Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

Chapter 8

Thinking, Language, & Intelligence

Intelligence What Is Intelligence?

Thinking

Thinking, or cognition, refers to a process that involves knowing, understanding,

remembering, and communicating.

Cognitive Psychologists

Thinking involves a number of mental activities, which are listed below. Cognitive

psychologists study these in great detail.

1. Concepts2. Problem solving3. Decision making4. Judgment

formation

Problem Solving

Problem solving strategies include:

1. Trial and Error2. Algorithms3. Heuristics4. Insight

Algorithms

Algorithms, which are very time consuming, exhaust all possibilities before arriving at a

solution. Computers use algorithms.

S P L O Y O C H Y G

If we were to unscramble these letters to form a word using an algorithmic approach, we would face

907,200 possibilities.

Heuristics

Heuristics are simple, thinking strategies that

allow us to make judgments and solve problems

efficiently. Heuristics are less time consuming, but more error-

prone than algorithms.

B2M

Productions/D

igital Version/G

etty Images

Heuristics

Heuristics make it easier for us to use simple principles to arrive at solutions to problems.

S P L O Y O C H Y GS P L O Y O C H G YP S L O Y O C H G YP S Y C H O L O G Y

Put a Y at the end, and see if the wordbegins to make sense.

Insight

Insight involves a sudden novel

realization of a solution to a

problem. Humans and animals have

insight.

Grande using boxes toobtain food

Insight

Brain imaging and EEG studies suggest that when an insight

strikes (the “Aha” experience), it

activates the right temporal cortex (Jung-

Beeman & others, 2004). The time

between not knowing the solution and

realizing it is about 0.3 seconds.

From M

ark Jung-Beekm

an, Northw

estern U

niversity and John Kounios, D

rexel University

Making Good (and Bad) Decision & Forming Judgments

Each day we make hundreds of judgments and decisions based on our intuition, seldom using systematic reasoning.

Obstacles in Solving Problems

Confirmation Bias: A tendency to search for information that confirms a personal bias.

2 – 4 – 6

Rule: Any ascending series of numbers. 1 – 2 – 3 would comply. Wason’s students had difficulty figuring out the rule due to a confirmation bias

(Wason, 1960).

Using and Misusing Heuristics

Heuristics such as the availability heuristic, have been identified by

cognitive psychologists.

Amos Tversky Daniel Kahneman

Courtesy of G

reymeyer A

ward, U

niversity of L

ouisville and the Tversky fam

ily

Courtesy of G

reymeyer A

ward, U

niversity of L

ouisville and Daniel K

ahneman

Availability Heuristic

Why does our availability heuristic lead us astray?Whatever increases the ease of retrieving

information increases its perceived availability.

How is retrieval facilitated?

1. How recently we have heard about the event.

2. How distinct it is.3. How correct it is.

Fixation

Fixation: An inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. This impedes

problem solving. An example of fixation is functional fixedness.

The Matchstick Problem: How

would you arrange six matches to form

four equilateral triangles?

From

“Problem

Solving” by M

. Scheerer. C

opyright © 1963 by

Scientific A

merican, Inc. A

ll Rights R

eserved.

Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

Candle-Mounting Problem

From

“Problem

Solving” by M

. Scheerer. C

opyright © 1963 by

Scientific A

merican, Inc. A

ll Rights R

eserved.

The Matchstick Problem: Solution

From

“Problem

Solving” by M

. Scheerer. C

opyright © 1963 by

Scientific A

merican, Inc. A

ll Rights R

eserved.

Overconfidence

Intuitive heuristics, confirmation of beliefs, and the inclination to explain failures

increase our overconfidence. Overconfidence is a tendency to overestimate the accuracy of

our beliefs and judgments.

In the stock market, both the seller and the buyer may be

confident about their decisions on a stock.

The Effects of Framing

Decisions and judgments may be significantly affected depending upon how an issue is

framed.

Example: What is the best way to market ground beef — as 25% fat or 75% lean?

The Belief Perseverance Phenomenon

Belief perseverance is the tendency to cling to our beliefs in the face of contrary

evidence.

If you see that a country is hostile, you are likely to interpret their ambiguous

actions as a sign of hostility (Jervis, 1985).

Assessing Risk

The opposite of having overconfidence

is having an exaggerated fear about what may

happen. Such fears may be unfounded.

The 9/11 attacks led to a decline in air travel due to fear.

AP

/ Wide W

orld Photos

Perils & Powers of Intuition

Intuition may be perilous if unchecked, but may also be extremely efficient and

adaptive.

Language and Thought

Language, our spoken, written, or gestured work, is the way we communicate meaning

to ourselves and others.

Language transmits culture.

M. &

E. B

ernheim/ W

oodfin Cam

p & A

ssociates

Language Development

Children learn their native languages

much before learning to add 2+2.

We learn, on average (after age 1), 3,500

words a year, amassing 60,000

words by the time we graduate from high

school.

Tim

e Life Pictures/ G

etty Images

When do we learn language?

Babbling Stage: Beginning at 4

months, the infant spontaneously utters various sounds, like ah-goo. Babbling is

not imitation of adult speech.

