Thinking, Language &

Intelligence
Thinking

What is the Nature of Thought?

 Rational decision making?

 What does your mom look like?
 Mental image
 In alphabet what letter comes after N?
 L,M,N,O
 How much is 2+2
 Did “4” immediately pop into your
mind?
 What is Julia Roberts’s phone number?
Thinking
 Attending to information, using it or
 Representing it mentally
 Reasoning about it, and
 Making judgments and decisions about it
 E.g., Making sense of and change the
world
Mental Images and Concepts
 Mental images: a mental representation
that has some of the physical
characteristics of an object
 Concept: a symbolic representations of
objects; a category, a class, that includes
subtypes and/or individual items
(musical Instrument, other?)
 used to group or cluster objects,
relations, events, abstractions or
qualities that have common
properties, & cannot be measured
 Hierarchies
 Used to organize concepts
Concepts
 Prototypes
 Good examples of a category of
concept
 Most typical example
 Name the first member that comes to
your mind:
 A bird______
 A hero______
 A Color______
 An animal______
 A Motor Vehicle_______
 Exemplars
 A specific example
 Positive and Negative instances
When a Person Has a Problem?
 When s/he does not have a direct means
of attaining a particular goal
What is Problem Solving?
 Using the thoughts and actions to move
from the current state tothe goal state,
in other words achieving a desired goal
that is not readily attainable, often by
devising strategies to overcome obstacles
Organization of Subgoals
 A grade 12 student decides to become a
doctor
 First, s/he needs to attain more
immediate subgoal:
1. _______
2. _______
 Identifying important subgoals is not
always easy
Trial and Error
 An approach to problem solving in which
onesolution after another is tried in no
particular order until the answer is found
 Used when we have little or no
knowledgerelevant to the problem
 Students give examples..
Algorithms
 Specific procedure for solving a type of
problem
 Yield correct answers if the right
formula is used. Any math formula
is an example of Algorithm
 Systematic random search (similar totrial
and error)
 Each possible solution is tested
according to a particular set of
rules
Heuristic
 Shortcuts: mental rules of thumb used to
solve a problem
 Working backwards: Water lilies double
the area they cover every 24hours. At the
beginning of the summer there is one
water lily on a pond. It takes 60days for
the pond to become covered with lilies.
On what day is the pond half covered?
 Means-end analysis (subgroups):
Evaluate and reduce difference between
the current situation and goal
 Analogies: Refer to a previous problem to
solve a new problem
Factors that Affect Problem Solving
Expertise
 Experts use parallel processing
 Novices use serial processing:
 How long it will take you to unscramble
this word: DNSUO
 Parallel processing: Dealing
simultaneously with two or more
elements of the problem
 Serial Processing: To handle one
element of the problem at a time.
Mental Sets
 Tendency to use an approach that was
previously successful with similar
problem
Insight
 Sudden perception permitting the
solution
Incubation
 Stand back from a problem for a while;
solution may come in a flash of insight
Functional Fixedness
 Tendency to think of an object in terms of
its familiar function
Heuristics in Decision Making
- Representativeness heuristic
 Make judgments about events according
to the population of events that they
appear to represent
- Availability heuristic
 Estimate of probability is based on
examples of relevant events
 Whose students are smarter?
Psych or ______ (insert other
courses here

