Invitation To Psychology Carol Wade and Carol Tavris

Invitation To Psychology Carol Wade and Carol Tavris Power. Point Presentation by H. Lynn Bradman Metropolitan Community College-Omaha Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 1

Thinking and Intelligence Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 2

Thinking and Intelligence • • • Thought: Using What We Know Reasoning Rationally Barriers to Reasoning Rationally Intelligence The Origins of Intelligence Animal Minds Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 3

Thought: Using What We Know The Elements of Cognition How Conscious Is Thought? Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 4

The Elements of Cognition • Concept: Mental category that groups objects, relations, activities, abstractions, or qualities having common properties. • Proposition: A unit of meaning that is made up of concepts and expresses a single idea. • Mental Image: Representation that mirrors or resembles the thing it represents. • Cognitive Schema: An integrated mental network of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations concerning a particular topic or aspect of the world. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 5

How Conscious is Thought? • Subconscious Processes: Mental processes occurring outside of conscious awareness but accessible to consciousness when necessary. • Nonconscious Processes: Mental processes occurring outside of and not available to conscious awareness. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 6

Reasoning Rationally Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 7

Reasoning Rationally • Formal Reasoning: Algorithms and Logic • Informal Reasoning: Heuristics and Dialectical Thinking • Reflective Judgment Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 8

Formal Logic • Deductive Reasoning: A tool of formal logic in which a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of observations or propositions (premises). Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 9

Formal Logic • Inductive Reasoning: A tool of formal logic in which a conclusion probably follows from a set of observations or propositions or premises, but could be false. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 10

Informal Reasoning • Heuristic: – A rule of thumb that suggests a course of action or guides problem solving but does not guarantee an optimal solution. • Dialectical Reasoning: – A process in which opposing facts or ideas are weighed and compared, with a view to determining the best solution or resolving differences. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 11

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 12

Barriers to Reasoning Rationally • • Exaggerating the Improbable Avoiding Loss The Confirmation Biases Due to Mental Sets The Hindsight Bias The Need for Cognitive Consistency Overcoming Our Cognitive Biases Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 13

Exaggerating the Improbable • Availability Heuristic: – The tendency to judge the probability of an event by how easy it is to think of examples or instances. – For example, most people overestimate the odds of dying in a plane crash. – Dying in an automobile accident is far more likely. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 14

Avoiding Loss • People try to minimize risks and losses when making decisions. • Responses to the same choice will differ based on whether outcome is framed as gain or loss. – In the example, outcomes are the same in Problems 1 and 2. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 15

The Confirmation Bias • Confirmation Bias: The tendency to look for or pay attention only to information that confirms one’s own beliefs. E J 6 7 Test this rule: If a card has a vowel on one side, it has an even number on the other side. Which 2 cards to turn over? Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 16

Biases Due to Mental Sets • Mental Set: A tendency to solve problems using procedures that worked before on similar problems. • Mental sets help us solve most problems efficiently. • Not helpful when a problem calls for fresh insights or a new approach. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 17

The Nine-Dot Problem • Connect all 9 dots • Use only 4 lines • Do not lift your pencil from the page after you begin drawing Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 18

The Hindsight Bias • Hindsight Bias: The tendency to overestimate one’s ability to have predicted an event once the outcome is known. – Also known as the “I knew it all along” phenomenon. • “The older they get the better they were when they were younger. ” – Jim Bouton, professional baseball player Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 19

Need for Cognitive Consistency • Cognitive Dissonance: – A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent, or when a person’s belief is inconsistent with his or her behavior. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 20

Intelligence Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 21

Intelligence • Measuring Intelligence: The Psychometric Approach • Dissecting Intelligence: The Cognitive Approach Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 22

Intelligence • Intelligence: An inferred characteristic of an individual, usually defined as the ability to profit from experience, acquire knowledge, think abstractly, act purposefully, or adapt to changes in the environment. • g factor: A general intellectual ability assumed by many theorists to underlie specific mental abilities and talents. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 23

The Psychometric Approach • IQ scores are distributed “normally” – Bell-shaped curve • Very high and low scores are rare – 68% of people have IQ between 85 -115 – 99. 7% between 55145 Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 24

The Cognitive Approach • Metacognition: The knowledge or awareness of one’s own cognitive processes. • Tacit Knowledge: Strategies for success that are not explicitly taught but that instead must be inferred. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 25

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory • Components - a. k. a. “Analytic” – Comparing, analyzing, and evaluating. – This type of processes correlates best with IQ. • Experiential - a. k. a. “Creative” – Inventing or designing solutions to new problems. – Transfer skills to new situations. • Contextual - a. k. a. “Practical” – Using (i. e. , applying) the things you know in everyday contexts. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 26

The Origins of Intelligence Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 27

The Origins of Intelligence • Genes and Intelligence • The Environment and Intelligence • Attitudes, Motivation, and Intellectual Success Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 28

Correlations in Siblings’ IQ Scores • IQ scores of siblings were highly correlated, even when they were reared apart. • Identical twins have higher correlations than fraternal twins. – Suggests a genetic link Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 29

Explaining Group Differences • Within a group with all treated exactly the same, differences may reflect genetics. • When one group differs from another, the differences may reflect environmental differences. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 30

Environment and Intelligence • Factors associated with reduced IQ: – Poor prenatal care – Malnutrition – Exposure to toxins – Stressful family circumstances • Healthy and stimulating environments can raise IQ, sometimes dramatically. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 31

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Attitudes and Intellectual Success • Asian children score higher on standard math tests than American children. • Differences: – Americans are more likely than Asians to believe that math ability is innate. – Americans have far lower standards for their children. – Asian children value education more highly than Americans. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 33

Animal Minds Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 34

Animal Minds • Animal Intelligence • Animals and Language • Thinking About the Thinking of Animals Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 35

Animal Intelligence • Cognitive Ethology: The study of cognitive processes in nonhuman animals. • Studies in cognitive ethology have shown evidence that some animals can – Anticipate future events – Use numbers to label quantities – Coordinate activities with other animals Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 36

Animals and Language • Language is a critical element of human cognition • Many animal species can be taught to communicate in ways that resemble language – Chimpanzees and bonobos converse using American Sign Language and symbol board systems – An African grey parrot has been taught to count, classify, and compare objects using English words • Whether these behaviors are language depends on how you define “language. ” Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 37

Thinking About Animal Thinking • Anthropomorphism: The tendency to falsely attribute human qualities to nonhuman beings. • Anthropocentrism: The tendency to think, mistakenly, that human beings have nothing in common with other animals. Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 38