Thinking and Intelligence

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Thinking and Intelligence
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Thought

• Cognitionmental activities involved in
  acquiring, retaining, and using knowledge
• Thinkingmanipulation of mental representations
  to draw inferences and conclusions
• Mental imagerepresentation of objects or events
  that are not present

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Concepts

• Conceptmental category of objects or ideas based
  on shared properties
• Formal conceptmental category formed by learning
  rules
• Natural conceptmental category formed by
  everyday experience

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Examples of Concepts

• Formal conceptfollows rigid rules, not usually
  intuitive (A polygon is.)
• Natural conceptresults from everyday experience
  (Some mammals are.)

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Problem Solving Strategies
Trial and error
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Problem Solving Strategies
Algorithm --a procedure or formula for solving a
problem
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Problem Solving Strategies

• Heuristic comes from the same Greek root as
  "eureka" e???s??, which means "I find a
  strategy that involves following a general rule
  of thumb to reduce the number of possible
  solutions

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Representative Heuristic

• Judge probability of an event based on how it
  matches a prototype
• Can be good
• But can also lead to errors
• Most will overuse this strategy

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Availability Heuristic

• Judge probability of an event by how easily you
  can recall previous occurrences of that event
• Most will overestimate deaths from natural
  disasters because disasters are frequently on TV
• Most will underestimate deaths from asthma
  because they dont make the local news

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Insight and Intuition

• Insightsudden realization about how a problem
  can be solved

• Intuitioncoming to a conclusion without
  conscious awareness of thought processes involved

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Obstacles to Problem Solving
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Functional Fixedness

• Type of mental set
• Inability to see an object as having A function
  other than its usual one

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Nine dots problem

• Without lifting your pencil or re-tracing any
  line, draw four straight lines that connect all
  nine dots

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Nine dots mental set

• Most people will not draw lines that extend from
  the square formed by the nine dots
• To solve the problem, you have to break your
  mental set

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Mounting candle problem

• Using only the objects present on the right,
  attach the candle to the bulletin board in such a
  way that the candle can be lit and will burn
  properly

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Answer to candle problem

• Most people do not think of using the box for
  anything other than its normal use (to hold the
  tacks)
• To solve the problem, you have to overcome
  functional fixedness

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Bias Effects

• Confirmation biasonly search for information
  confirming ones hypothesis
• Belief biasaccept only information that conforms
  to beliefs
• Fallacy of positive instancesremember uncommon
  events that confirm our beliefs
• Overestimationtendency to overestimate rarity
  of events

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Strategies for solving problems

• 1. Break mental sets
• 2. Find useful analogy
• 3. Represent information efficiently
• 4. Find shortcuts
• 5. Establish sub-goals
• 6. Turn ill-defined problems into well-defined
  problems

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Decision Making

• Single feature modelmake a decision by focusing
  on only one feature
• Additive modelsystematically evaluate the
  important features of each alternative
• Elimination-by-aspectsrate choices based on
  features. Eliminate those that do not meet the
  desired criteria, despite other desirable
  characteristics.

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Intelligence

• Global capacity to think rationally, act
  purposefully, and deal effectively with the
  environment

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Measuring Intelligence

• Alfred Binet
• Mental age
• Chronological age
• IQcomparison of people in similar age groups

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• Alfred Binet (18571911)

• Intelligencecollection of higher-order mental
  abilities loosely related to one another
• Did not rank normal students according to the
  scores
• Intelligence is nurtured
• Binet-Simon Test developed in France, 1905

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Modern Intelligence Tests

• The Stanford-Binet Scale
• modification of the original Binet-Simon, bu
  Lewis Terman at Stanford university
• intelligence quotient (IQ)childs mental age
  divided by childs chronological age

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Group Intelligence Testing

• Began during WWI when the army had to screen
  millions of army recruits
• Army Alpha--given to people who could read
• Army Beta--given to people who could not read
• Adapted for civilian use, but widely misused

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Wechsler Intelligence Tests

• Used more widely now than Stanford-Binet
• Modeled after Binets, adult test called WAIS
• Consisted of several subtests
• Reflected belief that intelligence involves
  different strengths and weaknesses

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WAIS Scales

• Test measured several abilities
• Performance scales--nonverbal abilities
• Verbal scales--vocabulary, comprehension, and
  other verbal tasks
• Sub-scales gave the WAIS practical and clinical
  value

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Types of Tests

• Achievement testdesigned to measure level of
  knowledge, skill, or accomplishment in a
  particular area
• Aptitude testdesigned to measure capability to
  benefit from education or training
• Interest testmeasures self-reported vocational
  interests and skills

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Qualities of Good Tests

• Standardizedadministered to large groups of
  people under uniform conditions to establish
  norms
• Reliableability to produce consistent results
  when administered on repeated occasions under
  similar conditions
• Validability to measure what the test is
  intended to measure

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Standardized Scoring of Wechsler Tests

• All raw scores converted to standardized scores
• Normal distribution
• Mean of 100
• Standard deviation of 15

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How valid are IQ tests?

• Validitytest measures what its intended to
  measure
• Does test correlate with other measures of same
  construct?
• School achievement
• IQ tests (i.e., S-B and the Wechsler) correlate
  highly
• but they were designed to test what you learn in
  school
• Prestigious positions
• On-the-job performance other work-related
  variables

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What do IQ tests measure about your mind?

• Mental speed and span of working memory
• typically use a digit span test to measure this
• more recent studies find significant correlations
  between reaction times and IQ scores
• Why is this important?
• mental quickness may expand capacity of working
  memory

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Theories of Intelligence

• Charles Spearmang factor
• Louis Thurstoneintelligence as a persons
  pattern of mental abilities
• Howard Gardnermultiple intelligences
• Sternbergtriarchic theory

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Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligences
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Robert Sternberg

• Analytic intelligencemental processes used in
  learning how to solve problems
• Creative intelligenceability to deal with novel
  situations by drawing on existing skills and
  knowledge
• Practical intelligenceability to adapt to the
  environment (street smarts)

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Nature vs. Nurture in IQ

• Are differences between people due to
  environmental or genetic differences?
• Misunderstanding the question
• Is a persons intelligence due more to genes or
  to environment?
• both genes intelligence crucial for any trait

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Heredity and Environment

• Heritability
• degree to which variation in trait stems from
  genetic, rather than environmental, differences
  among individuals
• Environment
• degree to which variation is due to environmental
  rather than genetic differences

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Twin Studies Family Influence

• If trait genetic
• closely related more similar than less closely
  related
• Many close relatives share environments too
• Types of studies to separate effects
• monozygotic twins reared together
• monozygotic twins reared apart
• siblings/dizygotic reared together
• siblings/dizygotic reared apart
• adoptive siblings reared together

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Racial Difference in IQ

• Racial difference in average IQ among different
  racial groups can be measured
• More variation in IQ scores within a particular
  group than between groups

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Other Influences on IQ Scores

• Cross cultural studies show that average IQ of
  groups subject to social discrimination are often
  lower than socially dominant group even if there
  is no racial difference
• Tests reflect the culture in which they are
  developed cultural factors also influence test
  taking behavior (culture bias)