Thinking, Memory, & Intelligence

1. Thinking, Memory, & Intelligence More Cognitive Psychology

2. Cognition • Cognition • The broad mental capacities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating • Developed into the field of cognitive psychology In order to think about things in our world we simplify them by creating • Concepts • Prototypes

3. Simplifying our Thinking • Concept • A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people • Ex.Chair: • Ex. Flower: The development of concepts are assisted by the development of prototypes • Prototype • Mental image or best example of a category; helps to make quick and easy assessment of items • Ex: Birds….which fits better, a robin or a penguin?

4. Problem Solving • Problem Solving: • Refers to the active efforts to discover what must be done to achieve a goal that is not readily attainable • Problem Space • refer to the set of possible pathways to a solution considered by the problem solver • Aka. approaches to problem solving

5. Approaches to Problem Solving • Trial and Error • Trying possible solutions and discarding those that are in error until one works • Algorithm • a logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem in a step-by-step manner; slower than what is known as heuistics • Heuristic • A simple strategy that allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; faster than algorithm but causes more errors; rule of thumb

6. Approaches to Problem Solving • Forming Sub-goals • Working backward • Searching for Analogies • Changing the Representations of the Problem • Taking a Break • Incubation Effect: occurs when new solutions surface for a previously unsolved problem after a period of not consciously thinking about the problem

7. Problems to Problem Solving • Irrelevant Information • Confirmation Bias • A tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions • Fixation • the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem-solving • Ex. Mental set- people persist in using problem solving strategies that have worked in the past • Ex. Functional fixedness- tendency to perceive an item only in terms of its most common use

8. Problems to Problem Solving • Overconfidence • The tendency to be more confident than correct; over-estimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs & judgments • Framing • The way an issue is posed or presented can significantly affect decisions & judgments • Ex. Success rate for surgery; Drop-off prices

9. Problems to Problem Solving • Unnecessary Constraints • Ex. Nine dot problem • Insight: helps overcome these constraints when people suddenly discover the correct solution to a problem after struggling with it for a while

10. Problems to Problem Solving • Belief Bias • The tendency of ones’ pre-existing beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid and valid conclusions seems invalid • Belief Perseverance • Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited • Ex. Capital punishment research; firefighter study

11. Decision Making • Decision making: involves evaluating alternatives and making choices among them • Theory of Bounded Rationality: asserts that people tend to use simple strategies in decision making that focus on only a few facets of available options and often result in “irrational” decisions that are less than optimal

12. Decision Making • Risky decision making: involves making choices under conditions of uncertainty • Conjunction fallacy: occurs when people estimate that the odds of two uncertain events happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone

13. Decision Making • Representative Heuristic • Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they represent or match a prototype; may cause to ignore other relevant information • Ex. The Stranger: professor or truck driver • Availability Heuristic • Estimating likelihood of things based upon the availability in our memory or that quickly come to mind so we deem them common

14. Language The most tangible or hard evidence of our thinking power is language • Language • Our spoken, written, or signed words and the rules we use combine them to communicate meaning • Lot of research completed by Chomsky

15. Language • Phonemes- the smallest speech units in a language that can be distinguished perceptually • Morphemes & Semantics: • Morphemes: the smallest units of meaning in a language • Semantics: area of language concerned with understanding the meaning of words and word combinations • Syntax- a system of rules that specify how words can be arranged into sentences

16. Language Development • This development is gradual and moves from simple to complex; however by 4 months infants can read lips and discriminate speech sounds • they prefer to look at faces in which the sounds match • First stage: Babbling Stage • At 3-4 mths infants spontaneously utter various sounds that are at first unrelated to household language

17. Language Development • Over time infants begin to lose their ability to discriminate sound they never hear… -which is why it is easier to learn a second language at a young age, because we lose the ability to discriminate the unique sounds not used in our native language but in the language of others’ • One-word Stage: • At 1-2 years, a child begins to speak mostly in single words • Usually only contain one syllable like ma or da but gradually conforms to family language

18. Language Development • Fast mapping: process by which children map a word onto an underlying concept after only one exposure • Overextensions: when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a wider set of objects or actions than it is meant • Underextensions: when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a narrower set of objects or actions than it is meant to

19. Language Development • Two-Word Stage: • Begins about 2 years and is when children speak in mainly 2-word phrase • Stage also known for telegraphic speech: speaking like a telegram “ go car” and using mostly nouns and verbs • Overrgeneralizations: when grammatical rules are incorrectly generalized to irregular cases where they do not apply • Use the chart on page 316 to help you remember the stages! 

20. Language Development • Bilingualism • Acquisition of two languages that use different speech sounds, vocabulary, and grammatical rules

21. With a Partner… • Analyze the different theories as to how language develops…. • Skinner (behaviorists) • Chomsky (Nativist) • LAD: innate mechanism or process that facilitates the learning of language • Cognitive neuorscientists (interactionists)

22. Impact of Language • Linguistic Determinism/Relativity • Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way that we think • English have a lot of vocabulary words that focus on the self; Japanese have more about societal emotional terms in comparison to the West • Do we refer to females as “girls” or “woman” • Yet there is plenty of thinking that happens without language, aka….mental pictures, spatial thinking, visualization, etc…..

