Thinking, Language and Concepts

Thinking, Language and Concepts
mental image
concept
formal concept
natural concept
prototype
Kosslyn et. al. (1978) scanning of mental images
Wohlschlager & Wohlschlager (1998)—Two
these threes are backward. Which ones?
Decision-Making Strategies
Single-feature model
Additive model
Elimination by aspects model
Availability heuristic—readily available
Representativeness heuristic—prototype
• In another study, subjects were asked, “If a random word is taken from an
English text, is it more likely that the word starts with a K, or that K is the
third letter?” Most English-speaking people could immediately think of
many words that begin with the letter "K" (kangaroo, kitchen, kale), but it
would take a more concentrated effort to think of any words where "K" is
the third letter (acknowledge). Results indicated that participants
overestimated the number of words that began with the letter “K”, but
underestimated the number of words that had “K” as the third letter.
Researchers concluded that people answer questions like these by
comparing the availability of the two categories and assessing how easily
they can recall these instances. In other words, it is easier to think of
words that begin with "K", than words with "K" as the third letter. Thus,
people judge words beginning with a "K" to be a more common
occurrence. In reality, however, a typical text contains twice as many
words that have "K" as the third letter than "K" as the first letter.
Additionally, there are three times as many words that have the letter "K"
in the third position, as have it in the first position.[1]
• Tversky, A; Kahneman (1973). "Availability: A heuristic for judging
frequency and probability". Cognitive Psychology 5 (1): 207–233.
doi:10.1016/0010-0285(73)90033-9.
Problem-Solving Strategies
Trial and error
Algorithm
Heuristic
availability
representativeness
Insight
Intuition
Functional fixedness
Mental set
Belief-bias effect—accept and reject or ignore
Confirmation bias—actively search
Fallacy of positive instances—remember
Overestimation effect—overestimate the rarity
Why does the human brain do this?
Sheena Iyengar on the art of choosing | Video on TED.com:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.html
Dan Gilbert on our mistaken expectations | Video on TED.com:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness.html
Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions? | Video on TED.com:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_d
ecisions.html
Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice | Video on TED.com:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html
Language
Symbolic
Arbitrary
Shared
Structured and rule governed—syntax
Creative and generative
Allows for displacement
Does language influence thought, or does thought influence language?
Reinforces or minimizes stereotypes
Pronoun usage
Masculine and feminine prescriptions
Sapir-Whorf linguistic relativity hypothesis
Do animals have language? How is it similar and different from ours?
Bonobo chimpanzee (Matata), infant son (Kanzi)
Measuring Intelligence
Alfred Binet-mental age
Lewis Terman—IQ (mental age/actual age X 100)
Army Alpha (written) and Army Beta (oral) test
David Wechsler—WAIS, WISC
Achievement test and aptitude test
Standardization—norms, normal curve/distribution, reliability, validity
Nature of Intelligence
Spearman—g factor
Thurstone—pattern of seven mental abilities
Gardner—multiple intelligences
Sternberg—triarchic theory (analytic, creative, practical)
With which theorist/theory do you most agree? Why?
Is intelligence nature or nurture informed?
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
McGue et. al, 1993
The Effects of Stereotype Threat on the
Standardized Test Performance of College
Students, J. Aronson, C.M. Steele, M.F.
Salinas, M.J. Lustina - Readings About the
Social Animal, 8th edition, E. Aronson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_threat