Intelligence Accelerated Psychology Council Rock High School South

What is Intelligence? Intelligence in all cultures, is the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use our knowledge to adapt to new situations In research studies, intelligence is whatever the intelligence test measures. This tends to be “school smarts.”

Controversies about Intelligence Despite a general agreement among psychologists about the nature of intelligence, one big controversy remains: Should intelligence be defined by a single, overall ability or is intelligence a collection of several specific abilities? VS.

General Intelligence The idea that a general intelligence, exists comes from the work of Charles Spearman. Spearman proposed that general intelligence is linked to many clusters or collections. For example, people who do well on vocabulary examinations also do well on paragraph comprehension examinations, a cluster that helps define verbal intelligence.

General Intelligence L.L. Thurstone, a critic of Spearman, analyzed his subjects NOT on a single sale of general intelligence, but on seven clusters of primary mental abilities, including: 1. Word fluency 2. Verbal comprehension 3. Spatial ability 4. Perceptual speed 5. Numerical ability 6. Inductive reasoning 7. Memory

Howard Gardner American Developmental Psychologist. Professor of Cognition and Education and Harvard Graduate School. Written over 20 books in various fields such as cognition, psychology and education. Best known for his theory of multiple intelligences.

Multiple Intelligences Theory of intelligence that divides specific abilities into various categories (9), rather than seeing intelligence as dominated by a single, general cognitive ability. 1.Verbal 2. Logical/mathematical 3. Visual/spatial 4. Musical 5. Bodily/Kinesthetic 6. Naturalist 7. Interpersonal 8. Intrapersonal 9. Existential (Seeing the big picture)

Robert Sternberg Agrees with Gardner, but suggests three intelligences rather than eight. 1. Analytical Intelligence: Intelligence assessed by intelligence tests (school smarts). 2. Creative Intelligence: Intelligence that makes us adapt to novel situations, generating novel ideas. 3. Practical Intelligence: Intelligence that is required for everyday tasks (street smarts).

Emotional Intelligence The ability to perceive, understand, and use emotions. Components: – 1. Perceive emotion= recognize emotions in faces, music and stories. – 2. Understand emotion= predict emotions, how they change and blend. – 3. Manage emotion= express emotions in different situations. – 4. Use emotion= utilize emotions to adapt or be creative. Psychologists such as Howard Gardner criticize “emotional intelligence.” Feel labeling emotions as “intelligences” is a stretch. What about interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences?

Facial Expressions Quiz

Assessing Intelligence Psychologist define intelligence testing as a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with others using numerical scores. Alfred Binet and his colleague Theodore Simon practiced a more modern form of intelligence testing by developing questions that would predict children’s future progress in the Paris school system.

Lewis Terman Terman adapted Binet’s test for American school children and named the test the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. Formula for the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) – IQ=mental age/chronological age x 100.

Down Syndrome Genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. Typically associated with physical growth delays, characteristic facial features and mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. The average IQ of a young adult with Down syndrome is 50, equivalent to the mental age of an 8 or 9 year old child, but this varies widely. Dakota's Pride

Aptitude and Achievement Tests Aptitude Test: Intended to predict your ability to learn a new skill Achievement tests: Intended to reflect what you have already learned

David Wechsler Developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). WAIS measures overall intelligence and 11 other aspects related to intelligence that are designed to assess clinical and educational problems.

Principles of Test Construction For any test to be acceptable, it must fulfill the following three criteria: 1. Standardization 2. Reliability 3. Validity

Standardization Involves administering the test to a representative sample of future test takers in order to establish a basis for meaningful comparison. Flynn Effect: In the past 60 years, intelligence scores have risen steadily by an average of 27 points.

Reliability vs. Validity A test is reliable when it yields consistent results. Validity of a test refers to what the test is supposed to measure or predict. 1. Content Validity: Refers to the extent a test measures a particular behavior or trait. 2. Predictive Validity: Refers to the function of a test in predicting a particular behavior or trait.

The Dynamics of Intelligence Does intelligence remain stable over a lifetime or does it change? Are individuals on the two extremes of the intelligence scale really that different?

Stability or Change? Intelligence scores become stable after about seven years of age. In numerous studies, stability of intelligence scores have been determined.

Genetics and Environmental Influences on Intelligence Is intelligence due to genetics or the environment? Studies of twins show the following: 1. Fraternal twins raised together tend to show similarity in intelligence scores. 2. Identical twins raised apart show slightly less similarity in their intelligence scores.

Early Intervention Effects Early neglect from caregivers leads children to develop a lack of personal control over their environment, and it impoverishes their intelligence. For example, orphans with minimal human interaction are delayed in their development.

Schooling Effects Schooling is an experience that pays dividends, which is reflected in intelligence scores. Increased schooling correlates with higher intelligence scores. To increase readiness for school work, programs like Head Start facilitate learning.

Racial (Group) Differences If we look at racial differences, white Americans score higher in average intelligence than African Americans. European New Zealanders score higher than native New Zealanders White Americans- Average IQ-=100 African Americans= Average IQ= 85 Hispanic Americans typically fall somewhere in the middle (between 85 and 100).

Environmental Effects Differences in intelligence among these groups are largely environmental. Accepted “truths” about Race and its effect on Intelligence: 1. Races are remarkably alike genetically. 2. Asian students outperform North American students on math achievement and aptitude tests. 3. Today’s better prepared populations would outperform populations of the 1930’s on intelligence tests. 4. White and black infants tend to score equally well on tests predicting future intelligence.

Gender Similarities and Differences There are 7 ways in which males and females differ in various abilities: 1. Girls are typically better spellers 2. Girls are verbally fluent and have larger vocabularies. 3. Girls are better at locating objects. 4. Girls are more sensitive to touch, taste, and color. 5. Boys outnumber girls in counts of underachievement. 6. Boys outperform girls at math problem solving. 7. Women detect emotions more easily than men do.

The Question of Bias Aptitude test are biased in the sense that they are sensitive to performance differences caused by cultural differences. Wechsler Intelligence Test: (First to use pictures) - Goal was to eliminate language/racial biases in intelligence testing