Unit 5: Cognition

(Thinking and Intelligence)

• Thinking: Definition and nature, component of
thought (mental images, concepts, prototypes)
and reasoning
• Thought and the brain; Problem solving and
Decision Making; creativity
• Intelligence: Nature, Types and Determinants of
Intelligence
• Intelligence tests and concepts of IQ; Individual
differences in Intelligence
 Thinking: Definition and nature
• Thinking is mental exploration
• Thinking is mental (cognitive) rearrangement of
both information from environment and of
symbols stored in LTM.
• Thinking helps us encode, process, store, retrieve
and analyze information.
• Thinking is directed to achieve some purpose.
• Thinking is related to problem-solving behaviour.
 What is thinking?

Thinking is a mental (cognitive)

rearrangement or manipulation of both
information from the environment and
of symbols stored in long-term memory.
 Nature of thinking
• Thinking is a cognitive activity.
• It is directed to achieve some purpose or end,
and hence day dreaming and imagination are not
considered genuine thinking.
• It related to problem-solving behaviour.
• Thinking involves mental exploration, not motor
explanation.
• Thinking is a symbolic activity since it involves a
mental solution of the problem which is carried
out through some signs, symbols, and mental
images.
 Types of thinking
Perceptual or Concrete Thinking
Conceptual or Abstract Thinking
Thinking Reflective Thinking (Logic)
Creative Thinking
Associative or Non-directed Thinking
 .

Thinking

Associative Thinking Directed Thinking

 Day dreaming Critical Thinking
 Autistic thinking Creative Thinking
 Night dreaming Problem-solving Thinking
 Free association Logical Thinking
 Control association Conceptual Thinking
 Delusions
a. Perceptual Thinking: simplest form of thinking
which is based on the perception of actual or
concrete objects or events.
b. Conceptual Thinking: It is based on the concepts
or the generalized ideas and language.
c. Reflective Thinking: It aims to solve complex
problems rather than simple problems. It
requires re-organization of all the relevant
experiences and finding new ways to react a
situation. Taking logic into account, it involves an
insightful cognitive technique in order to reach
the solution of a problem.
 .

d. Creative Thinking: It aims at creating new thing

without involving any pre-established rules. The
thinking of scientists or inventors is an example of
creative thinking.
e. Associative/Non-directed Thinking: It refers to a
unique type of thinking which is without goals. It
is reflected through day dreaming, dreaming,
fantasy, delusions, etc. It suggest one idea is
interlinked with another idea automatically.
 Convergent and Divergent Thinking
Convergent thinking
 Logical, factual, conventional, and focused on a
problem in order to find its solution.
 Most formal education system focuses on the
teaching and assessment of convergent thinking.
 When a student is asked to name the capital city of
China, she will use convergent thinking skills to
answer this question.
 The thinking in which the thinker gathers information
relevant to a problem and then proceeds by
reasoning to arrive at the one best solution.
 .

Divergent thinking
 Ability to generate multiple possibilities in a given
situation.
 It takes our thinking in different directions in
search of multiple answers to a question.
 It is a creative thinking which yields noble ideas
and solutions.
 For example, in tests of creativity, producing more
possible answers rather than a single correct one
is divergent thinking.
 Components of Thinking

a. Mental images
b. Concepts
c. Prototypes (best examples)
 a. Mental Images
• Mental pictures of our past experiences.
• Visualizations of things in their absence.
• Images can be auditory, olfactory (of smell), visual,
gustatory (of taste), Cutaneous (of touch, pressure,
temperature and pain) and kinesthetic (of body
movements/positions).
• Mental images are mostly used in sports and music.
• Mental practices can activate brain structures
enabling them for better performance.
• However, abstract thinking does not involve images,
rather concepts.
 b. Concepts
• Mental representations of a class of objects,
people, events, things that share common
characteristics, eg. Animals, furniture, man, etc.
• Images refer to individual objects while concepts
refer to class things.
• Red, green, yellow, blue are the concepts of colour.
• The word ‘mother’ is concept but my mother isn’t.
• Concepts help to reduce our mental efforts and
make communication easier. They differ from one
culture to another.
• Concepts organize complex phenomena into
.

