Intrem exam 2 Introductory
Psychology and Brain and
Cognition
Psychology 8th editi on Gray Ch10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Chapter 10 solving problems: reasoning and intelligence
Intelligence: not everyone agrees on the exact definition, but they agree that it involves abstract
reasoning, problem solving and the ability to acquire new knowledge. Modern IQ tests (Wechsler,
Groninger) are based on:
- Working memory (memory span with remembering numbers)
- Processing speed (target finding)
- Verbal comprehension (vocab) this indicates that nurture is also important.
- Perceptual processes (analogies)
The mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15.
Crystallized and fluid intelligence (Catell): he identified these because factor analysis showed that
two groups of subsets of standard intelligence showed higher correlations within the groups than
between the groups. Fluid intelligence early in life (peak 22), crystallized intelligence later in life
(peak 50). Fluid intelligence is your ability to process new information, learn, and solve problems
(reasoning). Crystallized intelligence is your stored knowledge, accumulated over the years (facts).
Nature versus nurture: you need both for intelligence. Analogy: inflated balloon both the
thickness of the rubber (nature) and the amount of air inside (nurture) matter. With the same
thickness but different amounts of air, you get different results (which indicates you can’t say this
about a person individually but you can compare between persons).
Twin studies: influence of genes: compare the correlation of IQ of identical and fraternal twins while
keeping the environment as constant as possible. Results: 0.86 in identical twins and 0.60 in fraternal
twins genes seem important.
Influence of environment: compare correlation of identical twins who were raised apart. Result:
correlation od 0.73, so despite the different environments, genes seem important. OR look at an
adoptive child raised in the same environment (so genetical difference and same environment).
Results 0.25 in childhood and 0 in adulthood, so small influence of environment which will be
diminished in adulthood.
Hereditability coefficient H: within group at a certain moment in time. It measures how much of the
differences in IQ are caused by difference in genes. 1 if all differences are caused by genes, 0 if all
differences are caused by environment. Difference between black and white IQ: people believe the
difference is cause by genetic differences because h is between .50 and .75, so high. However, this is
not true, the difference is caused by feeling like an outsider. So: IQ differences can be attributed to
social differences. Plant soil analogy.
If a country is conflicted by war and children can’t go to school, h will decrease because less
of the intelligence is due to genes. IQ scores had to be adjusted downwards to compensate for the
Flynn effect due to cultural changes over time (technology etc.)
,G (Spearman) is general intelligence: a two factor theory that states that general intelligence is
correlated with specific abilities. He based this finding on the fact that the scores of individuals on
various mental tests showed a positive correlation.
Reasoning deductive (general specific) and inductive (specific general). Inductive can always be
refuted by discovering a special case (like the swans). System 1 thinking: fast, unconscious and
automatic, heuristics are used (rules of thumb). This can be biased (systematic variation). System 2 is
slow, conscious and controlled thinking. Biases:
- Availability bias (the probability of rare events gets overestimated).
- Predictable world bias (when you have had heads for three times, you suppose you will get
tails).
- Confirmation bias (Wason selection task. Tendency to refuse information that goes against
your hypothesis).
Chapter 11: development of body, thought and
language
Part V growth of the mind and person
Physical development: prenatal = zygotic (40% miscarriage), embryotic (3 rd to 8th week after
conception) and fetal phases (9 weeks until birth). Cephalocaudal development occurs in the womb
where the proportions of the fetus change. Fetuses are able to perceive some stimuli experiences
can influence the child: teratogens are experiences that can cause the baby harm. The time the harm
can be done is when they are in the embryotic phase because the most rapid development occurs
there. Things that influence:
- Drugs
- Unhealthy diets (children will later store more fat)
- High levels of stress (children will be more aggressive later)
Infancy includes the most rapid development.
Children mental development theories
Piaget theory: role of the child’s own actions in mental development.
Concrete reasoning (direct towards things). Later, abstract reasoning (ideas) and communication
comprehension follow, after that production.
Piaget believed that children are little scientists who have autonomic interest in the world (so
nature). They will do it themselves, no need to push (so no nurture). Language is a byproduct of
thoughts. Thoughts emerge from action. Actions become mental thoughts. Reflex self initiated
action cognitive operations. Children actively construct knowledge. Schemes priori knowledge
nature.
Infants do this by:
- Playing and exploring in order to figure out the world. They have (innate) schemes (internal
representation of what you can do with things) by doing this. Babies have a preference for
novelty (new things).
, - Assimilation: incorporating new experiences into existing schemes. Later follows
accommodation (or adaptation according to the lecture). This is necessary because few new
stimuli fit into existing schemes. You can think of this like a spider web.
