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Thinking, Memory, &
Intelligence
More Cognitive Psychology
Cognition
• Cognition
– The broad mental capacities associated with
thinking, knowing, remembering, and
communicating
• Developed into the field of cognitive psychology
In order to think about things in our world we
simplify them by creating
• Concepts
• Prototypes
Simplifying our Thinking
• Concept
– A mental grouping of similar objects, events,
ideas, or people
– Ex.Chair:
– Ex. Flower:
The development of concepts are assisted by
the development of prototypes
• Prototype
– Mental image or best example of a category;
helps to make quick and easy assessment of
items
– Ex: Birds….which fits better, a robin or a penguin?
Problem Solving
• Problem Solving:
– Refers to the active efforts to discover what must be
done to achieve a goal that is not readily attainable
• Problem Space
- refer to the set of possible pathways to a solution
considered by the problem solver
- Aka. approaches to problem solving
Approaches to Problem Solving
• Trial and Error
– Trying possible solutions and discarding those that
are in error until one works
• Algorithm
– a logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a
particular problem in a step-by-step manner; slower
than what is known as heuistics
• Heuristic
– A simple strategy that allows us to make judgments
and solve problems efficiently; faster than algorithm
but causes more errors
Approaches to Problem Solving
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Forming Sub-goals
Working backward
Searching for Analogies
Changing the Representations of the Problem
Taking a Break
– Incubation Effect: occurs when new solutions surface
for a previously unsolved problem after a period of not
consciously thinking about the problem
Problems to Problem Solving
• Irrelevant Information
• Confirmation Bias
– A tendency to search for information that confirms
one’s preconceptions
• Fixation
– the inability to see a problem from a new perspective;
an impediment to problem-solving
• Ex. Mental set- people persist in using problem
solving strategies that have worked in the past
• Ex. Functional fixedness- tendency to perceive an
item only in terms of its most common use
Problems to Problem Solving
• Overconfidence
– The tendency to be more confident than correct; overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs & judgments
• Framing
– The way an issue is posed or presented can
significantly affect decisions & judgments
– Ex. Success rate for surgery; Drop-off prices
Problems to Problem Solving
• Unnecessary Constraints
– Ex. Nine dot problem
– Insight: helps overcome these constraints
when people suddenly discover the correct
solution to a problem after struggling with it for
a while
Problems to Problem Solving
• Belief Bias
– The tendency of ones’ pre-existing beliefs to distort
logical reasoning, sometime by making invalid
conclusions seem valid and valid conclusions seems
invalid
• Belief Perseverance
– Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on
which they were formed has been discredited
• Ex. Capital punishment research; firefighter study
Decision Making
• Decision making: involves evaluating
alternatives and making choices among them
• Theory of Bounded Rationality: asserts that
people tend to use simple strategies in decision
making that focus on only a few facets of
available options and often result in “irrational”
decisions that are less than optimal
Decision Making
• Risky decision making: involves making
choices under conditions of uncertainty
• Conjunction fallacy: occurs when people
estimate that the odds of two uncertain events
happening together are greater than the odds of
either event happening alone
Decision Making
• Representative Heuristic
– Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well
they represent or match a prototype; may cause to
ignore other relevant information
– Ex. The Stranger: professor or truck driver
• Availability Heuristic
– Estimating likelihood of things based upon the
availability in our memory or that quickly come to
mind so we deem them common
Language
The most tangible or hard evidence of our
thinking power is language
• Language
– Our spoken, written, or signed words and the rules we
use combine them to communicate meaning
– Lot of research completed by Chomsky
Language
• Phonemes- the smallest speech units in a language that
can be distinguished perceptually
• Morphemes & Semantics:
– Morphemes: the smallest units of meaning in a
language
– Semantics: area of language concerned with
understanding the meaning of words and word
combinations
• Syntax- a system of rules that specify how words can be
arranged into sentences
Language Development
• This development is gradual and moves from
simple to complex; however by 4 months infants
can read lips and discriminate speech sounds
– they prefer to look at faces in which the sounds match
• First stage: Babbling Stage
– At 3-4 mths infants spontaneously utter various
sounds that are at first unrelated to household
language
Language Development
• Over time infants begin to lose their ability to
discriminate sound they never hear…
-which is why it is easier to learn a second language at a
young age, because we lose the ability to discriminate
the unique sounds not used in our native language but in
the language of others’
• One-word Stage:
– At 1-2 years, a child begins to speak mostly in single
words
– Usually only contain one syllable like ma or da but
gradually conforms to family language
Language Development
• Fast mapping: process by which children map a
word onto an underlying concept after only one
exposure
• Overextensions: when a child incorrectly uses a
word to describe a wider set of objects or actions
than it is meant
• Underextensions: when a child incorrectly uses
a word to describe a narrower set of objects or
actions than it is meant to
Language Development
• Two-Word Stage:
– Begins about 2 years and is when children speak in
mainly 2-word phrase
– Stage also known for telegraphic speech: speaking
like a telegram “ go car” and using mostly nouns and
verbs
– Overrgeneralizations: when grammatical rules are
incorrectly generalized to irregular cases where they
do not apply
– Use the chart on page 316 to help you remember the
stages! 
Language Development
• Bilingualism
– Acquisition of two languages that use different
speech sounds, vocabulary, and grammatical
rules
With a Partner…
• Analyze the different theories as to how
language develops….
– Skinner (behaviorists)
– Chomsky (Nativist)
• LAD: innate mechanism or process that facilitates
the learning of language
– Cognitive neuorscientists (interactionists)
Impact of Language
• Linguistic Determinism/Relativity
– Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines
the way that we think
• English have a lot of vocabulary words that focus
on the self; Japanese have more about societal
emotional terms in comparison to the West
• Do we refer to females as “girls” or “woman”
• Yet there is plenty of thinking that happens without
language, aka….mental pictures, spatial thinking,
visualization, etc…..
Chapter 8
Practice Test
1. The 2-year-old child who refers to every four-legged
animal as “doggie” is making which of the following
errors?
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a)underextension
b)overextension
c)overregularization
d)underregularization
2. Research suggests that bilingualism has a negative
effect on
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a) language development
b) cognitive development
c) metalinguistic awareness
d) none of the above
3. Based on the work with Kanzi, which statement best
summarizes the current status of the research on
whether chimps can learn languages?
• a) Chimps can acquire the use of symbols but cannot
combine them into sentences or learn rules of
language.
• b) Chimps are nearly as well suited for learning and
using language as humans.
• c) Chimps are incapable even of learning the symbols
of a language.
• d) Chimps can learn some basic language skills, but
the linguistic capacities of humans are far superior
4. Chomsky proposed that children learn language
swiftly:
• a) because they possess an innate language
acquisition device.
