1. Approaches to the Study of Intelligence
HDEV SP
Jane Bernzweig, PhD
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

2. Classroom Activity “Everyday” Theories of Intelligence
What is your definition of intelligence?
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

3. Psychometric approach to the study of intelligence
Intelligence is composed of some number of factors
Spearman: 2 factors (g and specific); g is domain-general and homogeneous), of which g is of primary interest
Guilford’s structure-of-the-intellect model: 180 factors organized along three dimensions (mental operations, contents, products)
Thurstone – 7 primary mental abilities (verbal comprehension, verbal fluency, number, spatial visualization, memory, reasoning, perceptual speed)
Cattell: a general intellectual factor and 2 second-order factors, fluid and crystallized abilities
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

4. Psychometric Approach
Most agree on a general factor and lower-level, specific skills
Support for g: the positive manifold; however, correlations may be higher for lower IQ
Hierarchical model of cognitive abilities: several specific, highly correlated abilities, and a second-order general factor
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

5. Stanford- Binet Test of Intelligence
g (general factor)
Crystallized abilities
(Influenced by environment and schooling)
Fluid – analytic abilities
(solving new problems never before seen not influenced by learning or school or environment)
Short term memory (ability to retrieve and use memory for a short time and to use it for a current task)
Tests of vocabulary, social convention, number series, building equations
Pattern analysis, paper folding and cutting, copying, matrices
Memory of sentences, digits, objects
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

6. IQ (intelligent quotient) tests
Stanford-Binet: 15 tests measures g, crystallized abilities, fluid analytic abilities, short-term memory
Wechsler Scales (WPPSI, WISC, WAIS): 2 factors, Verbal IQ (knowledge of world, similarities, arithmatic, vocab) and Performance IQ (block design, object assembly, mazes, pic completion)
IQ initially based on mental age; now a deviation IQ is used
g = general intelligence
Crystallized abilities – cognitive skills for solving problems and these skills are influenced by the environment
Fluid intelligence is necessary for solving novel problems involving non-verbal stimuli - influenced more by biology and not influenced by the environment or learning
Bailey Scales of Infant Development, Gessel, NBAS – scales that describe reliable differences among infants
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

7. Normal distribution of IQ (Bell Curve)
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

8. IQ (intelligent quotient) tests
Some issues regarding standardized tests
IQ tests and minority children: IQ tests standardized for majority children may not accurately measure intelligence among minority children; test administration methods may bias results
Achievement tests and reading comprehension: performance on reading comprehension portion of SAT/ACT. Students not given the passages to read performed better than expected by chance and often nearly as well as students who had read the passage and answered the questions. “good guesses”
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

9. Information Processing Approach to Intelligence
Criticism of psychometrics is that tests are based on items that discriminate among people and not on theory. They don’t explain why differences occur or what underlies the differences
Basic level processes that are implicated in intelligence:
Speed of information processing
faster processing by older, brighter, nondisabled children
moderate correlations with IQ
Working memory - correlates with speed and IQ; may, at least at some ages, have greater contribution to IQ than speed of processing
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

10. Information Processing Approach to Intelligence
Higher level cognitive abilities
Strategies (ability to plan and anticipate what will happen – make efficient use of functioning)
higher and lower functioning children may differ in terms of strategy implementation and benefit
gifted children may possess better nonstrategic processes as well
Knowledge base
One possible advantage of good readers is a better-developed semantic memory, language concepts
In some circumstances the advantage of an enriched knowledge base may outweigh the advantages of higher IQ
Metacognition (person’s understanding of own ability) – can you monitor and apply efficient strategies? gifted children may have better understanding of when to use strategies, when to generalize
Think about children who may be learning disabled but possess a high IQ – LD children may differ in strategy use (LD kids may do better at recalling items at the end of a list than at the beginning whereas similar IQ kids (no differences in recall for the last few words – ability to empty short term memory) but not LD recall words from the beginning of list thus suggest the use of strategies to do that) Recalling words at beginning show to you are using some strategy
Poor and good readers with similar IQ show differences in being able to use memory. Poor readers show poorer use of memory.
Utilization deficiencies
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

