Distinguish the difference between a prototype and a concept.

• Explain how concepts are stored in memory.
• Create an argument for why a robin is considered “birdier” than a chicken.

Recognize the methods humans use to solve problems and how humans are also hindered by those same problem-solving methods.

• Determine if heuristics are more efficient problem-solving methods than trial and error.
• Examine why some psychologists believe in problem solving by insight—and why others think insight is just an illusion.
• Identify some of the “blind spots” that impair our ability to solve problems.

Define language, and recognize its properties.

• Determine if you agree with the saying, “All humans speak in the same tongue.”
• Identify the universal properties of all languages.
• Describe how language emerges.

Explain how the words we use influence our ideas about others, ourselves, and the world.

• Relate the words we speak to the way we conceptualize the world.
• Discuss how culture affects language.

Critique the theoretical types of intelligence for accuracy and bias.

• Examine the reasons why intelligence is measured.
• Describe how IQ tests are constructed.
• Recognize what it means to create an accurate IQ test.

Appreciate the range of intelligences proposed by the field of psychology.

• Examine why some psychologists believe intelligence to be one general ability.
• Determine if we can predict a child’s IQ in infancy.
• Understand the arguments posed by psychologists who believe that there are multiple human intelligences.

Apply the nature versus nurture debate to group variations in intelligence.

• Recognize the social impact that intelligence has on resources and opportunities.
• Summarize what research tell us about genetic and environmental influences.
• List some group differences researchers have found in test scores.