When do we learn language?

One-Word Stage: Beginning at or around his first birthday, a child starts to speak one word at a time and is able to make family members understand him. The word doggy may mean look at the dog out there.

When do we learn language?

Two-Word Stage: Before the 2nd year, a child starts to speak in two-word sentences. This form of speech is called telegraphic speech because the child speaks like a telegram: “Go car,” means I would like to go for a ride in the car.

When do we learn language?

Longer phrases: After telegraphic speech, children begin uttering longer phrases (Mommy get ball) with syntactical sense, and by early elementary school they are employing humor.

You never starve in the desert because of all the sand-which-is there.

When do we learn language?

Explaining Language Development

Childhood is a critical period for fully developing certain aspects of language. Children never exposed to any language (spoken or signed) by about age 7 gradually lose their ability to master any language.

Critical PeriodLearning new languages gets harder with age.

Thinking & Language

Language and thinking intricately intertwine.

Rubber B

all/ Alm

ay

Do animals have a language?

Animal Thinking & Language

Honey bees communicate by dancing. The dancemoves clearly indicate the direction of the nectar.

Do Animals Think?

Common cognitive skills in humans and apes

include the following:

1. Concept Formation

2. Insight3. Problem Solving4. Culture

African grey parrot assorts redblocks from green balls.

William

Munoz

InsightChimpanzees show insightful behavior

when solving problems.

Sultan uses sticks to get food.

Problem Solving

Apes are, much like us, shaped by

reinforcement when solving problems.

Chimpanzee fishing for ants.

Courtesy of Jennifer B

yrne, c/o Richard B

yrne, D

epartment of P

sychology, University of S

t. Andrew

s, Scotland

Animal Culture

Animals display customs and culture that are learned and transmitted over generations.

Dolphins using sponges asforging tools.

Chimpanzee mother using andteaching a young how to use

a stone hammer.

Copyright A

manda K

Coakes

Michael N

ichols/ National G

eographic Society

Do Animals Exhibit Language?

There is no doubt that animals

communicate.

Vervet monkeys, whales and even

honey bees communicate with members of their species and other

species.Rico (collie) has a

200-word vocabulary

Copyright B

aus/ Kreslow

ski

The Case of Apes

Gardner and Gardner (1969) used American Sign Language (ASL) to

train Washoe, a chimp, who learned 181 signs by the age of 32.

Gestured Communication

Animals, like humans, exhibit communication through gestures. It is

possible that vocal speech developed from gestures during the course of evolution.

But Can Apes Really Talk?1. Apes acquire their limited vocabularies

with a great deal of difficulty, unlike children who develop vocabularies at amazing rates.

2. Chimpanzees can make signs to receive a reward, just as a pigeon who pecks at the key receives a reward. However, pigeons have not learned a language.

3. Chimpanzees use signs meaningfully but lack human syntax.

4. Presented with ambiguous information, people tend to see what they want to see (perceptual set).

Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) is instrumental in teaching chimpanzees

a form of communication.

When asked, this chimpanzee usesa sign to say it is a baby.

Paul Fusco/ Magnum

Photos

Syntax Comprehension

Others have shown that pygmy chimpanzees can develop even greater vocabularies and perhaps

semantic nuances in learning a language (Savage-Rumbaugh, 1993). Kanzi (shown below)

developed vocabulary for hundreds of words and phrases.

Copyright of G

reat Ape T

rust of Iowa

Conclusions

If we say that animals can use meaningful sequences of signs to communicate a

capability for language, our understanding would be naive… Steven Pinker (1995)

concludes, “chimps do not develop language.”

What is Intelligence?

Intelligence (in all cultures) is the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use our knowledge to adapt to new

situations.

In research studies, intelligence is whatever the intelligence test measures.

This tends to be “school smarts.”

Intelligence: Ability or Abilities?

Have you ever thought that since people’s mental abilities are so diverse, it

may not be justifiable to label those abilities with only one word, intelligence?

General Intelligence

The idea that general intelligence (g) exists comes from the work of Charles

Spearman (1863-1945) who helped develop the factor analysis approach in

statistics.

Athleticism, like intelligence, is many things

General Intelligence

Spearman proposed that general intelligence (g) is linked to many clusters that can be analyzed by factor analysis.

For example, people who do well on vocabulary examinations do well on

paragraph comprehension examinations, a cluster that helps define verbal

intelligence. Other factors include a spatial ability factor, or a reasoning

ability factor.

Contemporary Intelligence Theories

Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) supports the idea that intelligence comes in

multiple forms. Gardner notes that brain damage may diminish one type of ability

but not others.

People with savant syndrome excel in abilitiesunrelated to general intelligence.

Howard Gardner

Gardner proposes eight types of intelligences and speculates about a ninth one — existential intelligence. Existential intelligence is the ability to think about the

question of life, death and existence.

Intelligence and Creativity

Creativity is the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable. It correlates

somewhat with intelligence.1. Expertise: A well-developed knowledge base.2. Imaginative Thinking: The ability to see things

in novel ways.3. A Venturesome Personality: A personality that

seeks new experiences rather than following the pack.

