Summary and Key Terms
What Is Cognition?
In this section, you were introduced to cognitive psychology, which is the study of cognition, or the brain’s ability to think, perceive, plan, analyze, and remember. Concepts and their corresponding prototypes help us quickly organize our thinking by creating categories into which we can sort new information. We also develop schemata, which are clusters of related concepts. Some schemata involve routines of thought and behavior, and these help us function properly in various situations without having to “think twice” about them. Schemata show up in social situations and routines of daily behavior.
Language
Language is a communication system that has both a lexicon and a system of grammar. Language acquisition occurs naturally and effortlessly during the early stages of life, and this acquisition occurs in a predictable sequence for individuals around the world. Language has a strong influence on thought, and the concept of how language may influence cognition remains an area of study and debate in psychology.
Problem Solving
Many different strategies exist for solving problems. Typical strategies include trial and error, applying algorithms, and using heuristics. To solve a large, complicated problem, it often helps to break the problem into smaller steps that can be accomplished individually, leading to an overall solution. Roadblocks to problem solving include a mental set, functional fixedness, and various biases that can cloud decision making skills.
What Are Intelligence and Creativity?
Intelligence is a complex characteristic of cognition. Many theories have been developed to explain what intelligence is and how it works. Sternberg generated his triarchic theory of intelligence, whereas Gardner posits that intelligence is comprised of many factors. Still others focus on the importance of emotional intelligence. Finally, creativity seems to be a facet of intelligence, but it is extremely difficult to measure objectively.
Measures of Intelligence
In this section, we learned about the history of intelligence testing and some of the challenges regarding intelligence testing. Intelligence tests began in earnest with Binet; Wechsler later developed intelligence tests that are still in use today: the WAIS-IV and WISC-V. The Bell curve shows the range of scores that encompass average intelligence as well as standard deviations.
The Source of Intelligence
Genetics and environment affect intelligence and the challenges of certain learning disabilities. The intelligence levels of all individuals seem to benefit from rich stimulation in their early environments. Highly intelligent individuals, however, may have a built-in resiliency that allows them to overcome difficult obstacles in their upbringing. Learning disabilities can cause major challenges for children who are learning to read and write. Unlike developmental disabilities, learning disabilities are strictly neurological in nature and are not related to intelligence levels. Students with dyslexia, for example, may have extreme difficulty learning to read, but their intelligence levels are typically average or above average.
Key Terms
- algorithm
- problem-solving strategy characterized by a specific set of instructions
- analytical intelligence
- aligned with academic problem solving and computations
- anchoring bias
- faulty heuristic in which you fixate on a single aspect of a problem to find a solution
- artificial concept
- concept that is defined by a very specific set of characteristics
- availability heuristic
- faulty heuristic in which you make a decision based on information readily available to you
- cognition
- thinking, including perception, learning, problem solving, judgment, and memory
- cognitive psychology
- field of psychology dedicated to studying every aspect of how people think
- cognitive script
- set of behaviors that are performed the same way each time; also referred to as an event schema
- concept
- category or grouping of linguistic information, objects, ideas, or life experiences
- confirmation bias
- faulty heuristic in which you focus on information that confirms your beliefs
- convergent thinking
- providing correct or established answers to problems
- creative intelligence
- ability to produce new products, ideas, or inventing a new, novel solution to a problem
- creativity
- ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities
- crystallized intelligence
- characterized by acquired knowledge and the ability to retrieve it
- cultural intelligence
- ability with which people can understand and relate to those in another culture
- divergent thinking
- ability to think “outside the box” to arrive at novel solutions to a problem
- dyscalculia
- learning disability that causes difficulty in learning or comprehending mathematics
- dysgraphia
- learning disability that causes extreme difficulty in writing legibly
- dyslexia
- common learning disability in which letters are not processed properly by the brain
- emotional intelligence
- ability to understand emotions and motivations in yourself and others
- event schema
- set of behaviors that are performed the same way each time; also referred to as a cognitive script
- fluid intelligence
- ability to see complex relationships and solve problems
- Flynn effect
- observation that each generation has a significantly higher IQ than the previous generation
- functional fixedness
- inability to see an object as useful for any other use other than the one for which it was intended
- grammar
- set of rules that are used to convey meaning through the use of a lexicon
- heuristic
- mental shortcut that saves time when solving a problem
- hindsight bias
- belief that the event just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t
- intelligence quotient
- (also, IQ) score on a test designed to measure intelligence
- language
- communication system that involves using words to transmit information from one individual to another
- lexicon
- the words of a given language
- mental set
- continually using an old solution to a problem without results
- morpheme
- smallest unit of language that conveys some type of meaning
- Multiple Intelligences Theory
- Gardner’s theory that each person possesses at least eight types of intelligence
- natural concept
- mental groupings that are created “naturally” through your experiences
- norming
- administering a test to a large population so data can be collected to reference the normal scores for a population and its groups
- overgeneralization
- extension of a rule that exists in a given language to an exception to the rule
- phoneme
- basic sound unit of a given language
- practical intelligence
- aka “street smarts”
- problem-solving strategy
- method for solving problems
- prototype
- best representation of a concept
- range of reaction
- each person’s response to the environment is unique based on his or her genetic make-up
- representative bias
- faulty heuristic in which you stereotype someone or something without a valid basis for your judgment
- representative sample
- subset of the population that accurately represents the general population
- role schema
- set of expectations that define the behaviors of a person occupying a particular role
- schema
- (plural = schemata) mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts
- semantics
- process by which we derive meaning from morphemes and words
- standard deviation
- measure of variability that describes the difference between a set of scores and their mean
- standardization
- method of testing in which administration, scoring, and interpretation of results are consistent
- syntax
- manner by which words are organized into sentences
- trial and error
- problem-solving strategy in which multiple solutions are attempted until the correct one is found
- triarchic theory of intelligence
- Sternberg’s theory of intelligence; three facets of intelligence: practical, creative, and analytical
- working backwards
- heuristic in which you begin to solve a problem by focusing on the end result
