The capacity to be a general problem solver and to solve a wide variety of problems in a wide variety of domains through pattern recognition, analogous transfer, and reasoning
Intelligence
A standardized measure of one’s intelligence, where one’s mental age is divided by one’s chronological age multiplied by 100, so that comparison between individuals is clearer. It is used in the Stanford-Binet test for intelligence. It suffers from the problem that as one ages, one’s score will go down even though it is implausible that one is initially becoming less intelligent with age
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
The tendency to judge one’s performance as better than the average without any evidence of special expertise or training
Self-enhancement Bias
Application of knowledge and use of action
Practical Wisdom
The pontification of ideas across contexts and conceptualization of underlying explanations of thoughts and actions across situations
Theoretical Wisdom
On average, IQ scores were rising even on tests which are supposed to be immune to cultural influences. The result is controversial since it implies that on average, most people several generations back were quite unintelligent.
Flynn Effect
Psychologist and statistician that focused on measuring varied abilities of people using empirical methods to ensure precise assessment
Francis Galton
Product of heredity and related to how well one used one’s senses
General Cognitive Ability (g)
According to Binet and Simon, this is one of the three basic abilities of intelligence. It is the ability to know what to do and how to do it.
Direction
According to Binet and Simon, this is one of the three basic abilities of intelligence. It is the ability for creating strategies for solving problems and monitoring the progress of those strategies.
Adaptation
According to Binet and Simon, this is one of the three basic abilities of intelligence. It is the ability to reflect on your problem-solving behavior and find errors and mistakes.
Criticism
According to Binet and Simon, indicates the average age of children who can solve the set of problems that a particular child is capable of solving.
Mental Age
The first written measure of intelligence was a function of Simon and Binet’s work, originally written in French. The scale divides the person’s mental age by their chronological age to get an intelligence quotient (IQ)
Stanford Binet Test
The test is administered to a large number of people, and an average score for the test for each age is obtained. Individuals are then scored relative to the average score (“mean”) for their age
Weschler’s Intelligence Test
This test is a classic non-verbal test used to measure intelligence. In this test, people are presented with a pattern or shape, and must then infer which of several options is correct
Raven’s Progressive Matrices
A method proposed by Nettelbeck and Lalley for measuring intelligence by measuring the processing speed of human beings
Inspection Time
A method proposed by Jensen for measuring intelligence by indirectly measuring nerve conductance speed by directly measuring processing speed
Choice Reaction Time
A methodological strategy in cognitive science that integrates psychology and computer science in order to explain human behavior. The strategy involves creating a computer program that is capable of reproducing a particular pattern of behavior found in human beings, and then one uses the functions and processes within that program as hypotheses for explaining the human behavior.
Reverse Engineering
Studying intelligence by determining how complex problems are solved by breaking the complex problems down into their simpler component problems.
Componential Intelligence
An argument that human society could be improved by encouraging reproduction among people with “desirable” qualities and discouraging reproduction among people with “undesirable” qualities. This argument has been widely discredited as inherently unethical
Eugenics
A misapplication of Darwin’s theory of biological evolution to the supposed explanation of the evolution of culture. It was often expressed by the idea of “the survival of the fittest” in which those on the top of a social hierarchy deserved to be there because they were the most fit while those at the bottom deserved to be there because they were less fit.
Social Darwinism
Paying attention to how one is paying attention to and thereby interpreting situations. It often requires a suspension of inner speech and inferential processing so that attention can be directed to what one is finding salient in one’s current experience.
Mindfulness
The ability to overcome self-deception in one’s reasoning and problem-solving. It is not simply the same as being logical. It involves being able to recognize and counteract the effect of bias on one’s cognition
Rationality
The thinking disposition in which one sensitizes oneself to look for and be more aware of bias in one’s thinking and reasoning, and one cultivates habits of counteracting those biases.
Active Open-mindedness
