Psych. Exam 2 (Section: Thinking and Intelligence)

What is a schema?

mental construct consisting of a collection of related concepts (plural: schemata)

Semantics

process by which we derive meaning from morphemes and words

Syntax

refers to the way words are organized into sentences (sentence structure)

What is a prototype? How is it different from a concept?

A prototype is a best representation of a concept

Algorithm (Problem Solving Strategy)? How effective?

A step-by-step way (rule/formula) to get a solution to a problem. Can be very time consuming, but a more accurate way to get an answer to a problem. But not always available and sometimes not practical.

How is an artificial concept different from a natural concept?

An artificial concept is defined by a very specific set of characteristics (shapes), and a natural concept is mental groupings that are created "naturally" through your experiences (snow).

Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Argued that how successful someone is can be related to 3 types of intelligence - Practical Intelligence: Taking experience and applying it to everyday life - Analytic Intelligence: Analyze, evaluate, compare, and contrast well. - Creative Intelligence: Creating new and unusual items and solutions to problems.

What is a concept?

Concept: Category or grouping of linguistic information, objects, ideas, or life experiences

How are complex, abstract concepts different from concrete concepts?

Concrete concepts are those whose referents can be experienced through sensation/perception, such as dog or pond, whereas abstract concepts are those whose referents lack this attribute, such as truth.

What is creativity? What characteristics do very creative people tend to have?

Creativity refers to the ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities. Creative people tend to use divergent thinking which is creating unusual but correct answers to problems instead simply repeating information that can be catered from books, the Internet, etc.

Who was Noam Chomsky?

Criticized B.F. Skinner's behaviorist approach that children learn language through reinforcement, and insisted that instead the mechanisms underlying language acquisition are biologically determined. Therefore, we are born with a biological predisposition to acquire a language.

What is Raymond Cattell's theory about intelligence?

Fluid vs. Crystallized Intelligence - Fluid Intelligence: Involves an individuals ability to solve problems, reason, and remember information. - Crystallized Intelligence: Ability to gather and use information and skills when it is called on. This knowledge is often an accumulation of lifetime skills.

Why did Binet write his intelligence test?

France passed a law to provide all children with education in the 20th century. This created a problem, which was they didn't have enough resources to provide every child with the same level of education. Binet's solution was to administer tests to children to see who was likely to benefit from education. (Sort who was likely to succeed and who was likely to struggle) This would place some children in programs to prepare them for professional jobs (ex. doctor, teacher) and others in vocational or apprenticeship programs.

Heuristics (Problem Solving Strategies)? How effective? When are people more likely to use heuristics?

General problem-solving framework. Mental shortcut that saves time when problem solving. Usually quicker than other strategies, but less accurate than algorithms. (Ex. working backwards) People tend to use heuristics when: - overwhelmed by info - time constraints - not worried about the problem - little information to solve the problem - when a heuristic is readily available to solve a problem

What does it mean when a researcher says that there is a critical period for language acquisition?

Generally, as people age, the ease with which they acquire and master new languages diminishes.

What does it mean when an intelligence test is standardized? Normed?

Standardized - Creating a test where "administering, scoring, and interpreting the results is consistent." Normed - Gives the test to a lot of people - Allows comparison to similar groups

What changes did Lewis Terman make to Binet's test? What was the resulting intelligence test called?

Terman (from Stanford University) modified Binet's work by standardizing the administration of the test and changing it for English-speaking children in the U.S. The test was called the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test.

How can socioeconomic status affect one's development of measured intelligence.

The results show a moderate effect of SES and specifically parental education (mainly maternal education) on the performance in memory (working memory), language and executive functions, especially for younger children (from 6 to 12 years old). The children with lower SES had lower performance regarding IQ, verbal episodic and semantic memory, working memory, written language, visuoverbal memory and inhibitory control tasks than those with higher SES.

Does the way a person was raised affect one's intelligence?

Yes

What is functional fixedness?

a type of mental set where you cannot perceive an object being used for something other than what it was designed/intended for

What is Charles Spearman's g factor? What does its existence argue about what intelligence is?

