Intelligence & rationality - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Intelligence & rationality

Week 9Slide2

What is intelligence?

Cattell/Horn/Carrol theory of intelligence

Fluid (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (

Gc

)Slide3

Fluid intelligence

Reasoning abilities across domains

Figural analogies

Raven Matrices

Series completionSlide4

Crystallized intelligence

Declarative knowledge

Verbal comprehension

General knowledge triviaSlide5

Summary: Intelligence

Intelligence-as-process (Gf)

Intelligence-as-knowledge (

Gc

)

But is that all there is cognitive models of intelligence?Slide6

History of intelligence testing

Grew out of WWII

How do you select the best soldiers?

Stanford-

Binet’s

IQ tests was the first formal intelligence testSlide7

Mental Age

Chronological Age

IQ

=

A 4 year old who can answer questions that a typical 6 year old could answer would have an IQ of 150

Distinguishing Ignorance from Stupidity?

History of intelligence testingSlide8

Mean = 100 (

Standard

Deviation =

15)

130+ = Gifted

145+ = Genius

70- = Moron

55- = Imbecile

25- = Idiot

History of intelligence testingSlide9

When are intelligence tests used?

Grad school admissions

University admissions

Preschool admissions

Certain job positions

Marriage?Slide10

How predictive are intelligence tests?

Very.

Correlates well with job performance, wellbeing, physical health, etc.Slide11

So what’s the problem?

Think. Think. Think.Slide12

Human irrationality

We're OK with standing in a line that's crowded, but not a line that's shortSlide13

Human irrationality

Decisions are different depending on the emotional state that we're inSlide14

Human irrationality

We are more willing to do things for free than if we'd gotten paid for itSlide15

Human irrationality

We are willing to pay more for something when something free is

involved

Also known as the "zero

price effect"Slide16

Human irrationality

We don't feel as remorseful about what we've done when we have to pay for

it.

A daycare center

decided to start fining parents when they arrive late to pick up their kids

. Guess what happens?Slide17

Human irrationality

How deep is Grand Canyon

?

Once a number is established in our minds, we will compare other similar items to this 'anchor'

This is formally known as the ‘anchoring and adjustment heuristic’Slide18

What other examples of human rationality can you think of?

Ariely

(2008).

Predictably irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions.

Slide19

Decoupling rationality and intelligenceSlide20

What most people think

“Good thinking” = good judgments and decision making

IQ tests are measures of good thinking

But why do smart people do dumb things? Slide21
Slide22

Smart people do dumb things

Smart: Measured by IQ tests (or SAT)

Dumbness: The outcome of decision making

IQ tests do not measure adaptive decision making

Intelligence is often confused with rationality

Rational thinking skills only show small to medium correlations to IQ

Stanovich

& West (2008). On the relative independence of thinking biases and cognitive ability.

J

Pers

Soc

Psyc.Slide23

What is rational thinking?

A

dopt

appropriate

goals

Take

appropriate action given one’s goals and

beliefs

H

old

beliefs that are commensurate with available evidence. Slide24

Why don’t people act rationally?

Processing problem: Humans are cognitive misers

Content problem: How we acquire knowledge

Stanovich

(2009).

What intelligence tests miss: The psychology of rational thought.

Yale Univ. Press.Slide25

Quiz 1

Jack is looking at Anne, but Anne is looking at George. Jack is married, but George is not.

Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?

Yes

No

Cannot be determined

We

don’t like to think too much.Slide26

Quiz 2

Imagine that the U.S. Department of Transportation has found that a particular German car is eight times more likely than a typical family car to kill occupants of another car in a crash. The federal government is considering

resticting

sale and use of this German car. Please answer the following two questions: Do you think sales of the German car should be banned in the U.S.? Do you think the German car should be banned from being driven on American streets?Slide27

“Myside” bias among American participants

We tend to

evaluate a situation from our own perspectiveSlide28

Quiz 3

Four

cards are sitting on a table. Each card has a letter on one side and a number on the other. Two cards are letter-side up, and two of the cards are number-side up. The rule to be tested is this: for these four cards, if a card has a vowel on its letter side, it has an even number on its number side. Your task is to decide which card or cards must be turned over to find out whether the rule is true or false. Indicate which cards must be turned over

.

We rarely falsify our beliefs.Slide29

Summary thus far…

Intelligence tests are predict income and many other important life outcomes

But they leave out large domains of cognitive functioning

They also leave out other

noncognitive

domains (social intelligence, emotional intelligence, creativity, etc.) but that’s another story…Slide30

Is it really a problem?

All I need is high IQ and I can be pretty much successful in life, can’t I?Slide31

IQ vs RQ

You should not trust a surgeon who has an IQ of 80

Neither should you trust a surgeon who has an RQ of 80…but the scary thing is, you will never know what his/her RQ is!!!

There are no tests of RQ, but we have enough knowledge now to start developing one.Slide32

Class Discussion

What would an RQ test look like?

How would you measure rationality?Slide33

Best on the market: Cognitive Reflection Task

A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

If it takes 5 machines 5 min to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets? ____ min (c) In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads.

Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake? ____ days

Frederick

(2005). Cognitive reflection and decision making.

J Econ

Persp

.Slide34

Sales pitch for psychology

In psychology, you will learn more about

dysrationalia

– factors that influence rational decision making.

Want to know more? Take Cognitive Psychology!Slide35

Last question.

You are smart, that’s for sure.

But are you rational?