Simon-Binet was original)

Many of the concepts of psychology have their origins in common sense. The commonsense notion that academic achievement depends on children's intelligence led -- and -- to invent measures of intelligence. Early in the 20th century, the French public school system was looking for a test that could identify children who were unlikely to benefit from regular classroom instruction. If these children were identified, they could be given special attention. The first version of that test, the -- scale, came into use in 1905. Since that time it has undergone extensive revision and refinement. The current version is the --. -- assumed that intelligence increases with age, so older children should get more items right than younger children. -- therefore included a series of age-graded questions arranged in order of difficulty. The -- scale yielded a score called a mental age (MA). For example, a child with an MA of 6 is functioning intellectually like the average six-year-old. In taking the test, children earned "months" of credit for each correct answer. Their MA was determined by adding up the years and months of credit they attained. Louis Terman adapted the -- scale for use with American children at Stanford University. The first version of the resultant -- was published in 1916. The -- included more items than the original test and was used with children aged 2 to 16. The -- also yielded an intelligence quotient (IQ) rather than an MA. As a result, American educators developed interest in learning the IQs of their pupils. The -- is used today with children from the age of two upward and with adults. The IQ reflects the relationship between a child's mental age and his or her actual or chronological age (CA). Use of this ratio reflects the fact that the same MA score has different implications for children of different ages. That is, an MA of 8 is an above-average score for a 6-year-old but below average for a 10-year-old. In 1912, German psychologist Wilhelm Stern suggested the IQ as a way to deal with this problem. Stern computed IQ using this formula: IQ = Mental Age (MA)/Chronological Age (CA) x 100 According to this formula, a child with an MA of 6 and a CA of 6 would have an IQ of 100. Children who can handle intellectual problems as well as older children do have IQs above 100. For example, an 8-year-old who does as well on the -- as the average 10-year-old would attain an IQ of 125. Children who do not answer as many items correctly as other children of the same age attain MAs lower than their CAs. Thus, their IQ scores are below 100. IQ scores on the -- today are derived by comparing their results to those of other people of the same age. People who answer more items correctly than the average for people of the same age attain IQ scores above 100. People who answer fewer items correctly than the average for their age attain scores below 100. Therefore, two children can answer exactly the same items on an intelligence test correctly, yet one can be above average in IQ. This is because the ages of the children may differ. The more intelligent child would be the younger of the two.

Exemplar Categorization

Many simple prototypes, such as dog and red, are taught by means of examples, or --. --: a specific example. We point to a dog and say to a child "dog" or "This is a dog." Dogs are positive instances of the dog concept. Negative instances—things that are not dogs—are then shown to the child while we say, "This is not a dog." Negative instances of one concept may be positive instances of another. So, in teaching a child, we may be more likely to say, "This is not a dog—it's a cat" than simply, "This is not a dog." In language development, such over inclusion of instances in a category (reference to horses as dogs) is labeled overextension. Children's prototypes become refined after they are shown positive and negative instances and given explanations. Abstract concepts such as bachelor or square root tend to be formed through explanations that involve more basic concepts.

Means-End Analysis (Heuristics)

One type of heuristic device is the --. In using this heuristic device, we assess the difference between our current situation and our goals and do what we can to reduce this difference. Let's say that you are out in your car and have gotten lost. One heuristic device based on analysis of what you need to do to get to where you want to go might be to ask for directions. This approach requires no "sense of direction." An algorithm might be more complicated and require some scientific knowledge. For example, if you know your destination is west of your current location you might try driving toward the setting sun. --: a heuristic device in which we try to solve a problem by evaluating the difference between the current situation and the goal.

Judgment and Decision Making

People make most of their -- on the basis of limited information. They take shortcuts. They use heuristic devices—rules of thumb—in -- and -- making just as they do in problem solving. For example, they may let a financial advisor select stocks for them rather than research the companies themselves. Or they may see a doctor recommended by a friend rather than look at the doctor's credentials. In this section we consider various factors in -- and --.

