Q1) One well-known theory of intelligence, the triarchic theory proposed by Robert Sternberg, distinguishes three different aspects of intelligence. Explain each of these aspects in detail.
The first component proposed by Sternberg is componential or analytical intelligence. This defines the factors that individuals employ when thinking intelligently about a problem. The second aspect is experiential or creative intelligence. This refers to the creative skills that people use when solving new problems. The third aspect is contextual or practical intelligence. This refers to the skills and strategies that people are not taught but uses them anyway to solve the daily issues they are facing.
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Q2) One type of mental representation is the concept. How do concepts allow us to relate to the world around us in a manageable way? Create an example to show what a person's experience in a novel situation could be like if humans didn't organize the world based on concepts.
Concepts are mental categories that group objects, activities, relations, abstractions, and qualities with the same properties. The basic concepts are the ones with a moderate number of instances and that are easier to acquire than the ones with few or many instances. On the other hand, prototypes are representatives of concepts.
For example, when a student engages in co-curricular activities, he needs to understand the rules that define specific games. Sports such as soccer, netball, and handball have specific rules that should be followed when playing. If the student cannot group the rules of different sports into mental categories (concepts), he is likely to use the wrong rules in the wrong games.
Q3) How does the availability of heuristic lead people to believe that catastrophic events, such as plane crashes, occur more frequently than they actually do?
Heuristics are used to solve problems that are not well-defined. As such, there are no specific goals or clear solutions to these problems. In such cases, individuals use the "rule of thumb" thought that does not guarantee any solution to a problem.
Q4) What is cognitive dissonance? Provide an example that illustrates how cognitive dissonance can lead people to change their attitudes. Make sure to explain the cause of the cognitive dissonance in your example.
Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension that happens when an individual holds two inconsistent cognitions simultaneously. Cognitive dissonance also occurs when people’s beliefs are inconsistent with their behaviors. For example, in a large beverage company, most of the products are packaged in plastic containers. However, the employee understands that using plastic containers is a threat to environment conservation since most used bottles are dumped in the environment, waterways, and seas. The employee develops a feeling of mental discomfort in using plastic containers that are not environmentally sustainable. Despite this, the employee is supposed to follow the company directives by supporting the packaging of beverages in plastic containers, causing cognitive dissonance. In this case, cognitive dissonance develops since the employees’ beliefs conflict with their actions and behaviors. On the one hand, he believes that human beings need to protect the environment. However, duty requires that he uses plastic containers in packaging, causing an internal conflict that makes him feel bad.
Q5) Dissent and altruism are a matter of personal conviction, but situational factors are involved also. Analyze four situational factors involved when a person decides to "rock the boat" and choose conscience over conformity.
One situational factor happens when an individual perceives the need to get intervention or help. In this case, individuals choose to follow what they are feeling as opposed to what the group they are following wants them to do. The second situational factor is when the cultural norms encourage people to take action. Cultural factors such as the beliefs and values that individuals hold concerning specific issues can force people to follow their conscience instead of conforming to the needs of the group. The third situational factor involves the friends that people choose to associate with. Such friends may change the conformity values that people treasure, forcing them to act by their conscience. The fourth situational factor is when people are entrapped into following their conscience instead of the groups they conform to.
Q6) What is an attitude? Give an example of an attitude that would be considered explicit and one that would be considered implicit.
Attitudes are the beliefs that individuals form concerning people, groups, ideas, or activities. Attitudes are divided into implicit and explicit attitudes. Explicit attitudes are the ones that individuals are aware of. Implicit attitudes shape the conscious decisions and actions that people are involved in and can be measured using questionnaires. For example, telling a classmate whether you like a specific subject or not. On the other hand, implicit attitudes are the ones that are out of an individual's awareness. Implicit attitudes play an imperative role in influencing individual behaviors since they are within the unconscious realm. Implicit attitudes can only be measured using indirect methods. For example, having a memory of an outing when you bought a new cloth.
