Chapter 7 Thinking and Intelligence 263• IQ tests have been criticized for being biased in favor of white,
middle-class people. However, efforts to construct tests that are
free of cultural influence have been disappointing. Culture af-
fects nearly everything to do with taking a test, from attitudes
to problem-solving strategies. Negative stereotypes about a
person’s ethnicity, gender, or age may cause the person to feel
the effects of stereotype threat, which can lead to anxiety that
interferes with test performance.
Dissecting Intelligence: The Cognitive
Approach
• Cognitive approaches to intelligence emphasize several kinds
of intelligence and the strategies people use to solve problems.
One important cognitive ingredient is working memory, which
allows you to juggle your attention when thinking or working
on a problem and to ignore distractions. Another is metacogni-
tion, the understanding and monitoring of your own cognitive
processes.
• Sternberg’s triarchic theory proposes three aspects of intelli-
gence: componential/analytic, experiential/creative, and contex-
tual/practical. Contextual intelligence allows you to acquire tacit
knowledge, practical strategies that are important for success
but are not explicitly taught.
• Another important kind of intelligence, emotional intelligence,
is the ability to identify your own and other people’s emotions
accurately, express emotions clearly, and regulate emotions in
yourself and others.
The Biology of Memory
• Heritability estimates for intelligence (as measured by IQ
tests) average about .40 to .50 for children and adolescents,
and .60 to .80 for adults. Identical twins are more similar
in IQ-test performance than fraternal twins, and adopted
children’s scores correlate more highly with those of their bio-
logical parents than with those of their nonbiological relatives.
These results do not mean that genes determine intelligence;
the remaining variance in IQ scores must largely result from
environmental influences. Although many genes may influ-
ence IQ performance, any one gene is likely to have just a tiny
influence.
• It is a mistake to draw conclusions about group differences from
heritability estimates based on differences within a group. The
available evidence fails to support genetic explanations of
black–white differences in performance on IQ tests.
• Environmental factors such as poor prenatal care, malnutri-
tion, exposure to toxins, stressful family circumstances, and
living in an extremely disadvantaged neighborhood are associ-
ated with lower performance on intelligence tests. Conversely,
a healthy and stimulating environment can improve perfor-
mance. IQ scores have been rising in many countries for
several generations, most likely because of improved educa-
tion, health care, diets, and job opportunities for the poorest
people.
• Intellectual achievement also depends on motivation, hard work,
and self-discipline. Cross-cultural work shows that beliefs about
the origins of mental abilities, parental standards, and attitudes
toward education play a big role in creating differences in aca-
demic performance.Animal Minds
• Some researchers, especially those in cognitive ethology, argue
that nonhuman animals have greater cognitive abilities than
has previously been thought. Some animals can use objects as
simple tools. Chimpanzees have shown evidence of a simple
understanding of number. Some researchers believe that the
great apes, and possibly other animals, have aspects of a
theory of mind, an understanding of how their own minds and
the minds of others work. In some apes and monkeys, these
aspects may include some metacognition.
• In projects using visual symbol systems or American Sign
Language (ASL), primates have acquired linguistic skills. Some
animals, even nonprimates such as dolphins and African gray
parrots, seem able to use simple grammatical ordering rules to
convey or comprehend meaning. However, scientists are divided
about how to interpret the findings on animal cognition, with
some worrying about anthropomorphism and others about the
opposite error, failure to acknowledge that humans and animals
share many cognitive abilities.Psychology in the News Revisited
• Our cognitive abilities allow us to be playful, smart, and creative,
yet we are also blinded by cognitive biases that distort reality
and allow us to behave mindlessly. Although enormous strides
have been made in the field of artificial intelligence, human
intelligence is more than the capacity to perform computations
with lightning speed. We remain the only creatures that try to
understand our own minds and misunderstandings.This Is Your Life Taking Psychology With You
• Creativity is part of critical thinking. Creative people rely on di-
vergent rather than convergent thinking when solving problems.
They tend to be nonconformist, curious, and persistent. External
circumstances also matter: Settings foster creative accomplish-
ment when they promote intrinsic motivation, provide contact
with different kinds of people, create opportunities for solitude
and daydreaming, and encourage risk-taking and occasional
failure.