What Is Intelligence? For most of the 20 th century, people believed there was such a thing as intelligence Some people were believed to smarter than others because of their higher intelligence level—creating life long impact IQ scores gathered in children are generally predictive of education, income, and longevity in later life. Does this mean that IQ measures intelligence? Why? Why not?

What is Intelligence? General intelligence (g) (Spearman) Intelligence is one basic trait that involves all cognitive abilities, which people possess in varying amounts. It cannot be measured directly but inferred from various abilities. –Examples: Vocabulary, memory, and reasoning. Many scientists are trying to find one common factor (genes, early brain development, or some specific aspect of health) that underlies IQ.

Research on Age and Intelligence Research strategies In 20 th century psychometricians Believed that intelligence could be measured and quantified via IQ tests Disagreed about interpreting the data—especially about whether g rises or falls after age 20 Methodology used Cross-sectional Longitudinal Cross-sequential

Research on Age and Intelligence Cross-sectional research U.S. Army: Tested aptitude of all literate draftees during World War I –Intellectual ability peaked at about age 18, stayed at that level until the mid-20s, and then began to decline. Classic study of 1,191 individuals, aged 10 to 60, from 19 New England villages –IQ scores peaked between ages 18 and 21 and then gradually fell, with the average 55-year-old scoring the same as the average 14-year-old. Smart Enough for the Trenches? These young men were drafted to fight in World War I. Younger men (about age 17 or 18) did better on the military’s intelligence tests than slightly older ones did. TIME LIFE PICTURES/US SIGNAL CORPS/TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES

Research on Age and Intelligence Longitudinal research (Bayley and colleagues) Data found many intellectual gains through adulthood –Younger cohorts often better than older cohorts (Flynn Effect) Probably due to changes in the environment (more education, improved nutrition, smaller family size, fewer infections) and NOT changes in innate intelligence Better than cross-sectional research but also has problems –Examples: Practice effects, high attrition rates, unusual cohort effects

Research on Age and Intelligence Cross-sequential research Combines both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs Seattle Longitudinal Study –Cross-sequential study of adult intelligence –Schaie began this study in 1956; the most recent testing was conducted in 2005 –500 adults, aged 20 to 50, were tested on five primary mental abilities –New cohort was added and followed every 7 years

Research on Age and Intelligence Cross-sequential research Combines both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs Reduces complications of historical change Impact of retesting, cohort, and experience analyzed

Research on Age and Intelligence Seattle Longitudinal Study Cross-sequential study of adult intelligence Schaie began this study in 1956; the most recent testing was conducted in adults, aged 20 to 50, were tested on five primary mental abilities. New cohort was added and followed every 7 years. Measures Verbal meaning (comprehension) Spatial orientation Inductive reasoning Number ability Word fluency (rapid associations) Findings People improve in most mental abilities during adulthood and decline later in life. Each ability has a distinct pattern for each gender.

Age Differences in Intellectual Abilities

Components of Intelligence: Many and Varied Two Clusters of Intelligence (Cattell) Fluid intelligence Those types of basic intelligence that make learning of all sorts quick and thorough Includes abilities such as working memory, abstract thought, and speed of thinking Crystallized intelligence Those types of intellectual ability that reflect accumulated learning Vocabulary and general information are examples

Think Before Acting Both of these adults need to combine fluid and crystallized intelligence, insight and intuition, logic and experience. One (left) is a surgeon, studying X-rays before picking up her scalpel. The other (right) is a court reporter for a TV station, jotting notes during a lunch recess before delivering her on-camera report on a trial.

Both Together Now Total picture of intellectual aptitude Both fluid and crystallized intelligence must be measured Age complicates calculations: Fluid intelligence decrease with age and crystallized increases Subset scores change over time: Speed decreases with age and verbal ability increases IQ scores fall only after substantial declines in fluid intelligence affect crystallized intelligence

Components of Intelligence: Many and Varied Three forms of intelligence: Sternberg Analytic intelligence –Valuable in high school and college, as students are expected to remember and analyze various ideas Creative intelligence –Allows people to find a better match to their skills, values, or desires Practical intelligence –Useful as people age and need to manage their daily lives

Sternberg’s Three Forms of Intelligence

Age and Culture Value of kind of intelligence depends on age and culture. Analytic intelligence valued in high school and college, may be seen as absentminded Creative intelligence valued when new challenges arise, in only some political systems Practical intelligence valued during adulthood, useful in every society

What makes a good parent? View one: Tests of good infant care are useful; knowledge of infant development causes good care KIDI (Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory) measures how much caregivers know about infants View Two: Knowledge of infant care development does not matter in caregiving Immigrant child’s later cognitive development is best predicted by parents’ SES and language use and NOT KIDI scores Cultures vary in what they believe about infant development Which view do you believe is more accurate?