Flynn Effect (Nature and Nurture)

Philosopher and researcher -- (2003) found that IQ scores in the Western world increased substantially between 1947 and 2002, some 18 points in the United States. Psychologist Richard Nisbett (2009) argues that our genetic codes could not possibly have changed enough in half a century to account for this enormous difference and concludes that social and cultural factors such as the effects of improved educational systems and the penetration of the mass media must be among the reasons for the change. If such environmental factors are capable of producing changes of this magnitude over time for the entire American population, they can also produce significant differences between subpopulations, such as between African Americans and European Americans. For example, the difference in IQ scores between the two racial groups has decreased from 15 points to 9.5 points over the past 30 years, which is again too large a difference to reflect genetic factors. Instead, it would suggest that the educational gap between the races may be narrowing. All in all, intellectual functioning appears to reflect the interaction of a complex web of genetic, physical, personal, and sociocultural factors.

Concepts

Provide many building blocks for thinking. A mental category that is used to class together objects, relations, events, abstractions, ideas, or qualities that have common properties. -- are crucial to cognition. They can represent objects, events, and activities—and visions of things that never were or cannot be measured: Such as the Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings or the land of Oz in Wizard of Oz. Labels for objects depend on one's experience with them and on one's cultural setting. -- such as square, circle, and triangle are not all that common in nature, and some peoples who do not construct houses with these shapes have no words for them. But these shapes are -- that are basic to geometry. Much thinking has to do with categorizing new -- and manipulating relationships among --, as in problems in geometry. We tend to organize -- in hierarchies. Example of this is the newspaper category includes objects such as your school paper and the Los Angeles Times.

Sternberg Multiple Theory

Psychologist -- has constructed a three-pronged or triarchic theory of intelligence that includes analytical, creative, and practical intelligence. Analytical intelligence can be defined as academic ability. It enables us to solve problems and acquire new knowledge. It is the type of intelligence measured by standard intelligence tests. Problem solving skills include encoding information, combining and comparing bits of information, and generating a solution. Creative intelligence is defined by the ability to cope with novel situations and generate many possible solutions to problems. It is creative to quickly relate novel situations to familiar situations (ie to perceive similarities and differences). Psychologists who consider creativity to be separate from analytical intelligence or academic ability note that there is only a moderate relationship between academic ability and creativity. To --, however, creativity is a form of intelligence. Practical intelligence ("street smarts") enables people to deal with other people, including difficult people, and to meet the demands of their environment. For example, keeping a job by adapting one's behavior to the employer's requirements is adaptive. But if the employer is making unreasonable demands, finding a more suitable job is also adaptive. Street smarts appear to help people get by in the real world, especially with other people, but are not particularly predictive of academic success.

Emotional and Social Intelligence

Psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer developed the theory of --, which holds that -- and -- skills are a form of intelligence, just as academic skills are. -- resembles two of Gardner's "intelligences"—intrapersonal skills and interpersonal skills (including insight into the feelings of other people). It also involves self-insight and self-control—the abilities to recognize and regulate one's moods. Failure to develop -- is connected with poor ability to cope with stress, depression, and aggressive behavior. But is -- a form of intelligence? Psychologist Ulric Neisser (1997) says that "the skills that Goleman describes . . . are certainly important for determining life outcomes, but nothing is to be gained by calling them forms of intelligence." There are thus many views of intelligence—what intelligence is and how many kinds of intelligence there may be. We do not yet have the final word on the nature of intelligence, but I would like to share psychologist Linda Gottfredson's definition: Intelligence is "a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings—'catching on,' 'making sense,' of things, or 'figuring out what to do'"

Nature and Nurture (Intelligence)

Psychologists can point with pride to a rich mine of research on the roles of -- (genetic influences) and -- (environmental influences) in the development of intelligence.

