Unit 4/5 Review

OVERVIEW
Module 26- How We Learn and Classical Conditioning
Module 27- Operant Conditioning
Module 28- Operant Conditioning’s Applications, and Comparison to Classical
Conditioning
Module 29- Biology, Cognition, and Learning
Module 30- Observational Learning
Module 31- Studying and Encoding Memories
Module 32- Storing and Retrieving Memories
Module 33- Forgetting, Memory Construction, and Improving Memory
Module 34- Thinking, Concepts, and Creativity
Module 35- Solving Problems and Making Devisions
Module 36- Thinking and Language
Module 37- Introduction to Intelligence
Module 38- Assessing Intelligence
Module 39- The Dynamics of Intelligence
Module 40- Studying Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Module 41- Group Differences and the Question of Bias

Study Resources

Crash Course

https://youtu.be/qG2SwE_6uVM?si=SVgkxXQOlm8TGAaY

https://youtu.be/128Ts5r9NRE?si=mHzdOKeSKeCLxI42

https://youtu.be/bSycdIx-C48?si=maT3Iz9RjcNMzNWd

Unit 4/5 Review 1

 https://youtu.be/HVWbrNls-Kw?si=FwMIAOhGC2LwolpB

https://youtu.be/R-sVnmmw6WY?si=KoP_v8G9jTIDt4il

https://youtu.be/s9shPouRWCs?si=10sPtqAdEV29qbTi

https://youtu.be/9xTz3QjcloI?si=b50BEoiallN-RYlI

https://youtu.be/75g4d5sF3xI?si=NNOFbqoAvftb9zWI

📖 UNIT 4: LEARNING

Module 26- How We Learn and Classical

Conditioning
learning: the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively
enduring information or behaviors.

habituation: decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus.

associative learning: learning that certain events occur together.

Unit 4/5 Review 2

 classical conditioning: the events may be two stimuli.

operant conditioning: the events may be a response and its consequence.

stimulus: any event or situation that evokes a response.

respondent behavior: behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some

stimulus.

operant behavior: behavior that operates on the environment, producing

consequences.

cognitive learning: the acquisition of mental information, whether by

observing events, by watching others, or through language.

Ivan Pavlov

spent two decades studying dogs’ digestive system and earned the Nobel
Prize.

his experiments on learning produced the phenomenon we call classical

conditioning.

laid the foundation for behaviorism.

classical conditioning: a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli;

as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov’s classic experiment, the first stimulus (a
tone) comes to elicit behavior (drooling) in anticipation of the second stimulus
(food).

we learn to associate two or more stimuli

Unit 4/5 Review 3

 John B. Watson

behaviorist

the science of psychology should study how organisms respond to stimuli

in their environments.

behaviorism: the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that
(2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. most
psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

behaviorists believed that the basic laws of learning are the same for all
species, including humans.

neutral stimulus (NS): a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning.

unconditioned response (UR): an unlearned, naturally occurring response

(such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the
mouth).

unconditioned stimulus (US): a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and

automatically—triggers an unconditioned response (UR).

conditioned response (CR): a learned response to a previously neutral (but

now conditioned) stimulus.

conditioned stimulus (CS): an originally neutral stimulus that, after association

with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response
(CR).

acquisition: the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an
unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the
conditioned response.

associating an NS with the US so that the NS begins triggering the CR

occurs most readily when the NS is presented just before (half-second

before) a US, preparing the organism for the upcoming event. this finding
supports the view that classical conditioning is biologically adaptive.

(in operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response).

Unit 4/5 Review 4

 higher-order conditioning (second-order conditioning): a procedure in which
the CS in one conditioning experience is paired with a new NS, creating a
second (often weaker) CS.

for example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might
then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light
alone.

a new NS can become a new CS

extinction: the diminishing of a conditioning response; occurs when an US

does not follow a CS.

spontaneous recovery: the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished

conditioned response.

generalization: the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for

stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

(in operant conditioning, generalization occurs when responses learned in

one situation occur in other, similar situation).

discrimination: the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned

stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.

(in operant conditioning, the ability to distinguish responses that are

reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced).

