Intelligence: mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
It’s a socially constructed concept that differs from culture to culture.
Controversies on intelligence: 1. Whether it is one overall ability or many, and 2. Whether neuroscientists can locate and measure intelligence within the brain.
Toreify intelligence is to treat it as though it were a real object, not an abstract concept.
Most psychologists now define intelligence as the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations.
General Intelligence
Factor Analysis: a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one’s total score
Enables researchers to identify clusters of test items that measure a common ability
Charles Spearman, who helped develop factor analysis, believed there is also a general intelligence, or, g.
General intelligence (g): a general intelligence factor that according to Spearman and others underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test
He proposed that general intelligence is linked to many clusters that can be analyzed by factor analysis
Contemporary Intelligence Theories
Howard Gardner disputes the idea of one general intelligence
He proposes 8 independent intelligences: and speculates about a ninth one- existential intelligence which is the ability to think about the question of life, death, and existence.
Brain damage may diminish one type of ability but not others.
Savant syndrome: a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing.
Robert Sternberg’s triarchic theory proposes only 3 intelligences: analytical, creative, and practical intelligences.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions
Emotionally intelligent people are self-aware
Four components:
Gardner and others criticize the idea of emotional intelligence and question whether we stretch this idea of intelligence too far when we apply it to our emotions.
Intelligence and Creativity
Creativity: the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.
It correlates somewhat with intelligence, but beyond a score of 120, that correlation dwindles.
Expertise: A well-developed knowledge base.
Imaginative Thinking: The ability to see things in novel ways.
Adventuresome Personality: A personality that seeks new experiences rather than following the pack.
Intrinsic Motivation: A motivation to be creative from within.
A Creative Environment: A creative and supportive environment allows creativity to bloom.
Is Intelligence Neurologically Measurable?
Recent Studies indicate some correlation (about +.40) between brain size and intelligence.
As brain size decreases with age, scores on verbal intelligence tests also decrease.
Studies of brain functions show that people who score high on intelligence tests perceive stimuli faster, retrieve information from memory quicker, and show faster brain response times.
The Origins of Intelligence Testing
Intelligence testing: a measure for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores
Alfred Binet and his colleague Théodore Simon practiced a more modern form of intelligence testing by developing questions that would predict children’s future progress in the Paris school system.
Binet and Simon, set out to recognize a child’s mental age
Mental age: the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance
Example: a child who does well as the average 8 year old, is said to have a mental age of 8
In the US, Lewis Terman adapted Binet’s test for American school children and named the test the Stanford-Binet Test.
Extended the test’s range from teenagers to “superior adults”
German psychologist William Stern created the “Intelligence quotient” or IQ
Modern Tests of Mental Abilities
Aptitude tests are intended to predict your ability to learn a new skill
Achievement tests are intended to reflect what you have already learned.
Wechsler developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and later the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), an intelligence test for preschoolers.
WAIS measures overall intelligence and 11 other aspects related to intelligence that are designed to assess clinical and educational problems.
Separate scored for verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, working memory, and processing speed
Differences in scores can alert for possible learning problems or brain disorders
Principles of Test Construction
For a psychological test to be acceptable it must fulfill the following three criteria: Standardization, Reliability, and Validity
Standardization
Standardizing a test involves administering the test to a representative sample of future test takers in order to establish a basis for meaningful comparison.
Standardized tests establish a normal distribution of scores on a tested population in a bell-shaped pattern called the normal curve. (bell curve)
Normal curve: the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer scores lie near the extremes
In the past 60 years, intelligence scores have risen steadily by an average of 27 points. This phenomenon is known as the Flynn effect.
Reliability
A test is reliable when it yields consistent results. To establish reliability researchers establish different procedures:
To establish reliability researchers establish different procedures:
Split-half Reliability: Dividing the test into two equal halves and assessing how consistent the scores are.
Reliability using different tests: Using different forms of the test to measure consistency between them.
Test-Retest Reliability: Using the same test on two occasions to measure consistency.
Validity
Reliability of a test does not ensure validity.
Validity of a test refers to what the test is supposed to measure or predict.
Content Validity: Refers to the extent a test measures a particular behavior or trait.
Predictive Validity: Refers to the function of a test in predicting a particular behavior or trait.
The Dynamics of Intelligence
Intelligence scores become stable after about seven years of age
A valid intelligence test divides two groups of people into two extremes: the mentally retarded (IQ 70) and individuals with high intelligence (IQ 135).
Mentally retarded individuals required constant supervision a few decades ago, but with a supportive family environment and special education they can now care for themselves.
Mental retardation: a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound
Down syndrome: a condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup
Genetic Influences
Studies of twins, family members, and adopted children together support the idea that there is a significant genetic contribution to intelligence.
Adopted children show a marginal correlation in verbal ability to their adopted parents.
Fraternal twins raised together tend to show similarity in intelligence scores
Identical twins raised apart show slightly less similarity in their intelligence scores
Heritability of intelligence refers to the extent to which variation in intelligence test scores in a group of people being studied is attributable to genetic factors.
Heritability never applies to an individual’s intelligence, but only to differences among people
Environmental Influences
Early neglect from caregivers leads children to develop a lack of personal control over the environment, and it impoverishes their intelligence.
Siblings within impoverished families have more similar intelligence scores which means that among the poor, environmental conditions can override genetic differences.
Schooling is an experience that pays dividends, which is reflected in intelligence scores.
High-quality preschool programs can provide at least a small boost to emotional intelligence, which leads to a better attitude towards learning and reduces school dropouts and criminality.
Increased schooling correlates with higher intelligence scores.
Ethnic Similarities/Differences
There is a test score gap between races
However, these group differences are most likely due to environmental differences
Asian students outperform North American students on math achievement and aptitude tests. But this may reflect conscientiousness more than competence as well as Asian students attending school 30% more days
Today’s better prepared populations would outperform populations of the 1930s on intelligence tests
White and black infants tend to score equally well on tests predicting future intelligence
Different ethnic groups have experienced periods of remarkable achievement in different eras
Gender Similarities/Differences
Females are better spellers; at the end of high school, only 30% of males spell better than the average female
Females are verbally fluent and have large vocabularies
Females are better at locating objects
Females are more sensitive to touch, taste, and color
Males outnumber females in counts of underachievement
Males tend to talk later and stutter more often
Males outperform females at math problem solving, but underperform at math computation. However, girls are less likely to be encouraged to pursue STEM fields, but as more girls get encouraged this gap is decreasing
Females detect emotions more easily than men do
The Question of Bias
Aptitude tests are necessarily biased in the sense that they are sensitive to performance differences caused by cultural differences.
However, aptitude tests are not biased in the sense that they accurately predict performance of one group over the other.
A stereotype threat is a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.
Stereotype threat explains why women do better in math tests when men aren’t in the room