• b) through imitation, reinforcement, and shaping.
• c) as the quality of their thought improves with
age.
• d) because they need to in order to get their
increasingly complex needs met.
5. The linguistic relativity hypothesis is the notion that:
• a) one’s language determines the nature of ones
thought.
• b) one’s thought determines the nature of ones
language.
• c) language and thought are separate and
independent processes.
• d) language and thought interact, with each
influencing the other.
6. The nine-dot problem is:
• a) often solved suddenly with a burst of insight
• b) difficult because people assume constraints
that are not part of the problem
• c) solved through fast mapping
• d) both a and b
7. Problems that require a common object to be
used in an unusual way may be difficult to solve
because of:
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a) mental set
b) irrelevant information
c) unnecessary constraints
d) functional fixedness
8. A heuristic is:
• a) a flash of insight
• b) a guiding principle or “rule of thumb” used in
problem solving or decision making
• c) a methodical procedure for trying all possible
solutions to a problem
• d) a way of making a compensatory decision
9. Which of the following is not a heuristic used for
solving problems?
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a) working backward
b) fast mapping
c) forming subgoals
d) searching for analogies
10. According to Nisbett, Eastern cultures tend to
favor a(n) _____ cognitive style, whereas Western
cultures tend to display a(n) _____ cognitive style
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a) analytic; holistic
b) holistic; analytic
c) heuristic; algorithmic
d) algorithmic; heuristic
11. The theory of bounded rationality was originally
developed by:
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a) Herbert Simon
b) Noam Chomsky
c) Steven Pinker
d) Gerd Gigerenzer
12. When you estimate the probability of an event
by judging the ease with which relevant instances
come to mind, you are relying on :
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a) an additive decision-making model
b) the representativeness heuristic
c) the availability heuristic
D) a non-compensatory model
13. The belief that the probability of heads is
higher after a long string of tails:
• a) is rational and accurate
• b) is an example of the “gambler’s fallacy”
• c) reflects the influence of the
representativeness heuristic
• d) includes both b and c
14. The tendency to overestimate the probability of
events that get heavy media coverage reflects the
operation of:
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a) framing effects
b) the representativeness heuristic
c) the availability heuristic
d) mental set
15. If someone says “Only a congenial pinhead
would make that choice,”
this use of language would represent:
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a) confirmation
b) syntactic slanting
c) anticipatory name calling
d) telegraphic speech
MEMORY
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WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER?
(Objectives for this unit)
Essential Questions to be asked:
How do we remember things?
Why do we forget things?
Where do we store memories?
Are there different types of memories?
Are there memories that last longer than others?
Why?
• Can we have false memories?
• Can our imagination play tricks on us?
• How can we improve our memory?
Overview
Memory
 Memory
 persistence of learning over time through
the storage and retrieval of information
 Flashbulb Memory
 a clear memory of an emotionally
significant moment or event
 Based in long-term memory
 Ex. JFK assassination; 9/11 attack
Memory
 Memory as Information Processing
 similar to a computer
 write to file: putting info in (encoding)
 save to computer/jump/external: save
file as: (storage)
 read from computer/jump/external :
retrieval: (open file)
Encoding
 ENCODING
 the processing of information into the memory
system or getting information into memory
• Typing on a computer keyboard the information
you need to keep.
• Memory code: created by the brain; emphasis
on looks, sounds, or meaning
STORAGE
• Storage:
– The retention of coded information over time
• Saving information: where?
• Do I need it temporarily: over a few
minutes, days, months?
• Do I need it for years or the rest of my life?
• Where do I put the information when I
save it?
RETRIEVAL
• Retrieval:
– The process of getting information out of
memory storage
• When I save information, how do I get it
back out when I need it?
• Do I remember where I put it?
• What if it is large pieces of information or
just a single word?
Getting Information In
Encoding
Effortful
Automatic
Automatic processing allows us to process two or more complex coding tasks
simultaneously & is done without conscious awareness
Encoding
 Effortful Processing
 requires attention
 conscious effort
 Spacing and serial position effect
 Elaboration
 Linking a stimulus to other information at the time of the
encoding
 Ex. Linking classically conditioned fears to your own
fear of spiders
 Rehearsal
 repetition of information
 to maintain it in consciousness
 to encode it for storage
Encoding
 Automatic Processing
 unconscious encoding of incidental information
 Space: aware of size of room or distance from something
 Time: how much time has passed; how long something
occurred
 Frequency: how often something happens
 well-learned information
 word meanings
 YET, we can learn automatic processing
 reading backwards
Storage: Memory System
3 Components of Memory
Short-term memory is also known as working memory
Different Types of Memory
Sensory memory
• Sensory Register
• acts as a buffer for stimuli received through the
senses. I see everything in the room, but I
don’t need to pay attention to everything in
the room.
• exists for each sensory channel:
•
iconic memory for visual stimuli,
•
echoic memory for auditory stimuli
•
haptic memory for touch.
• Info only passes from sensory memory to
short-term memory if it catches our attention.
• the rest is filtered out which is of no interest at a
given time.
Sensory Memory Store
Sensory
Input
Sensory
Memory
• Capacity - large
– holds many items at
once
• Duration - very brief
– .3 sec for visual info
– .2 sec for auditory info
• Function - holds info long
enough for basic physical
characteristics
• Receiving room of the
memory system
Sperling’s Experiment
1960
• Presented matrix of letters for
1/20 seconds
• Report as many letters as
possible
• Subjects recall only half of the
letters
• Was this because subjects didn’t
have enough time to view entire
matrix? No
• How did Sperling know this?
Sperling’s Experiment
• Sperling showed people can see
and recall ALL the letters
momentarily
• Sounded low, medium or high
tone immediately after matrix
disappeared
– tone signaled 1 row to report
– recall was almost perfect
High
Medium
Low
Sperling’s Iconic Memory
Experiment
Sperling’s Iconic Memory
Experiment
Sperling’s Iconic Memory
Experiment
Sperling’s Iconic Memory
Experiment
ICONIC MEMORY
• Photographic memory
• Eyes register an exact representation of a
scene
• Can recall any part of it but only for a few
tenths of a second
• You remember an entire dream; but it
fades as you begin to tell it.
Sensory Memory Store
Sensory
Input
Sensory
Memory
• forms automatically,
doesn’t need your
attention or interpretation
• Only need to attend to the
elements we want to use
and work with in shortterm memory
Short-term Memory
Working Memory Store
(start with S’s memory vignette)
• Function - conscious processing
• Needs your attention!
