Study guides › P/S › Psychology
Cognition, Language & Intelligence
This chapter covers how thinking develops, how people solve problems and fall into predictable errors, how language is acquired and localized in the brain, and how intelligence is defined and measured. You will match terms and theorists to scenarios.
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What this chapter covers
- Cognitive Development: Piaget & Vygotsky. Piaget's stages and vocabulary appear constantly on the MCAT, usually as a child behaving in a way you must label.
- Information Processing, Problem Solving & Decision Making. Cognitive biases are tested as short scenarios: read the behavior, then name the heuristic or bias behind it.
- Language: Components, Development & the Brain. Expect questions that name a theorist and a claim about language, and patients whose speech problems point to a brain area.
- Intelligence: Theories, Testing & the Normal Curve. Know which theorist proposed which model, how IQ is calculated, and what the Flynn effect and heritability really mean.
Key points to know
- Assimilation = fit into existing schema; accommodation = change the schema
- Object permanence marks the end of the early sensorimotor stage
- Algorithm guarantees a solution; heuristic is a fast shortcut that may fail
- Availability = ease of recall; representativeness = match to prototype
- Phoneme = sound; morpheme = meaning; syntax = word order; pragmatics = context
- Chomsky: innate LAD; Skinner: reinforcement; Lenneberg: critical period
- Spearman g; Thurstone primary abilities; Gardner multiple; Sternberg triarchic
- Fluid = novel reasoning; crystallized = accumulated knowledge
Try a practice question
Which best defines accommodation?
- Interpreting new experiences using an existing schema
- Changing an existing schema to fit new information
- Feeling comfortable with what one already knows
- Learning by imitating adults
Show the answer
B. Accommodation changes or creates schemas. Using an existing schema unchanged is assimilation, the most common wrong choice.
Common questions
What does this chapter cover?
Cognition, Language & Intelligence covers Cognitive Development: Piaget & Vygotsky, Information Processing, Problem Solving & Decision Making, Language: Components, Development & the Brain, Intelligence: Theories, Testing & the Normal Curve.
What should I know first?
Assimilation = fit into existing schema; accommodation = change the schema Object permanence marks the end of the early sensorimotor stage Algorithm guarantees a solution; heuristic is a fast shortcut that may fail
20 original practice questions accompany this chapter in the app. Spaced review brings missed ideas back at the right time; it helps memory but cannot promise you will not miss an idea again.