Ch 7 Cognition 11 13 12 2 16 PM Cognition Mental activity that goes on in the brain when a person is processing information Organizing information Understanding information Communicating information Mental Imagery Mental representations that stand in for objects or events They have a picture like quality in our mind s eye Why do we have this capacity to form mental images What is it Question for Answer Helps aid memory So we can predict and plan Concepts Mental representation of a group or a category Concept Formation We group objects events activities ideas that share similar characteristics Question Concepts are important because Answer Question Answer Make our lives faster easier and more predictable How do we form concepts In Two Ways o Artificial Concepts explicitly taught o Natural Concepts Artificial concepts Formal concepts Arise out of logical rules or definitions All those objects meeting the criteria are included those missing features are excluded Often found in scientific disciplines Ex Triangle has 3 sides and 3 angles Natural Concepts Categories that have general rules about what belongs We create a prototype or best example Ex Concept of Bird A robin or sparrow may be what comes to mind because it best captures birdness Hierarchies When an object fits into more than one category Superordinate category broadest Mid level categories basic level concepts Subordinate category most specific Usually we classify objects by their mid level category first before super or subordinate categories Problem Solving Moving from a given state problem to a goal state Three step process of problem solving solution Preparation Production Evaluation Step 1 Preparation Identifying given facts and separating relevant information from irrelevant information Define your ultimate goal Step 2 Production Generate possible solutions or hypotheses o Two ways to do this Algorithms Heuristics Algorithms Step by step procedure that if appropriate will always result in the solution Ex Rubic s cube Math problems assembly instructions Heuristics A rule of thumb or educated guess Advantage o Provide shortcuts to solutions Disadvantage o Increased errors Means end analysis How much effort money time do you put in to get Working backwards Start with examples of goal state and evaluate how it Creating subgoals Large problems are broken down into manageable maximum benefit was attained steps Mental sets Barriers to Problem Solving what has worked before Functional fixedness conventional uses Confirmation bias we see what we want to see Incubation Some problems require a period in which we allow the most pertinent facts to come into focus allowing the distracting or irrelevant info to fade from our minds Creativity The ability to produce valued outcomes in a novel new way Divergent Thinking One main theme or idea that generates many different ideas Convergent thinking Generating a single idea theme conclusion based on many ideas or pieces of information Intelligence General capacity to benefit from experience to acquire knowledge and adapt to changes in the environment It is a hypothetical construct that is defined by tests used to measure it and the culture in which it exists Intelligence tests Dr Alfred Binet Why How French psychologist who invented the first intelligence test To identify children that were not able to learn as readily as others so that they could be given remedial education Developed a series of questions that got progressively more difficult Tested child s mental age and compared it to the child s actual age or chronological age Example o Successfully answering questions that the typical 7 yr old can answer but unsuccessfully answering questions a typical 8 yr old can answer would give you a mental age of 7 Intelligence Quotient Comparing mental age with chronological age multiplied by100 IQ MA CA x 100 New test called the Stanford Binet IQ test Wechsler tests Developed different IQ tests specifically for adults and children Has a verbal score and a performance nonverbal score and an IQ score Individual differences in IQ Developmentally Delayed o Behavioral and cognitive skills are at an earlier developmental stage than the skills of others who are the same age o Behavioral and cognitive skills that are more than 2 standard deviations above the mean IQ above 130 o General intelligence ability to reason and problem solve o Specific intelligence special gift in a particular area Believed there were 3 different types of intelligence Triarchic theory of Intelligence Gifted Spearman G factor S factor Sternberg Analytical Creative Practical Gardner Believed that there were 9 different types of intelligence Verbal Mathematical Spatial Bodily kinesthetic Musical Interpersonal o Intrapersonal Naturalist Existentialist
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