4. Intrinsic Motivation: A motivation to be creative from within.

5. A Creative Environment: A creative and supportive environment allows creativity to bloom.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand, and use emotions (Salovey and others, 2005). The test of emotional intelligence measures overall

emotional intelligence and its four components.

Emotional Intelligence: Components

Component Description

Perceive emotionRecognize emotions in

faces, music and stories

Understand emotion

Predict emotions, how they change and blend

Manage emotionExpress emotions in different situations

Use emotionUtilize emotions to adapt or

be creative

Emotional Intelligence: Criticism

Gardner and others criticize the idea of emotional intelligence and question whether

we stretch this idea of intelligence too far when we apply it to our emotions.

Assessing Intelligence

Psychologists define intelligence testing as a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with others

using numerical scores.

Alfred Binet

Alfred Binet and his colleague Théodore Simon practiced a

more modern form of intelligence testing by developing questions

that would predict children’s future

progress in the Paris school system.

Lewis TermanIn the U.S., Lewis Terman adapted Binet’s test for

American school children and named

the test the Stanford-Binet Test. The following is the

formula of Intelligence Quotient (IQ), introduced by

William Stern:

David Wechsler

Wechsler developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

(WAIS) and later the Wechsler Intelligence

Scale for Children (WISC), an

intelligence test for school-aged children.

WAISWAIS measures overall intelligence and 11 other aspects related to intelligence that

are designed to assess clinical and educational problems.

Reliability

A test is reliable when it yields consistent results. To establish reliability researchers

establish different procedures:

1. Split-half Reliability: Dividing the test into two equal halves and assessing how consistent the scores are.

2. Test-Retest Reliability: Using the same test on two occasions to measure consistency.

Validity

Reliability of a test does not ensure validity. Validity of a test refers to what the test is

supposed to measure or predict.

1. Content Validity: Refers to the extent a test measures a particular behavior or trait.

2. Predictive Validity: Refers to the function of a test in predicting a particular behavior or trait.

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence

No other topic in psychology is so passionately followed as the one that asks

the question, “Is intelligence due to genetics or environment?”

Genetic InfluencesStudies of twins, family members, and

adopted children together support the idea that there is a significant genetic

contribution to intelligence.

Adoption Studies

Adopted children show a marginal correlation in verbal ability to their adopted

parents.

Heritability

The variation in intelligence test scores attributable to genetics. We credit

heredity with 50% of the variation in intelligence.

It pertains only to why people differ from one another, not to the individual.

Environmental Influences

Studies of twins and adopted children also show the following:

1. Fraternal twins raised together tend to show similarity in intelligence scores.

2. Identical twins raised apart show slightly less similarity in their intelligence scores.

Early Intervention Effects

Early neglect from caregivers leads children to develop a lack of personal control over the

environment, and it impoverishes their intelligence.

Romanian orphans with minimalhuman interaction are delayed in their development.

Schooling Effects

Schooling is an experience that pays dividends, which is reflected in intelligence scores. Increased schooling correlates with

higher intelligence scores.

To increase readiness for schoolwork,projects like Head Start facilitate leaning.

Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores

Why do groups differ in intelligence? How can we make sense of these differences?

Ethnic Similarities and Differences

1. Racial groups differ in their average intelligence scores.

2. High-scoring people (and groups) are more likely to attain high levels of education and income.

To discuss this issue we begin with two disturbing but agreed upon facts:

Racial (Group) Differences

If we look at racial differences, white Americans score higher in average

intelligence than black Americans (Avery and others, 1994). European New

Zealanders score higher than native New Zealanders (Braden, 1994).

White-Americans Black-Americans

Average IQ = 100 Average IQ = 85

Hispanic Americans

Environmental Effects

Differences in intelligence among these groups are largely environmental, as if one environment is more fertile in developing

these abilities than the other.

Reasons Why Environment Affects Intelligence

1. Races are remarkably alike genetically. 2. Race is a social category.3. Asian students outperform North American

students on math achievement and aptitude tests.

4. Today’s better prepared populations would outperform populations of the 1930s on intelligence tests.

5. White and black infants tend to score equally well on tests predicting future intelligence.

6. Different ethnic groups have experienced periods of remarkable achievement in different eras.

Gender Similarities and Differences

There are seven ways in which males and females differ in various abilities.

1. Girls are better spellers

2. Girls are verbally fluent and have large vocabularies

3. Girls are better at locating objects

4. Girls are more sensitive to touch, taste, and color

5. Boys outnumber girls in counts of underachievement

6. Boys outperform girls at math problem solving, but under perform at math computation

7. Women detect emotions more easily than men do

The Question of Bias

Aptitude tests are necessarily biased in the sense that they are sensitive to performance differences caused by cultural differences.

However, aptitude tests are not biased in the sense that they accurately predict

performance of one group over the other.

Test-Takers’ Expectations

A stereotype threat is a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based

on a negative stereotype.

This phenomenon appears in some instances in intelligence testing among

African-Americans and among women of all colors.