Genetic Influences (Nature and Nurture)

Research on -- has employed kinship studies, twin studies, and adoptee studies. Let's consider each of these to see whether heredity affects intellectual functioning. We can examine the IQ scores of closely and distantly related people who have been reared together or apart. If heredity is involved in human intelligence, closely related people ought to have more similar IQs than distantly related or unrelated people, even when they are reared separately The IQ scores of identical (monozygotic, or MZ) twins are more alike than scores for any other pairs, even when the twins have been reared apart. There are moderate correlations between the IQ scores of fraternal (dizygotic, or DZ) twins, between those of siblings, and between those of parents and their children. Correlations between the scores of children and their foster parents and between those of cousins are weak. In sum, studies generally suggest that the heritability of intelligence is between 40% and 60%. In other words, about half of the difference between your IQ score and the IQ scores of other people can be explained by heredity. Note, too, that -- pairs (e.g., MZ twins) who were reared together show higher correlations in their IQ scores than similar -- pairs (e.g., other MZ twins) who were reared apart. This finding holds for DZ twins, siblings, parents and their children, and unrelated people. Being reared together is, therefore, related with similarities in IQ. For this reason, the same group of studies used to demonstrate a role for the heritability of IQ scores also suggests that the environment plays a role in determining IQ scores. Another strategy for exploring -- on intelligence is to compare the correlations between the IQ scores of adopted children and those of their biological and adoptive parents. When children are separated from their biological parents at an early age, one can argue that strong relationships between their IQs and those of their natural parents reflect --. Strong relationships between the children's IQs and those of their adoptive parents might reflect environmental influences. Several studies with one- and two-year-old children in Colorado (Baker et al., 1983), Texas (Horn, 1983), and Minnesota (Scarr & Weinberg, 1983) have found a stronger relationship between the IQ scores of adopted children and those of their biological parents than between the children's scores and those of their adoptive parents.

Anagrams (Algorithm)

Scrambled words. Korc is an -- for rock or cork. The task in -- problems is to try to reorganize jumbles or groups of letters into words. Some -- problems require us to use every letter from the pool of letters; others allow us to use only some of the letters.

Heuristics

Sometimes people use shortcuts to "jump to conclusions"—and these are often correct conclusions. The shortcuts are called --, or -- devices—rules of thumb that help us simplify and solve problems. -- are often based on strategies that worked in the past --: rule of thumb that helps us simplify and solve problems. In contrast to algorithms, -- do not guarantee a correct solution. But when they work, they permit more rapid solutions. A -- device for solving the anagram problem would be to look for familiar letter combinations and then check the remaining letters for words that include these combinations. In DWARG, for example, we find some familiar combinations: dr and gr. We may then quickly find draw, drag, and grad. The drawback to this method is that we might miss some words.

G (Spearman Factor Theory)

Spearman's symbol for general intelligence, which he believed underlay more specific abilities.

S (Spearman Factor Theory)

Spearman's symbol for specific factors, or -- factors, which he believed accounted for individual abilities.

Home Environment (Environmental Influences)

The -- and styles of parenting also affect IQ scores (Bradley, 2006). Children of parents who are emotionally and verbally responsive, furnish appropriate play materials, are involved with their children, encourage independence, and provide varied daily experiences obtain higher IQ scores later on (Bradley, 2006). Organization and safety in the -- have also been linked to higher IQs and achievement test scores. Other studies support the view that children's early environment is linked to IQ scores and academic achievement. For example, Victoria Molfese and her colleagues (1997) found that the -- was the single most important predictor of scores on IQ tests among children aged three to eight.

Group Tests

The SBIS and Wechsler scales are administered to one person at a time. This one-to-one ratio is optimal because it allows the examiner to observe the test taker closely. Examiners are alerted to factors that impair performance, such as language difficulties, illness, or a noisy or poorly lit room. But large institutions with few trained examiners, such as the public schools and armed forces, require tests that can be administered simultaneously to large --. -- for children were first developed during World War I. At first these tests were hailed as remarkable instruments because they helped school administrators place children. As the years passed, however, -- came under attack because many administrators relied on them exclusively and did not seek other sources of information about children's abilities. At their best, intelligence tests provide only one source of information about individual children. Numbers alone, and especially IQ scores, cannot adequately define children's special abilities and talents.