simpler, easily understandable and usable

categories and help to solve our problems
• Concepts can be formed by definition or prototypes
(best examples).
• Concepts make learning easier and less time
consuming.
• Concept is developed through reasoning. Along
with maturity, a person develops higher and more
complex concepts. For example, if one thinks about
the concept of mango, he may go to different
variety of mangoes.
 c. Prototypes
• Prototype is a typical category or objects, events
or persons.
• one of the ways to form concept is through
prototypes, i. e. through best examples.
• If a certain thing matches with our prototype, we
easily recognize it as a concept.
• For example, an apple, and an orange, best match
as a prototype of a fruit than a tomato, a carrot or
a lemon. Similarly, when we are asked to think
about a bird, we would probably think of a
sparrow or a pigeon, not a chicken or an ostrich.
 Reasoning
• Drawing conclusions from the information available
to us in order to reach specific conclusions.
• Reasoning and thinking are synonymously used to
refer logical sequence of thought.
• The individual uses past experiences and the
present knowledge to draw conclusion of a
problem.
• Reasoning may involve imagination, concepts,
instructions or principles and languages.
Everyday Reasoning Formal Reasoning
It involves thinking that It is also called syllogistic reasoning in
we come across in day to which the problem is solved through a
day tasks. set of assumptions called premises.
It generally involves Correct premises led to correct
simple and common reasoning.
activities to daily affairs. The individual may use literature, his
For example, evaluation of past experiences, observation,
reports, meeting people to verification etc while handling matters.
solve family or social For example,
problems, planning etc. All human beings are mortal. (Premises)
Rama is a human being. (Premises)
The individual needs Therefore, Rama is mortal. (Conclusion)
effectiveness, seriousness, However, all premises can not be correct:
and careful attention People who love roses are kind. (Premises)
while handling such A girl trafficker loves roses. (Premises)
matters. Therefore, he is kind. (Conclusion)
 Problem Solving Thinking
• Process of transforming one situation into
another to meet a goal.
• Goal-oriented thinking and motivated by the
need.
• Use of LTM and observation in solving problems.
• Use of the experience of solving a problem in the
past to solve the present problem.
• If the problem is new, various strategies can be
used to deal with it.
 .

• What is problem solving?

Problem solving is a deliberate and serious act
which involves the use of some noble
methods, higher thinking and systematic
scientific steps for the realization of the set
goals.

Decision making is a kind of problem thinking

in which we are presented with several
alternatives among which we most choose.
Scientific Methods/Steps of Problem Solving

• Identification of Problem
• Problem Understanding
• Hypothesis Formation
• Collection of Relevant Information (Data
Collection)
• Selection of Proper Solution
• Verification of Hypothesis
• Drawing Conclusion and Making Decision
 Creative Thinking
• The emphasis in creative thinking is on the word new.
• The creative thinker gathers information relevant to
the problem and then proceeds, by using problem-
solving rules to rules out the right solution.
• When thinking creatively, people tend to think in a
divergent manner, thus having many varied thoughts
about a problem.
• Divergent thinking includes autistic thinking and
convergent thinking.
• The thinker may use convergent thinking to gather
information and thoughts as building materials for the
ultimate creative solution.
 .

In creative thinking, something new is sought.

Some new ideas seem to come suddenly after
little progress has been made over a long period
of time; this sudden appearance of new ideas is
called insight. Insights are sometimes triggered
by lucky, or fortuitous, environmental
circumstances which, after creative thinkers have
immersed themselves in a problem, direct their
thoughts in a new direction.
 .

Creative thinking is said to proceed in five stages:

a. Preparation (the thinker formulates the problem

and collects the facts and materials considered
necessary for the new solution)
b. Incubation (the unconscious thoughts processes
(past experiences too) involved creative thinking
are also at work during this period)
c. Illumination (in this stage, an idea (aha!)
suddenly comes into consciousness in this stage)
 .

d. Evaluation (the apparent solution is tested to

see if it satisfactorily solves the problem; if the
insight turns out to be unsatisfactory, the thinker
is back at the beginning of the creative process)
e. Revision (if any modification is needed to the
satisfactory solution, it is done and the thinker
comes with a ‘good’ new idea)
Divergent thinking, characterized by wide range
of thoughts on a topic and by some autistic
thinking, is considered conducive or creativity.
Meaning and nature of intelligence
• Overall capacity for learning and problem-solving.
• Ability to learn about, learn from, understand and
interact with one’s environment.
• Ability to learn from experiences
• Ability to adapt effectively with new environment or
changes in the current environment.
• Ability to reason, understand complex ideas, and to
think abstractly.
• Capacity to evaluate and judge.
• Total sum of cognition which refers to the
individual’s overall capacity.
 .

