Intelligence, Cognition, and Language

INTELLIGENCE COGNITION, AND LANGUAGE (CHAPTER 7)

INTELLIGENCE AND MENTAL ABILITIES

What is intelligence and how is it related to creativity?

American Psychological Association defined intelligence as "ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt to environment, to learn from experience, engage in forms of reasoning, and to overcome obstacles by taking thought."

Theories of Intelligence

great arguments about what intelligence is and if it is a single general mental ability or separate mental abilities.

EARLY THEORIST CHARLES SPEARMAN

early 20C British-said it was general -a "well" or "spring"

person bright in one area, bright in many

understand quickly-sound decisions-behave intelligently

"g factor" (general intelligence) underlies all intellectual functions

"s factor" (specific abilities)

g factor

Spearman's term for a general intellectual ability that underlies all mental operations to some degree

LL THURSTONE (American)

he believed there are 7 distinct areas: spatial, memory, perceptual, word fluency, numerical ability, reasoning, verbal meaning

he believed these were relatively independent

Primary Mental Abilities

According to Thurstone, seven relatively distinct abilities that singularly or in combination are involved in all intellectual activities

JP Guilford's Structure of Intellect (1967)

he suggested three dimensions: mental operations, contents, and products
mental operation: cognition, memory, evaluation, divergent production, convergent production
content: what we think about-visual, auditory,figural, symbolic, semantic, behavioural
product: the result of bringing some mental ability on content

RB CATTELL (1971) AMERICAN

identified two clusters

cluster one=crystallized intelligence: reasoning verbal numerical (ones stressed in school)

cluster two= fluid intelligence: spatial and visual imagery awareness of visual details capacity for rote memory (scores on tests of fluid intelligence are less influenced by experience and education

CONTEMPORARY THEORISTS

ROBERT STERNBERG- TRIARCHIC THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE

human intelligence encompasses wider variety of skills and skills necessary to be effective in world are as important as more limited skills assessed by traditional intelligence tests

he uses information processing approach- a step by step analysis of how knowledge is acquired and used to solve problems

he compares grad students
1. Alice-intelligent-high on test 4.0 excelled first year had trouble second developing her own ideas
2. Barbara- low undergrad marks-described as highly creative-she was most valuable associate
3. Celia- between two -skillful not great, but had easiest time getting a job

Triarchic Theory Of Intelligence

Sternberg's theory that intelligence consists of 3 parts: the componential, the contextual, and the experiential

Triarchic Theory Of Intelligence
Componential: mental abilities closely related to conventional IQ achievement tests
Experiential: creativity and insight (difficult to measure)
Contextual: practical intelligence-street smarts, common sense-the survivor adapts well

HOWARD GARDNER-THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

intelligence consists of many separate abilities each independent

logical-mathematical/linguistic/spatial/musical/bodily kinesthetic/ interpersonal / intrapersonal (self)

MEASURING INTELLIGENCE --TESTS
What tests are used today? What do they measure?

THE STANFORD-BINET INTELLIGENCE SCALE

designed Binet-Simon Scale by two French

Binet and Simon in 1905 to identify children who might have difficulty in school

30 tests in order of difficulty

developed average and concept of mental age

WILLIAM STERN (1914)

developed IQ Intelligence Quotient

divided a child's mental age by his/her chronological age and multiplied by 100

Lewis M Terman of Stanford University

published a revision of Binet-Simon scale in 1916

he established norms

his revision was known as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

it contains four subscales: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, abstract visual reasoning, and short-term memory

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale correlates well with achievement test scores

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)	an index of intelligence originally derived by dividing mental age by chronological age and multiplying by 100
Norms	standards based on the range of test scores of a large group of people who are selected to provide the bases of comparison for those who will take the test later
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale	an individually administered IQ test for those aged 2 to 23; Lewis Terman's adaptation of the Binet-Simon Scale
Deviation Score	a test score calculated by comparing an individual's score with the scores of others of the same age whom the test was normed
Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R)	an individual intelligence test for adults that yields separate verbal and performance (non-verbal)IQ scores as well as an overall IQ score

WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE scales

most commonly used for adults

developed originally in 30s by Wechsler more emphasis on life situations

2 parts: one-- stress verbal skills (who wrote...), simple arithmetic, comprehension routine tasks: find the missing part 9( button hole) copy pattern, arrange picture to tell story

test gives separate verbal and performance scores

also one for children Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children(WISC-III)

individual test can be affected by examiner behaviour

GROUP TESTS

written tests that single administrator can administer to large group of people at same time

get booklet answer in amount of time

schools use SCAT SAT- -School and College ability tests

CTMM - California test of mental maturity

GRE- graduate record Examination
advantage: eliminate bias on part of examiner quick scoring- objective
disadvantage: examiner won't notice tired, ill confused
those not used to testing don't do as well
emotionally disturbed do better on individual testing

PERFORMANCE AND CULTURE FAIR TESTS

does doing well depend on language?

intelligence test can't score this fairly for speaker of another culture

two types of other tests

WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEST-CHARACTERISTICS

RELIABILITY: dependability, consistency- a clock that goes off at same time how do we know reliability? -give test once them give test again same score? How do we know memory from before?- two equivalent tests -most intelligence test scores stable-performance and culture fair are less stable reliable but even best test results vary

VALIDITY: tests ability to to measure what it is designed to measure

STANDARDIZATION: once test is proven reliable and valid, it needs standard procedures for its administration- it involves establishing norms by which all scores are interpreted-groups scores analyzed and average score, standard deviation, percentile and other measures computed-comparative scores become norms

Reliability	the ability of a test to yield nearly the same result each time a person takes the test or an alternate form of the same test
Validity	The ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure
Standardization	The establishment of norms for comparing the scores of people who will take the test in the future, administering tests using a prescribed procedure
Longitudinal Study	A type of developmental study where the same group of participants is followed and measured at different ages

CRITICISMS OF IQ TESTS

NARROWNESS OF CONTENT
-a limited set of skills tested: passive verbal understanding, ability to follow instructions, common sense, scholastic aptitude -solving unimportant problems -do measure ability to take tests-academics require tests

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MINORITY
-requires mastery of English- bias in favour upper/middle white IQ

PERFORMANCE CONNECTION -testing to put student into track may backfire-self-fulfilling prophecy -both stress verbal abilities both require motivation, attention, perseverance -predict success in school with some accuracy

IQ does not equal intelligence. IQ fairly good predictor of academic achievement, not occupational success

HEREDITY, ENVIRONMENT AND INTELLIGENCE

Culture-fair intelligence test	an intelligence test designed to minimize cultural bias by using questions that do not penalize individuals whose culture of language differs from urban middle or upper class
Nature-Nurture controversy	debate over whether intelligence and other traits are primarily the result of heredity or environment
Behavioural Genetics	a field of research investigating the relative effects of heredity and environment on behaviour and ability
Twin Study Method	studying identical and fraternal twins to determine the relative effects of heredity and environment on a variety of characteristics
Identical Twins	twins with identical genes, monozygotic twins
Fraternal Twins	twins who are no more alike genetically than ordinary brothers and sisters; dizygotic twins
Heritability	an index of the degree to which a characteristic is estimated to be influenced by heredity
Adoption Method	a method researchers use to study the relative effects of heredity and environment on behaviour and ability in children who are adopted shortly after birth by comparing them with their biological and adoptive parents

What determines individual differences in intelligence? -inherited? environment?

IQ of twins reared together/apart very similar

adopted children IQ correlates better with birth mother

identical twins reared apart have similar traits

ENVIRONMENT

environment still a factor "we have a range of potentials"

diet of pregnant mother enhanced can increase IQ
-during infancy malnutrition can lower IQ

environmental stimulation is key
- those in intellectually stimulating environment have higher IQ compared High Socio

Status adoptive parent vs Low Socio status parent

example Milwaukee Project 1961 -intervened in family 40 poor women pregnant split to 2 groups
group 1: mothers given special training in infant education nutrition -children spent day with professionals getting better food
group 2: no treatment

experimental group had IQ 51 points higher than mother

control group had higher IQ than mother also not as much from testing?

Head Start 1965-involves parents-boosts cognitive skills -effectiveness depends on quality of program and clearly defined goals IQ debate both heredity and environment affect

MENTAL ABILITIES AND HUMAN DIVERSITY

many believe that males and females differ in verbal and math ability

IS THIS TRUE?

