1. Individual Variations
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C H A P T E R 4
Individual Variations

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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Santrock, Educational Psychology, Second Edition, Classroom Update
Learning Goals
1. Discuss the concept of intelligence, how it is measured, and some controversies about its use by educators.
2. Describe and evaluate learning and thinking styles.
3. Define personality, identify the “big five” factors in personality, and discuss person-situation interaction. Also, define temperament, identify three types of children’s temperament, and evaluate teaching strategies linked to children’s temperament.

3. Individual Variations
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Santrock, Educational Psychology, Second Edition, Classroom Update
Individual Variations
Intelligence
Individual
Intelligence Tests
Controversies and
Issues in
Intelligence
Individual Tests
Versus
Group Tests
Theories of
Multiple
Intelligences

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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Santrock, Educational Psychology, Second Edition, Classroom Update
Intelligence
Intelligence: Problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to and learn from life’s everyday experiences
Buros

5. Binet Intelligence Tests
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Binet Intelligence Tests
Mental Age
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Normal Distribution
An individual’s level of mental development relative to others
A symmetrical distribution
Majority of the scores falling in the middle
Few scores in the extremes

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The Normal Curve

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Bell Curve

8. Theories and Tests of Intelligence
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Theories and Tests of Intelligence
The Stanford-Binet test
The mean or average IQ score for all age groups is designated as 100 ± 15.
Given individually
Ages 2 – 80s

9. Individual Intelligence Tests The Wechsler Scales
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Individual Intelligence Tests The Wechsler Scales
Age-related versions provide an overall IQ and also yield both verbal and performance IQs.
(WPPSI-III) Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised. Ages 2.5 to 7.3
(WISC-IV) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Ages 6 to 16 years, 11 months
(WAIS-III) Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised
Ages 16-89

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WPPSI-III
WPPSI

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Wechsler Subscales

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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Santrock, Educational Psychology, Second Edition, Classroom Update
WISC-IV
Word Reasoning—measures reasoning with verbal material; child identifies underlying concept given successive clues.
Matrix Reasoning—measures fluid reasoning a (highly reliable subtest on WAIS® –III and WPPSI™–III); child is presented with a partially filled grid and asked to select the item that properly completes the matrix.
Picture Concepts—measures fluid reasoning, perceptual organization, and categorization (requires categorical reasoning without a verbal response); from each of two or three rows of objects, child selects objects that go together based on an underlying concept.
Letter-Number Sequencing—measures working memory (adapted from WAIS–III); child is presented a mixed series of numbers and letters and repeats them numbers first (in numerical order), then letters (in alphabetical order).
Cancellation—measures processing speed using random and structured animal target forms (foils are common non-animal objects).

18. Theories and Tests of Intelligence
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Theories and Tests of Intelligence
Raven’s Progressive Matrices
Psychologists created “culture-reduced” tests without language. It tests abstract reasoning ability (non-verbal intelligence or performance IQ).

19. Figure 9.2 Items similar to those in Raven’s Progressive Matrices test. The instructions are: “Each pattern has a piece missing. From the eight choices provided, select the one that completes the pattern, both going across and going down.”

20. Group Intelligence Tests
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Group Intelligence Tests
Advantage
More convenient and economical
Disadvantages
Examiner cannot:
establish rapport
determine student’s level of anxiety
Student:
might not understand instructions
might be distracted by other students

21. Early Theories of Multiple Intelligence
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Early Theories of Multiple Intelligence
Spearman (1927): People have both general intelligence (g) and specific types of intelligence (s).
Thurston (1938): People have seven specific intellectual abilities (verbal comprehension, associative memory, word fluency, reasoning, number ability, spatial visualization, and perceptual speed).

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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Santrock, Educational Psychology, Second Edition, Classroom Update
Figure 9.3 According to Spearman (1904), all intelligent abilities have an area of overlap, which he called (for “general”). Each ability also depends partly on an s (for “specific”) factor.

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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Santrock, Educational Psychology, Second Edition, Classroom Update
Figure 9.4a Measurements of sprinting, high jumping, and long jumping correlate with one another because they all depend on the same leg muscles. Similarly, the g factor that emerges in IQ testing could reflect a single ability that all tests tap.

24. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
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Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
Analytical: analyze, judge, evaluate, compare/contrast
Creative: create, design, invent, originate, and imagine
Practical: use, apply, implement, put into practice

25. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory Theory into Practice
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Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory Theory into Practice
Cindy always does very well on both standardized and classroom tests and gets good grades in school. However, she does not write original stories well, nor would anyone say that she has much common sense.
A: Analytic intelligence. Cindy has the ability to do the things most likely measured by tests—analyze, judge, evaluate, compare, and contrast.
Q: In what form of intelligence is Cindy high? Explain.

26. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory Theory into Practice
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Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory Theory into Practice
Trent does not do well on standardized tests. His grades are not very high. However, Trent is very imaginative and a wonderful story-teller. Trent’s classmates beg him to read his stories to the class. Trent hopes to be a novelist one day. However, he often turns in work that does not conform to teacher expectations or directions.
A: Creative intelligence. Trent is imaginative and creative. He often does not conform.
Q: In what form of intelligence is Trent high? Explain.

27. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory Theory into Practice
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Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory Theory into Practice
Ken doesn’t do very well in school. However, he is very popular with his peers and has excellent leadership skills.
Q: In what form of intelligence is Ken high? Explain.
A: Practical intelligence. Ken functions very well in day-to-day life, but struggles with the demands of school.

28. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
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Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

29. Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind Theory into Practice
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Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind Theory into Practice
Carrie loves to read and to write stories.
Q: Which of Gardner's’ 8 Frames of Mind is she displaying when she engages in these activities? Explain.
A: Verbal skills.

30. Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind Theory into Practice
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Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind Theory into Practice
Jane is an excellent athlete, excelling at soccer, basketball, and baseball.
Q: Which of Gardner's’ 8 Frames of Mind is Jane displaying when she engages in these activities? Explain.
A: Bodily-kinesthetic skills.

31. Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind Theory into Practice
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Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind Theory into Practice
Steve loves to play the piano, trumpet, and drums and is quite good at all of them.
Q: Which of Gardner's’ 8 Frames of Mind is Steve displaying when he engages in these activities? Explain.
A: Musical skills and bodily-kinesthetic skills.

32. Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind Theory into Practice
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Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind Theory into Practice
Tanesha is a good friend. People often open up to her and tell her things they would not share with other people. She never betrays a trust.
Q: Which of Gardner's’ 8 Frames of Mind is Tanesha displaying when she engages in these activities? Explain.
A: Interpersonal skills.

33. Emotional Intelligence
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Emotional Intelligence
According to Salovey and Mayer (1990) emotional intelligence is the ability to:
monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions,
to discriminate among them, and
to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action.
Salovey
Mayer

34. Emotional Skills Developing emotional awareness Managing emotions
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Emotional Skills
Developing emotional awareness
Managing emotions
Reading emotions
Handling relationships

35. Reflection & Observation
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Reflection & Observation
Reflection:
How are you intelligent?
How did teachers accommodate instruction to address your intellectual abilities?
Observation:
What were the children in these classrooms learning? Why is it important for children to develop these abilities?
What new teaching ideas did you glean from this video?
Classroom Observation Video: “Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom”
Please note: Some of these videos are very large; large videos may take a minute or two to download. You will need QuickTime player to view the videos.

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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Santrock, Educational Psychology, Second Edition, Classroom Update
Enter the Debate
Should schools use intelligence tests for placement purposes?
YES NO
During a slideshow, text may be written on the slides in the yes/no boxes, and then saved for later reference.

37. Contribution of Multiple Intelligence Approaches
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Contribution of Multiple Intelligence Approaches
The various theories have stimulated us to think more broadly about what makes up people’s intelligence and competence.

38. Nature vs. Nurture in Intelligence
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Nature vs. Nurture in Intelligence
Genetic components provide a propensity for a particular developmental trajectory.
Enriching environments can improve school achievement and the acquisition of skills.

39. Ethnicity and IQ Testing
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Ethnicity and IQ Testing
The consensus is that due to environmental factors, on average in the U.S., children from African American and Latino families score lower than white children on IQ tests.

40. Culture and IQ Tests Culturally biased tests favor:
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Culture and IQ Tests
Culturally biased tests favor:
Urban over rural children
Middle-income over low-income children
White children over minority children
Culture-fair tests, free of cultural bias:
Type 1: Include items familiar to all socioeconomic (SES) and ethnic backgrounds
Type 2: Remove verbal items from tests

41. Between-Class Ability Grouping and Tracking
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Between-Class Ability Grouping and Tracking
…groups students based on
their ability or achievement.
Advantages
Narrows class skill range
Prevents “less able” students from holding back more talented students
Disadvantages
Stigmatizes students in lower track
Segregates students by SES and ethnicity

42. Within-Class Ability Grouping
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Within-Class Ability Grouping
Within-class ability grouping involves placing students in two or three groups within a class according to their ability or achievement.

43. Learning and Thinking Styles
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Learning and Thinking Styles
Learning and
Thinking Styles
Dichotomies of
Learning and
Thinking Styles
Evaluating
Learning and
Thinking Styles

44. Reflective vs. Impulsive Thinking Styles
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Reflective vs. Impulsive Thinking Styles
Reflective students surpass impulsive
students at
Reading comprehension
Remembering structured information
Problem solving and decision making
Goal setting
Setting high standards for performance

45. Deep vs. Surface Learning Styles
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Deep vs. Surface Learning Styles
Deep Learners
Surface Learners
Actively construct knowledge
Give meaning to material
Focus on internal rewards
Are self-motivated
Are passive learners
Fail to tie information to a larger framework
Focus on external rewards

46. Personality and Temperament
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Personality and Temperament
Personality
and Temperament
Personality
Temperament

47. Personality vs. Temperament
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Personality vs. Temperament
Personality: The distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world
Temperament: A person’s behavioral style and characteristic way of responding

48. The “Big Five” Personality Factors
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The “Big Five” Personality Factors

49. Person-Situation Interaction Theory
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Person-Situation Interaction Theory
The best way to characterize an individual’s personality is not only in terms of personal traits or characteristics, but also in terms of the situation involved.

50. Children’s Temperament
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Children’s Temperament
Easy
Positive mood
Establishes regular routines
Adapts to new experiences
Difficult
Reacts negatively
Aggressive tendencies
Lacks self-control
Slow-to-Warm-Up
Low activity level
Negative
Slow adaptability
Low intensity of mood

51. Crack the Case The Workshops
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Crack the Case The Workshops
What are the issues in this case?
To what extent should teachers adapt their instruction to the strengths, learning styles, and personalities of their students? Why?
What will you do in your classroom to accommodate individual differences such as students’ intellectual strengths, learning styles, and personalities?
What other individual differences do you think you might have to accommodate? How will you do this?
This case is on page 129 of the text.