Pavlov’s work also provided a basis for Watson’s idea that human emotions and
behaviors, though biologically influenced, are mainly a bundle of conditioned
responses. Watson applied classical conditioning principles in his studies of “Little
Albert” to demonstrate how specific fears might be conditioned.

Module 27- Operant Conditioning

operant conditioning: a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more
likely if followed by a reinforcer of less likely to recur if followed by a punisher.

Unit 4/5 Review 5

 Edward L. Thorndike

used the fish reward to entice cats to find their way out of a puzzle box
through a series of maneuvers.

law of effect: Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable

consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by
unfavorable consequences become less likely.

rewarded behaviors tend to recur, and punished behavior is less likely to

recur

B.F Skinner

behaviorism’s most influential and controversial figure.

his work elaborated on the law of effect.

operant chamber/Skinner box: a chamber containing a bar or key that an

animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices
record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking.

found that the behavior of rats or pigeons can be shaped by using

reinforcers to guide closer and closer approximations of the desired
behavior.

reinforcement: any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

Unit 4/5 Review 6

 shaping: a procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and
closer approximations of the desired behavior.

discriminative stimulus: a stimulus that elicits a response after association

with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with
reinforcement).

positive reinforcement: any stimulus, that when presented after a response,

strengthens the response.

add a desirable stimulus.

negative reinforcement: any stimulus, that when removed after a response,

strengthens that response.

remove an aversive stimulus.

primary reinforcers: an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that

satisfies a biological need.

conditioned/secondary reinforcers: a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power

through its association with a primary reinforcer.

immediate reinforcers offer immediate payback; delayed reinforcers require

the ability to delay gratification.

reinforcement schedules: a pattern that defines how often a desired response

will be reinforced

continuous reinforcement: reinforcing the desired response every time it

occurs

learning is rapid, but so is extinction if rewards cease

partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedules: reinforcing a response only

part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater
resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

fixed-ratio schedules: reinforces a response only after a specified number

of responses.

Unit 4/5 Review 7

 variable-ratio schedules: reinforces a response after an unpredictable
number of responses.

fixed-interval schedules: reinforces a response only after a specified time

has elapsed.

variable-interval schedules: reinforces a response at unpredictable time

intervals.

punishment: an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows.

positive: administer an aversive stimulus.

negative: withdraw a rewarding stimulus.

can have undesirable side effects, such as suppressing rather than

changing unwanted behaviors, encouraging discrimination (so that the
undesirable behavior appears when the punisher is not present), creating
fear, teaching aggression, and fostering depression and low self-esteem.

Critics of Skinner’s principles believed the approach dehumanized people by

neglecting their personal freedom and seeking to control their actions. Skinner
replied that people’s actions are already controlled by external consequences, and
that reinforcement is more humans than punishment as a means for controlling
behavior.

Module 28- Operant Conditioning’s

Applications, and Comparison to Classical
Conditioning
biofeedback: a system for electronically recording, amplifying and feeding
back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood
pressure or muscle tension.

we can learn from our bodily responses to manage stress

Unit 4/5 Review 8

 successive approximation: the process of reinforcing steps of behaviors
which are getting closer to the target behavior.

comparison of classical and operant conditioning

classical conditioning operant conditioning

learning associations between learning associations between our

basic idea
events we do not control. behavior and its consequences.

response involuntary, automatic. voluntary, operates on environment.

association a response with a

association events, NS is paired
acquisition consequence (reinforcer or
with US and becomes CS.
punisher).

CR decreases when CS is responding decreases when

extinction
repeatedly presented alone. reinforcement stops.

the reappearance, after a rest

spontaneous the reappearance, after a rest
period, of an extinguished
recovery period, of an extinguished CR.
response.

the tendency to respond to stimuli responses learned in one situation

generalization
similar to the CS. occurring in other, similar situations.

learning to distinguish between a

learning that some responses, but
discrimination CS and other stimuli that do not
not others, will be reinforced.
signal a US.

Module 29- Biology, Cognition, and

Learning
an animal’s capacity for conditioning is limited by biological constraints, so
that learning some associations is easier than learning others.

preparedness: a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as

between taste and nausea, that have survival value.

John Garcia

was among those who challenged the prevailing idea that all associations
can be learned equally well.