GENDER DIFFERENCES -many occupations are dominated by one sex- engineer-male

1974 Maccoby and Jacklin did research found no difference between male and female in most -but females tended to better in verbal- boys tended to be better in spatial and math -this was often cited and studied

HOWEVER closer examination of results and more recent research say this difference non existent

Janet Hyde analyzed a million people -gender differences show up in high school -some have math anxiety-messages from parent/teacher Spatial ability-males have some advantage

Cultural Diversity and Academic Performance -

North American children believe born with ability or not

other culture stress effort and study

Extremes of Intelligence -70% of population has IQ in 85-115 range

Mental Retardation-condition of significantly subaverage intelligence with deficiencies in adaptive behaviour

Giftedness: superior IQ combined with demonstrated or potential ability in academics, creativity, leadership

CREATIVITY

How does creativity relate to intelligence?

early studies showed no relationship but they only studied bright subjects

perhaps linked but only until IQ reaches a certain level

threshold theory -creative are often perceived as being smarter-effective-social competence

FACTORS PROMOTING CREATIVITY

1.mild mood swings-mildly elated- emotional high- may give energy to create

2. Novel circumstances may stimulate-travel, choosing task and enjoy it -demand and competition may inhibit

3. Be willing to take risks -creative people are problem solvers and problem finders

CREATIVITY TESTS Can we measure it?

opinions differ-need open ended tests

Torrence Test of Creative Thinking

explain what happening in picture

other tests -list words with a certain letter find similarity in objects

current tests do not show high degree of validity

Creativity	The ability to produce original, appropriate and valuable ideas and or solutions to problems
Divergent Thinking	Producing one or more possible ideas, answers, or solutions to a problem rather than a single, correct response

PROBLEM SOLVING

Exemplars	the individual instances of a concept that we have stored in memory from our own experience
Trial and Error	an approach to problem solving where one solution after another is tried in no particular order until a workable solution is found
Algorithm	A systematic step-by-step procedure such as a mathematical formula that guarantees a solution to a problem of a certain type if the algorithm is appropriate and executed properly
Heuristic	a problem solving method that offers a promising way to attack a problem and arrive at a solution, although it does not guarantee success
Means End Analysis	a heuristic problem solving strategy in which the current position is compared with desired goal and a series of steps are formulated and taken to close the gap between them
Working Backward	a heuristic strategy in which a person discovers the steps needed to solve a problem by defining the desired goal and working backward to the current condition
Functional Fixedness	The failure to use familiar objects in novel ways to solve problems because of a tendency to view objects only in terms of their customary functions
Mental set	The tendency to apply a familiar strategy to the solution of a problem without carefully considering the special requirements of the problem

What are general aspects of problem solving?

SIMPLE problem

1: you have three measuring spoons.
One is filled with 8 teaspoons
The other two are empty and have a capacity of 2 teaspoons

Divide the salt among the spoons so that 4 teaspoons remains in largest spoon

MORE COMPLEX problem 3 :

you have three measuring spoons
One is filled with 8 teaspoons of salt
second and third are empty
spoon 'b' holds 5 teaspoons spoon 'c' holds 3 teaspoons

Divide the salt so that spoon 'a' and 'b; both have 4 teaspoons

1. INTERPRETATION OF PROBLEM

jumping ahead often leads to poor solutions

the problem is people tend to represent the problem in ways that impede

a. changing the representation can solve the problem

b. deciding which category the problem belongs to helps -expertise in any field increases ability to represent and categorize the problem

2. PRODUCING STRATEGIES AND EVALUATING PROGRESS

select a solution strategy and evaluate progress toward a goal

sometimes simple trial and error -3 keys try each

subgoals good for everyday tasks- separate tasks do one bit at a time

problem with means end is can go astray from goal

OBSTACLES TO SOLVING PROBLEMS

level of motivation/ emotional arousal important- excitement--> motivate

too much can be bad

functional fixedness=failing to see familiar objects in new ways

"mental set" can determine which info we tend to retrieve from memory -"mental set" is helpful in learned operations

a math set as obstacle- 9 dot problem "box"- need "novel" approach

most successful problem solvers have many sets

great ideas come out of flexibility

-solutions---. insight flash can lose sight "forest for trees"

stop thinking about problem! new angle-- redefine -value of looking for new ways to solve problem -exposure to creative teams peers increase creativity

CULTURE AND CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING?

