Intelligence An Introduction

Well, there’s kind of a complicated answer Intelligence What is it? Well, there’s kind of a complicated answer HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE IT?

Intelligence v. Achievement Achievement = knowledge and skills gained from experience Intelligence = abilities to: Learn from experience Think rationally Deal effectively with others

Achievement The amount of time we put into an experience (i.e. studying for a test on the Civil War) most likely positively correlates with how well we do on that test In other words… experience affects achievement But what if…

Can achievement and intelligence can work together? …Two students took the exact same history course and studied the exact same review material in the exact same manner for the exact same amount of time? BUT, Student A is more intelligent than Student B How do you think their test performances would compare?

Theories of Intelligence Psychologists have many theories of intelligence There are many factors involved in intelligence

Spearman’s Theory aka “Two-factor Theory” Intelligence has two factors g which is general intelligence Our ability to reason and solve problems s which is specific abilities intelligence For example, Sally is really good at tap dancing and writing haiku poems g + s = overall intelligence

Thurstone’s Theory of Primary Mental Abilities One of a few psychologists who did not accept Spearman’s theory Humans don’t just have g and s, they have 7 “primary mental abilities” Word fluency Verbal comprehension Spatial visualization Facility with numbers Memory Reasoning Perceptual speed

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) More modern psychologist Also, 7 types of intelligence Verbal or linguistic Logical-mathematical Visual-spatial Bodily-kinesthetic Musical-rhythmic Interpersonal (people skills) Intrapersonal (within one’s self)

Measuring Intelligence What is your IQ? “intelligence quotient” Reflects relationship b/t a child’s mental age and actual age What is “mental age” (or MA)? Intellectual age Example: A child with an MA of 6 is functioning, intellectually as a 6-yr-old even the child is 11 yrs old

___________________________ Chronological Age (CA) (actual age) Calculating IQ Mental Age (MA) ___________________________ Chronological Age (CA) (actual age) IQ = IQ = x 100