Intelligence may be regarded as a sort of mental

energy (in the form of mental or cognitive abilities)
available with an individual to handle his
environment in terms of adaptation and facing new
situations as effectively as possible.
In other words, intelligence is the conceptual creation
of memory, sensorial perception, and logic
functioning in harmony.
• Intelligence has been defined in different ways,
including the abilities for abstract thoughts,
understanding communication, reasoning, learning
and problem solving
 Intelligence
• The ability to learn from one’s experiences,
acquire knowledge, and use resources
effectively in adapting to new situations or
solving problem.
 Spearman’s Theory of Intelligence

• The first and still most popular form of

intelligence is called the Two-Factor Theory which
deals with general (g) and specific (s) factors of
intelligence.
• According to Charles Spearman, every different
intellectual activity involves a general intelligence
or general factor ‘g’ which is shared with all
intellectual activities and a specific intelligence or
specific factor ‘s’ which it shares with none.
 .

General intelligence refers to general capacity

running through all different tasks, but in
addition to this general factor, there are
specific abilities (specific intelligence) which
make an individual able to deal with particular
kinds of problems.
E.g. an individual’s performance in English is partly
.

due to her general intelligence and partly to some

kind of specific ability in language which she might
possess i.e. g +s1
or in Mathematics her performance will be due to
g+s2;
In Science, it will be due to g+s3, and so on.
The factor ‘g’ (in lesser or greater degree) will be
used in all specific abilities. The total ability or
intelligence of such an individual will be expressed
by:
A=g+s1+s2+s3+……..
 Group Factor Theory
• Some psychologists argue that intelligence is
not a single general factor as theorized by
Spearman but a collection of many separate
specific abilities.
• L.L. Thurston theorized that intelligence can be
broken down into a number of primary
abilities.
 Group Factor Theory

Ability Description
Verbal comprehension Ability to understand meaning of word
Word Fluency Ability to understand word rapidly
Number Ability to work with numbers and perform
Space Ability to visualize space-form relationships
Memory Ability to recall verbal stimuli such as word pairs or
sentences.
Perceptual Speed Ability to grasp visual details quickly and to see similarities
and difference between pictured objects.
Reasoning Ability to find general rules on the basis of presented
instances.
 Measurement of Intelligence
• Binet-Simon Intelligence Test
• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test and the
concept of IQ
• Wechsler Intelligence scales
 1.Binet-Simon Intelligence Test
• Alfred Binet and Theophile Simon developed
first scale in 1905 which was known as Binet-
Simon Scale. This scale is father of the
contemporary intelligence test.
• The test contains 30 items ranging from
simple to complex to capture the ability of
children of different ages.
 Binet-Simon Intelligence Test
• Binet and simon deveopled different questions
for the children of different ages.
• E.g. while making original test for six years
olds children, they made items that could be
passed by about 2/3 of the six year old
children, which as regarded as a six year old
test.
 Binet-Simon Intelligence Test
• When the same question was given to seven
and a year old children, it was passed by more
than 2/3 of the children of seven year old and
less than 2/3 of the children who were
younger than six.
 Binet-Simon Intelligence Test
• The scale testing allowed Binet and Simon to
establish a scale comprehending test at every
age level and result also suggested the idea of
‘Mental age’.
• Mental age is the average age at which children
achieve a particular score.
• E.g. A child with chronological (actual) age of 5
who can answer the questions of 8 year old has
a mental age of eight.
 Binet-Simon Intelligence Test
• For the average, child mental age and chronological age is same.
• Another child with a mental age of 8 may be eleven years old in
which he is retarded three years. Mentally retarded children is
slow in cognitive development.
• On Binet and Simon’s scale, brightness and dullness can be
expressed in the form of number of year’s advancement or
retardation. This scale developed the idea of intelligence
Quotient (IQ).
• Binet and Simon developed the scope of their revised edition
grouped items by age with six items at each level from 3 to 13
years of age.
2.Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test and IQ

• This test was applicable to children of 2 to 16

year of age.
• The current version of this test is stanford –
Binet – V Intelligence Test.
 Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test and IQ

• German psychologist William Stern devised an

index of intelligence by dividing a child’s
mental age (MA) by his chronological age(CA).
• Terman adopted this idea in Stanford-Binet
test and added one more feature.
• He multiplied the index by 100 to avoid
decimals. The formula derives
IQ=MA/CA*100
 Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test and IQ

• E.g. An 8 year old child with Mental Age of 8

would have an IQ=(8/8*100)=100.
• If the same child has a Mental Age of 5,
IQ=(5/88100)=63
• If the MA is 12, IQ=(12/8*100)=150
 Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test and IQ