Mental Age (Stanford-Binet IQ)

The accumulated months of credit that a person earns on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. It shows the intellectual level at which a child is functioning.

Difference in Intellectual Functioning

The average IQ score in the United States is very close to 100. Yet for some socioeconomic and ethnic groups in the United States, the average is higher, and for others, it is lower. Questions have also been raised about whether males or females are more intelligent overall, and whether there are gender differences in the kinds of intellectual or cognitive skills valued in society. Tests of -- have thus been seen as divisive and as maintaining a class system or social order that is based on prejudices and "tradition" as much as on science.

Understanding (Method of Problem Solving)

The first task in solving a problem is to -- the problem. Successful -- generally requires three features: 1) The parts our mental representation of the problem relate to one another in a meaningful way. If we are trying to solve a problem in geometry, our mental triangles, like actual triangles, should have angles that total 180 degrees. 2) The elements of our mental representation of the problem correspond to the elements of the problem in the outer world. If we are assessing a patient in the emergency room of a hospital, we want to arrive at a diagnosis of what might be wrong before we make a treatment plan. To do so, we take the patient's vital signs, including heart rate, temperature, and blood pressure, so that our mental picture of the patient conforms to what is going on in his or her body. 3) We have a storehouse of background knowledge that we can apply to the problem. We have the necessary experience or course work to solve the problem.

Framing Effect (Judgment and Decision Making)

The influence of wording, or the context in which information is presented, on decision making. Political groups, like advertisers, are aware of the -- and choose their words accordingly. For example, proponents of legalized abortion refer to themselves as "pro-choice" and opponents refer to themselves as "pro-life." Each group -- itself in a positive way ("pro" something) and refers to a popular value (freedom or life).

Functional Fixedness

The tendency to view an object in terms of its name or familiar usage. It may hinder problem solving. For example, first ask yourself what a pair of pliers is. Is it a tool for grasping, a paperweight, or a weapon? A pair of pliers could function as any of these, but your tendency to think of it as a grasping tool is fostered by your experience with it. You have probably used pliers only for grasping things. -- is the tendency to think of an object in terms of its name or its familiar function. It can be similar to a mental set in that it makes it difficult to use familiar objects to solve problems in novel ways.

Socioeconomic and Ethnic (Differences in Intellectual Functioning)

There is a body of research suggestive of differences in intelligence—or, more precisely, intelligence test scores—between -- groups. Lower-class U.S. children obtain IQ scores some 10 to 15 points lower than those obtained by middle- and upper-class children. African American children tend to obtain IQ scores some 15 points lower than those obtained by their European American age-mates. Latin American and Native American children also tend to score below the norms for European Americans. Many studies of IQ confuse the factors of social class and -- because disproportionate numbers of African Americans, Latin Americans, and Native Americans are found among the lower -- classes. When we limit our observations to particular -- groups, we still find an effect for social class. That is, middle-class European Americans outscore poorer European Americans. Middle-class African Americans, Latin Americans, and Native Americans outscore poorer members of their own -- groups. There may also be intellectual differences between Asians and Caucasians. Asian Americans, for example, frequently outscore European Americans on the math portion of the SAT. Students in China (Taiwan) and Japan also outscore European Americans on achievement tests in math and science. In the United States, moreover, people of Asian Indian, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, and Chinese descent are more likely than European Americans, African Americans, and Latin Americans to graduate from high school and complete college. They are also overrepresented in competitive colleges and universities. For example, Asian Americans make up 12% of the population of California, but they comprise 41% of the student population of the state's highest-ranked public university: the University of California at Berkeley. Most psychologists believe that such -- differences reflect cultural attitudes toward education rather than inborn racial differences. That is, the Asian children may be more motivated to work in school. Research shows that Chinese and Japanese students and their mothers tend to attribute academic successes to hard work. European Americans are more likely to attribute their children's academic successes to "natural" ability Intelligence tests may be said to have a cultural bias because children reared in African American or Latin American neighborhoods are at a cultural disadvantage in intelligence testing. Many psychologists, including Raymond B. Cattell (1949) and Florence Goodenough (1926) have tried to construct culture-free intelligence tests. Ironically, European American children outperform African American children on "culture-free" tests, perhaps because they are more likely than disadvantaged children to have played with blocks (practice relevant to the Cattell test) and to have sketched animals, people, and things (practice relevant to the Goodenough test, which is based on test-takers' drawings). Nor do culture-free tests predict academic success as well as other intelligence tests.

