1. INTELLIGENCE Issues Concerning the Nature, Assessment and Development
Of Intelligence
PSYCH 521, Aylin Küntay: Meeting 6

2. What is Intelligence?
Robert Sternberg defines intelligence such as: “the mental activities necessary for adaptation to, as well as shaping and selecting of, any environmental context”
But how come we have simpler tasks to measure cognitive performance?
E.g., Digit span task used by TEÇGE
Based on psychometric and info processing approaches

3. Psychometric approach
Virtues
Concurrent correlation with school performance
Predicts school success
Dangers
Cognitive functioning is boiled down to 1 score
Culturally biased

4. Info processing approach to intelligence
Lower level
Speed of processing
Working memory
Higher level
Strategies
Knowledge base

5. Triarchic theory of intelligence (Sternberg)
3 aspects of intelligence
Analytical (componential subtheory)
Similar to IQ tests
Creative (experiential subtheory)
Novel situations
Practical (contextual subtheory)
Everyday life… adapting to, shaping and selecting environments

6. Theory of multiple intelligences
Domain-specific functioning
Logical-mathematical, linguistic abilities, (technological societies) (ÖSS,SAT,GRE) vs.
bodily-kinesthetic and spatial abilities (hunter and gatherer societies)
Is there a domain-general g factor?
Positive manifold

7. Show and Tell: Mullen Scales of Early Learning
Applied here (in the Language and Communication Development Lab)

8. Characteristics 0-33 months: gross motor scale
Individually administered
Infants and preschoolers from birth through 68 months
Visual, motor, linguistic (receptive and expressive processing)
5 scales: gross motor, visual reception, fine motor, receptive language, expressive language
Administration time varies depending on the age and the attention of the child: 15 min for 1 yrs, 30 min for 3 yrs and 60 min for 5 yrs
0-33 months: gross motor scale
Careful supervision of small objects is advised (beads and pennies)

9. Theoretical background
Information processing and neuro-developmental theories
Specific abilities, modular approach, multifactorial intelligence
Interrelated but functionally distinct cognitive skills

10. Gross motor development (experience of his own movements through space and time) facilitates development in visual and auditory modalities
Cognitive and motor are two essential and interrelated parts of child development
Composite score offers a summary score: Early learning composite (a measure of g, general cognitive factor underlying all cognitive performances)
Individualized assessment of cognitive skills
For each scale, scores, percentile ranks and age equivalents are calculated
There can be unevenness: global score can be misleading

11. Application Choosing the appropriate month interval
Basal and ceiling items (at least 1 point in successive 3 items for basal level; 3 consecutive zeros for the ceiling level)
Items are presented in the order of difficulty, types of questions with differing difficulty levels
Flexibility is permitted in the order of item administration to keep the child’s attention and motivation
Alternating between scales or the choice of the subsequent scale is permitted

12. Application Encouragement without giving clues
It is important to differentiate between child-driven and environmentally-driven failure on an item
Multiple responses
Refusal to respond: experimenter can return later or mark as R (taking into account refusal compared to failed items)
Readministering some items the child failed to respond is also permitted, after warming up, the performance can change
Some items require parental questioning or cooperation for encouragement of the child
Some items require observational scoring

13. Scales
Gross motor scale: acquisition of basic spatial and temporal concepts (knowledge about the physical world)
Measures central motor control and mobility: head control, sitting, pulling to stand, postural adjustment, walking etc.
Visual reception: performance in processing visual patterns: visual discrimination and visual memory
Visual organization, similarities, visual sequencing, spatial awareness, shape, position and size of objects or pictures
Lack of object labeling tries to unconfound visual discrimination from linguistic abilities

14. Scales
Fine Motor: measures visual-motor ability (visual discrimination (motor planning) and motor control)
Object manipulation and writing readiness: copying shapes, block designs, handling coins and beads
Chance to observe the experimenter drawing and building blocks
Visual aids (experimenter leaves the figure or design as a model)
Two hand and one-hand manipulation of objects
Turning pages of a book, unscrewing a nut and a bolt, stringing beads, folding, cutting

15. Scales
Receptive language: measures child’s ability to process linguistic input: auditory comprehension and auditory memory
Only output for general knowledge questions
Auditory-visual integration: colors, functions of objects, length of sticks, position of children, likeness of pictures
Short-term memory: requesting handling objects in a certain manner (commands)

16. Scales
Expressive Language: measure child’s ability to produce language effectively: output
Speaking ability, language formation and ability to verbalize concepts
Auditory memory and verbal comprehension
Repeating sentences, naming objects, verbal analogies, functions of objects, general knowledge about everyday events
Observational scores concerning usage of sentences, pronoun during the entire testing procedure