Adaptation
Assimilation accommodation
No conflict, information assimilated into existing schemes. Cognitive conflict, automatically
adjusting schemes,
maximizing mental growth.
Beyond infancy: operations (reversible actions). They develop operational schemes. Periods and
schemes in child development (according to Piaget):
1. Sensomonitor (0-2) intelligence is limited to their actions. Object permanence: when an
object is out of sight, it is gone. This is because they don’t have enduring symbols.
2. Preoperational (2-7) intelligence is symbolic (language and fantasy play). Centration: focus
on one aspect or dimension of an object no relation between them in an object. E.g. they
only see the length and not width. Ego centration: people see the world as I do. A child will
say one glass is fuller while they contain the same amount of liquid.
3. Concrete operational (7-11) intelligence is symbolic and logical. It shows irreversibility,
when things don’t fit into schemes anymore. Research is done on this by conservation tasks.
(such as a glass that appears fuller). Then, there is a cognitive conflict and accommodation to
fix the disequilibrium (reestablishing equilibrium). Thinking about actions = reversibility. The
child will know that both glasses are equally full. Decentration between observations (but
this is based on experiences, not abstract yet).
4. Formal operations (11-16) possibility dominates reality. Thoughts, hypotheses.
Vygotsky:
Similarity with Piaget: they both think children construct their own actions and thoughts.
Differences with Piaget: Vygotsky thought the social environment was also important for a child. He
also thought that language was the main cause for thoughts (instead of actions). He saw children as
apprentices instead of scientists.
In reality, you can use both theories: for safe things Piaget is right and children can explore things
themselves. But for dangerous situations, Vygotsky is right and a child needs someone to help or
teach them.
Zone of proximal development: things a child can do in cooperation but not alone. Vygotsky believed
that children learned to think according to cultural tools of intellectual adaptation (example: the way
numbers are written in Asian languages).
Information processing: executive functions improve constant growth of working memory,
improvement of inhibition, improvement of switching. Mental processing speed develops (increases).
Theory of mind: thinking of other people. It is not emphasising! Children can do that too. Due to
egocentricity, it is difficult for children to understand that they can know or believe other things than
other people.
When a stimulus is presented often to a child, habituation occurs, dishabituation occurs when the
child notices a difference due to noveltly. Baillargeon went against Piaget: habituation, event the
Psychology and Brain and
Cognition
Psychology 8th editi on Gray Ch10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Chapter 10 solving problems: reasoning and intelligence
Intelligence: not everyone agrees on the exact definition, but they agree that it involves abstract
reasoning, problem solving and the ability to acquire new knowledge. Modern IQ tests (Wechsler,
Groninger) are based on:
- Working memory (memory span with remembering numbers)
- Processing speed (target finding)
- Verbal comprehension (vocab) this indicates that nurture is also important.
- Perceptual processes (analogies)
The mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15.
Crystallized and fluid intelligence (Catell): he identified these because factor analysis showed that
two groups of subsets of standard intelligence showed higher correlations within the groups than
between the groups. Fluid intelligence early in life (peak 22), crystallized intelligence later in life
(peak 50). Fluid intelligence is your ability to process new information, learn, and solve problems
(reasoning). Crystallized intelligence is your stored knowledge, accumulated over the years (facts).
Nature versus nurture: you need both for intelligence. Analogy: inflated balloon both the
thickness of the rubber (nature) and the amount of air inside (nurture) matter. With the same
thickness but different amounts of air, you get different results (which indicates you can’t say this
about a person individually but you can compare between persons).
Twin studies: influence of genes: compare the correlation of IQ of identical and fraternal twins while
keeping the environment as constant as possible. Results: 0.86 in identical twins and 0.60 in fraternal
twins genes seem important.
Influence of environment: compare correlation of identical twins who were raised apart. Result:
correlation od 0.73, so despite the different environments, genes seem important. OR look at an
adoptive child raised in the same environment (so genetical difference and same environment).
Results 0.25 in childhood and 0 in adulthood, so small influence of environment which will be
diminished in adulthood.
Hereditability coefficient H: within group at a certain moment in time. It measures how much of the
differences in IQ are caused by difference in genes. 1 if all differences are caused by genes, 0 if all
differences are caused by environment. Difference between black and white IQ: people believe the
difference is cause by genetic differences because h is between .50 and .75, so high. However, this is
not true, the difference is caused by feeling like an outsider. So: IQ differences can be attributed to
social differences. Plant soil analogy.
If a country is conflicted by war and children can’t go to school, h will decrease because less
of the intelligence is due to genes. IQ scores had to be adjusted downwards to compensate for the
Flynn effect due to cultural changes over time (technology etc.)