Stress

Selective Gains and Losses Accumulating stressors Humans have always experienced stresses, some of which becomes stressors, and they have developed ways to cope with them Stress is internal; stressors are external Stressor: Experience, circumstance, or condition that affects a person

Same Situation, Far Apart: Two 2013 Disasters In the Boston marathon (left), three people were killed and more than 200 injured when a terrorist bomb exploded, and in South Africa (right), 34 striking mine workers were shot dead when police opened fire. Despite the obvious differences, survivors everywhere cope by crying and holding each other.

Selective Gains and Losses Coping methods Stress correlates with and causes illness Undercuts thinking; reduces future mental ability Affects logic; increases depression and other psychological illnesses Gender differences Male: Problem-focused; sympathetic nervous system prepares for “fight-or-flight”; testosterone level rises Female: Emotion-focused; oxytocin produced to aid “tend and befriend”

Selective Gains and Losses Avoidant coping Method of responding to a stressor by ignoring, forgetting, or hiding it. Problem- focused coping Strategy to deal with stress by tackling a stressful situation directly. Emotion- focused coping Strategy to deal with stress by changing feelings about the stressor rather than changing the stressor itself. Choosing methods

Selective Gains and Losses Choosing methods Weathering: Gradual accumulation of stress; direct impact on intelligence Effect of reduced IQ of African Americans Gap most evident in early adulthood Religious coping: Process of turning to faith as a method of coping with stress During adulthood, religious faith and practice tend to increase; past experience coping with stress may be the reason

Coping with Katrina: Aftermath Many physical and psychological stresses Most survivors: Stress reactions One in nine survivors: Serious mental health problems One in 250: Suicide plan; less than rate before storm Increased resilience Three of four survivors: Deeper sense of purpose Those who believed in caring and benevolent God: Coped well Lingering Effects of Hurricane Katrina

Selective Gains and Losses Selective optimization with compensation People try to maintain a balance in their lives by looking for the best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses and to become more proficient in activities they can already do well (Paul and Margaret Baltes, 1990). Each adult selects certain aspects of intelligence to optimized and neglect. What consequences might this have for intelligence testing?

Selective Gains and Losses Multitasking Example of selective optimization; more difficult with age Older adults utilize compensatory strategies for optimal functioning Too Many Distractions? © RYAN MCGINNIS/ALAMY

Expert Cognition Selective expert Guided by culture and context Is notably more skilled and knowledgeable than the average person about whichever activities are personally meaningful Is more skilled, proficient, and knowledgeable at a particular task than the average person, especially a novice who has not practiced that skill Does not necessarily have extraordinary intellectual ability

Expert Cognition Expertise Specialized skills and knowledge developed around a particular activity or area of special interest Expert thought Intuitive Automatic Strategic Flexible

Expert Cognition Intuitive Experts rely on their past experiences and on immediate contexts; their actions are more intuitive and less stereotypic Novices follow formal procedures and rules Automatic Automatic processing –Thinking that occurs without deliberate, conscious thought –Experts process most tasks automatically, saving conscious thought for unfamiliar challenges

Expert Cognition Strategic Experts have more and better strategies, especially when problems are unexpected. Flexible Experts are creative and curious, deliberately experimenting and enjoying the challenge when things do not go according to plan.

Expertise and Age Essential requirement of expertise is time. Circumstances, training, talent, ability, practice, and age affect expertise. Expertise sometimes overcomes the effects of age. Experienced adults often use selective optimization with compensation.

Red Means Go! The red shows the activated brain areas in London taxi drivers as they navigated the busy London streets. Not only were these areas more active than the same areas in the average person’s brain, but they also had more dendrites. In addition, the longer a cabby had been driving, the more brain growth was evident. This research confirms plasticity, implying that we all could develop new skills, not only by remembering but also by engaging in activities that change the very structures of our brains. FROM TALENT IN THE TAXI: A MODEL SYSTEM FOR EXPLORING EXPERTISE BY WOOLLETT ET AL,PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS: BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE, VOL. 364, NO. 1522, MAY 2009, PP. 1407–1416, FIG. 2B.COPYRIGHT © 2009, THE ROYAL SOCIETY

Family Skills Two recent occupational shifts More women are working in jobs traditionally reserved for men. Women’s work has gained new respect.

U.S. Medical School Graduates, to