Culture and the Individual Intelligence

Intelligence and The Flynn Effect The 20th century witnessed a dramatic increase in IQ, as much as 3 points per decade The fact that IQ scores increased so much in such a short amount of time has raised many issues about the nature of intelligence and the tests we use to measure it. Across generations, the particular types of tests that show the most dramatic increases indicate to a considerable degree our cultural priorities.

Psychological Approaches: Intelligence Spearman’s General Intelligence “g” = positively intercorrelated set of cognitive abilities that allow an individual to see relationships between things and to manipulate those relationships to solve problems. Derived from giving people a lot of different achievement tests and finding that the scores were highly correlated, indicating that the abilities being tested were related to one another

Psychological Approaches: Intelligence Cattell’s Dual Intelligence Model Agrees with Spearman’s general definition of intelligence Argued that g was actually made up of two types of abilities Fluid Intelligence: The power to reason and use information Peaks at around age 20 and then remains fairly constant until old age, when it declines Crystalized Intelligence: Acquired skills and knowledge including knowledge about the best approaches for solving problems and the application of knowledge to specific domains. Continues to increase as we grow older.

Psychological Approaches: Intelligence Gardiner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences Intelligence = the ability to do things that other people value. Seven Independent Types of Intelligence Linguistic Logical-Mathematical Musical Body/Kinesthetic Spatial Interpersonal Intrapersonal Individuals may be very good at some of these skills while not at others.

Psychological Approaches to Cognition Vernon’s Vertical Levels of Intelligence Factors Intelligence A = genetic potential for “g” Intelligence B = phenotypic* demonstration of “g” Intelligence C = performance on a specific test Question: Is Intelligence C a predictor of Intelligence A? *The actual expression of genetic potential in individual traits and abilities.

Psychological Approaches to Cognition Tests for Intelligence C May not target important factors of Intelligence B May be affected by cultural biases such as: Language Item content and format Motivation Speed Testing context