Cognition and Mental Abilities
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Outline
Definition of Cognition
Concepts as Basic Units of Thinking
Problem Solving
Critical and Creative Thinking
Language and Cognition
Definition of Cognition
Cognition can be defined as the intellectual process (such as
perception, memory, thinking, and language) through which
information is obtained, transformed, stored, retrieved, and used.
Thinking
Concepts Mental categories used to group objects, events and
characteristics
Prototype model Instances of a concepts are understood/stored
as a variation of a prototype (ideal example) of the concept
Concepts as Basic Unit of Thinking
Concepts
It involves categories that are linked together by a common
feature or features in spite of their differences. Without concepts,
we would be able to think only in terms of specific things and acts.
Concepts allow us to process information in more general,
efficient ways. In this way, concepts become the basic unit of
logical thinking.
Types of Concepts
Conjunctive Concepts.
These are concepts defined by the simultaneous presence of two
or more common characteristics (e.g. the concept of aunt as a
female and sibling of one of your parents)
Disjunctive Concepts.
These are concepts defined by the presence of one of two
common characteristics or both (e.g. the concept of schizophrenic
as defined by the presence of either or two characteristics or
both).
Natural Concepts.
Natural concepts are basic. A basic concept is one that has a
medium degree of inclusiveness. Inclusiveness simply refers to the
number of members included in the concept.
Three Levels of Inclusiveness
Superordinate concepts are very inclusive. They contain many
members. For example, vehicles is a superordinate concept that
contains all of the many cars, boats, planes, wagons, and so on.
Basic concepts are of medium degree of inclusiveness.
example of a basic concept because it is less inclusive than the
superordinate concept vehicles; yet this category still includes
many members.
Subordinate concepts are the least inclusive level of concepts.
For example, the subordinate concept sports car includes far
fewer members than the basic concept cars or the superordinate
concept vehicles.
Problem Solving
This is a mental process of finding an appropriate way to attain a
goal when the goal is not readily available.
Steps in Problem Solving
Find and frame the problems.
This involves asking questions in creative ways and seeing what
others do not. The ability to recognize and frame a problem is
difficult to learn. It involves being aware of and open to
experiences.
Develop Good Problem-Solving Strategies.
Among the effective strategies are subgoals, algorithms, and
heuristics.
Subgoaling
Involves setting intermediate goals or defining intermediate
problems that put us in a better position for reaching the final
goal or solution.
Algorithms
Are strategies that guarantee a solution to a problem? It comes in
different forms such as formulas, instructions, and the testing of
all possible solutions
Evaluate Solutions
This involves a clear criterion for the effectiveness of the solution.
Rethink and Redefine Problems and Solutions over Time
Good problem Solvers tend to be more motivated than the
average person to improve on their past performances and to
make contributions.
Reasoning and Decision Making
Reasoning and Decision Making-Thinking includes the higher-
order mental processes of reasoning and decision making.
Reasoning Is the mental ability of transforming information to
reach conclusions. Reasoning could either be inductive or
deductive.
Inductive Reasoning Involves reasoning for specific observations
to make generalization
Deductive Reasoning Starts from a general case that we know to
be true to a specific instance
Decision making
Decision making-Is the mental activity of evaluating alternatives
and choosing among them. Making decision means weighing
information and coming to some conclusions that we feel
maximize our outcome.
Decision - Making Problems
DECISION - DESCRIPTION
MAKING PROBLEM
Confirmation Bias Tendency to search for and use information
that supports rather than refutes ones
ideas.
Base Rate Fallacy Tendency to ignore information about
general principle in favor of very specific
but vivid information
Hindsight Bias Tendency to report falsely, after the fact,
that one accurately predicted an outcome.
Representative Tendency to report falsely, after the fact,
Heuristic that one accurately predicted an outcome.
Availability Prediction about probability of an event
Heuristic based on the ease of recalling or imagining
similar events.
Critical and Creative Thinking
In this section we will examine two skills associated with superior
problem solving: critical thinking and creativity.
Critical and Creative Thinking
Critical Thinking Means thinking reflectively and productively ad
evaluating the evidence. The cultivation of two mental habits is
essential to critical thinking: mindfulness and open-mindedness.
Mindfulness Means being alert and mentally present for ones
everyday activities. The mindful person maintains active
awareness of the circumstances of his or her life.
Open-mindedness Is the state of being receptive to other ways of
looking at things.
Creative Thinking -Refers to the ability to think about something
in novel and unusual ways and to devise unconventional
solutions to problems.
Divergent thinking- Produces many solutions to the same
problem
Convergent thinking -Produces the single best solution to a
problem.
Intelligence
Intelligence refers to the all-purpose ability to do well on cognitive
tasks, to solve problems, and to learn for experience.
Intelligence
Measuring Intelligence-Psychologists measure intelligence using
test that produce a score known as intelligence quotient (IQ). To
understand how IQ is derived we should first examine the criteria
for good intelligence test:
Validity, reliability, and standardization.
Validity refers to the extent to which a test measures what it is
intended to measure.
Reliability refers to the extent to which a test yields a consistent,
reproducible measure of performance.
Standardization is the development of uniform procedures for
administering and scoring a test and the creation of norms
(performance standards) for the test.
Intelligence Quotient
Alfred Binet
Developed the concept of mental age (MA), which is an
individuals level of mental development relative to that of others.
He reasoned out that a child of very low mental ability would
perform like normal child or a younger age. To think about a
persons level of intelligence, then, we might compare the
persons mental age (MA) to his or her chronological age (CA) or
age from birth. A very bright child has an MA considerably above
CA; a less bright child has an MA considerably below CA.
Intelligence Quotient
William Stern,
German psychologist, devised the term intelligence quotient (IQ)
in 1912. IQ consists of individuals mental age divided by
chronological age multiplied by 100.
IQ = (MA/CA) x 100
3.Extremes of Intelligence
Giftedness.
People who are gifted have high intelligence (an IQ of 130 or
higher) and/or superior talent in a particular area. Like
intelligence, giftedness is likely a product of both heredity and
environment.
Intellectual Disability.
This is a condition of limited mental ability in which an individual
has a low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional intelligence test,
and has difficulty adapting to everyday life.
Theories of Intelligence Language is a tool for representing ideas