Unit 4/5 Review 9

 taste aversion: a learned response to eating food that is toxic, spoiled, or
poisonous.

if sickened after sampling a new food, one will thereafter avoid it.

if you become violently ill four hours after eating contaminated oysters,
you will probably develop an aversion to the taste of oysters more readily.

instinctive drift: the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to

biologically predisposed patterns.

Robert Rescorla

showed that an animal can learn the predictability of an event. the more
predictable the association, the stronger the conditioned response.

cognitive map: a mental representation of the layout of one’s environment.

after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of
it.

latent learning: learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an
incentive to demonstrate it.

Edward Chase Tolman

provided evidence of cognitive process from studying rats in mazes

in a classic experiment, rats in one group repeatedly explored a maze,

always with a food reward at the end. rats in another group explored the
maze with no food reward. but once given a food reward at the end, rats in
the second group thereafter ran the maze as quickly as the always-
rewarded rats.

insight: a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-

based solutions.

intrinsic motivation: a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own

sake.

extrinsic motivation: a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised

rewards or avoid threatened punishment.

Unit 4/5 Review 10

 over-justification effect: occurs when an expected external incentive such as
money or prizes decreases a person’s intrinsic motivation to perform a task.

biological and cognitive influences on conditioning

classical conditioning operant conditioning

natural predispositions organisms most easily learn behaviors

biological constrain what stimuli and similar to their natural behaviors;
influences responses can easily be unnatural behaviors instinctively drift
associated. back toward natural ones.

organisms develop an expectation that

organisms develop an
cognitive a response will be reinforced or
expectation that a CS
influences punished; they also exhibit latent
signals the arrival of a US.
learning, without reinforcement.

coping: conscious strategies used to reduce unpleasant emotions.

problem-focused coping: attempting to alleviate stress directly—by changing

the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.

emotion-focused coping: attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or

ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress
reaction.

personal control: our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling
helpless.

learned helplessness: the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or

person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

external locus of control: the perception that chance or outside forces beyond
our personal control determine our fate.

internal locus of control: the perception that we control our own fate.

self-control: the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification

for greater long-term rewards.

Unit 4/5 Review 11

 Module 30- Observational Learning
observational learning (social learning): learning by observing others.

modeling: the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.

Albert Bandura

the pioneering researcher of observational learning.

conducted the Bobo Doll Study.

we are especially likely to learn from people we perceive as similar to

ourselves, as successful, or as admirable.

we learn to anticipate a behavior’s consequences, because we experience

vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment.

mirror neurons: frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we
perform certain actions or observe another doing so.

the brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy.

prosocial behavior: positive, constructive, helpful behavior. the opposite of

antisocial behavior

Media violence can contribute to aggression. this violence-viewing effect may be

prompted by imitation and desensitization.
Experimental studies have shown that participants react more aggressively and
with less compassion when they have viewed violence (instead of entertaining
nonviolence).

🧠 UNIT 5 PART I: COGNITION

Unit 4/5 Review 12

 Module 31- Studying and Encoding
Memories
memory: the persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and
retrieval of information.

measuring retention

recall: a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information

learned earlier.

fill-in-the-blank question, short answer or essay prompt.

recognition: a measure of memory in which the person identifies items

previously learned.

multiple choice or matching.

relearning: a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved

when learning material again.

studying for a final exam over the entire year’s course content.

Hermann Ebbinghaus

a pioneering memory researcher that randomly selected a sample of

syllables, practiced them, and tested himself on his ability to accurately
recall the items.

he found that the more times he practiced a list of nonsense syllables on

day 1, the less time he required to relearn it on day 2.

speed of relearning is one measure of memory retention.

information-processing models

encoding: the process of getting information into the memory system—for

example, by extracting meaning.

storage: the process of retaining encoded information over time.

retrieval: the process of getting information out of memory storage.

Unit 4/5 Review 13

 parallel processing: processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously;
the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions.