– where information is actively worked on
• Capacity - limited (holds 7 +/- 2 items)
• Duration - brief storage (about 10-20 seconds)
Sensory
Input
Attention
Sensory
Memory
Working or
Short-term
Memory
Short-term memory
 Working Memory Capacity: refers to one’s ability
to hold and manipulate information in conscious
attention
 briefly stored information
• scratch-pad for temporary recall
• Ex: In order to understand this sentence, you
need to hold in your mind the beginning of the
sentence as you read the rest.
• Short-term memory decays rapidly!!
Change purse theory
(Miller 1976)
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Small: limited capacity 7-10 items
Keeps essential info like a change purse
Different sized pieces of info.
Chunking of information increases short-term
memory capacity and is the organization of info into
meaningful units
a hyphenated phone number is easier to remember
than a single long number.
formation of a chunk: known as closure.
Diff. size chunks
Interference: can cause disturbance in S-T-M
retention.
accounts for desire to complete tasks held in shortterm memory as soon as possible.
SCHOOL
Chunking
• Grouping small bits of information into
larger units of information
– expands working memory load
• Which is easier to remember?
–4 8 3 7 9 2 5 1 6
– 483 792 516
Working Memory Store
• What happens if you need to keep information in
working memory longer than 20 seconds?
• To demonstrate, memorize the following phone
number (presented one digit at a time)...
8 5 7 91 6 3
Working Memory Store
• What is the number?
857-9163
The number lasted in your working memory
longer than 30 seconds
So, how were you able to remember the
number?
Rehearsal
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Mental or verbal repetition of information:
aka
REPETITION
ROTE REHEARSAL
Allows information to remain in working
memory longer than the usual 10-20 seconds
Maintenance rehearsal
Sensory
Input
Sensory
Memory
Attention
Working or
Short-term
Memory
Maintenance Rehearsal
• What happens if you can’t use maintenance
rehearsal?
• Memory decays quickly
• To demonstrate, again memorize a phone number
(presented one digit at a time)
– BUT, have to count backwards from 1,000 by twos
(i.e., 1000, 998, 996 … etc.)
6 2 8 50 9 4
However, if you’ve already learned the information and you use
rehearsal, it solidifies retention and is called OVERLEARNING
Working Memory Store
What is the number?
628-5094
Without rehearsal, memory fades
Short-Term Memory Test
• http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/stm0.
html
Peterson’s STM Task
• Test of memory for
3-letter nonsense
syllables
• Participants count
backwards for a few
seconds, then recall
• Without rehearsal,
memory fades
STORAGE SHORT TERM
summary
• Encoding from sensory starts as these
3 before going into STM?
• How do we make room for other info
and still keep needed info in STM?
Long Term Memory
Bank
Long-term memory
• intended for storage of information over a
long time; basically unlimited capacity
• Information from the working memory is
transferred to it after a few seconds. Unlike
in working memory, there is little decay.
Getting Information In to
long-term memory!
Encoding
Sensory input
Attention to important
or novel information
Encoding
External
events
Sensory
memory
Short-term
memory
Encoding
Long-term
memory
Retrieving
Enriching Encoding
 Visual Encoding (Structural)
 encoding of picture images
 Acoustic Encoding (Phonemic)
 encoding of sound
 especially sound of words
 Semantic Encoding
 encoding of meaning
 including meaning of words
Enriching Encoding
Enriching Encoding
• Self-referent encoding: involves deciding
how or whether information is personally
relevant
• Motivation to Remember: if this is high at
the time of encoding it enhances later
recall
Encoding
 Ebbinghaus used nonsense
syllables
 TUV ZOF GEK WAV
 the more times practiced on Day 1,
the fewer repetitions to relearn on Day
2
 Spacing Effect
 distributed practice yields better longterm retention than massed practice
SERIAL POSITION EFFECT
Tendency to recall best the first or last items in a list
• TWO TYPES
• PRIMACY EFFECT: better recall of first few
items (right after learning)
• RECENCY EFFECT: better recall of last few
items (later after learning)
Encoding: Serial Position Effect
Percent
age of
words
recalled
90
80
Serial Position
Effect -tendency
to recall first &
the last items in
a list
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4 5 6 7 8
Position of
word in list
9
10 11 12
Enriching Encoding
 Imagery
 mental pictures
 a powerful aid to effortful processing,
especially when combined with semantic
encoding
 Mnemonics aka. Mnemonic device
 memory aids
 especially those techniques that use vivid
imagery and organizational devices
Enriching Encoding
• Acrostics: phrases (for poems) in which the first
letter of each word (or line) function as a cue to help
you recall
• Acronym: a word formed out of the first letters of a
series of words
• Rhymes
• Link Method: involves forming a mental image of
items to be remembered in a way that links them
together
• Method of Loci: taking an imaginary walk along a
familiar path where images of items to be
remembered are associated with certain locations
Memory Aids
“Peg Words”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Nun
Shoe
Tree
Door
Beehive
6. Sick
7. Heaven
8. Gate
9. Wine
10. Lion’s Den
Enriching Encoding
 Chunking
 organizing items into familiar, manageable
units
 like horizontal organization--1776149218121941
 often occurs automatically
 use of acronyms
 HOMES--Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
 ARITHMETIC--A Rat In Tom’s House Might Eat
Tom’s Ice Cream
Enriching Encoding
 We also use Hierarchies to encode
 complex information broken down into broad concepts and
further subdivided into categories and subcategories
Encoding
(automatic
or effortful)
Meaning
(semantic
Encoding)
Imagery
(visual
Encoding)
Chunks
Organization
Hierarchies
Explicit
Implicit
Non-declarative
Long-term Memory Systems
Long-term Memory
Explicit Memory
Episodic
Memory
Semantic
Memory
Implicit Memory
Procedural
Memory
Classical
Conditioning
Priming
Explicit Memory
Explicit Memory: memory of facts and
experiences that one can consciously
know and “declare.” also called
declarative memory
- the hippocampus plays a critical
role in this type of memory
Subtypes of Explicit Memory
Explicit Memory
Episodic Memory Semantic Memory
2 Types of Long-Term
Explicit memory:
• Episodic memory of events and experiences
from this memory we can reconstruct the actual
events that took place at a given point in our
lives.
• Semantic memory: record of facts, concepts
and skills that we have acquired.
• is derived from episodic memory: we can learn
new facts or concepts from our experiences.
Explicit Memory
• describe the picture below using the two
sub-types: semantic and episodic
Episodic Memory
• Memory tied to your own personal experiences
• Examples:
– what did you have for dinner?
– do you like to eat caramel apples?
• Why are these explicit memories?
• Because you can actively declare your answers to
these questions
Semantic Memory
• Memory not tied to personal events
• General facts and definitions about the world
• Examples:
– who was George Washington?