Sternbergs Triarchic Theory. Language is a key feature of culture, and one of the ways the
psychologists study the link between language and cognition is by
Robert Sternberg developed this theory and said that intelligence comparing cognitive reasoning across differing culture.
comes in three forms
Neuroscience research has shown that the brain consists
Analytical Intelligence-The ability to analyse, judge, evaluate, particular regions that are predisposed to language use
compare, and contrast.
Language and Cognition
Creative Intelligence-The ability to create, design, invent,
originate, and imagine. According to Chomsky, and many other language experts,

Practical Intelligence-The ability to use, apply, implement, and
put ideas into practice.
Theories of Intelligence
Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligences.
Gardner suggests nine type of intelligence or frames of mind.
According to him, everyone has all of these intelligences to
varying degrees.
Verbal The ability to think in words and use language to express
meaning (e.g. author, journalist, speaker)
Mathematical The ability to carry out mathematical operations
(e.g. scientist, engineer, accountant)
The strongest evidence for languages biological basis is the fact
that children all over the world reach language milestones at
about the same time and in about the same order, despite vast
variations in the language input they receive from their
environments
THE END
References:
Lahey, B. (2012). Psychology: An Introduction. (11 thEd.) NY:
McGraw Hill.
Pastorino, E. & Doyle-Portillo, S. (2013). What is Psychology?
Essentials. (2ndEd.) Canada: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Spatial The ability to think three-dimensionally (e.g. architect,

artist, sailor)

Theories of Intelligence

Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligences.

Musical.-The ability to be sensitive to pitch, melody, rhythm, and

tone. (E.g. composer, musician)

Interpersonal-The ability to understand and interact effectively

with others. (E.g. teacher, mental health professionals)

Intrapersonal-The ability to understand oneself. (e.g. theologian,

psychologist)

Naturalist-The ability to observe patterns in nature and

understand natural and human-made systems (e.g. farmer,
botanist, ecologist, landscaper)

Existentialist-The ability to grapple with the big questions of

human existence, such as meaning of life and death, with special
sensitivity to issues of spirituality.

Language and Cognition

Language-Is a form of communication whether spoken or written,

or signed that is based on a system of symbols the connection
between language and thought has been of considerable interest
to psychologists. The following are some of the recent research
findings on language and cognition:

Language-Helps us think, make inferences, tackle difficult

decisions and solve problems