The Circle of Thought

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Chapter 7 Thought, Language, and Intelligence
slide. What she saw indicated that a poison was destroying Laura’s red blood cells. What
could it be? Laura spent most of her time at home, but her teenage daughters, who lived
with her, were perfectly healthy. Dr. Wallace asked herself, “What does Laura do that the
girls do not?” She repairs and restores paintings. Paint. Lead! She might be suffering from
lead poisoning! When the next blood test showed a lead level seven times higher than
normal, Dr. Wallace knew she had found the answer at last.
To solve this medical mystery, Dr. Wallace relied on her intelligence, part of which can
be seen in her ability to think, solve problems, and make judgments and decisions. She
put these vital cognitive abilities to use in weighing the pros and cons of various hypotheses and in reaching decisions about what tests to order and how to interpret them. In
consulting with the patient and other physicians, she relied on another remarkable human
cognitive ability known as language. Let’s take a look at what psychologists have discovered
about these complex mental processes, how to measure them, and how to compare people in terms of intelligence. We begin by examining a general framework for understanding human thinking and then go on to look at some specific cognitive processes.
Basic Functions of Thought
䉴 What good is thinking, anyway?
Understanding the mental processes that Dr. Wallace used to solve her problem begins
by realizing that her thinking, like yours, involves five main operations or functions: to
describe, to elaborate, to decide, to plan, and to guide action. Figure 7.1 shows how these
functions can be organized into a circle of thought.
The Circle of Thought
Consider how the circle of thought operated in Dr. Wallace’s case. It began when she
received the information about Laura’s symptoms that allowed her to describe the problem. Next, Dr. Wallace elaborated on this information by using her knowledge, experience, and powers of reasoning to consider what disorders might cause such symptoms.
Then she made a decision to investigate a possible cause, such as anemia. To pursue this
decision, she formulated a plan—and then acted on that plan. But the circle of thought
did not stop there. Information from the blood test provided new descriptive
FIGURE
7.1
The Circle of Thought
Describe
Elaborate
The circle of thought begins as our sensory
systems receive information from the
world. Our perceptual system describes
and elaborates this information, which is
represented in the brain in ways that
allow us to make decisions, formulate
plans, and guide our actions. As those
actions change our world, we receive new
information, which begins another journey
around the circle of thought.
Decide
Act
Plan
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Basic Functions of Thought
ATTENTION
Incoming
stimulus
information
FIGURE
STAGE 1
Sensory
processing
7.2
An Information-Processing Model
Some stages in the information-processing
model depend heavily on both short-term
and long-term memory and require some
attention—that limited supply of mental
resources required for information processing to be carried out efficiently.
The
sensory, perceptual, decision-making,
response-planning, and action components of the circle of thought can occur so
rapidly that—as when playing a fastpaced video game—we may only be
aware of the incoming information and
our quick response to it. In such cases, our
thinking processes become so well practiced that they are virtually automatic.
“AUTOMATIC” THINKING
information-processing system
Mechanisms for receiving information,
representing it with symbols, and
manipulating it.
thinking The manipulation of mental
representations.
STAGE 2
Perception
(Description)
(Elaboration)
STAGE 3
Decision
making
(Planning)
STAGE 4
Response
selection
(Action)
STAGE 5
Response
execution
(Action)
MEMORY
Short-term
Long-term
information, which Dr. Wallace elaborated further to reach another decision, create a
new plan, and guide her next action. Each stage in the circle of thought was also influenced by her overall intention—in this case, to find and cure her patient’s problem.
The processes making up the circle of thought usually occur so quickly and are so
complex that slowing them down for careful analysis might seem impossible. Some psychologists approach this difficult task by studying thought processes as if they were part
of a computer-like information-processing system. An information-processing
system receives information, represents the information with symbols, and then
manipulates those symbols (e.g. Anderson et al., 2004). In an information-processing
model, thinking is defined as the manipulation of mental representations. Figure 7.2
shows how an information-processing model might describe the sequence of mental
events that make up one trip around the circle of thought.
In the first stage, information about the world reaches your brain through the senses
we discussed in the chapter on sensation and perception. This stage does not require
attention. In the second stage, you must perceive and recognize the information—processes
that do require attention. In this stage, you also consciously elaborate information using
the short-term and working-memory processes described in the memory chapter. These