– what is a cloud?
– what is the climate at the north pole?
• These are explicit memories because you can describe
what you know about them.
• Unlike episodic memories, your knowledge does NOT
include your personal experience
– i.e., You may never have been to the north pole but
do know about it.
Implicit Memory
Implicit Memory
Classical
Conditioning
Procedural
Memory
Priming
Implicit
• Also known as non-declarative; retention
independent of conscious recollection aka.
procedural memory
• Linked to the cerebellum
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•
•
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Three subtypes
Classical/operant
Procedural
Priming
Implicit Memory
• Influences your thoughts or behavior,
but does not enter consciousness
Classical Conditioning
• Studied earlier
• Ch. 6 learning
• Implicit
because it is
automatically
retrieved
Implicit/Procedural Memory
• Memory that enables you to perform specific
learned skills or habitual responses
• Examples:
– Riding a bike
– How to speak grammatically
– Tying your shoe laces
• Why are these procedural memories implicit?
– Can’t readily describe their contents
• try describing how to tie your shoes
– They are automatically retrieved when appropriate
Priming
• Priming is influence of one memory on
another
• priming is implicit because it does not
depend on awareness and is automatic
• Here is a demonstration
Priming Demonstration
• Unscramble the following
words:
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ORSE
LTEPA
KTALS
TSME
LOBSOMS
ELAF
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ROSE
PETAL
STALK
STEM
BLOSSOM
Priming Demonstration
• ELAF = ?
• Why not respond
FLEA?
• Because flower
parts were primed
(flower power)
Priming
• Activation of one or more existing memories
by a stimulus
• Activation not a conscious decision
• BUT, can effect subsequent thoughts and
actions
Two Types of Priming
Priming
Conceptual Perceptual
Conceptual Priming
• The semantic meaning of priming stimulus
influences your encoding or retrieval
• Thought to involve activation of concepts stored
in semantic memory
• Example: Flower power priming demonstration
• Does not depend on sense modality: pictures
can conceptually prime sounds AS THE NEXT
SLIDE SHOWS
Priming across modalities
• Look at the
picture .
• When I say a
word, write it
down.
When I say a word, write it down
Perceptual Priming
• Priming enhances ability to identify a test
stimulus based on its physical features
• Making meaning out of a given stimulus
Perceptual Priming
• Can you identify the
fragmented stimulus
to the right?
Perceptual Priming
• What if you were
shown the following
slide earlier in the
lecture?
Perceptual Priming
• Can you identify the
fragmented stimulus
to the right?
Perceptual Priming
Perceptual Priming
Prospective Vs Retrospective Memory
• Prospective memory:
– Involves remembering to perform actions in
the future
• Retroactive memory:
– Involves remembering events from the past or
previously learned information
Long-term Memory Processes
• There are three main activities related to
long-term memory:
• Storage: the retention of encoded
information over time
• Retrieval: process of getting
information out of memory
• Deletion: forgetting information
STORAGE
Keeping information in!
Long-Term Memory Store
• Once information passes from sensory to
working memory, it can be encoded into longterm memory
Maintenance Rehearsal
Sensory
Input
Sensory
Memory
Attention
Encoding
Working or
Long-term
Short-term
memory
Memory Retrieval
Long-Term Memory Store
• Encoding – Elaborate constructive rehearsal:
passing info from short term to long-term memory
store
• Retrieval - controls flow of information from longterm to short term memory store
Maintenance Rehearsal
Sensory
Input
Sensory
Memory
Attention
Encoding
Working or
Long-term
Short-term
memory
Memory Retrieval
Long-Term Memory
Physical Storage
 Explicit Memory
 hippocampus--neural center in
limbic system that helps process
explicit memories for storage
Explicit Memories
Hippocampus
 Implicit Memory
 retention independent of conscious
recollection
 also called procedural memory
 Brain stem and cerebellum
 Amygdala: emotional memories
 Damage to amygdala would
mean you couldn’t learn and
remember fear
Storage: Long-Term Memory
 How does storage work?
 Karl Lashley (1950)




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
rats learn maze
Lesioned their cortex
Cut sections of their brain out
Re-test memory of maze
Rats could still run portions of the maze
Memory not located in just one spot or area of brain
 Synaptic changes
 Long-term Potentiation
 increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid
stimulation; more learning, more synaptic growth
 Strong emotions make for stronger memories
 some stress hormones boost learning and retention
Evidence for Separate
Implicit/Explicit Systems
• Neurophysiological evidence
• Patient H.M.
– life-threatening seizures originating in temporal lobe
– surgically removed portions of temporal lobe
– Temporal lobe includes:
• - hippocampus
– amygdala
Patient H.M.
• Surgery was effective in reducing seizures
• BUT, had other side effects
• Can remember explicit memories acquired before the
surgery
– e.g., old addresses, normal vocabulary
• Cannot form NEW explicit memories
– e.g., remembering the name of someone he met 30
minutes prior
– cannot name new world leaders or performers
– can recognize a picture of himself from before his
surgery but not from after and doesn’t recognize
himself in a mirror
Patient H.M.
• H.M. is almost normal on procedural or implicit memory
tasks including priming, classical conditioning, and
learning motor skills
• This shows that explicit memory depends upon the
temporal lobes and implicit does not
• Consolidation: hypothetical process involving the
gradual conversion of information into durable memory
codes stored in long-term memory
– Memories are consolidated in the hippocampal region
and then stored in diverse areas of the cortex
Hippocampal Damage
• Deficits in forming new
explicit memories
Storing memories in the
brain
• Ralph Gerard 1953
• Trained hamsters to turn right or left to get food
• Lowered their body temperature until brain’s
electrical activity ceased
• Hamsters revived, brains became active again
• Would they remember which way to turn?
• Yes.
• Long term memories survived the electrical
blackout.
Storage to long-term
Elaboration
• Focus on the meaning of information to
encode it into LTM
– don’t simply repeat items over and over
– tie item to other info in memory
– called elaborate constructive rehearsal
Long term storage
Which Level is More Effective?