Richard Atkinson & Richard Shiffrin: proposed a three-stage model of memory.

sensory memory: the immediate, very brief recording of sensory

information in the memory system.

short-term memory: activated memory that holds a few items briefly,

such as digits of a phone number while calling, before the information is
stored or forgotten.

long-term memory: the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of

the memory system. includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

working memory: a newer understanding of short-term memory that adds

conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information, and
of information retrieved from long-term memory.

procedural memory: the process of retrieving information necessary to

perform learned skills.

explicit memories (declarative memories): retention of facts and experiences

that one can consciously know and “declare.”

effortful processing: encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

implicit memories (non-declarative memories): retention of learned skills or

classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.

automatic processing: unconscious encoding of incidental information, such

as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word
meanings.

In addition to skills and classically conditioned associations, we automatically

process incidental information about space, time, and frequency.

sensory memory feeds some information into working memory for active
processing there.

Unit 4/5 Review 14

 iconic memory: a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a picture-
image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

echoic memory: a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention

is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

mind’s echo chamber; auditory echoes tend to linger for 3-4 seconds.

George A. Miller

short-term memory capacity.

proposed that we can store about seven pieces of information (give or

take two) in short-term memory.

other researches have confirmed that we can, if nothing distracts us, recall
about seven digits.

working memory capacity varies, depending on age, intelligence level, and

other factors.

chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs

automatically.

mnemonics: memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery
and organizational devices.

please excuse my dear aunt sally: PEMDAS

i before e,

except after c

the peg-word system harnesses our superior visual-imagery skill and

requires you to memorize a jingle that you visually associate with to-be-
remembered items

one is a bun, two is a shoe, three is a tree...

carrots stick into bun, fill shoe with milk, drape paper towels over tree

Unit 4/5 Review 15

 hierarchies: an arrangement composed of a few broad concepts divided and
subdivided into narrower concepts and facts.

spacing effect: the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better
long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
(cramming).

testing effect: enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply

rereading, information.

shallow processing: encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or

appearance of words.

deep processing: encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words;

tends to yield the best retention.

semantic encoding: when a word, phrase, picture, etc. is encoded on the

basis of the meaning rather than the sound or vision of it.

self-reference effect: the tendency to remember personally relevant

information.

Module 32- Storing and Retrieving

Memories
Our long-term memory capacity is essentially unlimited.
Memories are not stored intact in the brain in single spots. Many parts of the brain
interact as we form and retrieve memories.

explicit, conscious memory systems

semantic: memory of facts and general knowledge.

episodic: memory of personally experienced events.

hippocampus: a neural central located in the limbic system; helps process for
storage explicit (conscious) memories of facts and events.

memory consolidation: the neural storage of a long-term memory.

Unit 4/5 Review 16

 The frontal lobes and hippocampus are parts of the brain network dedicated to
explicit memory formation.

many brain regions send information to the frontal lobes for processing.

the hippocampus, with the help of surrounding areas of cortex, registers and
temporarily holds elements of explicit memories before moving them to other
brain regions for long-term storage.

The cerebellum and basal ganglia are parts of the brain network dedicated to
implicit memory formation.

the cerebellum is important for storing classically conditioned memories.

the basal ganglia are involved in motor movement and help form procedural
memories for skill.

infantile amnesia: the experience that refers to how our conscious memory of
our first four years is largely blank.

flashbulb memories: a clear, sustained memory of an emotionally significant

moment or event.

long-term potentiation (LTP): an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief,

rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.

priming: the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus

predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.

if child sees a bag of candy next to a red bench, they might begin looking
for or thinking about candy the next time they see a bench.

encoding specificity principle: the idea that cues and contexts specific to a
particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.

state-dependent memory: what we learn in one state may be more easily

recalled when we are again in that state.

Unit 4/5 Review 17

 mood congruent memory: the tendency to recall experiences that are
consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.

serial position effect: our tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and
first (primacy effect) items in a list.

Module 33- Forgetting, Memory

Construction, and Improving Memory
anterograde amnesia: an inability to form new memories.

retrograde amnesia: an inability to retrieve information from one’s past.

normal forgetting happens because we have never encoded information,

because the physical trace has decayed, or because we cannot retrieve what
we have encoded and stored.

tip of the tongue: a state in which one cannot quite recall a familiar word but
can recall words of similar form and meaning.

proactive interference: the forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning

on the recall of new information.

retroactive interference: the backward-acting disruptive effect of newer

learning on the recall of old information.

positive transfer: previously learned information often facilitates our learning

of new information.

repression: in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that

banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and
memories.

motivated forgetting

reconsolidation: a process in which previously stored memories, when

retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again.

