and how its related to iq.
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In the Sherlock Holmes stories you have two characters, Sherlock and Mycroft who are brothers.
Sherlock can see a single piece of evidence, such as a callous on a particular part of someone’s particular finger, and determine they must be a habitual pipe smoker because the heat of the bowl, when held, warms that particular part of that particular finger.
That is deductive reasoning. If you have enough background knowledge, you can say that event b is directly caused by event a.
Mycroft, on the other hand, worked backwards from that. If you told him that pipe tobacco sales increased, he could tell you a) all the social and financial aspects that must have led to such an increase as well as b) all the health ramifications of such an increase as were known at the time, down to the percentage increase of men with callouses on their fingers.
a) Is abstract reasoning. b) is deductive reasoning.
This is why Mycroft is sometimes referred to as “Sherlock Holmes’ smarter brother.”
Computers are a great example of successive layers of abstraction:
1. A bunch of atoms interacting according to the laws of physics
2. A bunch of circuits with current switching on and off
3. A bunch of 0s and 1s being stored and processed
4. A bunch of code being executed and data being input/output
5. A program making a bunch of pixels light up
6. A cat video you can watch
All of those are descriptions of the same process, but they get more and more abstract as you go down the list. The idea behind abstraction is you can ignore the fine details of how something works, and just focus on what you can do with it.
You don’t need to get a degree in semiconductor physics in order to use your computer to browse the internet, because all of those details have been abstracted away and you can focus on the big picture of what its capabilities are in terms of things you easily understand.
I’ve heard it explained (don’t remember where) is that it comes down to how you handle novelty.
For a 5 year old: you could definitely show them how to use a measuring cup to make a recipe. If they then used a bucket with sand or water in it to measure the volume of something else, that would be intelligence. They learn the skill and application and then can *abstractly* see how it could be used or important in another situation.
Same for verbal IQ, I think. A 5 year old could listen to an adult use a pun and see people respond with laughter. Intelligence would be not only understanding the connection of the pun, but also recognizing it when she comes across one in something she’s saying or even if she sees one that she could make in the course of normal conversation and then uses it to try to make others laugh. The abstraction is that it’s not only that the one pun is funny, but that they are all potentially funny and can be used to connect with others through humor.
It’s about understanding the point over the example. Your ability to gauge context, inference.
Abstract reasoning is considered to be part of executive functioning (found in the pre frontal cortex of the brain) which is considered to be the higher order thinking part of the brain.
Abstract reasoning means you can think about concepts more broadly rather than very literal and specific interpretations. For example – if I ask you what’s the similarity between a bike and a bus, you might say that they’re both means of transport. When you don’t have abstract reasoning the typical answer is that they’ve both got wheels. You’re able to identify what the idea or concept is.
Thus abstract reasoning plays a critical part of learning, because you’re able to apply concepts to different situations, even if you are unfamiliar with it – eg you can appreciate that a train is also a mode of transport even if you’ve never seen one before
Think about how some people are _really_ good at analogies. They’re able to find hidden connections between two contrasting subjects.
– “Abstract” implies you’re taking a different approach to a thought.
– “Reasoning” implies you’re using it to build understanding of the original idea.
Using abstract reasoning, we’re able to take complex concepts and relate it to something that we’re used to seeing.
Many intelligent people LOVE to use analogies in teaching to express an idea/concept to a crowd. Which is why IQ tests look for people’s ability to think differently for better understanding.
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