Thinking, Language & Intelligence

1. Thinking, Language & Intelligence What goes around the world but stays in a corner?

2. Warm-up January 21, 2014 Your tendency to see the words "went" and "ties" rather than the word "twenties" when you look at T WENT TIES is best explained by the organizing principle of  Select one: a. bottom-up processing           b. closure c. proximity d. continuity e. figure-ground Receptors for kinesthesis are located in the Select one: a. joints b. olfactory epithelium c. semicircular canals           d. retina e. taste buds

3. Thinking: the mental representation and manipulation of information • What is challenging about… • Measuring thinking • Being able to observe thinking • Concepts: Mental categories for classifying events, objects, and ideas on the basis of their common features or properties • Your mental “file folders” • Think to yourself, what constitutes a “shoe” or “dinner” or “happy” Terms Thinking Concepts

4. conceptsLogical Versus Natural Logical Natural Poorly defined rules for membership What we typically use in everyday life Often commonly understood, but difficult to explain rules We typically know “beauty” when we see it, however explaining what deems someone beautiful is challenging • Clearly defined rules for membership • A figure with three sides is a triangle

5. Example of logical/natural • Logical • Natural Logical Natural

6. 1. Being able to see the problem • 2. Develop strategies to solve problems • Algorithms: step by step process for solving a problem such as a formula/instructions • Heuristics: Guidelines to help narrow possible solutions “Rule of thumb” Four steps to problem solving 1. Identify the problem 2. Develop Solid Problem-Solving Strategies 3. Evaluate Solutions 4. Rethink, revisit and improve solutions • 3. Evaluate Solutions: we need to be sure what deems “success” when determining a solution. • If the problem is, our room is messy, what determines it’s cleanliness? If all the laundry is out of sight, put away, floor is vacuumed? • 4. Rethink and Revisit Problems and Solutions • A good problem solver will always go back after time has passed and try to find an even better/more efficient way to solve the problem. • Can always have a better PR (personal record) for running

7. Warm-up January 22, 2014 Dr. Spires talks with some students before psychology class begins. Spires says, "I believe that mental experience is best understood as a whole, rather than in terms of its parts." Her students recognize that Spires follows which school of thought? Select one: a. Structuralism b. Introspection c. Gestalt d. Functionalism           e. Humanism Which of the following psychologists was part of the Gestalt group of psychologists? Select one: a. John Watson b. B.F. Skinner c. Max Wertheimer           d. Carl Rogers e. Wilhelm Wundt

8. Example of logical/natural • ____________ • _____________ masculine male

9. Here’s the “problem” • 1. Identify the problem: Grocery Shopping- Solve this addition problem as quickly as you possibly can: You are purchasing three items at the store, at these prices: $19.95$39.98$29.97About how much money are you spending? (Don’t worry about a possible sales tax.) • 2. What works best here? • Algorithms • Heuristic • 3. How do you determine if your strategy was successful? • What could you do next time to make it even better? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7j7E7J3f6E

10. - Fixation: using a prior stagey and failing to look at a problem with a fresh perspective • - Functional fixedness: the tendency to perceive objects as limited to the customary functions they serve • “Need to hang this picture up, I found a nail but I can’t find the hammer so I can’t do it” “But it worked last time!!!” Terms Fixation Functional fixedness

11. Reasoning and decision making Reasoning: To reach a conclusion by logical thinking So when someone says “I can’t reason with them” what are they implying is missing in their reasoning? Inductive Reasoning Deductive Reasoning Taking a general idea and applying to a specific instance Also called “Top-down” For example if work under the general idea “Wisconsinites like cheese” then we can make the assumption that, “Donna likes cheese”…or can we? • Taking specific observations and using them to make generalizations • Also called “Bottom-Up” • Doctors are smart • Suzy is a doctor • Therefore, Suzy must be _____________________

12. Warm-up January 23, 2014 Dr. Marco explains to a client that his feelings of hostility toward a coworker are most likely caused by the way the client interprets that coworker's actions and the way he thinks that people should behave at work. Dr. Marco is most likely working from what perspective? Select one: a. social-cultural b. cognitive c. behavioral d. humanist           e. psychoanalytic The research methodology Wilhelm Wundt used is called Select one: a. structuralism           b. scientific c. inferential d. introspection e. naturalistic observation

13. Confirmation Bias: the tendency to search for and use information that supports our point of view instead of refutes it. • For example: When a juror decides that the defendant is guilty even if there is strong evidence that says otherwise • Hindsight Bias: the tendency to lie after the event has occurred, that we correctly predicted the outcome. • The cliché “I knew that was going to happen like that” Bias in our thinking Terms Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias

14. Mindfulness: being alert and doing things with intention • Do you find yourself answering but not really listening? • Do you ever agree to something that you normally wouldn’t because you really weren’t paying attention? • Open-mindedness: being willing to look at things from another’s perspective • Where do we see “closed-mindedness” cause problems today? • Why it being open-minded scary for many people? Do you allow yourself to think…or not really? Terms: Mindfulness Open-mindedness

15. If you had to choose one way to think about things, which approach would you choose? The ability to think and reason clearly and to act purposefully and effectively in adapting to the environment and pursuing one’s goals. Having original thoughts associated with the development of new, workable products or solutions to problems.

16. Warm-up January 29, 2014 • Kat and Sue are lab partners assigned to research who is friendlier, girls or boys. After conversing with their first 10 participants, they find that their friendliness ratings often differ. With which of the following should they be most concerned? • Select one: • a. reliability • b. ethics • c. assignment • d. validity • e. confounding variables  • Which of the following would be the most difficult to test experimentally? • a.living with cats makes people more intelligent  • b. studying leads to better grades • c. exercise improves mood • d. people exposed to the color red will be more aggressive than those exposed to the color blue • e. divorce makes children more independent

17. Thinking: All-purpose ability to do well on cognitive tasks, to solve problems, and to learn from experience • How we measure it: • IQ: intelligence quotient • Validity: the test measures what it is intended to • Reliability: the results are consistent • Standardization: how the test is administered is the same for all • We know it when we see it, but what is “intelligence”

18. Gifted: An IQ of 130 or higher Intellectual disability: An IQ of 70 or lower Intelligence “More than one way to slice a loaf of bread” Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Verbal: the ability to use language to express what's on your mind and to understand other people.  Mathematical: the ability to manipulate numbers, quantities, and operations, the way a mathematician does. Spatial: the ability to think three-dimensionally Bodily-kinesthetic: the ability to manipulate objects and to be physically adept. Musical: the ability to be sensitive to pitch, melody, rhythm and tone Interpersonal: the ability to understand and interact with others Intrapersonal: the ability to understand oneself Naturalist: the ability to understand how the natural world and the human world interact Existentialist: the ability to examine large concept questions such as the meaning of life. Terms Gifted Intellectual disability Multiple Intelligence

19. Language Phonology: Most basic sounds of language (sp, ba, ha) Semantics: The meaning of words in context Morphology: The rules for word formation Morpheme: smallest unit of language that has meaning (er = “one who”) Help + er “one who helps” Language: Communication based on symbols that follow systematic rules Pragmatics: The deeper meaning conveyed by how we say what we say Syntax: The rules for combining words into sentences

20. Verbal 53 • Mathematical 62 • Spatial 88 • Bodily 66 • Musical 54.5 • Interpersonal 66.5 • Intrapersonal 67 • Natural 49 • Existential 54 How we add up