- Anchoring and adjustment heuristic

 First estimate serves as an anchor
 With new information we make
adjustmentsbut remain the
proximity of the first estimate
 Example: Haggling behavior
Factors that Affect Decision Making
Framing effect
- Context in which information is presented
affects decision-making
Overconfidence
- Unaware of flimsiness of assumptions
- Work to bring about results that fit our
judgments
- Forget information counter to our
judgment
- Self-fulfilling prophecies
Some points to consider
- Do you believe the more options you have
the better?
- Do you find that too much choice can be
frustrating?
- “Paradox of Choice”: might be responsible
for cultural shift in the average age when
people are settling into jobs and
marriage??
- Responsible for depression in modern
countries
Language
- A means of Communicating of thoughts
and feelings, using a system of socially
shared but arbitrary symbols (sounds,
signs, or written symbols) arranged
according to rules of grammar
Communication by Nonhumans
- What capability most reliably sets
humans apart from all other species?
 African Grey Parrots (Discuss
Video)
 Did Alex speak English?
What is the difference
between Alex’s usage of
language and human usage?
 Apes (Washoe, Sarah, Lana, Nim &
Kanzi)
 Genetically show some
ability to use language
 Use of symbols to
communication
Apes
- Allen & Beatrix Gardner (1969)-Washoe
used sign language beginning 1y.o. -160
signs
- David Premack (1983) –Sarah mastered
notion of similarity and difference, half
and whole
- Yerkes Primate Research Center (80s)-
Lana computer controlled language
training “Give apple which is orange)
- Kanzi-1300 utterances, 200 geometric
symbols
- However, Herbert Terrace (1981)-Nim
responded according to CC not rules of
the language
Communication in Other Animals
- Whales and dolphins-“in basket,” “under
basket”
- Dogs
- Other
- “My father was poor but honest”
Structure of Language
- Psycholinguistics: how language is
acquired, produced, and used...
- Phonemes: the smallest units of sound in
a spoken language
- Morphemes: the smallest units of
meaning
- Syntax: specifies the rules for arranging
and combining words to form phrases
and sentences
- Semantics: the meaning derived from
morphemes, words, and sentences
- Pragmatics: characteristics of spoken
language, such as intonation and gestures,
that indicate social meaning of utterances.
Properties of Language
- Infinite creativity: Capacity to create
rather than imitate sentences
- Displacement: Capacity to communicate
in another time or place
Language and Cognition
- Language is not necessary for thinking
- Concepts can be understood without
knowing the word for the concept
(e.g.roundness)
Language and Culture
- Linguistic-relativity hypothesis (Whorf
(1956))
 Language structures the way we
perceive the world
- Criticism of linguistic-relativity
hypothesis
 Images and abstract logical
propositions may be used as units
of thought
 Range of concepts represent
priority of the language not
cognitive limitation
Bilingualism
- In other countries the majority ofcitizens
speak two or more language
- Advantages of being bilingual:
 Metalinguistic skills, the capacity
to think about lang.
 Ability to learn about the other
culture in depth
- Disadvantages:
 Decreased efficiency memory tasks
involving words
 But develop compensatory
strategies, though respond more
slowly
- Lose accent –younger than 10 or 11 y. o
Language Development
- At the age 17- 80,000 words
- From 18 m to 5 -14,000 words, average
9wrds/day
- 2-3 m -cooing sounds when along
- 20 weeks-mixes various vowels &
consonants w/cooing
- 6 m-Babbles; utters phonemes of all
language
- 8 m-focuses on phonemes, rhythm, &
intonation of native language
- 12m-say single words; mimics sounds;
understand some words
- 18-20m –uses two wordsentences; 50
wrds, overextension
- 24m-270 wrds; acquires suffixes &
function wrds in a fixed sequence
- 30m –uses telegraphic speech
- 36m –begins acquisition of grammar
rules; overregulation
 - Prelinguistic vocalizations
 Crying, cooing, babbling
 All children babble the
same sounds (even deaf
children)
 By 9 –10 months foreign sounds
are dropped
- First word is spoken about 1 year
Nativist Approach to Language Development
Development of Grammar
- Holophrase (2ndyear)
 Single words that express complex
meanings
 “Cookie” means “this is cookie” “I
want cookie” “where is cookie?”
- Telegraphic speech (30mos),
understanding syntax
 Two-word sentences
 Grammatically correct
 Sequence of emergence of various
two-word sentences is universal
- Overextension /underextension (18-
20m)
 Application of a word, on the basis
ofsome feature, to a broader range
Intelligence
of objects than is appropriate
(“Daddy”)
- Overregulation (36m)
 Application of regular grammatical
rules to irregular verbs and nouns
- Between 7-to 9-years
 Children realize words can have
more than one meaning
Nature and Nurture in Language
Development
- Learning Theory
 Imitation and reinforcement,
 Social cognitive perspective
 Parent serve as models
 What is wrong w/ these
perspectives?
- Nativist Approach
 Innate factors cause children to
attend to and perceive language in
certain ways
 neurologically prewired
 Do not need instructions or
reinforcement, only presence of
language
- Language acquisition device (LAD)-
Chomsky
 Represents the inborn tendency
 Prepares nervous system to learn
grammar
 Universal grammar
- Psycholinguistic theory
 Language acquisition involves
interaction of environmental
influences and inborn tendency to
acquire language
 Interactionist perspective similar
to Psycholinguistic theory. Reading
to a child is very important for the
language development!!!
- Example, Marilyn Mach and Dr. Jarvik
- Did poorly in school: Churchill, Einstein,
etc.
- IQ? Academic Achievement?
- Cognitive & Emotional Intelligence,
Nature of Intelligence, and how it is
measured. Where does intelligence come
from? Gifted & Retarded
- American Psychologilogical
Association (APA) defined intelligence
as an individual’s “ability to understand
complex ideas,... to adapt effectively to
environment, ... to learn from experience,
to engage in various forms of reasoning,
and to overcome obstacles by taking
thought”
 - Provides the basis for academic
achievements

