Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology

Chapter Seven: Thinking a d Intelligen e Learning Objectives After completing this unit, you should be able to: 1. Discuss how we reason and make decisions 2. Discuss the elements of cognition 3. Discuss how cognitive biases affect problem solving 4. Discuss the nature of intelligence 5. Discuss heredity, culture, and environment and how they shape intelligence 6. Discuss the nature of IQ testing. 7.1 Cognition Cognition- Can be thought of as the mental activities involved in solving problems: thinking, language, memory, and intelligence. A variety of thought processes either facilitate or impede problem solving. Elements of Cognition- Much of our thinking occurs in the form of propositions, statements that express ideas. All propositions consist of concepts combined in a particular way. • Concepts- Are basic units of semantic memory - mental categories into which we place objects, activities, abstractions, and events that have essential features in common. • Prototypes- Many concepts are defined by prototypes, the most typical and familiar members of a category or class. • Schema- Is a mental framework, an organized pattern of thought about some aspect of the world. Concepts and categories represent types of schemas, and together they help us build a mental framework of our world. Thinking and Consciousness- Thinking seems to be the internal language of the mind and includes several mental activities. One mode of thought takes the form of verbal statements that we make in our minds. This is called propositional thought because it expresses a proposition or statement. Another mode, imaginal thought, consists of images that we can see, hear, or feel in our mind. A third mode, motoric thought, is related to mental representations of motor movements, such as throwing an object. The conscious mind is our awareness at the present moment. The subconscious mind consists of accessible information. We become aware of this information once we direct our attention to it. Think of this as memory recall. The unconscious mind consists of primitive, instinctual wishes, as well as inaccessible information. Although our behaviors might indicate the unconscious forces that drive them, we don’t have easy access to the information stored in the unconscious mind. During our childhood, we acquired countless memories and experiences that formed who we are today. However, we cannot recall most of those memories. They are unconscious forces (beliefs, patterns, subjective maps of reality) that drive our behaviors.

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