Creativity and Intelligence

Think of artists, musicians, poets, scientists and other -- individuals who innovate research methods. Like the concept of intelligence, the concept of -- has been difficult to define. One issue is whether -- is distinct from intelligence, or is, as Sternberg suggests, a type of intelligence. For example, we would not ask the question, "Do -- people tend to be intelligent?" unless we saw -- as distinct from intelligence. If you consider -- to be an aspect of intelligence, then the two concepts—intelligence and --—overlap. But if you think of intelligence as more closely related to academic ability, it is not always true that a highly intelligent person is -- or that a -- person is highly intelligent. Research findings suggest that the relationship between intelligence test scores and standard measures of -- is only moderate -- people can solve problems to which there are no preexisting solutions and no proven formulas. -- people share a number of qualities: they take chances. They refuse to accept limitations. They appreciate art and music. They use common materials to make unique things. They challenge social norms and take unpopular stands. They challenge ideas that other people accept at face value. -- problem solving demands divergent rather than convergent thinking. You may use divergent thinking when you are trying to generate ideas to answer an essay question on a test. Problem solving can involve both kinds of thinking. At first, divergent thinking helps generate many possible solutions. Convergent thinking is then used to select likely solutions and reject others. Intelligence test questions usually require analytical, convergent thinking to focus in on the one right answer. Tests of -- determine how flexible a person's thinking is. Here is an item from a test used by Getzels and Jackson (1962) to measure associative ability, a factor in --: "Write as many meanings as you can for each of the following words: (a) duck; (b) sack; (c) pitch; (d) fair." Those who write several meanings for each word, rather than only one, are rated as potentially more --.

Convergent Thinking (Creativity and Intelligence)

Thought is limited to present facts; the problem solver narrows his or her thinking to find the best solution. A thought process that narrows in on the single best solutions to a problem. You use -- to arrive at the right answer to a multiple choice question. Problem solving can involve both kinds of thinking. At first, divergent thinking helps generate many possible solutions. -- is then used to select likely solutions and reject others.

Bodily-kinesthetic talents, musical talent, spatial-relations skills, and two kinds of personal intelligence

What are the other types of intelligences of Gardner?

Socioeconomic and Ethnic, Gender

What are the reasons for differences in intellectual functioning?

Analytical, Creative, and Practical Intelligence

What are the three prongs of Sternberg's multiple theory?

Home and Education

What are the two environmental influences?

Language Ability and Logical-Mathematical Ability

What are the two familiar intelligences of Gardner?

Heuristics, Framing Effect, and Overconfidence

What effects Judgment and Decision Making?

Gardner and Sternberg

Who are the two multiple theorists?

Creativity (Creativity and Intelligence)

With his triarchic theory, Sternberg defines this as the ability to do things that are novel and useful. The ability to generate novel and useful solutions to problems.

Intelligence Quotient (Stanford-Binet IQ)

a) originally, a ratio obtained by dividing a child's score (or mental age) on an intelligence test by chronological age. b) generally, a score on an intelligence test. The -- reflects the relationship between a child's mental age and his or her actual or chronological age (CA). Use of this ratio reflects the fact that the same MA score has different implications for children of different ages. -- scores on the SBIS today are derived by comparing their results to those of other people of the same age. People who answer more items correctly than the average for people of the same age attain -- scores above 100. People who answer fewer items correctly than the average for their age attain scores below 100. Therefore, two children can answer exactly the same items on an intelligence test correctly, yet one can be above average in --. This is because the ages of the children may differ. The more intelligent child would be the younger of the two.