Chapter 7: Intelligence Reasoning Creativity and Wisdom

• problem soliving
• verbal ability
• social competence

• reasoning logically
• identify connections
• see aspects of problems
• making good decisions

• speaking articulately 
• high comprehension
• good vocab

• accepting others
• admitting mistakes
• interest in the world
• being on time

• interacting with people in an appropriate way

• multidimensional
• multidirectionality
• plasticity
• interindividual variability

many domains of intellectuall abilites; its not one thing or score; it is a large variety of things

• different patterns for different abilities
• every day knowledge increases; cognitive mechanisms decline with age

• range of ability modifications within specific ages
• may decline due to lack of practice
• different activation patterns in the brain

adults differ in direction of intellectual development; some decline, some improvements

nobody is the same; everyone is unique

• mechanics of intelligence
• pragmatics of intelligence

• neurophysiological architecture of mind
• bases for cognitive abilities
• greatest change= childhood and adolescence
• you're wired and you delve into it

accquired bodies of knowledge embedded in culture; learn from other people

includes everyday cognitive performance and human adaptation

biological-genetic forces govern mechanics (decline with age)

environmental-cultural forces govern pragmatics (increase with age)

the psychometric approach

the cognitive structural approach

measuring intelligence as a score on a standardized test

focus is on getting correct answers

less emphasis on thought process; tests primary mental abilities

ways in which people conceptualize and solve problems emphasizing developmental changes in modes and styles of thinking

incorporates how you change as you get older

primary mental abilities: hypothetical constructs into which related skills are organized

secondary mental abilities: related groups of primary mental abilities

• number
• word fluency
• verbal meaning
• inductive reasoining
• spatial orientation

fluid and crystallized intelligence

the abilities that:

• make you a flexible and adaptive thinker
• allow you to make inferences, reason
• enable you to understand the relations among concepts
• fluid intelligence declines through adulthood
• reason,multitask, problem solve

the knowledge you have gained through life experiences and education in a particular culture

crystallized intelligence improves through adulthood

general knowledge

• cohort differences
• information processing
• social and life style variables
• personality
• health

• comparing longitudinal studies with cross-sectional show little or no decline in intellectual performance with age
• generational rather than age differences, such as better education, nutrition, Flynn effect, etc

• perceptual speed may account for age-related decline
• working memory decline may account for poor performance of older adults if coordination between old and new information is required
• inability to inhibit actions and thoughts or to avoid interference

as time goes on, people get smarter

there's more knowledge that exists

• perception declines
• selective attention decline
• attentional energy declines
• chunks decline and manipulation
• retrieval slows down due to lack of use, connections not as tight, taught retrieval strategy

differences in cognitive skills needed in different occupations make a difference in intellectual development

higher education and SES also related to slower rates of intellectual decline

high levels of fluid abilities and a high sense of internal control lead to positive changes in people's perception of their abilities

a connection between disease and intelligence has been established in general

cardiovascular disease has implications for intellectual functioning

physical exercise has considerable benefit on cognitive fitness

schemas: mental ways of organizing the world

assimilation: use of currently available informaiotn to make sense out of incoming information

accomodation: changing one's thought to make a better approximation of the world of experience

• the sensorimotor stage
• preoperational stage
• concrete operational stage 
• formal operational stage

• Piaget's first stage (birth-2 year old)
• schemas are developed through sensory and motor activities
• one important concept acquired at the end of this stage is object permanence

• piaget's second stage (2 -7)
• employ significant language and to think symbolically 
• child lacks reversibility and conservation
• egocentric and animistic
• concepts not yet operational

Piaget's third stage (7-11)

can perform mental operations on concrete objects

understand reversibility and conservation

abstract thinking is not yet present

use simple logic in explanations

conservation--recognizing that certain physical attributes (such as volume) remain unchanged, even when their outward appearance changes

piaget's fourth stage (11 and beyond)

Abstract and hypothetical thinking

individuals can elaborately plan and think about the future

• begin to apply their operations to abstract concepts in addition to concrete objects
• capable of hypothetical thinking and logical processes

postformal thought

characterized by recognition that: 

• 1) truth may vary from situation to situation
• 2) solutions must be realistic to be reasonable
• 3) ambiguity and contradiction are the rule (more comfortable with a vague answer)
• 4) emotion and subjective factors usually play a role in thinking (reflective thinking)

a way adults reason through dilemmas involving current affairs, religion, science, personal relationships, etc. 

this stage is beyond formal thought

• 1) pre-reflective reasoning
• 2) quasi-reflective reasoning
• 3) reflective reasoning

knowledge gained through the word of an authority figure or observation

believe what they know is absolutely true

hold firm on controversial issues (childhood and teen years)

knowledge claims contain elements of uncertainty which attribute to missing info or method to obtain evidence

less persuasive with stnace on controversial isues

(young adulthood to middle adulthood)

knowledge claims cannot be made with certainty

make judgments that are most reasonable; relatively certain based on data

readily reevaluate their judgments for adequacy as new data comes along (middle to late adult)

absolutist: firmly believing there is only one correct solution (adolescents and young adult)

relativistic: the right answer depends on the circumstances (young and early middle-aged adults)

dialectical: see the merits in various viewpoints but synthesize them into a workable solution; strong commitment and definite plan of action

younger adults make decisions quicker than onlder adults

experience nad knowledge make older adults less susceptible to irrational biases in their decisions

• they search for less info to arrive at a decision
• require less info to arrive at a decision
• rely on easily accessible info

we use our intellectual abilities to solve problems; some people are better than others

Denny's model of unexercised and optimally exercised abiliities

the ability a normal, healthy adult would exhibit without practice or training

the ability a normal, healthy adult would demonstrate under the best conditions of training or practice

studying and practicing

observed tasks of daily living (OTDL)

• age 
• fluid intelligence
• crystallized intelligence

• perceptual speed
• memory
• several aspects of health

young: what do i need to know? 

old: motivated by knowledge? why? how?

four characteristics:

• deals with important matters of life
• is truly "superior" knowledge, judgment, and advice
• has extraordinary scope, depth, and balance
• is well intended and combines mind and virtue

no association between age and wisdom

general personal conditions, specific expertise and facilitative life contexts create wisdom