• An IQ above 100 showed that the individual

was more intelligent than the students of
same age.
• In contrast, IQ below 100 indicated that the
individual was less intelligent than his peers.
 3.Wechsler Intelligent Scales
• The intelligence test developed by Binet
encountered problem and proved to be
ineffective test for different age groups.
• David Wechsler, a chief psychologist at
Bellevue Hospital, New York developed a
family of tests for people of various age group.
 Wechsler Intelligent Scales
The Test consisits of:
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III for ages
16 to 74
• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children III for
ages 6 to 16
• Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of
Intelligence – Revised for children age 4 to
6&half.
Individual Difference in Intelligence
• Extremes of intelligence can be broadly
divided into 2 major groups:
• Mental Retardation
• Mentally Superior
Individual Difference in Intelligence
Mental Retardation:
• People are diagnosed as mentally retarded if
they exhibit significant deficits in everyday
adoptive behavior such as self care, social
skills, communication.
• These people have difficulty in listening,
speaking, reading, writing, reasoning,
calculating and sensory disabilities.
Individual Difference in Intelligence
Mental Retardation:
• When a frequency distribution of IQ score in a
normal bell shaped curve is below 70, the
person is regarded mentally retarded
 Mentally Retarded Children
• Children having IQ below 70.
• Majority of mentally retarded children have IQ
between 50 and 70 (Educable).
• Their intellectual level as adults may be
comparable to that of the average 8-10 year-old
children.
• IQ between 30 and 50 are trainable. Their
intellectual level may be comparable to that of
the average 4-7-year-old child.
• IQ below 30 are severely handicapped and totally
dependent upon others for care.
 .

• Mentally retarded people face problems in

everyday adoptive behaviour, such as self care,
social skills, or communication.
• They have difficulty in listening, speaking,
reading, writing, reasoning, calculating and
sensory abilities.
 Mentally Gifted Children
• Superior and intellectually blessed children.
• Acc. to Wechsler, children having IQ between 130 and
200 are mentally gifted.
• Their birth weights are above normal.
• Taller than other children of the same age in the
elementary school.
• Talk early, walk early, and are very much creative.
• They read an unusually large number and variety of
books.
• Leta Hollingsworth found children with IQ above 180
were poorly adjusted, and some were even suicidal.
 According to Wechsler’s Intelligence,
IQ Description
130+ Very superior
120-129 Superior
110-119 Bright normal
85-109 Average
70-84 Borderline
55-69 Mildly mentally retarded
40-54 Moderately mentally retarded
25-39 Severely Mentally retarded
Below 25 Profoundly mentally retarded
 Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence is the idea developed
by Nancy Cantor and John which measures
how well an individual handles social
situations.
EQ measures ability to understand , perceive,
express and regulate emotions.
 Emotional Intelligence
EI includes following qualities:
• Self awareness (knowing your own emotions)
• Self management (managing our own
emotions)
• Self motivation (motivating ourselves)
• Empathy
• Social skills (handling relationships)
 Intelligent Quotient (IQ)
IQ refers to the score expressing mental
development in terms of the age level at which a
child is performing. The score is obtained on an
intelligence test. Classically, the ration IQ is a
score obtained by dividing Chronological Age (CA)
into Mental Age (MA) and multiplying by 100,
where the decimal point is omitted so that the
average IQ for children of anyone chronological
age is set at 100.
 .

Here MA refers to a type of score expressing

mental development in terms of the age level at
which a child is performing. For example, if a child
of 6 years does as well an intelligence test as the
average child of 10, her mental age is 10. On the
other hand, Chronological age is the age from
birth. It is the actual age of a person in months
and years, i.e. 6 years. Her IQ can be calculated
as….
• IQ= MA/CA*100
• IQ= 166
• After age six most people’s IQs remain
relatively stable, although some
individuals may show large shifts in IQ as
the result of favourable or unfavourable
environmental conditions. Mental ability
is likely to increase up to age twenty-six,
level off for the next 10 years or so, and
then decline after the age 40. The rate of
decline, however, depends upon the
individual’s health and occupation as well
as the specific abilities tested.
 .

Studies show that heredity, environmental

factors as nutrition, intellectual stimulation,
and the emotional climate of the home are
important determinants of an individual’s
IQ.
 Intelligence or IQ?

• IQ is not synonymous with the term intelligence. IQ is

a mathematically derived sum of numbers while it
may be true that higher intelligence may usually score
higher on IQ tests, the IQ score itself is not a valid
indication of intelligence.
• IQ is a man-made invention. Intelligence existed
before IQ tests were invented. IQ is just a man-made
mathematical measurement of an individual’s mental
processing speed and never can the measurement
become the thing measured. However, ideally, an
individual’s ability to honestly score well on an IQ test
would indicate that the individual has a high
intellectual potential.