CHAPTER 8: Understanding Intelligence Flashcards
definition of intelligence
humans’ ability to reason, solve problems, think quickly and efficiently, and adapt to environmental challenges
psychometrics
measurement of psychological constructs (e.g. personality intelligence)
what did Charles Spearman (1904) argue
because test scores of separate mental abilities (e.g., verbal skills, math ability, deductive reasoning ability) tend to correlate, there must be some general level of intelligence that underlies these separate mental abilities
concluded that a general intelligence component “g”
Cattell (1963) - “g” exists in what 2 forms
- fluid intelligence
- crystallized intelligence
fluid intelligence
ability to solve novel & abstract problems
- reasoning ability, WM capacity, speed of info processing
crystallized intelligence
accumulated knowledge retrieved from memory
Howard Gardner: 8 types of intelligence
- linguistic,
- mathematical/logical,
- spatial
4.bodily kinesthetic,
5.intrapersonal - musical
- naturalist
- interpersonal abilities
critisim: definition too broad, cofounds intelligence with talent or skill
Goleman: Emotional Intelligence
- the ability to understand emotions and use them appropriately
- regulate mood, resist temptations
- particularly important in difficult transitional phases (going from high school to uni)
Robert Sternbergs Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
Intelligence = ability to achieve success in life
Componential (analytic) = book smart
Experiential = creativity
Contextual = street smart; practical knowledge
Analytical Intelligence
ability to acquire, store, and process information; mathematical and verbal skills; abstract reasoning, evaluation and judgment. This is the type of intelligence that’s crucial to most schoolwork and assessed by conventional IQ tests
Experiential intelligence
involves the ability to generate new ideas and to be inventive and insightful in dealing with novel problems (i.e., “thinking outside the box”)
Contextual Intelligence
is the ability to think practically (i.e., “street smarts”) and adapt to one’s environment
- intelligence involves the ability to deal effectively with the kinds of problems that people encounter in everyday life, at home or at work, and learning what one needs to know to work efficiently in an environment that isn’t explicitly taught
Measuring Intelligence
Goddard administered intelligence tests to immigrants at Ellis Island (new york) in the 1910s
- intelligence tests have been used to rationalize prejudice and discrimination against people of different races, religions, and nationalities
- he concluded that many ethnic groups were “feeble-minded”
History of The Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Alfred Binet (a psychologist) and Theodore Simon (a physician)
- commissioned by the french government to develop a test to select children for remedial programs
- created 3- tasks to measure ‘natural intelligence’
- tests included: logic problems, remembering words, copying pictures, distinguishing edible and inedible foods, and answering questions about social norms
Calculation of IQ
Stanford Binet test
IQ = Mental age/ Physical age X 100
- good for children but not adults
Deviation IQ
- used for adults
- Individuals are compared exclusively with their same-aged peers, rather than with individuals from other age cohorts
Todays 2 main IQ tests
- Stanford - Binet (5th edition)
- Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV)
Stanford - Binet Test (5th edition)
for people from age 2-adulthood
- designed to measure 5 areas
- fluid reasoning
- knowledge
- quantitative reasoning
- visual spatial processing
- working memory
- each factor has a both verbal and non verbal mode of testing
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV)
age 6-16
measures 4 areas:
1. verbal reasoning
2. fluid reasoning
3. working memory
4. processing speed
example of working memory
digit span: repeating a series of numbers
- letter number sequencing
E.g., H3J4Z9Q2E5
(person taking test has to repeat back as many digits as she remembers)
IQ is a strong predictor of what outcomes:
- grades
- level of education
- income
- health
- longevity
- predictors of job performance
problem: cultural bias with IQ
- usually favouring middle class white students
- those who just immigrated to canada, if a question is about canadian history or geography makes it unfair - not likely to do well
- not culturally or racially fair
Galton (1869): Hereditary Genius
- studied families; concluded that intelligence was largely inherited
problemL families share much of the same environment - better evidence would come from studying people with shared genes raised in different environments
HOME (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment) scale
- attempts to measure the influence of a childs home environment on their intellectual development
- measures the organization and safety of living space, the amount of parent-child interaction, and the presence (vs. absence) of appropriate play materials
what does the HOME scale mean
- when HOME scales are stable a childs IQ scores also stay stable
- when change; they change
- remember that parents genes influence type of enviorments they live in
- biological vs adopted parents?
Environmental Influences on Intelligence: SES
Low-SES = poorer nutrition & medical care; less intellectual stimulation
- more likely to be exposed to air pollution, lead, not breast fed
- dont have suppory from parents with school, cant afford educational toys, computers
“Reach out and Read” program
successful program:
by giving children in lower-income neighbourhoods a free book after they had completed a check-up with their family doctor, and also educating parents about how to be more interactive when reading to their children.
Environmental Influences on Intelligence - Influence on Society
FLYNN EFFECT
- book smart
- people IQ rise over time
- curriculum becoming more demanding over time
Environmental Influences on Intelligence: Stereotype Threat
- awareness of cultural stereotype causes people to feel anxious, thus impending performance
Spender et al. (1999) study
- Recruited Ps (women & men) who were good at math
- given difficult math tests
- stereotype threat condition (ps told gender differences found on test)
- control (no gender differences)
results:
- When reminded of the stereotype, however, it appears that women psyched themselves out, and ended up performing significantly worse on the math test
- stereotype threat only occurs in domains which people feel are important to them
a score of what signifies that a person has an intellectual disability
lower than 70 on an IQ test
risk factors of an intellectual disability:
- social factors (e.g., poverty)
- behavioural factors (e.g., parental abuse or neglect)
- educational factors (e.g., a parent with an intellectual disability
- biomedical.
define a learning disability
difficulty in attaining a specific academic skill, despite having average (or above avg.) intelligence
dyslexia
- most common
- Difficulties reading words; problems with phonological awareness (75%)
- vowel sounds, phonemes
- genetics play a role
dysgraphia
difficulty learning to write, problems with spelling, and problems with putting one’s thoughts down on paper
gifted children
iq > 130
- excpetional ability in an area of academics or art
- passion about subject of expertise
- highly creative and curious
- can struggle without appropriate stimulation
- must be placed in classes with other gifted children
