Cognition

Thinking, Intelligence and Language.

Cognitions and Cognitive Psychology
● Cognitions are the mental processes.
● Cognitive Psychology branch of psychology explores a wide variety of mental
processes including how people think, use language, attend to information, and
perceive their environments.
What is Thinking?
Thinking is the mental activity that goes on in the brain when a person is
organising information, attempting to understand information and
communicating information to others.

What is mental Imagery?

Mental imagery or mental images are the mental representations that represent
objects or events and have a picture-like quality.
Concepts and Prototypes
Concepts:
Concepts are ideas that represent a class or category of objects, events or activities. Eg
The concept of the word ‘Fruit’ would give you an idea that it is sweet, it is natural and
round.
The ability to think in terms of concepts allows us to communicate with each-other.
Prototype
A prototypes is an example of a concept that closely matches the defining
characteristics of the concept.
E.g: The prototype for the concept of ‘fruit’ would be apple (To many people). If someone
asks you to give an example of fruit, you would immediately say apple.
Difference between Concepts and Prototypes

A concept is a class of objects that all share some common

characteristic. Music is an example of a concept, with many symbols
used to describe it. The specific picture that a symbol brings to mind is
called a prototype.
Problem Solving and Decision Making Strategies
Problem solving
It is a process of cognition that occurs when a goal must be reached by thinking and
behaving in certain ways
Decision making
Process of cognition that involves identifying, evaluating and choosing among several
alternatives.
Trial and error (mechanical solution)
Problem solving method in which one possible solution after another is tried until a
successful one is found.
Problem Solving and Decision Making Strategies
Algorithms and heuristics are different approaches to solving problems. Algorithms are
comprehensive step-by-step procedures. They are exhaustive and guarantee the correct
solution, but may be time-consuming and require a lot of mental effort.

Algorithms

Are very specific, step by step procedures for solving certain types of problems.
Algorithms will always result in a correct solution if there is a correct solution to be found
and you have enough time to find it

E.g when librarians organize books on bookshelves using algorithms (placing according to
alphabetical order).

Another example of an algorithm is a recipe, which consists of specific instructions for

preparing a dish or meal.
Problem Solving and Decision Making Strategies
Heuristics
● Also known as “rule if thumb”. A Heuristic is an educated guess based on prior experience that
helps narrow down the possible solutions for a problem.
● Heuristics are the strategies derived from previous experiences with similar problems.
● A heuristic is a mental shortcut that helps us make decisions and judgments quickly without
having to spend a lot of time researching and analyzing information
● Heuristic is faster than using an algorithm but heuristic will not always lead to the correct
solution.

For example, when walking down the street, you see a piano tied to a rope above the sidewalk. Without a break in
stride, you would likely choose to walk around that area instead of directly underneath the piano. Your intuition
would tell you that walking under the piano could be dangerous, so you make a snap judgment to walk around the
danger zone. You would probably not stop and assess the entire situation or calculate the probability of the piano
falling on you or your chances of survival if that happened. You would use a heuristic to make the decision quickly
and without using much mental effort.

● Most of the time, heuristics are extremely helpful, but they can lead to errors in judgment.
Problem Solving and Decision Making Strategies
Insight

When a solution to a problem suddenly comes to mind, it is called insight.

Issues with Problem Solving and
Decision Making
Issues with Problem Solving and Decision Making
Functional fixedness
Functional fixedness is the inability to realize that something known to have a
particular use may also be used to perform other functions. When one is faced with a
new problem, functional fixedness blocks one’s ability to use old tools in novel ways.
Mental set
The tendency for people to persist in using problem solving patterns that have worked
for them in the past
Confirmation bias
The tendency to search for evidence that fits one’s beliefs while ignoring any evidence
that does not fit those beliefs.
Creativity
Creativity
What is Creativity?
Creativity is the process of solving problems by combining ideas or behaviour in
new ways.
There are 2 ways of thinking.
Convergent Thinking
Divergent Thinking
https://youtu.be/
cmBf1fBRXms
Convergent thinking
A type of thinking in which a problem is seen as having only one answer. So in this
process, you think of multiple ideas and direct those ideas to a single answer. Then
use that answer to solve the issue.
Convergent thinking works well for routine problem solving but may be little use
when a more creative solution is needed.
Divergent thinking
It is the opposite of convergent thinking. It is a type of thinking in which person starts
from one point and comes up with many different ideas or possibilities based on that
point.
How to do effective divergent thinking?

