Unit 6: Testing & Individual Differences Module 31: Introduction to Intelligence

What is Intelligence? IQ: Intelligence quotient Intelligence: mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. Intelligence is a concept, not a thing Intelligence is whatever attributes enables success within a culture.

What is Intelligence? Reification: viewing an abstract concept as if it was a concrete thing To reify is to invent a concept, give it a name, and convince us that it exists. We treat IQ as a thing that someone has rather than a score someone attains on a test.

What is Intelligence? In the end, intelligence is whatever intelligence tests measure! Two controversies: 1. Is intelligence a single overall ability or several abilities? 2. Can we locate and measure intelligence within the brain?

What is Intelligence? Clusters: Groups of skills that comprise an intelligence factor. Ex. Verbal, mathematical, spatial… General Intelligence (g): a general intelligence factor that is in every specific mental ability. (Spearman) Spearman’s “g” was a single intelligence score!

What is Intelligence? Multiple abilities! Thurstone identified 7 clusters of primary mental abilities: Word fluency Verbal comprehension Spatial ability Perceptual speed Numerical ability Inductive reasoning Memory Multiple abilities!

What is Intelligence? Savant Syndrome: a person with one exceptional ability, but limited mental ability in the others. Found in some people living with autism. This led Howard Gardner to conclude that we do not have a single intelligence, but that we have multiple intelligences.

Gardner’s Theory Theory of Multiple Intelligences: 1. Linguistic 2. Logical-mathematical 3. Musical 4. Spatial 5. Bodily-kinesthetic 6. Intrapersonal (Self) 7. Interpersonal (Others) 8. Naturalist 9. Existential

Multiple Intelligence Survey on Multiple Intelligences

Video Multiple Intelligences

What is Intelligence? Robert Sternberg’s Three Aspects of Intelligence: Analytical: academic problem solving. Measured on IQ tests. Creative: generating new ideas Practical: “street smarts”, required for everyday tasks where multiple solutions exist. Agreed with Gardner, but a simplified version.

Theories on Intelligence Summary: Spearman – g (general intelligence). Thurstone – Primary mental abilities (7 factors/clusters). Gardner – 9 independent intelligences. Sternberg – 3 areas that predict success.

Emotional Intelligence Emotional Intelligence: the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions. Perceive: recognize emotions in faces, music, and stories. Understand: to predict them & how they change and blend. Manage: to express them in situations. Use: to enable them.

Emotional Intelligence Emotionally intelligent people enjoy better relationships with people of both sexes and avoid depression, anxiety, or anger. Often succeed in career, marriage, and parenting.

Intelligence Research says: Intelligence tests do predict both occupational status and job performance. Intelligence gets you the job, other things (emotional intelligence) helps you keep the job and be successful.

Creativity Creativity: The ability to produce novel (new) and valuable ideas. Ex. How many ways can you use a brick? People who do well on intelligence tests do well on creativity tests. Creativity led to technology: iPods, Post-it notes, etc.

Creativity Five Components of Creativity: Expertise: well-developed base of knowledge. Imaginative thinking skills: to see things in new ways. Venturesome personality: tolerates ambiguity and risk. Seeks new experiences rather than follow old. Intrinsic motivation: internally driven. Creative environment: places, peers

Intelligence & the Brain Does brain size and intelligence correlate? Some geniuses had small brains, while some dumb criminals had large brains. There is, however, a +.4 correlation between brain size and intelligence. Learning produces bigger brains (mice in enriched environment).

Intelligence & the Brain Highly intelligent people differ in neural plasticity. Neural plasticity: ability during childhood to adapt and grow neural connections. Higher intelligence linked to more gray matter (neural bodies) in brains. Otherwise, slight correlation between size and intelligence.

Intelligence & the Brain Highly intelligent people perceive information more quickly. (Quick witted) They also have faster neurological speed. (Process it quicker.) So highly intelligent people see and process information quicker than others.

Environmental Influences Infants who suffer from extreme malnutrition during infancy average 20 I.Q. points lower than other children (Stock and Smythe, 1963) Toxins in the environment such as lead found in some paints are associated with reduced I.Q. (Needleman, 1990)

Environmental Influences Intelligence declines with family size; the fewer children there are the smarter you are likely to be (Zajonc, 1975) Intelligence declines with birth order; first-borns tend to be brighter (Zajonc, 1975) I.Q. is negatively correlated with family risk factors, such as social class or absence of father figure (1989)