Elizabeth Loftus

Unit 4/5 Review 18

 one of the nation’s leading experts on memory.

her experiments reveal how memories can be changed by things that we

are told. facts ideas, suggestions and other post-event information can
modify our memories

misinformation effect: occurs when misleading information has distorted

one’s memory of an event.

imagination inflation: imagined events seem more familiar, and familiar things
seem more real. the more vividly we can imagine things, the more likely they
are to become memories.

source amnesia (source misattribution): faulty memory for how, when, or

where information was learned or imagined.

déjà vu: that eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” cues from the
current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Children are susceptible to the misinformation effect, but if questioned in neutral

words they understand, they can accurately recall events and people involved in
them.

Memory research findings suggest the following strategies for improving memory:
study repeatedly, make material meaningful, activate retrieval cues, use
mnemonic devices, minimize interference, sleep more, and test yourself to be sure
you can retrieve, as well as recognize, material.

Module 34- Thinking, Concepts, and

Creativity
cognition: all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing,
remembering, and communicating.

concepts: a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

prototypes: a mental image or best example of a category.

Unit 4/5 Review 19

 matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for
sorting items into categories.

creativity: the ability to produce new and valuable items.

convergent thinking: narrowing the available problem solutions to determine

the single best solution.

require ability to provide a single correct answer (aptitude tests).

multiple facts lead to a singular answer

divergent thinking: expanding the number of possible problem solutions;

creative thinking that diverges in different directions.

a singular questions leads to multiple ideas

Sternberg has proposed that creativity has five components: expertise,

imaginative thinking skills, a venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and a
creative environment that sparks/supports/refines creative ideas.

Module 35- Solving Problems and Making

Devisions
algorithms: a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a
particular problem.

heuristics: a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments

and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone
than an algorithm.

insight: a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-

based solutions.

Wolfgang Köhler

obstacles to problem solving

confirmation bias: a tendency to search for information that supports our

preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

Unit 4/5 Review 20

 leads us to seek evidence for our ideas more eagerly than we seek
evidence against them.

fixation: the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle

to problem solving.

mental set: a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often

a way that has been successful in the past.

functional fixedness: cognitive bias that limits a person’s ability to use an

object in more ways that it is traditionally used.

intuition: an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted

with explicit, conscious reasoning.

representativeness heuristic: estimating the likelihood of events in terms of

how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us
to ignore other relevant information.

availability heuristic: estimating the likelihood of events based on their

availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of
their vividness), we presume such events are common.

We fear (1) what our ancestral history has prepared us to fear, even though these
risks may no longer be significant; (2) what we cannot control; (3) what is
immediate; and (4) what is most readily available in memory.

We remember and fear disasters more than ongoing, less dramatic threats.

overconfidence: the tendency to be more confident than correct—to

overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

belief perseverance: clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on

which they were formed has been discredited.

belief bias: the tendency of people to judge the validity of a claim or

conclusion based on how believable it is to them, rather than basing their
judgment on the strength of the supporting evidence.

Unit 4/5 Review 21

 framing: the way an issue is posed; how an issue is worded can significantly
affect decisions and judgments.

subtle differences in presentation can dramatically alter our responses.

overgeneralizing: a cognitive distortion in which an individual views a single

event as an invariable rule

Smart thinkers welcome their intuitions (which are usually adaptive), but also
know when to override them.
When making complex decisions, we may benefit from gathering as much
information as possible and then taking time to let our two-track mind process it.
As people gain expertise, the grow adept at making quick, shrewd judgments.

comparing cognitive processes and strategies

process or
description powers perils
strategy

methodical rule or requires time and

algorithm guarantees solution
procedure effort

lets us act quickly puts us at risk for

heuristic simple thinking shortcut
and efficiently errors

provides instant
insight sudden “aha!” reaction realization of may not happen
solution

tendency to search for

lets us quickly hinders recognition
confirmation support for our own views
recognize of contradictory
bias and ignore contradictory
supporting evidence evidence
evidence

inability to view problems focuses thinking on hinders creative

fixation
from a new angle familiar solutions problem solving

is based on our can lead us to

fast, automatic feelings and
intuition experience: huge over-feel and
thoughts
and adaptive under-think