Theories of Intelligence

- Intelligence is made up of a number

ofmental abilities (factors)
- Spearman’s g factor
 General intelligence
 s factor represents specific
abilities
- Thurstone’s specific factors
 Primary mental abilities: verbal
comprehension, numerical ability,
visual and spatial abilities,
perceptual speed, word fluency,
memory & reasoning.
- Are those different ways of assessing g or Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
distinct intelligences?
Robert Sternberg
Theory of Multiple Intelligence
- Analytical
- Howard Gardner  Academic ability
- Number of different intelligences - Creative
- Critics  Ability to cope with novel
situations and generate multiple
solutions to problems
- Practical
 “Street smarts”
- Some texts: componential, experiential, &
naturalistic

Emotional Intelligence
- The ability to apply knowledge about
emotions to everyday life, involves an
awareness of and an ability to manage
one’s own emotions, self-motivation,
empathy, and the ability to handle
relationships. (EQ)
- Intrapersonal and interpersonal skills
(empathy)
- Self-insight and self-control (self-
motivation)
- Allows for coping with stress, depression,
and aggressive behavior
- Managing emotions does not mean
suppressing them; it does not mean giving
free rein to everyday feeling.
- Goleman (1995)“A life without passion
would be a dull wasteland of neutrality,
cut off and isolated from the richness of
life itself” (p.56)
- We manage our emotions by expressing
them in an appropriate manner
Creativity and Intelligence
- Creativity: the ability to produce original,
appropriate, & valuable ideas &/or
solutions to problems
- Creative people
 Do things that
are novel and
useful
 Take risks
 Defy limits
 Appreciate art
and music
- Relationship between
intelligence test scores
and standard measures
of creativity is only
moderate
Divergent and Convergent Thinking
- Divergent thinking
 Freely associate to elements of
problem
 Best used in measuring creativity
- Convergent thinking
 Thought is limited to present facts
 Best used in intelligence testing
- They are Interrelated
Savant Syndrome (Rein Man?)
- An unusual combination of genius and
low performance in different areas
- Autistic individuals
- The puzzle of savant syndrome is slowly
unraveled
Measurement of Intelligence
- Franz Gall (1758-1828)-measuring skull
- Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (SBIS)
 Binet-Simon -produced child’s
mental age
 SBIS adapted for intelligence
quotient (IQ)
  IQ reflects relationship
between mental and actual
Do Intelligence Tests Contain Cultural Biases?
age
 (Mental Age / Chronological
Age)x100=IQ
- Wechsler Scales (the latest WAIS-III)
- 16 and older (but has for kids as well)
- Deviation Score
 Separate subscales
 Verbal and performance
tasks
 Three IQ scores are obtained:
1. Verbal IQ
2. Performance IQ
3. Full Scale IQ
Gender Differences in Intelligence Tests
Differences in Intellectual Functioning
- Socioeconomic and Ethnic Differences
 Consideration of social class
 Lower-class U.S. children
score 10 –15 IQ points
lower than middle-and
upper-class
 Consideration of ethnicity
 Impact of social class
 Asian Americans more likely to
graduate high school and complete
college
- Tests may measure familiarity with
dominant middle-class culture:
- Caesar is to salad as______ is to brandy.
a Churchill
b Napoleon
c Hitler
d Lincoln
- Culture-free Intelligence Tests
 Cattel’s Culture-Fair Intelligence
Test
- European American children outperform
African American children on “culture-
free” test
- Intelligence tests do not show overall
differences in cognitive ability
 Girls superior to boys in verbal
ability
 Boys excel in visual-spatial ability
 Boys tend to score higher on math
tests
- Group scores represent greater variation
within the group than between the groups
 - Heritability is between 40% and 60%
 About half the difference between
your IQ score and the IQ scores of
other people can be explained by
heredity
- Environment is also important
 Being reared together is related to
IQ similarities

Genetic Influences on Intelligence

- Francis Galton (1822-1911)-heredity

- Environmentalists-intelligence product
of..
- Kinship studies
 IQ scores of identical twins (MZ)
are more alike than for any other
pairs
 Moderate correlations between
fraternal twins, siblings and
parents and their children
 Weak correlations between
children and their foster parents
and between cousins
- Twin Studies
 IQ scores of MZ twins reared
together have higher correlation
than MZ twins reared apart
 Being reared together is
related to IQ similarities
- Minnesota Center for Twin and Adoption
Research (Bouchard (1997),
 reported that various types of twin
studies have consistently yielded The Complex Web of Factors That Affect
heritability of .60 to .70 for Intellectual Functioning
intelligence
- Adoption Studies
 Stronger relationship between IQ
scores of adopted children and
their biological parents than
between children and adoptive
parents

Heritability of Intelligence