· Brainstorming.

· Keeping a journal.

· Freewriting.

. Mind Mapping
Who are creative people? How do they use their
Cognition?
Creative people are normal human beings, they use their mind and prioritize things
differently. According to Csikszentmihalyi (1997):
1) Creative people usually have a broad range of knowledge about a lot of subjects and
are good at using mental imagery.
2) Creative people aren’t afraid to be different. They are more open to new
experiences than many people. They tend to have more vivid dreams and day dreams
than others do.
3) Creative people value their independence.
4) Creative people are often unconventional in their work.
Intelligence
Intelligence
What is Intelligence?

The ability to learn from one’s experiences, acquire knowledge, and use resources
effectively in adapting to new situations or solving problems.

Theories of intelligence

1. Spearman’s theory of intelligence.

2. Sternberg triarchic theory.
3. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory.
Spearman’s Theory of Intelligence
● According to Charles Spearman (1904) intelligence is divided into 2
different abilities. G factor and S factor.
1) G factor
G Fact Is the ability to reason and solve general problems.
2) S factor
S Factor includes task specific abilities in certain areas such as music,
business, or art etc.
Sternberg triarchic theory

Robert Sternberg stated that there are 3 kinds of intelligence.

1. Analytical intelligence: İs the ability to break problems down into
component parts, do analysis to solve a matter.
2. Creative intelligence: is the ability to deal with new and different
concepts and to come up with new ways to solving problems.
3. Practical intelligence: is the ability to use information practically to
get along in life and become successful.
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory
Crystalized and Fluid Intelligence
Cognition: Language
Language is a communication system that involves using words and
systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one
individual to another. While language is a form of communication, not all
communication is language.
Grammar
The system of rules governing The structure and use of language. Grammer
Includes phonemes, morphemes, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.
Phonemes are the basic units of sounds in language. The a in the word car is very
different phoneme from the a in the word day, even though it is the same letter of
the alphabet. The difference is in how we say the sound of the a in each word.
Phonemes for different language also different.
Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning within a language. For example,
the word playing consists of two morphemes, play and ing.
Syntax is the system of rules for combining words and phrases to form
grammatically correct sentences.
Syntax is quite important, just a simple mix-up can cause sentences to be
completely misunderstood.
For example: “John kidnapped the boy” had a different meaning from “john, the
kidnapped boy”, although all four words are the same.
Semantics are rules for determining the meaning of words and sentences. The
sentence can have the same semantic meaning while having different syntax, for
example: “John ate the cake” and “the cake was eaten by John.”
Pragmatics: the pragmatics of language involves the practical aspects of
communicating with others, or the social “niceties” of language.
İn simple words, pragmatics involve knowing things like how to take turns in a
conversation, the use of gestures to emphasize a point and the different ways in
which one speaks to different people. For example: adults speak to small children
differently than they do to other adults. By using simpler words and different pitch
of the sound.
Stages of Language
Development
Stages of Language Development
Stages of language development
1) Cooing: at around 2 months of age, the babies begin to make vowel-like sounds.
2) Babbling: at about 6 months, infants add consonant sounds to the vowels to make
the babbling sound, which sometimes can almost sounds like a real speech.
3) One word speech: before almost turning 1, most children begin to day actual
words. These words are typically nouns and may seem to represent an entire phrase of
meaning. They are called holophrases (whole phrases in one word). For example: a
child might say “milk” and mean “i want milk” or “ I drank my milk”.
4) Telegraphic speech: At around a year and a half, toddlers begin to put words
together to form short, simple sentences using nouns, verbs and adjectives. “baby eat”,
“mommy go,” or “doggie go bye bye”.
5) Whole sentences: as children move to through the preschool years, they learn to
use grammatical terms and increase the number of words in their sentences. By the
age of 6, they are nearly as fluent as an adult. Although the number of words they
know is still limited compared to adult vocabulary.