• Elaboration leads to better recall than
shallow processing
Type of
Processing
Deep
0
Intermediate-Acoustic
Shallow - Visual
10
20
30
40
50 60
70
80
Percent of words recalled
90 100
Conceptual Hierarchies
Related items form categories
Remember list better if presented in categories
poorer recall if presented randomly
Mammals
Dogs
German
Shepherds
Cats
Scottish
Terriers
Siamese
Calico
Types of Mental Associations
• Association by contiguity
– concepts are associated because they
occur together in a person’s previous
experience
• Association by similarity
– concepts with shared properties are
associated
Semantic Network
• Attempt to depict structure of memory as
concepts linked by associations
Car
Truck
Bus
Fire
Engine
House
Fire
Ambulance
Red
Hot
Stove
Rose
Apple
Cherry
Pot
Pan
Violet
Flower
Pear
Pie
Semantic Network
• Links between concepts
– common properties provide basis for mental link
• Shorter path between two concepts =
stronger association in memory
• Activation of a concept starts decremental
spread of activity to nearby concepts
• Also known as the spreading-activation
model
Semantic Network
April
prom
Parallel Distributed Processing
• PDP system: consists of a large network of
interconnected computing units, or nodes, that
operate much like neurons
• PDP models assert that specific memories
correspond to particular patterns of activation in
these networks
• Information lies in the strengths of the
connections
Are Memories Organized?
Let’s put it to the test!
• Demonstration:
– recite the days of the week
– recite the days of the week in alphabetical order
– demonstrates that long-term memory is organized
• not just a random jumble of information
• How are memories organized?
Getting Information
Out!
»Retrieval
Retrieval
• Types of information retrieval:
• Recall in recall, the information is reproduced
from memory & needs the fewest retrieval cues
– Serial Recall: perfect sequential order
– Random Recall: all info but not in order
• Recognition presentation of the information
provides the knowledge that the information has
been seen before.
• lesser complexity of memory, as information
is provided as a cue.
– M.C. test
Retrieval
 Relearning (savings)
 memory measure that assesses the
amount of time saved when learning
material a second time
 Priming
 activation, often unconsciously, of
particular associations in memory
brings info to conscious when
prompted
Context-Dependent Memory
• Improved ability to remember if tested in the
same environment as the initial learning
environment
– better recall if tested in classroom where you initially
learned info than if moved to a new classroom
– if learning room smells of chocolate or mothballs,
people will recall more info if tested in room with the
same smell compared to different smell or no smell at
all
Context-Dependent Effects
• Compare words learned underwater vs on land
• Words heard underwater are best recalled
underwater
• Words heard on land are best recalled on land
Retrieval Cues
Percentage of
words recalled
Encoding
Specificity
Principle:
The value of
a retrieval
cue depends
on how well it
corresponds
to the
memory code
40
30
20
10
0
Water/
land
Land/
water
Different contexts for
hearing and recall
Water/
water
Land/
land
Same contexts for
hearing and recall
Context Dependent Effects
• Time of day is also important
Learn at 3 pm
Perform better at 3 pm
Than 9 pm
12
12
12
9
3
6
9
3
6
9
3
6
Retrieval Cues
 State-dependent Memory
 what is learned in one state (while one is
high, drunk, or depressed) can more easily
be remembered when in same state
• Recall improved if internal physiological or
emotional state is the same during testing
and initial encoding
State-Dependent Memory
• Context vs State dependent
– Context-dependent - external, environmental
factors
– State-dependent - internal, physiological
factors
State-Dependent Effects
Mood-Congruent Memory
-Mood or emotions also a factor
 tendency to recall experiences that are
consistent with one’s current mood
 memory, emotions, or moods serve as
retrieval cues
– Bipolar depressives
• information learned in manic state, recall more
if testing done during manic state
• information learned in depressed state, recall
more if testing done during depressed state
State Dependent Effects
If drink during
learning
May recall better
with drink
Than without
But not as well
as sober all the
way!
Context Dependent State
 Deja Vu (French)--already seen
 cues from the current situation may
subconsciously trigger retrieval of an
earlier similar experience
 The eerie feeling that "I've experienced
this before."
Deletion
also called
Forgetting
Forgetting Theories
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Encoding failure
Role of time
Trace decay
Isolated facts
Negative information
Completed tasks
Interference theories
Retrieval failure
Motivated forgetting
False memories
Forgetting
 Forgetting can
occur at any
memory stage
 As we process
information,
we filter, alter,
or lose much
of it
Forgetting as Encoding Failure
• Information never encoded into LTM
X
Encoding Failure Demonstrations
• What letters accompany the number 5 on
your telephone?
• Where is the number 0 on your calculator?
• Lincoln penny
• According to this theory, objects seen
frequently, but information is never
encoded into LTM
Forgetting as Retrieval Failure
• Not all forgetting is due to encoding failures
• Sometimes information IS encoded into LTM,
but we can’t retrieve it
• Don’t know path to retrieve
• Don’t access information regularly
Retrieval failure
 Forgetting can result from failure to retrieve information from longterm memory
Attention
External
events
Sensory
memory
Encoding
Encoding
Short-term
Long-term
memory
Retrieval memory
Retrieval failure
leads to forgetting
Types of Retrieval Failures
• Encoding specificity principle: the value
of the retrieval cue depends on how well it
corresponds to the memory code
• Transfer-appropriate processing: occurs
when the initial processing of information
is similar to the type of processing
required by the subsequent measure of
retention
Role of Time : Decay Theory
• Memories fade away or decay
gradually if unused
• Ebbinghaus forgetting curve
over 30 days-- initially rapid,
then levels off with time
• Time plays critical role
• Ability to retrieve info declines
with time after original encoding
• Problem: Many things change
with time. Something else may
change and actually cause
forgetting: Interference
Trace Decay Theory
• “use it or lose it”
Isolated Facts
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Most common form of forgetting
Grocery lists
Locker combinations
Dr. appointments
Not tied to significant/emotional material
Tid-bit information
Witness stand
Negative information
• Information contrary to our internal belief
structure
• Nonsense information “Jabberwocky”
• Conflicting information
BLUE
GREEN
PINK
The Stroop Effect
• http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/words.
html
Completed Tasks
• The “Zeigarnik effect”
• Completed tasks more likely to be
forgotten than incomplete tasks
• Completing task takes the information off
of the front burner
• Loses meaning and attention
• Completed tasks; waiter in restaurant,
Math problems
Interference Theories
• “Memories interfering with memories”
• Forgetting NOT caused by mere passage of
time
• Caused by one memory competing with or
replacing another memory
• Two types of interference
Two Types of Interference
Types of interference
Retroactive
Interference
Proactive
Interference
Retroactive Interference
• When a NEW memory interferes with
remembering OLD information
• Example: When new phone number
interferes with ability to remember old
phone number
Retroactive Interference
• Example: Learning a new language interferes
with ability to remember old language
Proactive Interference
• Opposite of retroactive
interference
• When an OLD memory
interferes with
remembering NEW
information
• Example: Memories of
where you parked your
car on campus the past
week interferes with
ability find car today
Proactive Interference
• Example: Previously learned language
interferes with ability to remember newly
learned language
Review of Interference Theory
• Retroactive Interference
– Learn A Learn B
Recall A, B interferes
• Proactive Interference
– Learn A Learn B
Recall B, A interferes
• Interference reflects competition
between responses.