,G (Spearman) is general intelligence: a two factor theory that states that general intelligence is
correlated with specific abilities. He based this finding on the fact that the scores of individuals on
various mental tests showed a positive correlation.
Reasoning deductive (general specific) and inductive (specific general). Inductive can always be
refuted by discovering a special case (like the swans). System 1 thinking: fast, unconscious and
automatic, heuristics are used (rules of thumb). This can be biased (systematic variation). System 2 is
slow, conscious and controlled thinking. Biases:
- Availability bias (the probability of rare events gets overestimated).
- Predictable world bias (when you have had heads for three times, you suppose you will get
tails).
- Confirmation bias (Wason selection task. Tendency to refuse information that goes against
your hypothesis).
Chapter 11: development of body, thought and
language
Part V growth of the mind and person
Physical development: prenatal = zygotic (40% miscarriage), embryotic (3 rd to 8th week after
conception) and fetal phases (9 weeks until birth). Cephalocaudal development occurs in the womb
where the proportions of the fetus change. Fetuses are able to perceive some stimuli experiences
can influence the child: teratogens are experiences that can cause the baby harm. The time the harm
can be done is when they are in the embryotic phase because the most rapid development occurs
there. Things that influence:
- Drugs
- Unhealthy diets (children will later store more fat)
- High levels of stress (children will be more aggressive later)
Infancy includes the most rapid development.
Children mental development theories
Piaget theory: role of the child’s own actions in mental development.
Concrete reasoning (direct towards things). Later, abstract reasoning (ideas) and communication
comprehension follow, after that production.
Piaget believed that children are little scientists who have autonomic interest in the world (so
nature). They will do it themselves, no need to push (so no nurture). Language is a byproduct of
thoughts. Thoughts emerge from action. Actions become mental thoughts. Reflex self initiated
action cognitive operations. Children actively construct knowledge. Schemes priori knowledge
nature.
Infants do this by:
- Playing and exploring in order to figure out the world. They have (innate) schemes (internal
representation of what you can do with things) by doing this. Babies have a preference for
novelty (new things).
, - Assimilation: incorporating new experiences into existing schemes. Later follows
accommodation (or adaptation according to the lecture). This is necessary because few new
stimuli fit into existing schemes. You can think of this like a spider web.
Adaptation
Assimilation accommodation
No conflict, information assimilated into existing schemes. Cognitive conflict, automatically
adjusting schemes,
maximizing mental growth.
Beyond infancy: operations (reversible actions). They develop operational schemes. Periods and
schemes in child development (according to Piaget):
1. Sensomonitor (0-2) intelligence is limited to their actions. Object permanence: when an
object is out of sight, it is gone. This is because they don’t have enduring symbols.
2. Preoperational (2-7) intelligence is symbolic (language and fantasy play). Centration: focus
on one aspect or dimension of an object no relation between them in an object. E.g. they
only see the length and not width. Ego centration: people see the world as I do. A child will
say one glass is fuller while they contain the same amount of liquid.
3. Concrete operational (7-11) intelligence is symbolic and logical. It shows irreversibility,
when things don’t fit into schemes anymore. Research is done on this by conservation tasks.
(such as a glass that appears fuller). Then, there is a cognitive conflict and accommodation to
fix the disequilibrium (reestablishing equilibrium). Thinking about actions = reversibility. The
child will know that both glasses are equally full. Decentration between observations (but
this is based on experiences, not abstract yet).
4. Formal operations (11-16) possibility dominates reality. Thoughts, hypotheses.
Vygotsky:
Similarity with Piaget: they both think children construct their own actions and thoughts.
Differences with Piaget: Vygotsky thought the social environment was also important for a child. He
also thought that language was the main cause for thoughts (instead of actions). He saw children as
apprentices instead of scientists.
In reality, you can use both theories: for safe things Piaget is right and children can explore things
themselves. But for dangerous situations, Vygotsky is right and a child needs someone to help or
teach them.
Zone of proximal development: things a child can do in cooperation but not alone. Vygotsky believed
that children learned to think according to cultural tools of intellectual adaptation (example: the way
numbers are written in Asian languages).
Information processing: executive functions improve constant growth of working memory,
improvement of inhibition, improvement of switching. Mental processing speed develops (increases).
Theory of mind: thinking of other people. It is not emphasising! Children can do that too. Due to
egocentricity, it is difficult for children to understand that they can know or believe other things than
other people.
When a stimulus is presented often to a child, habituation occurs, dishabituation occurs when the
child notices a difference due to noveltly. Baillargeon went against Piaget: habituation, event the
