Intelligence In the early days of psychology, it was thought that people who were more intelligent may have been more sensitive to environmental stimuli. The faster they could perceive it, the faster you can respond – or so went the thinking of the time. In order to test this people were given tests that measured reaction time. One experiment asked individuals to press a button when they heard a bell chime. Even though they didn’t think about it at the time, they had actually measured something else too (can you think of what it was?)

Twin studies One of the other things that they did early on was run experiments in the differences in intelligence between twins (both raised together as well as those raised apart). Is this a good way to measure differences? The twin studies pretty much confirmed that genetics played a big part in gauging the ultimate potential of an individual. If you take an IQ test, even though it is possible for your score to go up (or down), genetics dictates that you will fall into a certain range and wont be able to go significantly higher or lower.

Alfred Binet Alfred Binet was asked to come up with an intelligence test for the French government. The government wanted to be able to spend money on students who needed extra help in school (and didn’t have enough money for everyone). Binet came up with a primarily verbal test of ability that judged one child against the standardized responses of like-aged children. However, Binet didn’t care “why” the child scored what they did. What about if you didn’t speak French??

Intelligence as a Weapon Like many things, there were people who wanted to use the new intelligence information as a way to repress / suppress others. The new research was used against people who were poor, uneducated, or from poor countries. Hitler eventually used this information against Jews, Gypsies, and the mentally handicapped. Attempts to suppress “lesser” people always occurred, but now (it seemed) there was scientific evidence to support racism and ethnocentrism Colonies Manifest destiny etc.,

David Weschler Weschler took the Binet test and added a physical performance section to the test. He had been working with homeless people and needed to assess whether they were mentally unstable or simply unable to understand the language of the test. W.A.I.S.C – R W.I.S.C.

Aptitude test – Something your good at (talent) Achievement test – Measures what you have learned (usually in primary / secondary school) Intelligence test – (We think) measures I.Q. I.Q. = mental age chronological age Well, that only works for young people. When you try to use this equation for someone who’s 70 – it doesn’t work anymore. Someone who has a mental age of 25 and a real age of 70 would come out mentally handicapped (0.357)

Causes of mental handicap Genetic defect Congenital defect Life style / job factors that put your baby at risk: x-rays alcohol drugs (amphetamines, benzodiazepines) Smoking (leading cause of low birth weight)

What can you do to make yourself smarter? Ummmm, nothing. Technically you are limited by genetics. However, studies have shown that having a very stimulating environment as a baby can help to develop the brain. Mobile’s that make noise Reading to your child Talking to your child Being out in the world Manipulating objects in the environment

Does academic pre-school do anything? If you have a genius child it may be that exposing a child early to academics may be beneficial. For most of us….. Children who had academic pre-school had a distinct advantage over non-academic pre-school children when they entered first grade. By the end of first grade, there was no significant difference between children from either pre-school. However, children who have parents who are actively involved in their schooling (on average) do better than those who do not receive secondary reinforcement at home.

Smart Babies You wanna smart baby? Stay away from people who use recreational drugs Stay away from people who are not active (both physically and mentally) Provide a stimulating environment

Baby Brains Babies have many more neurons than adults. This allows them to learn faster and remember more than adults. As they learn more information, they gain many more neural connections. However, as babies age, neurons in areas that have not been well used are killed off. This makes the brain more efficient. This can be bad though, if the baby has had very little stimulation. Areas of the brain that may be useful to the adult, are paired down (like trimming a hedge or tree) and are of significantly less use to this adult later in life. (talk about Genie…)

So, what is Smart? As it stands now, we do not “really” know what intelligence is (we are not as sure as we once were). Intelligence appears to be a mixture of: Crystallized intelligence: Facts you know Fluid intelligence: Problem solving ability Creativity: Seeing things in a new / different way As well as your ability to get new information as you need it. Intelligence appears to not be one thing, but a combination of many disparate things all being used for the same purpose.