11. Piagetian approaches to the study of intelligence
Inherently developmental theory unlike the others
Piaget started out to study the intelligence of children with limited ability
Relationship between Piagetian stage and IQ may vary as a function of age, perhaps due to developmental changes in the nature of intelligence
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

12. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
The contextual subtheory (practical)
Intelligence must be viewed in the context in which it occurs
Three processes
adaptation (fitting in with the environment)
selection (choosing an environment for optimal development)
shaping (changing the environment to one’s advantage)
Implies that intelligence is to some extent a function of the requirements of one’s culture
The experiential subtheory (creativity) : how prior knowledge influences future performance. Ability to deal with novelty and to automatize processes
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

13. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
The componential subtheory (analytic): problem solving – recognizing and defining the nature of the problem, devising an efficient strategy for tackling the problem and then evaluating the solution - 3 information processing components (metacomponents, performance, knowledge-acquisition)
The Triarchic Theory applied to education:
3 parts of the theory represent three thinking styles: practical (contextual), creative (experiential) and analytical (componential) – strengths in parts of the system
Independent subcomponents – no g factor
instruction tailored to child’s thinking style produces better learning
Increasing knowledge provides for development of intelligence with age (fuels the system)
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

14. Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences
Criteria to be an intelligence
Potential isolation of ability-controlled areas of brain by brain damage
The existence of savants and prodigies
An identifiable core operation or set of operations
A distinctive developmental history, along with a definable set of expert end-state performances
An evolutionary history and evolutionary plausibility
Support from experimental psychological tasks and from psychometric findings
Susceptibility to encoding in a system
Traditional IQ tests come down to a g factor because they test only the societal value of linguistic and mathematical abilities only
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

15. Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences
Multiple intelligences and education
Supports intellectual assessment only if it evaluates all types of intelligence rather than just the 2 measured by current tests
Because intelligences are independent, expect differences in ability level for the various intelligences
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

16. Multiple Intelligences in Early Childhood Curricula
Zero to Three article on assessing intelligences in preschool curriculum
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

17. Transactional Approach to Intelligence
Sameroff and Sameroff and Chandler
The child’s biology organizes the child’s development and the environment also organizes the child
Applied to parent-child interactions
SES impacts intelligence; SES is highly correlated with environments one finds oneself
Negative effects on intelligence due to impairment at birth are obliterated when children of same age (impaired and not impaired at birth) grow up in middle class homes
Ramey’s studies show that children with early malnutrition who receive responsive caretaking and nutritional supplements have similar IQ scores to those same-aged babies who were not malnourished. Positive effects on early intervention
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

18. Behavior Genetics and Intelligence
Heritability of a characteristic (how much it is influenced by one’s genes)
IQ heritability about .52 based on studies of identical and non-identical twins (.86 identical twins and .60 for non-identical twins)
IQ is similar to one’s biological parents from early childhood until adolescence
Shared and non-shared environments (siblings become less alike as they get older thus reflecting influence of non-shared environment)
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

19. Experience and Intelligence
Virtual twin – they are two children reared in the same family at the same time but who are not identical twins (bio and adopted child only 9 months apart or 2 adopted children) to look at the environmental effects without the strong genetic component
Correlation of IQ for these children is .26 which is must less than .86 for identical twins or fraternal twins (.60) or bio siblings (.50). Shared environments have only a small effect on development compared to genetics
Harmful environmental effects have a strong impact on some traits and average or above average environments have little impact beyond what is contributed by genes (parents need to be just “good enough”)
Many positive effects shown of children’s learning improved when moved from at risk environment to more enriched environments. Whe does this need to happen? Children need to stay in programs in order for changes to be maintained
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence

20. Stability of Intelligence
How likely are you to maintain your intelligence or IQ ranking throughout life?
Suggest a general intelligence that is relatively stable throughout life
Some aspects of intelligence my change continuously and show stability while others are discontinuous and less stable
Approaches to the Study of Intelligence