Unit 4/5 Review 22

 process or
description powers perils
strategy

overestimating the allows us to be

puts us at risk for
overconfidence accuracy of our beliefs and happy and to make
errors
judgments decisions easily

ignoring evidence that

belief supports our closes our mind to
proves our beliefs are
perseverance enduring beliefs new ideas
wrong

wording a question or
can influence others’ can produce a
framing statement so that it evokes
decision misleading result
a desired response

produces new may distract from

ability to innovate valuable
creativity insights and structured, routine
ideas
products work

Module 36- Thinking and Language

language: our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine
them to communicate meaning.

phonemes: the smallest distinctive sound.

morphemes: the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part
of a word.

grammar: a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and

understand others.

semantics: the language’s set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds.

syntax: its set of rules for combining words grammatically sensible

sentences.

universal grammar: a built-in predisposition to learn grammar rules.

Noam Chomsky: linguist that argued that language is nature’s gift—an

unlearned human trait, separate from other parts of human cognition.

Unit 4/5 Review 23

 as our biology and experience interact, we readily learn the specific grammar
and vocabulary of the language we experience as children.

receptive language: babies’ ability to understand what is said to and about

them.

productive language: babies’ ability to produce words.

babbling stage: beginning around 4 months, the stage of speech

development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first
unrelated to the household language.

by about 10 months, their babbling contains only the sounds found in their
household language.

one-word stage: the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2

(starting around 12 months), during which a child speaks mostly in single
words.

two-word stage: beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development

during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements.

telegraphic speech: early speech stage in which a child speaks like a

telegram—”go car”—using mostly nouns and verbs.

critical period: period for mastering certain aspects of language before the
language-learning window gradually closes.

those who have not been exposed to a spoken or signed language by age
7 lose their ability to master any language.

aphasia: impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage

either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing
understanding).

Broca’s area: helps control language expression—an area of the frontal lobe,
usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in
speech.

Unit 4/5 Review 24

 Wernicke’s area: a brain area involved in language comprehension and
expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.

linguistic determinism: the strong form of Whorf’s hypothesis—that language

controls the way we think and interpret the world around us.

Benjamin Lee Whorf: contended that “language itself shapes a [person’s]

basic ideas.”

linguistic influence: the weaker form of “linguistic relativity”—the idea that

language affects thought (thus our thinking and world view is “relative to” our
cultural language).

Different languages embody different ways of thinking, and immersion in bilingual

education can enhance thinking.
We often think in images when we use non-declarative (procedural) memory (our
automatic memory system for motor and cognitive skills and classically
conditioned associations).

Thinking in images can increase our skills when we practice upcoming events.

📝 UNIT 5 PART II: TESTING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Module 37- Introduction to Intelligence

intelligence: the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use the
knowledge to adapt to new situations.

general intelligence (g): according to Spearman and others, underlies all

mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence
test.

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 factor analysis: a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items
(called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance
that underlie a person’s total score.

L.L Thurstone

identified seven different clusters of mental abilities (word fluency, verbal

comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability,
inductive reasoning, and memory).

a tendency remained for high scorers in one cluster to score high in other
clusters, providing further evidence of a g factor.

Howard Gardner

identified eight relatively independent intelligences, including the verbal

and mathematical aptitudes assessed by standardized tests.

musical, visual-spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic,

interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, verbal-linguistic.

view these intelligence domains as multiple abilities that come in different

packages

savant syndrome: a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental

ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing.

triarchic theory: Robert Sternberg’s theory that proposes three intelligences.

analytical (academic problem-solving intelligence)

creative intelligence

practical intelligence

grit: in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term

goals.

success in school at work, or at a sport or hobby is a combination of talent

and grit.

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 social intelligence: the know-how involved in understanding social situations
and managing ourselves successfully.

emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use

emotions.

emotionally intelligent people tend to be happy, healthy, and more

successful in their personal and professional lives.