23. Chapter 8 Practice Test

24. 1. The 2-year-old child who refers to every four-legged animal as “doggie” is making which of the following errors? • a)underextension • b)overextension • c)overregularization • d)underregularization

25. 2. Research suggests that bilingualism has a negative effect on • a) language development • b) cognitive development • c) metalinguistic awareness • d) none of the above

26. 3. Based on the work with Kanzi, which statement best summarizes the current status of the research on whether chimps can learn languages? • a) Chimps can acquire the use of symbols but cannot combine them into sentences or learn rules of language. • b) Chimps are nearly as well suited for learning and using language as humans. • c) Chimps are incapable even of learning the symbols of a language. • d) Chimps can learn some basic language skills, but the linguistic capacities of humans are far superior

27. 4. Chomsky proposed that children learn language swiftly: • a) because they possess an innate language acquisition device. • b) through imitation, reinforcement, and shaping. • c) as the quality of their thought improves with age. • d) because they need to in order to get their increasingly complex needs met.

28. 5. The linguistic relativity hypothesis is the notion that: • a) one’s language determines the nature of ones thought. • b) one’s thought determines the nature of ones language. • c) language and thought are separate and independent processes. • d) language and thought interact, with each influencing the other.

29. 6. The nine-dot problem is: • a) often solved suddenly with a burst of insight • b) difficult because people assume constraints that are not part of the problem • c) solved through fast mapping • d) both a and b

30. 7. Problems that require a common object to be used in an unusual way may be difficult to solve because of: • a) mental set • b) irrelevant information • c) unnecessary constraints • d) functional fixedness

31. 8. A heuristic is: • a) a flash of insight • b) a guiding principle or “rule of thumb” used in problem solving or decision making • c) a methodical procedure for trying all possible solutions to a problem • d) a way of making a compensatory decision

32. 9. Which of the following is not a heuristic used for solving problems? • a) working backward • b) fast mapping • c) forming subgoals • d) searching for analogies

33. 10. According to Nisbett, Eastern cultures tend to favor a(n) _____ cognitive style, whereas Western cultures tend to display a(n) _____ cognitive style • a) analytic; holistic • b) holistic; analytic • c) heuristic; algorithmic • d) algorithmic; heuristic

34. 11. The theory of bounded rationality was originally developed by: • a) Herbert Simon • b) Noam Chomsky • c) Steven Pinker • d) Gerd Gigerenzer

35. 12. When you estimate the probability of an event by judging the ease with which relevant instances come to mind, you are relying on : • a) an additive decision-making model • b) the representativeness heuristic • c) the availability heuristic • D) a non-compensatory model

36. 13. The belief that the probability of heads is higher after a long string of tails: • a) is rational and accurate • b) is an example of the “gambler’s fallacy” • c) reflects the influence of the representativeness heuristic • d) includes both b and c

37. 14. The tendency to overestimate the probability of events that get heavy media coverage reflects the operation of: • a) framing effects • b) the representativeness heuristic • c) the availability heuristic • d) mental set

38. 15. If someone says “Only a congenial pinhead would make that choice,” this use of language would represent: • a) confirmation • b) syntactic slanting • c) anticipatory name calling • d) telegraphic speech

39. MEMORY

40. WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER? • (Objectives for this unit) • Essential Questions to be asked: • How do we remember things? • Why do we forget things? • Where do we store memories? • Are there different types of memories? • Are there memories that last longer than others? Why? • Can we have false memories? • Can our imagination play tricks on us? • How can we improve our memory?

41. Overview

42. Memory • Memory • persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information • Flashbulb Memory • a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event • Based in long-term memory • Ex. JFK assassination; 9/11 attack

43. Memory • Memory as Information Processing • similar to a computer • write to file: putting info in (encoding) • save to computer/jump/external: save file as: (storage) • read from computer/jump/external : retrieval: (open file)

44. Encoding • ENCODING • the processing of information into the memory system or getting information into memory • Typing on a computer keyboard the information you need to keep. • Memory code: created by the brain; emphasis on looks, sounds, or meaning

45. STORAGE • Storage: • The retention of coded information over time • Saving information: where? • Do I need it temporarily: over a few minutes, days, months? • Do I need it for years or the rest of my life? • Where do I put the information when I save it?

46. RETRIEVAL • Retrieval: • The process of getting information out of memory storage • When I save information, how do I get it back out when I need it? • Do I remember where I put it? • What if it is large pieces of information or just a single word?

47. Encoding Effortful Automatic Getting Information In Automatic processing allows us to process two or more complex coding tasks simultaneously & is done without conscious awareness

48. Encoding • Effortful Processing • requires attention • conscious effort • Spacing and serial position effect • Elaboration • Linking a stimulus to other information at the time of the encoding • Ex. Linking classically conditioned fears to your own fear of spiders • Rehearsal • repetition of information • to maintain it in consciousness • to encode it for storage

49. Encoding • Automatic Processing • unconscious encoding of incidental information • Space: aware of size of room or distance from something • Time: how much time has passed; how long something occurred • Frequency: how often something happens • well-learned information • word meanings • YET, we can learn automatic processing • reading backwards

50. Storage: Memory System3 Components of Memory Short-term memory is also known as working memory