Forgetting
 Retroactive Interference
Percentage
of syllables
recalled
90%
Without interfering
events, recall is
better
80
After sleep
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
After remaining awake
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Hours elapsed after learning syllables
8
Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon
•
•
•
•
Serial scanning
Wrong prompt….
Info similar found but not right info needed
Scanning information near or around needed
information
• Will continue to scan for info until found
 Motivated Forgetting
 people unknowingly revise memories
 Repression
 defense mechanism that banishes
from consciousness anxiety-arousing
thoughts, feelings, and memories
Unable to store memories
• Amnesia--the loss of memory
• Retrograde amnesia: loss of memories for events that
occurred prior to the onset of amnesia
• Anterograde amnesia: loss of memories for events that
occur after the onset of amnesia
• Physiological: brain damage; unable to form new memories
1. Oliver Sacks 1985: patient named Jimmy
page Myers 358-359 Describe Jimmy’s case
2. How does amnesia effect explicit and implicit memory?
Hippocampus Damage
• Left damage: can’t remember verbal info
• Right damage: can’t remember visual
designs and locations
• Location of oldest memories
• Sights, sounds, smells, feels
MEMORY
CONSTRUCTION
• Reality monitoring: process of deciding whether
memories are based on external sources (one’s
perceptions of actual events) or internal sources (one’s
thoughts and imagination)
• Source monitoring: making attributions about the origins
of memories
 Source Amnesia
 attributing to the wrong source an event that we
experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined
(misattribution)
– Source-monitoring error: occurs when a memory derived from
one source is misattributed to another source
– Destination memory: involves recalling to whom one has told
what
Memory Construction
 We filter information and fill in missing
pieces
 Misinformation Effect
 incorporating misleading information into
one's memory of an event; sometimes
happens with the questions asked by
police
Memory Construction
• Recall not an exact replica of original events
• Recall a construction built and rebuilt from
various sources
• Often fit memories into existing beliefs
• Eyewitnesses usually see something complex
just once then have to remember it
Loftus Experiment
• Subjects shown video
of an accident between
two cars
• Some subjects asked:
How fast were the cars
going when they
smashed into each
other?
• Others asked: How fast
were the cars going
when they hit each
other?
Loftus’s Results
• Speed estimates
depended on how the
question was phrased
• Subjects memory for
broken glass also
depended on the
phrasing of the speed
question.
– But this was a false
memory: there was no
broken glass
Memory Construction
 Restating the Context of an Event
 False Memory Syndrome
 condition in which a person’s identity and
relationships center around a false but strongly
believed memory of traumatic experience
 sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists
• A false memory is a memory which is a
distortion of an actual experience, or a
confabulation of an imagined one.
• confusing or mixing fragments of memory
events, some may have happened at different
times but are remembered as occurring
together.
• can involve an error in source memory.
• treating dreams as if they were playbacks of real
experiences.
• Can be the result of the prodding, leading, and
suggestions of therapists and counselors.
•
•
•
•
•
•
1986 Nadean Cool, a nurse's aide in Wisconsin, sought
therapy from a psychiatrist to help her cope with her
reaction to a traumatic event experienced by her daughter.
During therapy, the psychiatrist used hypnosis and other
suggestive techniques to dig out buried memories of abuse
that Cool had allegedly experienced.
Cool became convinced that she had repressed memories
of having been in a satanic cult, of eating babies, of being
raped, of having sex with animals and of being forced to
watch the murder of her eight-year-old friend. She came to
believe that she had more than 120 personalities-children,
adults, angels and even a duck.
-all because Cool was told she had experienced severe
childhood sexual and physical abuse.
The psychiatrist also performed exorcisms on her, one of
which lasted for five hours and included the sprinkling of
holy water and screams for Satan to leave Cool's body.
Cool finally realized that false memories had been planted,
she sued the psychiatrist for malpractice. In March 1997
after five weeks of trial, her case was settled out of court
for $2.4 million.
Schema Theories
• Schema - mental representation of an object,
scene or event
– example: schema of a countryside may include green
grass, hills, farms, a barn, cows, etc.
• Scripts - type of schema
• I could say “I was in class the other day”
– You would have a mental organization of a classroom
script: come into class, sit down, talk to friends, bell
rings, instructor begins to speak, take notes, bell rings
again, leave class, etc.
• Schemas & scripts provide framework for new
information
What’s in “Store” for Memory in the
Future
• More of human memory will move online.
• Rely more on digital storehouses full of video
and audio files of our lives.
• It'll happen because digital storage is cheap –
• we also realize how unreliable human memory
can be.
• storehouses will be portable, like today's music
for joggers, will provide you with help in
remembering people and places.
• Memory Extraction: criminal cases, eye witness,
Government use
• Memory Implants: sensual experiences, travel
experiences, languages, top secret information
• Virtual memories: Rachel is given a first-person memory
of a childhood she never had. Can create conflicts
between real and virtual childhood if real is not deleted.
Interference will occur
• Quasi-memories: one person's experiential memories are
recorded and then implanted into a different person's
head. Living an autobiography; Zorro, Jesus
• Body Switching: our memories in another body/ vise
versa
• Virtual Identity: A facsimile of a human personality could
be preserved within a computer program and purchased.
Chapter 7
Practice Test
1. Getting information into memory is called
_______; getting information out of memory is
called________.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Storage; retrieval
Encoding; storage
Encoding; retrieval
Storage; encoding
2. The word big is flashed on a screen. A mental
picture of the word big represents a _________
code; the definition “large in size” represents a
_________ code; “sounds like a pig” represents a
__________ code.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Structural; phonemic; semantic
Phonemic; semantic; structural
Structural; semantic; phonemic
Phonemic; structural; semantic
3. Miles is listening as his mother rattles through a
list of 15 or so things that he needs to remember to
pack for an upcoming trip. According to George
Miller, if Miles doesn’t write the items down as he
hears them, he will probably remember:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Fewer than 5 items from the list
About 10 to 12 items from the list
All the items from the list
5 to 9 items from the list
4. Which statement best represents current
evidence on the durability of long-term storage?
A. All forgetting involves breakdowns in retrieval
B. LTM is like a barrel of marbles in which none of
the marbles ever leak out
C. There is no convincing evidence that all one’s
memories are stored away permanently
D. All long-term memories gradually decay at a
constant rate
5.
