1. Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (5th Ed)
Chapter 9 (Part II)
Intelligence

2. What is Intelligence? Intelligence mental abilities
involves ability to:
learn from experience
solve problems
reason effectively
meet challenges and achieve goals
adapt to new situations

3. Assessing Intelligence
Aptitude Test
assess a person’s capacity to learn
Achievement Test
assess what a person has learned

4. Origins of Intelligence
Mental Age
devised by Binet (Paris - early 1900s)
chronological age that typically corresponds to a given level of performance
child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8

5. Origins of Intelligence
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test
the widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test
revised by Lewis Terman (Stanford University)

6. Origins of Intelligence
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
originally: ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100
IQ = ma/ca x 100)
now: computerized data base - average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

7. Are There Multiple Intelligences?
Emotional Intelligence
perceiving emotions
recognition of emotions in faces, music, stories
understanding emotions
important for predicting emotions
managing emotions
know how & when to express them in various situations

8. Theories of Intelligence
One General Intelligence?
Spearman – believed we have one general intelligence
one factor that underlies our mental abilities OR
Multiple Intelligences?
Gardner’s Eight Intelligences
Sternberg’s triarchic theory

9. Gardner’s Eight Intelligences
Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
Musical
Spatial (“picture smart”)
Bodily-kinesthetic
Intrapersonal (self)
Interpersonal (other people)
Naturalist (“nature smart”)

10. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory
Analytical Intelligence
academic problem-solving
assessed by intelligence tests with questions that have a single correct answer
Creative Intelligence
adapt to new situations
develop new ideas
Practical Intelligence
required for everyday tasks
problems that have multiple solutions

11. Assessing Intelligence
Wechsler Intelligence Scale
widely used intelligence test
Adults age 16+ (WAIS)
Children age 6-16 (WISC)
IQ score & 4 index scores
verbal comprehension
perceptual reasoning (nonverbal)
working memory
processing speed

12. Perceptual reasoning example

13. Perceptual Reasoning Example

14. Assessing Intelligence
Standardization
testing a group of people to see the scores that are typically obtained
Normal Curve
most scores fall near the average
fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes
Malcolm Gladwell book – Outliers
factors that go into extraordinary achievement

15. The Normal Curve Number of scores 55 70 85 100 115 130 145
Ninety-five percent
of all people fall
within 30 points
of 100
Number of scores
Wechsler intelligence score
Sixty-eight percent
of people score
within 15 points
above or below 100

16. Assessing Intelligence
Reliability
the extent to which a test yields consistent results
assessed by consistency of scores on
two halves of the test
alternate forms of the test
retesting the same individual
Validity
the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is suppose to

17. Assessing Intelligence
Content Validity
the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest
driving test that samples driving
Predictive Validity
success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict

18. Intelligence Mental Retardation (Intellectual Disability)
a condition of limited mental ability
indicated by intelligence scores below 70
varies from mild to profound
Down Syndrome
retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in genetic make-up

19. Intelligence
Moderate May progress to second-grade level.
academically. Adults may contribute
to their own support by labor in
sheltered workshops.
Degrees of Mental Retardation (Intellectual Disability - ID)
Level Typical Intelligence Scores Percentage of those with ID Adaptation to Demands of Life
Mild % May learn academic skills up to
sixth-grade level. Adults may, with
assistance, achieve self-supporting
social and vocational skills.
Severe May learn to talk and perform simple
work tasks under close supervision
but are generally unable to profit from
vocational training.
Profound below Require constant aid and supervision.

20. Savant Syndrome
a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an amazing specific skill
computation
drawing

21. Genetic Influences
Similarity of
intelligence
scores
(correlation)
Identical
twins
reared
together
apart
Fraternal
Siblings
Unrelated
individuals
The most genetically similar people have the most similar scores

22. Genetic Influences Heritability
the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes
if variation in environments decreases (become more alike)  heritability (variation explained by genetics) will increase

23. Genetic Influences 0.35 0.30 Child-parent 0.25 correlation in
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
3 years years
Child-parent
correlation in
verbal ability
scores
Children and their
birth parents
Adopted children
and their birth
parents
and their adoptive