Cognition and mental abilities

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Cognition and mental abilities

• liudexiang

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contents

• Thought
• Problem solving
• Decision making
• Intelligence

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Building blocks of thought

• Language
• Images
• concepts

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Language

• Language A flexible system of communication
  that uses sounds, rules, gestures, or symbols to
  convey information.

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Language

• Phonemes the basic sounds that make up any
  language.
• Morphemes the smallest meaningful units of
  speech, such as simple words, prefixes, and
  suffixes.
• Grammar the language rules that determine how
  sounds and words can be combined and used to
  communicate meaning within a language.

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Images and concepts

• Images A mental representation of a sensory
  experience.
• Concepts A mental category for classifying
  objects, people, or experiences.

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Problem solving

• Problem representation the first step in solving
  a problem it involves interpreting or defining
  the problems.

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Divergent and convergent thinking

• Divergent thinking Thinking that meets the
  criteria of originality, inventiveness, and
  flexibility.
• Convergent thinking Thinking that is directed
  toward one correct solution to a problem.

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Obstacles to solving problems

• Mental set The tendency to perceive and to
  approach problems in certain ways.
• Functional fixedness The tendency to perceive
  only a limited number of uses for an object, thus
  interfering with the process of problem solving.

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Two problems
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Decision making

• Compensatory model A rational decision-making
  model in which choices are systematically
  evaluated on various criteria.

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Decision-making heuristic

• Representiveness A heuristic by which a new
  situation is judged on the basis of its
  resemblance to a stereotypical model.
• Availability A heuristic by which a judgment
  or decision is based on information that is most
  easily retrieved from memory.
• Confirmation bias the tendency to look for
  evidence in support of a belief and to ignore
  evidence that would disprove a belief.

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Intelligence

• Intelligence a general term referring to the
  ability or abilities involved in learning and
  adaptive behavior.

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Theories of intelligence

• Triarchic theory of intelligence Sternbergs
  theory that intelligence involves mental skills,
  insight and creative adaptability, and
  environmental responsiveness.

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Theories of intelligence

• Theory of multiple intelligence Howard
  Gardners theory that there is not one
  intelligence, but rather many intelligences, each
  of which is relatively independent of the others.

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The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

• The first test developed to measure intelligence
  was designed by two Frenchmen, Alfred Binet and
  Theodore Simon. The test , first used in Paris in
  1905, was designed to identify children who might
  have difficulty in school.

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The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

• The first Binet-Simon Scale consisted of 30 tests
  arranged in order of increasing difficulty. With
  each child, the examiner started with the
  earliest tests and worked down the test until the
  child could not longer answer questions.

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Mental age

• A child who scores as well as an average
  4-year-old has a mental age of 4.
• A child who scores as well as an average
  12-year-old has a mental age of 12.

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Intelligence tests

• Intelligence quotient a numerical value given
  to intelligence that is determined from the
  scores on an intelligence test on the basis of a
  score of 100 for average intelligence.

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Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

• The current one is designed to measure four kinds
  of mental abilities
• Verbal reasoning abstract/visual reasoning,
  quantitative reasoning, and short-term memory.
  Test items vary with the subjects age.

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Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

• A 3-year-old might be asked to describe the
  purpose of a cup and to name objects such as a
  chair and a key.
• A 6-year-old might be asked to define words such
  as orange and envelope and complete a sentence
  such as An inch is short a mile is __ .
• A 12-year-old might be asked to define skill and
  juggler and to complete the sentence the
  streams are dry___ there has been little rain

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Welchsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition
(WAIS-III)

• An individual intelligence test developed
  especially for adults measures both verbal and
  performance abilities.
• The WAIS was developed in the late 1930s by David
  Welchsler.

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Welchsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition
(WAIS-III)

• The WAIS-III is divided into two parts, one
  stressing verbal skills, the other performance
  skills.

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Verbal skills

• The verbal scale includes tests of information (
  Who wrote Paradise Lost? )
• tests of simple arithmetic (Sam had three pieces
  of candy, and Joe gave him four more. How many
  pieces of candy did Sam have then?)
• Tests of comprehension ( What should you do if
  you see someone forget a book on a bus?)

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Performance skills

• The performance scale also measures routine
  tasks. People are asked find the missing part
  , to copy patterns, and to arrange three to five
  pictures so that they tell a story.

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Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third
Edition (WISC-III)

• An individual intelligence test developed
  especially for school-aged children measures
  verbal and performance abilities and also yields
  an overall IQ score.

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Group tests

• Written intelligence tests administered by one
  examiner to many people at one time.

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The end