5. An organized cluster of knowledge about a
particular object or event is called a:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Semantic network
Conceptual hierarchy
Schema
Retrieval cure
6. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon:
A. Is a temporary inability to remember something
you know, accompanied by a feeling that it’s
just out of reach
B. Is clearly due to a failure in retrieval
C. Reflects a permanent loss of information from
LTM
D. Is both A and B
7. Roberto is telling Rachel about some juicy
gossip when she stops him and informs him that
she is the one who passed this gossip onto him
about a week ago. In this example, Roberto has:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Been fooled by the misinformation effect
Made a reality-monitoring error
Made a source-monitoring error
Made a destination memory error
8. In decay theory is correct:
A. Information can never be permanently lost from
long-term memory
B. Forgetting is simply a case of retrieval failure
C. The principal cause of forgetting should be the
passage of time
D. All of the above
9. Bulldog McRae was recently traded to a new
football team. He is struggling to remember the
plays for his new team because he keeps mixing
them up with the plays from his previous team.
Bulldog’s problem illustrates the operation of:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Retroactive interference
Proactive interference
Transfer-inappropriate processing
Parallel distributed processing
10. Research suggests that the consolidation of
memories depends of the activity in the:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Cerebellum
Prefrontal lobe
Medial temporal lobe
Corpus callosum
11. Your memory of how to ride a bicycle is
contained in your______________ memory.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Declarative
Nondeclarative (procedural)
Structural
Episodic
12. Your knowledge that birds fly, that the sun
rises in the east, and that 2+2=4
is contained in your _____ memory.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Structural
Procedural
Episodic
semantic
13. Dorothy memorized her shopping list. When
she got to the store, however, she found she had
forgotten many of the items from the middle of the
list. This is an example of:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Inappropriate encoding
Retrograde amnesia
Proactive interference
the serial-position effect
14. Overlearning:
A. Refers to continued rehearsal of material after
the point of apparent mastery
B. Promotes improved recall
C. Should not be done, since it leads to increased
interference
D. Does both a and b
15. The tendency to mold one’s interpretation of
the past to fit how events actually turned out is
called:
A.
B.
C.
D.
The overconfidence effect
Selective amnesia
Retroactive interference
The hindsight bias
Homework Questions
1. The tendency for prior learning to inhibit recall of later
learning is called
a. encoding failure.
b. repression.
c. retroactive interference.
d. proactive interference.
2. Things that are heard are held as a brief __________ in
the sensory register.
a. echo.
b. icon.
c. image.
d. tactile.
3. Twenty years after graduating, a subject is able to
correctly identify photographs of students she attended high
school with from a larger group of strangers. To do so she
has used
a. recall.
b. recognition.
c. eidetic imagery.
d. reminiscence.
4. Memories outside of conscious awareness are called
a. proactive memories.
b. reactive memories.
c. explicit memories.
d. implicit memories.
5. The image that persists for about one-half second after
being seen is a(n)
a. sensation.
b. echo.
c. icon.
d. illusion.
6. Cue-dependent (or context dependent) theories of
memory suggest that you would do best on your chemistry
test if you could be tested
a. in the room where you studied.
b. in a chemistry laboratory.
c. with a large group of chemistry majors.
d. with students who share your interests.
7. Memories of historical facts are to __________
memory, as memories of your breakfast this morning are to
__________ memory.
a. episodic; procedural
b. procedural; semantic
c. semantic; episodic
d. long-term; short-term
8. The fact that a bodily state that exists during learning
can be a strong cue for later memory is known as
a. eidetic imagery.
b. integration.
c. state-dependent learning.
d. the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.
9. Helen has a six-month "gap" in her memories of grade
school. Her "gap" corresponds to the period immediately
after her father's death. Helen's memory loss is most likely
accounted for by
a. cue-dependent forgetting.
b. repression.
c. retroactive inhibition.
d. decay of memory traces
10. Memories of historical facts are to __________ memory, as
memories of your breakfast this morning are to __________
memory.
a. episodic; procedural
b. procedural; semantic
c. semantic; episodic
d. long-term; short-term
15. If someone says “Only a congenial pinhead
would make that choice,”
this use of language would represent:
•
•
•
•
a) confirmation
b) syntactic slanting
c) anticipatory name calling
d) telegraphic speech
Intelligence
•
•
•
•
What is it?
How do we measure it?
How did intelligence testing begin?
How does it impact how we view those
around us?
Intelligence Tests
• Intelligence tests
– A method for assessing an individual’s mental
aptitudes and comparing them with those of others,
using numerical scores
- Binet & Simon wanted to test mental age, which is the
chronological age that most typically corresponds to
a given level of performance; average 8 year-old has
a mental age of 8.
- Only intended to identify school children who needed help
NOT to measure intelligence and label children
- Tracking or grouping children according to their intellectual
aptitude leads to decreased self-esteem & academic
achievement
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test
• Re-normed the test and derived what we know
as the term IQ
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
– Mental age/ chronological age x 100 = IQ
• Intelligence tests no longer derive an IQ but a mental
ability score that compares someone’s performance
on the test to the average performance of other the
same age
• Ultimately test scores do not just test innate ability,
but their education and the culture influences within
the test
What is Intelligence?
• Intelligence: the ability to learn from experience, solve
problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
• General intelligence (g): a general intelligence factor
that Spearman and others believed underlies special
mental abilities and is measured by every task on an
intelligence test
• Factor Analysis: a statistical procedure that identifies
clusters of related items (factors) on a test; used to
identify different dimensions of performance that underlie
one’s total score
– Ex. Verbal and Nonverbal factors
What is Intelligence?
• Highly debated topic!!!
• Several theories of intelligence have developed
over time
• Basically, intelligence is an man-made
construct and thus intelligence is defined
by how it is measured via the components
on the test that is used
• EX. The importance of thinking and language fits in
here!! 
Theories of Intelligence
• Multiple Intelligences
– Howard Gardner
– Each intelligence is relatively independent of
the other
– 7 types of intelligence
•
Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language,
the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to
accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively
use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and language as
a means to remember information. Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are
among those that Howard Gardner sees as having high linguistic
intelligence.
Multiple Intelligences
•
•
•
Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the capacity to analyze
problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate
issues scientifically. In Howard Gardner's words, it entails the ability to
detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is
most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.
Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and
appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize
and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. According to Howard
Gardner musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic
intelligence.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one's whole
body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental
abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Howard Gardner sees mental and
physical activity as related.
Multiple Intelligences
•
•
•
Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the
patterns of wide space and more confined areas.
Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand
the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to
work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political
leaders and counsellors all need a well-developed interpersonal
intelligence.
Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to
appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner's view
it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to
use such information to regulate our lives.
