What errors in reasoning are made
DR. Von mizener
EDOL 631 4
Advanced Organizer Week 4 class outline
Theorists of IQ
Midterm discussion
Ability grouping
Forming Concepts
Inductive/deductive reasoning
Heuristics/Fallicious reasoning
Assignments Due Dates
Week 4 class goals
Be able to answer the questions: What is intelligence? Is intelligence caused by genes or environment?
Obtain specific tools for how teachers can adapt to differences in intelligence and improve student intelligence?
How do children/students learn and organize their knowledge about concepts?
What are the main kinds of reasoning?
What errors in reasoning are made?
How can we help students transfer knowledge/skills?
activity- Theorists of IQ
Sternberg
Gardner
Cattell and Horn
Basics
What are some teaching implications of each?
Empirical evidence for either?
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Content – Cattell and horn
General ability (g)
Two major subfactors –
Fluid v. crystallized intelligence
ability to understand abstract and often novel concepts which requires us to think flexibly and to seek out new patterns.
puzzles
accumulation of knowledge which is measured by tests of vocabulary and general information.
Word knowledge
Used in part by many contemporary IQ tests (SB5, WJ-III)
Content – Gardner
8 distinct/independent intelligences
Linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist….
implications:
take broad view of what constitutes intelligence
Appreciate underrepresented intelligences
Diversify instruction
Content – sternberg
Sternberg – 3 independent/distinct aspects
Analytical abilities
Creative abilities
Practical abilities (adapt to, shape, and select environment)
Implications:
Focus on the practical as well as the academic aspects of intelligence
Make the most of our strengths; live with or improve upon weaknesses
Experts are not good at everything!
Evidence – has been tested; but is very broad
Content – Heritability / modifiability
May be no clear answer to these questions
Genetic and environmental contributions
Heritability coefficient: 0 to 1
extent to which individual differences on a measure are genetically determined
i.e, height – heritability of more than 0.9
.6 to .8
Flynn Effect
Gene-environment interaction – genetic expression depends on environment
Content – reaction range
reaction range – upper/lower limits determined genetically
Exact functioning within range depends on environment
Individual/student can be provided with experiences to shape exact level of intelligence within predetermined limits
GROUP ACTIVITY Ability grouping
Within-class grouping (A)
Between-class grouping (B)
Regrouping (C)
EXAMPLES From your work/training?
Learning Styles
Preferences or needs for learning conditions
Within-class and regrouping are considered most successful – more room fore flexibility; more limited – not all day every day grouping.
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Content – creativity
Creativity
Convergent vs divergent
Intrinsic vs extrinsic
Content – critical thinking
CRITICAL THINKING _
Conscious and purposeful – solution focused
vs. automatic/mindless
Content – features of concepts
CONCEPTS
Concepts are mental categories of similar things/ideas
Features of concepts
Defining
Necessary and sufficient
Characteristic feature
Property typical but not always associated
Examples?
Prototype –most representative instance
Exemplar – highly typical
Content – REASONING
Deductive vs. inductive
Deductive – top down – general to specific
Inductive – specific to general
Syllogisms: logical deductive arguments
Way to practice deductive arguments
One piece of information is inferred from another
Conclusion is inferred from the premise
Conditional –
If-then
Cannot be reversed
activity- syllogism
If students don’t pay attention, they will miss key points that will be on the exam
If students miss key points, they will do poorly on the exam
If students don’t pay attention, they will do poorly on the exam.
What type of syllogism is this?????
Conditional
list of conditional statements that lead us from the hypothesis of “a cable company puts you on hold” to a final conclusion of “ending up in a roadside ditch.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOvrJFZ8DtU
CONTENT Fallacious reasoning / fallacies
When we use inductive inferences, we prone to hasty generalizations…. How do we avoid this?
Fallacies – misuse of heuristics
Heuristics (speculative shortcuts in thinking / mental shortcuts when making judgments)
We estimate the likelihood of an event by comparing it to an existing prototype that already exists in our minds
Why do we use heuristics???? often efficient and low demand on cognitive energy
Availability – ease of what comes to mind / readily available
Representativeness –fits stereotype
Activity – Type of Heuristic???
After seeing several television programs on shark attacks, you start to think that such incidences are relatively common. When you go on vacation, you refuse to swim in the ocean because you believe the probability of a shark attack is high.
After reading an article about lottery winners, you start to overestimate your own likelihood of winning the jackpot. You start spending more money than you should each week on lottery tickets.
If I meet someone with a laid back attitude and long hair, I might assume they are more likely to be Californian, whereas someone who is very polite but rigid may be assumed to be English.
http://psychology.about.com/od/aindex/g/availability-heuristic.htm
availability
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ACTIVITY – heuristics
Consider the following description:
Sarah loves to listen to New Age music and faithfully reads her horoscope each day. In her spare time, she enjoys aromatherapy and attending a local spirituality group.
Is Sarah more likely to be a school teacher or a holistic healer?
http://psychology.about.com/od/rindex/g/representativeness-heuristic.htm
Activity, cont.
Many people would identify her as a holistic healer based on representativeness. She fits in with our existing ideas of how a holistic healer might behave. In reality, it is far more likely that Sarah is actually a school teacher based purely on probability. School teachers are far more common than holistic healers.
http://psychology.about.com/od/rindex/g/representativeness-heuristic.htm
Content – transfer of info
HEURISTICS cont……
Overconfidence
Underconfidence
Which describes you you? Why?
Transfer
Low-road vs. high road transfer
Conscious thought vs. spontaneous? Reflective thinking vs. automatic?
Examples of each?
Reflections Q/A?
Review -Week 4 class goals
Be able to answer the questions: What is intelligence? Is intelligence caused by genes or environment?
Obtain specific tools for how teachers can adapt to differences in intelligence and improve student intelligence?
How do children/students learn and organize their knowledge about concepts?
What are the main kinds of reasoning?
What errors in reasoning are made?
How can we help students transfer knowledge/skills?
Assignments/Due dates
mid-term – released shortly after class tonight
50 MC items
Allow 2 uninterrupted hours – 120 minutes timed
OPEN BOOK /NOTE/ PPT format
No way to monitor who uses what so you are free to use any course resources
Must be finished before class next week/ no late tests accepted
If you have accommodations, please let me know
Most concepts discussed in class – some were not
DB 5 post – review requirements