"General Intelligence": Charles Spearman conducted factor analyses (statistical tests) and compared scores on different measures that covered on measures of intelligence. They tended to go together, so Spearman said that ONE number for g could describe someone's intelligence.

Describe what qualifies as mild intellectual disability.

- 3rd-6th grade school abilities - Can live and function alone in some situations - 85% of those with intellectual disability

Who was David Weschler? What intelligence tests did he ultimately create?

- Created a serious of intelligence tests that are popular in the U.S. - Tests break down into subsets (Verbal and Nonverbal) - Current Popular Intelligence Tests: - Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) - Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V) - Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence - Revised (WPPSI-III)

Describe what qualifies as severe intellectual disability.

- Functional ability to care for themselves - Needs oversight in everyday activity - 5% of those with intellectual disability.

Describe what qualifies as profound intellectual disability.

- May be able to communicate - Requires constant oversight - Less than 1% of those with intellectual disability.

Describe what qualifies as moderate intellectual disability.

- Requires assistance in everyday living - Basic reading and writing skills - 10% of those with intellectual disability.

When does someone have a genius IQ?

130 or higher (2% of the population)

Phoneme

Basic sound unit of a given language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes. (the sound "ah" vs. "eh")

Hindsight Bias

Belief that we could have predicted the thing that just happened

What is divergent thinking? What is convergent thinking?

Divergent thinking (part of creative thinking) is creating unusual but applicable answers to questions or problems, not simply repeating information from books, the internet, other people, etc. (Ability to think outside the box.") Convergent thinking is providing correct or established answers to problems.

What did the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart tell us about whether nature or nurture helps determine our intelligence?

Identical twins raised together and those raised apart show higher correlations in IQ than siblings or fraternal twins raised together. - Argues for nature (genetic) component Enriching vs. impoverished environments make a difference in outcomes - Argues for nurture (environmental) component Basically, composing factors ethnic groups and socioeconomic status make it difficult to determine if nature or nurture help determine our intelligence.

Trial and Error (Problem-Solving Strategy)? How effective?

Keep trying random things until a solution is found. Time consuming, but is a common way to problem solve.

What does language encompass? How is it different from communication?

Language is a communication system that involves using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one individual to another. While language is a form of communication, not all communication is language.

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Linguistic - Excellent understanding of language - Learns new languages easily Logical-Mathematical - Excellent at math, analytical problem solving. Musical - Understanding pitch, timbre, tone. - Can be gifted composure, musician, singer. Bodily Kinesthetic - Gifted in body movement and physical tasks Spatial - Excellent understanding where items are in space and movement of those options in space. Naturalistic - Understanding of nature - Gifted interactions with animals Emotional - Understand emotions, show empathy, understand relationship/social cues, control own emotions. - Two Types: - Interpersonal: understand, and respond, to other's emotions - Intrapersonal: understand, and utilize, own emotions.

Availability Heuristic

Making a decision based on information readily available to you

What was Sir Francis Galton's contribution to the study of psychology?

One of the topics that Francis Galton was best known for was his work with intelligence. He believed that many aspects of human nature, including intelligence, could be measured scientifically. In a time before I.Q. tests, Galton attempted to measure intelligence through reaction time tests. For example, the faster someone could register and identify a sound, the more intelligent that person was.

Confirmation Bias

Pays attention to information that confirms what we already believe, ignores/rejects contradictories

Representative Bias

faulty heuristic in which you stereotype someone or something without a valid basis for your judgment

Anchoring Bias

focusing on only one aspect of a situation when making a decision

What is an event schema?

set of behaviors that are performed the same way each time (also referred to as cognitive schema)

What is a role schema?

set of expectations that define the behavior of a person occupying a particular role

Grammar

set of rules that are used to convey meaning through the use of a lexicon

What is linguistic determinism?

the idea that our specific language determines how we think

Morphemes

the smallest units of language that convey some type of language ("I" is both a phoneme and morpheme)

Lexicon

the words of a given language (lexicon is a language's vocabulary)

What is a mental set?

when you persist in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past when it is not working now