Cognition, Language, and

Intelligence
 Definition of Cognition
Intellectual processes • Obtained
• Perception • Transformed
• Memory • Stored
• Thinking • Retrieved
• Language • Used

through which
information is
 Three Primary Facets of Cognition
• Cognition processes information
• Cognition is active
– Information is
• Obtained through senses
• Transformed through interpretive processes
• Stored and retrieved through memory
• Used in problem solving and language
• Cognition is useful
Concepts: The Basic Units of Thinking

• Concepts
– Basic units of logical thinking
– General categories of things, events, qualities
linked by common feature(s)
– Makes most productive thinking possible
– Allows efficient processing of information
 Types of Concepts
• Simple concepts have a apple
Red t-shirt
single common feature ball
• Complex concepts
aunt
– Conjunctive: simultaneous
presence of 2 or more mom’s
female sister
common characteristics
Schizophrenic person
– Disjunctive: presence of
one common characteristic hears having
voices distorted
or another, or both not there beliefs
 Basic Concepts
Superordinate Vehicles
concept

Basic concepts Cars Boats Planes

Sports Sailboat Glider

car Motorboat Jet plane
Subordinate Station Kayak Propeller
concepts wagon plane
Luxury
sedan
 Natural Concepts
• Concepts that are easier to learn than others
– Assumption – humans are biologically prepared
– Two primary characteristics
• Natural concepts are basic
• Natural concepts are prototypical – they
make good prototypes
 Natural Concepts
• Three levels of inclusiveness
– Superordinate concepts are very inclusive

– Basic concept has medium degree of

inclusiveness

– Subordinate concepts are least inclusive

 Natural Concepts
• Why basic concepts are easier to learn than
superordinate or subordinate concepts –
four characteristics make them natural
– Basic concepts share many attributes
– Members share similar shapes
– Members often share motor movements
– Basic concepts are easily named
 Thinking and Problem Solving
• Sophisticated thinking is based on concepts
– Understanding concepts gives insight into
content of thinking

• Problem solving – cognitive process in

which information is used to reach a goal
blocked by some obstacle
– Steps must be performed in sequence
 Steps in Problem Solving
• Formulating the problem
– Clearly define it in specific terms (what is it?)

• Understanding and organizing elements

of the problem (what is here and missing?)
– Be flexible in thinking; use insightfulness
– Avoid getting stuck in mental sets – habitual
ways of thinking
 Steps in Problem Solving

• Generate and evaluate alternative

solutions (what if ?)
– Try to foresee effects and consequences
– Choose best solution
– Strategies to find best solution
 Problem Solving
• Wallas’ four steps
– Preparation
• Initial attempts to look at facts, solutions
– Incubation
• Rest period; leave it alone for a while
– Illumination
• Sudden insight as to a solution
– Verification
• Test the solution
 Language
• Symbolic code used in communication
– Semantics – meaning or semantic content
– Generative – infinite set of utterances made
into finite set of elements and rules
• Phonemes – smallest units of sound
• Morphemes – smallest units of meaning
• Syntax – combines morphemes, phonemes
– Prescriptive rules of grammar
 Language and Thought
• Whorfian Hypothesis known as linguistic
relativity hypothesis
– A culture’s language shapes member’s thinking
• The more important something is to a
culture, the more words exist to describe it
– Linguistic relativity led to rethinking certain
words in our language - - example: fatty man
became obese person.
 Intelligence
• Sum total of cognitive abilities
• Popularized by Galton in late 1800s
• Differing views
– Galton – intelligence is single general factor
– Spearman – g (based on complex mathematical
analysis) is general factor of intelligence
– Wechsler agrees with Spearman
 Intelligence
• Differing views
– Thurstone – Primary Mental Abilities Test
measures seven intellectual abilities

– Guilford – extreme position that some 150

different abilities make up intelligence
 Cognitive Components
of Intelligent Behavior
• Sternberg – cognitive steps used
– Encode – put in memory in usable form
– Infer relationships between terms/elements
– Map or identify common characteristics
– Apply identified relationship
– Compare alternative answers
– Respond with an answer
Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence
• Fluid intelligence
– ability to process information quickly,
devise strategies to solve problem

• Crystallized intelligence –
– ability to use previously learned skills in
problem solving
 Measures of Intelligence
• IQ Test
– Terman – Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test
– Wechsler – WISC-III and WAIS-R
– Controversies over intelligence tests
• Use of small samples
• Uses for predicting future behavior
 Construction of Intelligence Tests
• Binet – score is intelligence quotient (IQ)
(MA)
Mental Age
IQ = x 100
Chronological
Age (CA)
 Good Intelligence Tests
• Characteristics -
– Standardization
– Norms based on large sample of general
population
– Objectivity – no bias
– Reliability – same results time after time
– Validity – measures what it is supposed to
measure
 Tacit Intelligence
• Everyday intelligence not taught in school
• General intelligence tests are limited
– Predicts success in school, complex occupations
– Cannot predict tacit intelligence
– Persons with low or limited general intelligence
rarely have high tacit intelligence
– Persons with high general intelligence – more
likely to have good practical knowledge across
many areas
Individual Differences in Intelligence

• Contributing factors
– Combination of heredity and experience
• Monozygotic twins – evidence of heredity
– Intellectual environment one is raised in
• Enriched environments can increase IQ
 Importance of IQ Scores
• Modern society
– Persons with higher IQ scores do better in
educational achievement, and obtain higher
paying employment
• Average truck driver – IQ under 100
• Average doctor or lawyer – IQ is 125 or more
• High correlation between educational and
occupational success
 People Are Becoming More Intelligent
• IQ scores increased over several generations

– Explanations
• Nutrition and health have improved
• Levels of education have increased
• Technology made environment more complex
• More complex, multicultural society
 Extremes in Intelligence
• Mental retardation – IQ of 70 or below
– Wide range of conditions resulting from
genetics, trauma, and maternal infections
• Mildly retarded – IQ of 50 to 70
• Moderately retarded – IQ of 35 to 49
• Severely retarded – IQ of 20 to 34
• Profoundly retarded – IQ under 20
• Gifted – high IQ and high creativity
– High achievers and highly successful in life