Exam 7: Section 3: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

Howard Gardner is a contemporary American psychologist whose theory of intelligence states that there is not a single type of intelligence but instead multiple intelligences, with each type of intelligence determined by cultural values.

The more closely an item matches our prototype of a natural concept, the more quickly we can classify it as an example of that concept.

The hallmarks of autism spectrum disorder, according to the In Focus box on neurodiversity, are problems with communication and social interactions with others.

In Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence, analytic intelligence refers to the mental processes used in learning how to solve problems.

When a test was described as measuring "problem-solving skills," African American students did just as well as white students. But when told that the same test measured "intellectual ability," African American students scored lower than white students. This is an example of stereotype lift.

According to Louis Thurstone, primary mental abilities are relatively independent elements of intelligence and include verbal comprehension, numerical ability, reasoning, and perceptual speed.

Psychologists generally agree that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to intelligence.

Breaking a problem into subgoals and working backward from the goal are both useful heuristics that can help people solve complex problems.

Generally, a test is considered reliable if it produces a normal distribution of scores and measures what it is intended to measure.

A mental image is a term that is used to refer to a visual "picture."

Stereotype threat refers to the phenomenon that occurs when members of a group are aware of a negative stereotype about the group and fear that they will be judged in terms of that stereotype.

Alfred Binet developed a series of tests measuring different mental abilities in order to identify schoolchildren who could benefit from special help.

As discussed in the chapter prologue, Tom has been diagnosed with a mild form of autism spectrum disorder. According to the In Focus box on neurodiversity, Tom is likely to show normal, even advanced language development, to have narrow interests and inflexible behavior, and by definition, have an IQ in the normal-to-above-average level.

Trial and error is a problem-solving strategy that involves attempting different solutions and eliminating those that do not work.

Research by Lewis Terman confirmed that the most successful and creative people are likely to have high IQ scores, but they were also more likely to be divorced, physically unhealthy, and addicted to alcohol or prescription drugs.

The representativeness heuristic occurs when a rare event makes a vivid impression on people, and they overestimate the likelihood of the event occurring again.

A new approach to autistic spectrum disorders called neurodiversity involves the recognition that people with autistic spectrum symptoms process information, communicate, and experience their social and physical environments differently than neurotypical people who do not have characteristics of autism.

It is now known that environmental factors influence or regulate the activation of many of the genes that we inherited from our biological parents.

The intelligence quotient (IQ) is a measure that was originally developed by the U.S. military, derived by taking a person's score on the Army Alpha test and dividing it by the person's score on the Army Beta test.

According to Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, one of the distinct intelligences is the ability to understand other people's emotions, motives, and intentions.