• Sternberg agreed with Gardner..but stated only 3
intelligences: Analytical, Creative, & Practical
Multiple Intelligences
• Savant Syndrome
– a condition in which a person otherwise
limited in mental ability has an exceptional
specific skill, such as computation or drawing
– Ex. Rain Man
This whole concept suggests that intelligence is
a diverse set of distinct abilities
Emotional Intelligence
• This was first called social intelligence or the
know-how to comprehend and manage social
situations well
• Emotional Intelligence
– The ability to perceive, express, understand, and
regulate emotions
– People are self-aware and not overwhelmed by
depression, anxiety, or anger
– Delay gratification for long-term goals and are not
impulsive
Assessing Intelligence
• Aptitude Tests
– A test designed to predict a person’s future
performance; aptitude
*ex. career assessment, SAT, ACT, GRE
• Achievement Tests
– A test designed to assess what a person had learned;
current competence
* ex. school tests
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
– The WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test;
contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtest
Test Construction
• Standardization:
– Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the
performance of a pretested “standardization group”
– These scores typically create a normal distribution
that form a normal curve which is the symmetrical
bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of
many physical and psychological attributes. Most
scores fall near the average and fewer and fewer lie
near the extremes; bell-shaped pattern
– Ex. Bell-shaped pattern is generally seen for
intelligence
Normal Distribution
IQ Deviation Scores
• Deviation IQ scores:
– Locate subjects precisely within the normal
distribution, using the standard deviation as
the unit of measurement
– Devised by David Wechsler and used by most
all subsequent tests
Test Construction
• Reliability
– The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as
assessed by the consistency of score on two halves
of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on
retesting
• Test-retest: determining reliability by retesting people with the
same test or merely a different form of the test
• Split-half test: split the test in half and determine if the scores
agree
 Most IQ test have exceptional reliability in the .90
Test Construction
• Validity
– The extent to which a test measures or predicts what
it is supposed to.
• Content validity- the extent to which a test samples the
behavior that is of interest (ex. Driver’s test- specific tasks)
• Predictive validity- test predicts behavior; correlation btwn.
test scores the criterion
• Criterion: behavior that a test is designed to predict
– Validity of IQ scores are good with academic work but
debatable with intelligence in the broader sense
Mental Retardation
• Mental Retardation (intellectual disability ID)
– A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an
intelligence score below 70 and difficulty in adapting
to the demands of life (conceptual, social, & practical)
– Varies from mild to profound
– About 1% of people meet the criteria
– More males than females
– Chart Pg. 363
MILD
MODERATE
SEVERE
PROFOUND
Genetic & Environmental
Influences on Intelligence
• p. 366-370
– Flynn Effect
– Reaction Range
• P. 374-376
Cultural Differences in Intelligence
• P. 371-374
Chapter 9
Practice Test
1. Which of the following does not belong with the
others?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Aptitude tests
Personality tests
Intelligence tests
Achievement tests
2. If you score at the 75th percentile on a
standardized test, it means that:
A. 75% of those who took the test scored better
than you did
B. 25% of those who took the test scored less
than you
C. 75% of those who took the test scored the
same or less than you did
D. You answered 75% of the questions correctly
3. If a test has good test-retest reliability:
A. There is a strong correlation between items on
the test
B. It accurately measures what it says it measures
C. It can be used to predict future performance
D. The test yields similar scores if taken at two
different times
4. Which of the following is a true statement
regarding Francis Galton?
A. He took the position that intelligence is largely
determined by heredity
B. He advocated the development of special
programs to tap the intellectual potential of the
culturally disadvantaged
C. He developed tests that identified those
children who were unable to profit from a
normal education
D. He took the position that intelligence is more a
matter of environment than heredity
5. On most modern IQ tests, a score of 115 would
be:
A.
B.
C.
D.
About average
About 15% higher than the average of one’s agemates
An indication of genius
One standard deviation above the mean
6. IQ tests have proven to be good predictors of:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Social intelligence
Practical problem-solving intelligence
School performance
All of the above
7. Mr. and Mrs. Proudparents are beaming
because their son, little Newton, has been selected
for a gifted children program at school. They think
Newton is a genius. What sort of advice do they
need to hear?
A. Youngsters with a 130-140 IQ tend to be very
maladjusted
B. Most gifted children do not do not go on to
make genuis-level, major contributions to
society that earn them eminence
C. They should prepare to be famous, based on
their parentage of Newton
D. They should be warned that gifted children
often have deficits in practical intelligence
8. Which of the following is a true statement about
mental retardation/intellectual disability?
A. Most people with retardation are unable to live
normal lives because of their mental
deficiencies
B. With special tutoring, a mentally retarded
person can attain average intelligence
C. The majority of people who exhibit intellectual
disability fall in the mild category
D. Diagnoses of mental retardation should be
based exclusively on IQ scores
9. Most school districts consider children
who_______ to be gifted.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Have IQ scores above 115
Score in the upper 2%-3% of the IQ distribution
Have parents in professional careers
Demonstrate high levels of leadership and
creativity
10. In which of the following cases would you
expect to find the greatest similarity in IQ?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Between fraternal twins
Between identical twins
Between nontwin siblings
Between parent and child
11. Evidence indicating that upbringing affects
one’s mental ability is provided by which of the
following findings?
A. Identical twins are more similar in IQ than
fraternal twins
B. There is more than a chance similarity between
adopted children and their biological parents
C. Siblings reared together are more similar in IQ
than siblings reared apart
D. Identical twins reared apart are more similar in
IQ than siblings reared together
12. Which of the following is a likely consequence
of stereotype threat for members of minority
groups?
A. Academic motivation declines
B. Academic performance often suffers
C. Standardized tests may underestimate their
ability
D. All of the above are likely consequences
13. ______ proposed that there are three facets of
intelligence; analytical, practical, and creative
intelligence
A.
B.
C.
D.
Howard Gardner
Arthur Jensen
Claude Steele
Robert Sternberg
14. When you try to narrow down a list of
alternatives to arrive at a single correct answer,
you engage in:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Convergent thinking
Divergent thinking
Creativity
Insight
15. Nora has a blind date with Nick, who, she’s been
told, is considered a true genius by the faculty art
department. Now she’s having second thoughts,
because she’s always heard that geniuses are a little off
their rocker. Does she have reason to be concerned?
A. Yes. It’s been well documented that the stress of
creative achievement often leads to schizophrenic
systems
B. No. Extensive research on creativity and psychological
disorders shows no evidence for any connection
C. Perhaps. There is evidence of a correlation between
major creative achievement and vulnerability to mood
disorders.
D. Of course not. The stereotype of the genius who’s
mentally ill is purely a product of the jealousy of
untalented people.