Intro Chap 8 Thinking, Language, Intelligence

Concepts

mental groupings

These all could correctly labeled "Robin" but they are conceptually different.

Concepts

Solving problems

Problem Solving

• trial & error
• algorithms (1+1+1=3)
• heuristics (1x3=3)
• insight (Aha!)
• confirmation bias
• fixation

Good & Bad

decisions and judgements

Availability heuristic

Overconfidence

http://forms.gapminder.org/s3/test-2018

You were pretty confident about the Gapminder questions, weren't you?

Good & Bad decisions and judgements

Framing

Belief perseverance

These decisions are always framed using survival #s, not death rates.

Intuition

• That "less than fully conscious" part of your thinking.
• It is usually adaptive.
• Influences us constantly.

The Cognitive Reflection Test:

• We tend not to remember the failures of intuition and be impressed by the successes.
• When a question is complex the intuitive voice may just be confusion/fear.

Thinking Creatively

• Ideas that are novel & valuable.
• Convergent and Divergent thinking

Thinking Creatively

Other species?

Other

Species?

https://www.science.org/content/article/elephant-learned-use-hose-shower-then-her-rival-sought-revenge?cookieSet=1

The Brain and

Language

Uses the whole brain, not just Broca's and Wernicke's areas.

The Brain & Language

Thinking

without language

• The 'mind's eye, ear, etc'
• mental rehearsal
• triggering brain activity by imagining
• imagine doing the thing, not having achieved it!

Thinking

without

language

Do other species have language?

Chomsky thinks language is uniquely human.

Do other species have language?

Assessing Intelligence

What do intelligence tests measure?

Tests must be:

• Standardized
• Reliable
• Valid

Assessing Intelligence

Stanford-Binet:

Wechsler:

Nature and Nurture

• Heritability
• Environment
• Gene-Environment interaction
• Growth Mindset

Nature & Nurture of Intelligence

Across the lifespan

• Stability v Change
• cross-sectional and longitudinal studies

Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence:

Intelligence across the life-span

Group Differences:

Gender

Race and Ethnicity

Intelligence

Volume 78, January–February 2020, 101408

Intelligence

Racial and ethnic group differences in the heritability of intelligence: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Bryan J.PestaaEmil O.W.KirkegaardbJante NijenhuiscJordanLaskerdJohn G.R.Fuerstab

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2019.101408Get

Highlights

•We meta-analyze whether race or ethnicity moderate the heritability of intelligence.

•The main sample (k = 16) was comprised of Whites Blacks, and Hispanics from the USA.

•We found moderate to high heritabilities for both groups.

•Heritabilities, however, did not substantially differ by race or ethnicity.

•Results are largely inconsistent with predictions from the Scarr-Rowe hypothesis.

Abstract

Via meta-analysis, we examined whether the heritability of intelligence varies across racial or ethnic groups. Specifically, we tested a hypothesis predicting an interaction whereby those racial and ethnic groups living in relatively disadvantaged environments display lower heritability and higher environmentality. The reasoning behind this prediction is that people (or groups of people) raised in poor environments may not be able to realize their full genetic potentials. Our sample (k = 16) comprised 84,897 Whites, 37,160 Blacks, and 17,678 Hispanics residing in the United States. We found that White, Black, and Hispanic heritabilities were consistently moderate to high, and that these heritabilities did not differ across groups. At least in the United States, Race/Ethnicity × Heritability interactions likely do not exist.

Group differences in Intelligence scores

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2017/02/20/John-Eichelberger-comments-Blair-senator-under-fire-for-suggesting-inner-city-students-need-less-intensive-program-to-succeed-college/stories/201702200144

“They’re pushing them toward college and they’re dropping out,” Sen. John Eichelberger, a Blair County Republican, said during a town hall last week near Carlisle. “They fall back and don’t succeed, whereas if there was a less intensive track, they would.”

Test Bias

• Scientifically valid maybe, but common language biased.
• Gender, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status may influence score.

#1.

Christey Mathewsen would be more skilled with a

a) baseball

b) soccer ball

c) football

d) ballroom dance

#2.

Six year old Bobby wandered outside and down the street - now he is lost. Bobby should

a) sit where he is to wait for someone to find him

b) ask a police officer for help

c) just keep walking until he sees something familiar

d) knock on a stranger's door for help