- What is intelligence and how is it measured?
B) Binet-Simon Scale:
Used to identify children with disabilities by assessing scholastic skills (memory, vocabulary, common knowledge).
Compares chronological age with mental age
- What is intelligence and how is it measured?
A) Intelligence
The ability to think, understand, reason, and adapt to overcome obstacles
- can be split into verbal and nonverbal (Wechsler)
- What is intelligence and how is it measured?
C) Standard-Binet
Revised concept of mental age by using IQ measurement. This divided mental age by chronological age to produce a ratio called the ratio IQ.
- What is intelligence and how is it measured?
D) Deviation IQ
To overcome the problem with the ratio IQ David Weschler developed the concept of the deviation IQ. He made the IQ score relative to one’s age group since mental age would eventually stop growing despite the fact that chronological age would continue.
- Identify some of the controversies surrounding intelligence testing.
Racism/cultural/geographical/socioeconomic/physical attribute biases
eg: not wanting to educate minorities like the poor or nonwhites
- Define the concept of “g”
Spearman reasoned that all measures of intelligence must reflect a common factor of intelligence because each showed a correlation between each other. He called this “g” for general intelligence.
- Discuss the heritability of intelligence and explain why heritability seems to increase with age.
Heritability of intelligence increases with age because as we grow into adults and make choices about our environments our genotype better predicts our phenotype.
- Describe the three neural correlates of intelligence.
1) Efficient use of neural resources:
Individuals with higher cognitive abilities show more efficient neural processing and thus lower activation in the brain.
- Describe the three neural correlates of intelligence.
2) High synchronization between cortical centres:
Individuals with higher skill levels show a greater degree of synchronization between cortical regions.
- Describe the three neural correlates of intelligence.
3) Adaptation of cortical networks when demands change:
Individuals with higher cognitive abilities show greater neural adaptation when faced with changing demands.
- Brain imaging has allowed researchers to postulate that intelligence consists of a person’s ability to use neural resources efficiently, synchronize his or her cortical centers, and adapt to change.
- Explain what mental shortcuts are using examples.
A) Decisions, decisions…
Research has found that individuals often use mental shortcuts to help them make fast/efficient decisions.
- Explain what mental shortcuts are using examples.
B) Cognitive heuristics:
Mental shortcuts based on experience.
- Explain what mental shortcuts are using examples.
B)Types of cognitive heuristics:
Availability heuristic:
A tendency to estimate how frequently something occurs based on the ease at which examples come to mind.
- Explain what mental shortcuts are using examples.
B)Types of cognitive heuristics:
Representativeness heuristics:
A tendency to ignore the base rates, and judge the frequency of an event by the extent to which it resembles the typical case.
- Describe the types of errors that occur as a result of relying on these mental shortcuts.
A) Base-Rate Fallacy:
The tendency to ignore general information about the frequency of events in favour of specific salient information; such that rare events are overestimated.
- Describe the types of errors that occur as a result of relying on these mental shortcuts.
B) False consensus effect:
The tendency for a person to over estimate the number of people who share their beliefs.
- Describe the types of errors that occur as a result of relying on these mental shortcuts.
C) Conjunction fallacy:
Belief that multiple specific conditions are more likely than a single general one.
- Describe the types of errors that occur as a result of relying on these mental shortcuts.
D) anchoring:
A bias produced when a reference or starting point is provided for a judgment.
- Describe the types of errors that occur as a result of relying on these mental shortcuts.
E) Framing Effect and Sunk-Cost Fallacy:
Effects of wording on decision-making.
Sunk-cost fallacy: framing effect that occurs when individuals decisions and/or judgments are based on past investments they have made.
- Describe the types of errors that occur as a result of relying on these mental shortcuts.
F) Confirmation bias:
Process by which people interpret, seek and create information that confirms their held beliefs.
- Describe the types of errors that occur as a result of relying on these mental shortcuts.
G) Priming Account:
Process by which different moods activate different information.