To Be a Better Problem Solver

1. eliminate poor choices -list all possible choices eliminate bad ones

2. Visualize a solution -diagram- draw picture

3. Develop expertise -learn all you can- cross reference

4. Think flexibly -use divergent thinking

DECISION MAKING

How does decision making differ from problem solving?

decision making is a kind of problem solving where we know possible choices

not new choice but decide which is best -juggle large/complex set of criteria/options

LOGICAL DECISION MAKING

rate each available choice on criteria -arriving at an overall measure of extent to which each choice matches criteria

WHEN HEURISTICS CAN LEAD ASTRAY

result stereotype- buy a few generic items and conclude all bad

availability may be wrong- eg people avoid planes after a crash

seeing a woman in car accident reaffirms belief women can't drive, see statistics that say men are in more accidents -ignore it

What are the building blocks of thought?

language, images, concepts are used simultaneously

LANGUAGE What steps turn a thought into a statement?

language is set of flexible symbols used to communicate thoughts, feelings

Psycholinguistics	the study of how language is acquired, produced, and used and how the sounds and symbols of language are translated into meaning
Phonemes	the smallest units of sound in a spoken language
Morphemes	the smallest units of meaning in a language
Syntax	the aspect of grammar that specifies the rules for arranging and combining words to form phrases and sentences
Semantics	the meaning or the study of meaning derived from morphemes, words and sentences

Phonemes

in English 45 -some languages 85

Morphemes

can be grouped to form complex ideas

phonemes-->morphemes--> words--->sentences----> story

SENTENCES -sentences have both surface structure and deep structure

PROCESS: 1. thought 2. choose words 3. produce speech

THIS IS TOP--->DOWN PROCESSING

GRAMMAR

NOAM CHOMSKY (57)-pioneered study of language- he worked out a formula of how grammar works-tranformational grammar

example semantics- a large striped cat---> tiger

add "ed" to word makes it past tense

and "ing" -currently

IMAGES -using images allows thinking in a non-verbal way

-a picture worth a thousand words- a graph can explain simply -images allow us to use concrete forms to represent complex and abstract ideas

CONCEPTS

Imagery	The representation in the mind of a sensory experience-visual, auditory, gustatory,motor, olfactory or tactile
Concept	A label that represents a class or group of objects, people, or events sharing common characteristics or attributes
Prototype	The example that embodies the most common and typical features of a particular concept

concepts are also used to create and organize hierarchies/ groups plants: trees, grass, flowers and then their subcategories

concepts increase efficient thinking ---key is the relationships

clue unknown to known and understood - give meaning to new experience

most concepts "fuzzy"

overlap-poorly defined- example we can tell rat from mouse but critical difference difficult to verbalize

PROTOTYPE: -example ==when we think of bird we may think of robin and when we see image compare the feature and then say yes that is bird --fit yes/no

concepts and prototypes help us formulate thoughts

cognition is NOT just PASSIVE

using words, images concepts to understand the world, solve problems, make decisions

LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT

Does language affect the way we think?

some say yes -experiment with colour- the commonly named were more readily coded (red, yellow, blue vs the more uncommon- light blue, etc. -the ease to process and remember linked to naming

Linguistic Relativity

The idea that the language a person speaks largely determines the nature of that person's thoughts

WHORF (56) Linguistic Relativity -

if language lacks an expression the thought corresponding to it will not occur in people with that language

example Hopi have two names for things that fly-birds and everything else- therefore -planes= dragonflies

technical vocabulary improves communication within the group or excludes the novice

language helps organize thoughts into concepts--> meaning

critics of Whorf say we need to think about things then that changes language= more complex society has more complex words

Dani society has two colours : dark and light -still Dani can match similar colours- across colour thinking about colour is similar

Language and thought are intertwined - we can use figurative language- metaphor or irony and be understood

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2003 Karen E.Hamilton