1. CHAPTER 8: INTELLIGENCE
Binet
Terman
Spearman
Cattell
Gardner

2. Intelligence
Intelligence is viewed as a complex combination of attributes/abilities
There is little agreement among experts in defining intelligence
It is made up of at least three broad attributes: verbal ability, practical problem solving, and social competence
Defining children’s intelligence is challenging because behaviors tied to intelligent behavior change with age
Intelligence is described as a single ability vs. a collection of loosely related skills

3. Binet France: Late 19th and early 20th centuries
Educators wanted methods to identify students who could not benefit from regular classroom instruction
Alfred Binet was asked to devise an objective method for assigning students to special classes – based on mental ability, not classroom disruptiveness
*How is current special education similar or different?
Binet believed that test items should address complex mental activities such as memory and reasoning
Binet & Simon (1908) created a test of general ability that included verbal and nonverbal items which required thought and judgment
Their test was the first to associate items of increasing difficulty with chronological age

4. Binet
Tests helped them estimate how much a child was behind or ahead of his/her age-mates in intellectual development
Prior to these intellectual measures children were judged based on outward physical features
“Abnormalities” were thought to reflect deficits in mental ability (deafness)
A child’s intelligence was also based on behavior, how attentive and well-behaved they were
He wanted to objectively measure a child’s abilities, he thought objectivity was difficult for teachers
Without objectivity there were lower scores for students who weren’t liked and higher scores for students who were liked
Bias: His two daughters were tested and others’ scores were compared to theirs

5. Terman
Binet’s test items eventually predicted how well French children would handle their schoolwork
After his death his tests were adapted for wider use
Terman: professor at Stanford University
Found that Binet’s tests didn’t adequately measure school-age children in California
Terman adapted items, added some, and established new standards for various ages
Today the test is called the Stanford-Binet

6. Spearman
Under this intelligence model, Spearman believed that we have general intelligence, called “g.”
Items on his devised tests measured specific intelligence unique to the task involved in the test items.
We may currently describe this as “common sense” or general intelligence based on common knowledge.
Are we born with common sense (genetics) or do we learn it (environment)?
Provide examples of “common sense”

7. Cattell Crystallized Intelligence vs. Fluid Intelligence
Nurture vs. Nature
Crystallized intelligence refers to skills that depend on accumulated knowledge and experience, good judgment, and mastery of social customs – abilities acquired because they are valued by the individual’s culture.
Fluid intelligence depends more heavily on basic information – processing skills – the ability to detect relationships among stimuli, the speed with which the individual can analyze information, and the capacity of working memory. Assumed to be influenced more by conditions in the brain and less by culture.

8. Gardner Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Information-processing skills underlie intelligent behavior (Fluid Intelligence)
Distinct sets of processing operations allow us to solve problems, create products, and discover new knowledge in a wide range of culturally valued activities
He dismissed the idea of general intelligence, and proposed at least eight different intelligences
Each intelligence has a unique biological basis, a distinct course of development, and different expert performances
He emphasized a lengthy process of education, which is required to transform any raw potential into a mature social role

9. Gardner He believes all of these intelligences are separate
We have innate, core domains of thought, present at birth or emerging early in life
As children respond to the demands of their culture, they transform those intelligences to fit the activities they are called on to perform
Critics dismiss the notion of independence of his intelligences because excellence in most fields requires a combination of intelligences
Example: a talented musician uses logico-mathematical intelligence to interpret the score, linguistic intelligence to respond to teaching, spatial intelligence to orient to the keyboard, interpersonal intelligence to react to the audience, and intrapersonal intelligence to play expressively

10. Social and Emotional Intelligence
Social intelligence is made up of diverse abilities. These abilities are currently labeled emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence includes:
Perceiving emotions accurately
Expressing emotion appropriately
Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions
Managing one’s own and others’ feelings to facilitate thinking and social interaction
Researchers did not construct the first tests of social aptitude until the 1960s
Items assess the capacity of adolescents and adults to detect others’ thoughts and feelings and to come up with effective solutions to social problems

11. Social and Emotional Intelligence
Positively associated with self-esteem, sociability, and current life satisfaction.
Negatively related to aggressive behavior
Concepts of social and emotional intelligence have increased teachers’ awareness that providing experiences that meet students’ social and emotional needs can improve their adjustment
As a result of this awareness, lessons that teach respect and caring for others, communication skills, cooperation, and resistance to unfavorable peer pressure are becoming incorporated into the classroom
*Address how this is a double standard to teach in a culture which promotes individuality and winning at all costs

12. Measuring Intelligence
Two Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler are most often used to identify highly intelligent children and diagnose those with learning problems
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales:
Used for ages 2yrs - adulthood
Measures general intelligence and five intellectual factors: fluid reasoning, quantitative reasoning, knowledge, visual-spatial processing, and working memory
Wechsler Intelligence Scale – IV:
Used for ages 6yrs - 16yrs
Includes four broad intellectual factors: verbal reasoning, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed

13. Aptitude and Achievement Tests
Two types of tests are closely related to intelligence tests:
Aptitude tests assess an individual’s potential to learn a specialized activity
Example: Musical aptitude is the capacity to acquire musical skills and scholastic aptitude is the capacity to acquire scholastic skills
Achievement tests differ from aptitude tests in that they aim to assess not potential to learn, but actual knowledge and skill attainment
Example, when a college professor gives a final exam, an achievement test has been used
The three tests differ: intelligence tests assess the widest array of skills; aptitude tests focus on particular skill set areas; achievement tests are aimed at measuring recent learning (i.e. school subjects)

14. Cultural Bias in Testing
Controversial question about ethnic differences in IQ relates to whether they result from test bias
If a test samples knowledge and skills that not all groups of children have had equal opportunity to learn, then the resulting score is a biased measure
Some experts reject the idea that intelligence tests are biased, claiming that they are intended to represent success in the common culture
The broad view of test bias is that lack of exposure to certain communication styles and knowledge, and negative stereotypes about the test-taker’s ethnic group can undermine children’s performance