Thinking and Intelligence

1. Thinking and Intelligence Chapter 8 George S. Robinson, Jr., Ph.D. Department of Psychology North Carolina A&T State University

2. Cognitive Psychology • Cognitive psychology • the subfield of psychology concerned with the study of higher mental processes such as thinking, knowing, and deciding. • Thinking • manipulation of information in the form of mental images or concepts

3. Cognitive Psychology - cont. • Visual Imagery • rotation experiments • concepts • mental categories that share common characteristics • prototypes • a specific example of a particular concept that is readily brought to mind

4. Complete the sequence 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, _____ Form words NAGMARA BOLMPER SLEVO STIGNIH TOLUSONI Complete the sequence 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18 Form words ANAGRAM PROBLEM SOLVE INSIGHT SOLUTION Problem Solving

5. Problem Solving • Three features of a well-defined problem • the starting point - the initial (original) state • the needed operations - techniques for finding the solution • the final product - specified solution state

6. Problem Solving Methods • Algorithm • systematic procedure for solving a problem by evaluating all possible solutions until the correct one is found • Heuristic • educated guesses or rules of thumb for solving problems

7. Obstacles and Aids to Problem Solving • setting subgoals • break the problem down into several subgoals • methods of representing the problem • symbols, lists, graphs, visual images, etc. • rigidity • tendency to rely too heavily on past experiences in solving problems (i.e., functional fixedness) • functional fixedness • inability to see new uses for familiar object • set effect bias • bias toward the use of certain problem solving approaches because of past experiences

8. Higher Level Problem • DONALD + GERALD = ROBERT • D = 5, T = 0, What are the other letters? • Use the numbers from 0 to 9 to solve the problem • D O N A L D • + G E R A L D • _____________ • = R O B E R T

9. Making Decisions • confirmation bias • committing to one hypothesis without adequately testing other possibilities • representativeness heuristic • heuristic in which one determines whether a particular instance represents a certain class or category • availability heuristic • heuristic in which the probability of an event is determined by how readily it comes to mind • comparison • we make decisions by comparing things to one another or a standard • framing • the tendency for making decisions to be influenced by the presentation of negative or positive outcomes

10. Creativity • creativity • the ability to produce work that is both novel and appropriate • measuring creativity • no strong relationship with intelligence • divergent thinking • Remote Associates Test • Unusual Usage Test • Consequences Test

11. Creativity - cont • personal factors in creativity • capacity for hard word • willingness to take risks • tolerance for disorder, chaos, complexity or lack of symmetry • situational factors in creativity • a good positive relaxed stress free mood • intrinsic motivation

12. Intelligence • Intelligence • the ability to to excel at a variety of task, especially those related to academic success • History of intelligence • Francis Galton (1822-1911) • Alfred Binet (1857-1911) • Binet-Simon Scale • mental age • Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale • intelligence quotient (IQ) • Wechsler Scales - WAIS, WISC, WPPSI

13. Principles of Psychological Testing • reliability • degree to which repeated administrations of a psychological test yield consistent scores • validity • degree to which a psychological test measures what it intends to measure • standardization • procedures for administering psychological test and collecting norms • norms • distribution of scores obtained by a large sample of people who have taken a particular psychological test • normal distribution • symmetrical bell-shaped distribution, half of the scores fall above the mean, and half below

14. IQ

15. Intelligence Test Examples

16. Intelligence Test Examples – cont.

17. Normal Distribution

18. Extremes of Intelligence • Exceptional • IQ score below 70 or above 130 • mental retardation • mild IQ 50 - 70 (85% of the total group) • moderate IQ 30 - 50 (10% of the total group) • severe IQ 20 - 40 (3% of the total group) • profound IQ below 20 (1% of the total group) • IQ above 130-140 considered gifted • Savant syndrome

19. Kinds of Intelligence • Spearman’s Model • general intelligence (g), specific intelligence (s) • Strenberg’s Model • triarchic theory of intelligence • analytical, creative, and practical • Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences • linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalists or the ability to recognize patterns and how things are organized

20. Misuse of Intelligence Tests • Eugenics • Sterilization laws in the U.S. • in North Carolina • http://againsttheirwill.journalnow.com/ • more than 7600 people sterilized in North Carolina from 1933 to 1974 • Immigrant testing

21. Hereditary and Environmental Determinants of Intelligence • Heritability • percentage of differences among a group of people in a characteristic, such as intelligence, that is believed to be due to inherited factors • Heritability for intelligence probably around 50%, according to research • Identical and fraternal twins, and adoptees used in studies • Stimulating or rich environments • Racial differences in IQ