Module 38- Assessing Intelligence

intelligence test: a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and
comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores.

achievement tests: a test designed to assess what a person has learned.

aptitude test: a test designed to predict a person’s future performance;

aptitude is the capacity to learn.

GRE, MCAT, LSAT

mental age: a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the

level of performance typically associated with children of a certain
chronological age.

a child who does as well as an average 8-year-old is said to have a mental

age of 8.

Stanford-Binet: the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford

University) of Binet’s original intelligence test.

intelligence quotient (IQ): defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to
chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100. on contemporary intelligence tests,
the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): most widely used intelligence

tests; they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: a version for school-age children.

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 during the early twentieth century, intelligence tests were sometimes used to
document scientists’ misguided assumptions about the innate inferiority of
certain ethnic and immigrant groups.

standardization: defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores

by comparison with the performance of a pretested group.

establishes a basis for meaningful score comparisons by giving a test to a

representative sample of future-test takers.

normal curve (normal distribution): a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that

describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the
mean and fewer near the extremes.

flynn effect: refers to the finding that the average human IQ has increased
over time.

reliability: the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by

the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the
test, or on retesting.

validity: the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it

is supposed to.

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 content validity: the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of
interest.

predictive validity: the success with which a test predicts the behavior it
is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between
test scores and the criterion behavior.

criterion: the pertinent behavior.

Module 39- The Dynamics of Intelligence

cohort: a group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as from a
given time period.

crystallized intelligence: our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills, tends

to increase with age.

fluid intelligence: our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to

decrease with age, especially during late adulthood.

The stability of intelligence test scores increases with age.

at age 4, scores fluctuate somewhat but begin to predict adolescent and adult
scores.

by early adolescence, scores are very stable and predictive.

intellectual disability: a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an

intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of
life.

limited conceptual, social, and practical skills.

down syndrome: a condition of mild to sever intellectual disability and

associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.

High-scoring people tend to be healthy and well-adjusted, as well as unusually

successful academically.

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 schools sometimes “track” such children, separating them from students with
lower scores. such programs can become self-fulfilling prophecies as both
groups live up to—or down to—others’ perceptions and expectations.

Module 40- Studying Genetic and

Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Studies of twins, family members, and adoptees indicate a significant hereditary
contribution to intelligence scores.
Intelligence seems to be polygenetic, and researchers are searching for genes
that exert an influence.

heritability: the proportion of variation among individuals that can be attributed

to genes.

Studies of twins, family members, and adopted children provide evidence of

environmental influences.
Test scores of identical twins raised apart are slightly less similar (though still very
highly correlated) than the scores of identical twins raised together.
Studies of children raised in extremely impoverished environments with minimal
social interaction indicate that life experiences can significantly influence
intelligence test performance.
No evidence supports the idea that normal, healthy children can be molded into
geniuses by growing up in an exceptionally enriched environment.

Carol Dweck

reports that believing intelligence is changeable, not fixed, fosters a

growth mindset, a focus on learning and growing.

teaches young teens that the brain is like a muscle, growing stronger with
use as neuron connections grow.

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 Module 41- Group Differences and the
Question of Bias
Males and females tend to have the same average intelligence test scores. They
differ in some specific abilities.

girls are better spellers, more verbally fluent, better at locating objects, better
at detecting emotions, and more sensitive to touch, taste, and color.

boys outperform girls at spatial ability and related mathematics, though boys
and girls hardly differ in math computation. boys also outnumber girls at the
low and high extremes of mental abilities.

Psychologists debate evolutionary, brain-based, and cultural explanations of such

gender differences.

Racial and ethnic groups differ in their average intelligence test scores.
The evidence suggests that environmental differences are largely, perhaps
entirely, responsible for these group differences.

Aptitude tests aim to predict how well a test-taker will perform in a given situation.
so they are necessarily “biased” in the sense that they are sensitive to
performance difference caused by cultural experience.
By “inappropriately biased,” psychologists mean that a test predicts less
accurately for one group than for another. In this sense, most experts consider the
major aptitude tests unbiased.

stereotype threat: a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based

on a negative stereotype.

self-fulfilling prophecy: the phenomenon whereby a person's or a group's

expectation for the behavior of another person or group serves actually to
bring about the predicted or expected behavior.

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