Course
Introduction to Psychology
Cognition, Language, Creativity, and
Intelligence
• Prof. BARAKAT
• Summer Term
Cognition: Definition of Terms
• Cognition: Mentally processing information
(images, concepts, etc.); thinking
• Concept: Generalized idea representing a
category of related objects or events
• Language: Words or symbols, and rules
for combining them, which are used for
thinking and communication
More Types of Mental Images
• Created imagery : Imagery that has been
assembled
or
invented
rather
than
remembered (example: people’s faces,
picturing a work of art prior to creating it)
• Kinesthetic imagery : Created from
muscular sensations (help us to think about
movements
and
actions).
Especially
important in music, sports, dance and
martial arts
Concept Formation
• Concept
classifying
categories
formation:
Process
of
information into meaningful
• Positive instance: Object or event that
belongs to the concept class
• Negative instance: Object or event that
does not belong to the concept class
Social Stereotypes
• Oversimplified concepts based on gender
or ethnicity
• Can you bring to mind any social
stereotypes that exist in our dominant
culture? How about in your own
experience? What are they?
Types of Concept Formations
• Conjunctive
concept
(“and”
concepts): Class of objects that are
defined by the presence of two or more
features (e.g., rabbit is white and furry)
• Relational concept: Based on how an
object relates to something else or how
its features relate to one another (e.g.,
larger, north)
• Disjunctive concept (“either/or”):
Objects that have at least one of several
possible features; either-or concept
(strike in baseball)
More Concept Issues and Terms
• Prototypes: Ideal model used as a prime
example of a concept
• Denotative meaning: Exact dictionary
definition of a word or concept; its objective
meaning
• Connotative meaning: Emotional or
personal meaning of a concept
e.g.: vehicle; reflect from the perspective
of prototype, denotative and connotative
meaning
Language
• Semantics: Study of meanings in
language and words
• Bilingualism: the ability to speak two
languages
– Creates more flexibility and problemsolving strategies
– Creates better general language skills
– Creates better ability to control one’s
attention
Heuristics
• Heuristics: Strategy for identifying and
evaluating problem solutions.
– Heuristics are particularly used to
rapidly come to a solution that is hoped
to be close to the best possible answer,
or 'optimal solution'. Heuristics are "rules
of thumb", educated guesses, intuitive
judgments or simply common sense. A
heuristic is a general way of solving a
problem. Example: trial and error
• Representativeness heuristic: Giving a
choice greater weight if it seems to be
representative of what we already know
• Random search strategy: All possibilities
are tried, more or less randomly
Problem Solving
• Mechanical solution: Achieved by trial
and error or by a fixed procedure
• Algorithm: Learned set of rules that
always leads to a correct solution of a
problem (think math)
• General solution: States the requirements
for success but not in enough detail for
further action
Insight
• Insight: Sudden mental reorganization of
a problem that makes the solution obvious
• Involves three abilities:
– Selective
encoding:
Selecting
information that is relevant to a problem
while ignoring distractions
– Selective combination: Connecting
seemingly unrelated bits of useful
information
– Selective comparison: Comparing new
problems with old information or with
problems already solved (Sternberg &
Davidson, 1982)
What are the barriers to problem
solving?
Barriers to Problem Solving
• Emotional barriers: Inhibition and fear of
making a fool of oneself or of making a
mistake
• Cultural barriers: Belief that fantasy is a
waste, and feelings and humor have no
place in problem solving
Barriers to Problem Solving
(cont.)
• Learned barriers: Taboos;
with conventional uses
staying
• Perceptual barriers: Habits leading to
a failure to identify important elements
of a problem
Fixations
• Tendency to repeat wrong solutions or
faulty responses and to “fixate” on them,
or to become blind to alternatives
• Functional fixedness: Inability to see new
uses (functions) for familiar objects or for
things that were used in a particular way
Creativity:
How to “Rate” Creative Thoughts
• Fluency: Total number of suggestions you
can make
• Flexibility: Number of times you shift
from one class of possible uses to another
• Originality: How novel or unusual your
solutions are
• Think of how you have been creative in
your life. Discuss with neighbor!
Thinking Styles
• Convergent thinking: Lines of thought
converge on an answer; conventional
thinking
• Divergent thinking: Many possibilities
are developed from one starting point
(especially used in creative thought)
Tests of Creativity
Unusual Uses Test
• Find as many uses for an object as
possible
– Write all the things you can do with a
spatula?
– Time: 1 minute
Testing and Expanding Creativity:
Consequences Test
• List all the consequences that would
follow if a basic change were made in
the world ?
– (What would happen if the resources
were distributed equally in the
world?)
Testing and Expanding Creativity:
Anagrams Test
• Make as many new words as possible
from the letters in a given word
– RAMBUNCTIOUS
Stages of Creative Thought
• Orientation: Defining the problem
• Preparation: Gaining as much information
as possible
• Incubation: The problem, while not
appearing to be actively worked on, is still
“cooking” in the background
• Illumination: The “a-ha” experience;
rapid insight into the solution
• Verification:
Testing
and
critically
evaluating the solution
Creative Personality
• Smarter people have a slight tendency
to be more creative
• Creative people usually have a greater
than average range of knowledge and
interests
• Creative people have openness to
experience
Do you want to become more creative?
• Psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (sik-sentme-HALE-yee) suggests:
Find something that surprises you daily
Try to surprise at least one person daily
If something sparks your interest, follow it
Make a commitment to doing things well
Seek challenges
Take time for thinking and relaxing
Start doing more of what you really enjoy, and
less of what you dislike
– Try to look at problems from as many
viewpoints as you can
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Logic and Intuition
• Intuition: Quick, impulsive thought
that does not make use of clear
reasoning or formal logic
Intelligence
• Global capacity to act purposefully, think
rationally, and deal effectively with the
environment
• Consider how intelligence differs among
various cultures?
• Consider how you feel intelligent?
Intelligence
• What is your operational definition of
intelligence?
• How could this be controversial?
g-Factor
• General ability factor, or core of general intelligence that
involves reasoning, problem-solving ability, knowledge,
memory, and successful adaptation to one’s surroundings
• The relationship of g to intelligence tests may be more
readily understood with an analogy. Irregular objects, such
as the human body, are said to vary in "size". Yet no single
measurement of a human body is obviously preferred to
measure
its
"size".
Instead,
many
and
various
measurements, such as those taken by a tailor, may be
made. All of these measurements will be positively
correlated with each other, and if one were to "add up" or
combine all of the measurements, the aggregate would give
a better description of an individual's size than any single
measurement.
End of the First Part
Second Part
Testing Intelligence
• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Fifth
Edition (SB5): Widely used individual
intelligence test, derived directly from
Alfred Binet’s first intelligence test;
items are age-ranked
Stanford-Binet
“Ages”
• Chronological age: Person’s age in
years
• Mental
age:
performance
Average
intellectual
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
• Intelligence index; mental age divided by
chronological age, then multiplied by 100
– Average IQ in the USA is 100
– Average IQs in other countries (care to
do a research paper?)
– Does a high IQ guarantee success?
Fig. 9-22, p. 308
Normal (Bell-Shaped) Curve
• Most scores fall close to the average,
and very few are found at the extremes
More IQ Terms
• Deviation IQ: Scores based on a
person’s relative standing in his or her
age group; how far above or below
average a person’s score is, relative to
other scores
• IQ scores are not very dependable until
a child reaches age 6
• Terminal decline: Abrupt decline in
measured IQ about 5 years before
death
Wechsler Tests
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test, 3rd Edition
(WAIS-III): Adult intelligence test that rates
verbal and performance intelligence and abilities
– Replaced by WAIS-IV in 2008
• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th
Edition (WISC-IV): Downscaled version of the
WAIS-III/IV; for children from 6 years to 16
years, 11 months, 30 days
IQ Research
• Men and women do not appear to differ in
overall intelligence
– Who has the highest recorded IQ to
date?
• A strong correlation (about .50) exists
between IQ and school grades
Intellectual Determinism
• A desire to
persevere
know,
to
excel,
and
to
Intellectual Disability
• Presence of a developmental disability and
an IQ score below 70; a significant
impairment of adaptive behavior also
figures into the definition
– Adaptive behavior: Basic skills such as
dressing, eating, working, hygiene;
necessary for self-care
Table 9-6, p. 310
p. 310
Familial Intellectual Disability
• Mild intellectual disability that occurs in
homes that have:




Inadequate nutrition
Intellectual stimulation
Medical care
Emotional support
Causes of Intellectual Disabilities
• Consider the causes- what are they?
Organic (Physical) Causes of
Intellectual Disabilities
• Birth injuries: Lack of oxygen during
delivery
• Fetal damage: Prenatal damage from
disease, infection, or drug use
• Metabolic disorders: Affects energy
use and production in the body
• Genetic abnormalities: Such as
missing
genes,
extra
genes,
or
defective genes
Conclusion
• Many
researchers
believe
that
intelligence is a combination of heredity
(genes) and environment (upbringing);
contributing percentage of each is not
known yet
Gardner’s Theory of Intelligence: Some
Concepts
• Multiple intelligences: Theory posed by
Howard Gardner that states we have
several specialized types of intellectual
ability
Gardner’s Theory of Eight Multiple
Intelligences
• Language: Used for thinking by
lawyers, writers, comedians
• Logic and math: Used by scientists,
accountants, programmers
• Visual and spatial thinking: Used by
engineers, inventors, aviators
• Music: Used by composers, musicians,
music critics
Gardner’s Theory of Eight Multiple
Intelligences (cont)
• Bodily-kinesthetic
skills:
Used
by
dancers, athletes, surgeons
• Intrapersonal skills (self-knowledge):
Used by poets, actors, ministers
• Interpersonal skills (social abilities):
Used by psychologists, teachers, politicians
• Naturalistic skills (ability to understand
natural environment): Used by biologists,
organic farmers
Twin Study
• Comparison of characteristics of twins who
were raised together or separated at birth;
used to identify relative impact of heredity
and environment
Fig. 9-23, p. 312
Fig. 9-24, p. 313
A Different Type of Intelligence Test
• Culture-fair test: Test designed to
minimize importance of skills and
knowledge that may be more common
in some cultures than in others
Means-End Analysis
• How to reduce the difference between
the present state of affairs and a
desired goal
• How to build a piece of furniture,
complete a computer program, get from
one city to another, to complete this
term with an A, and so on . . .
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION