Child Psychology - Intelligence (Biological) Flashcards
Background;
There is a variety of different intelligence spectrums such as street smart or book smart. There is not one type of intelligence however it can be classed as General intelligence.
Genetic factors such as our genetic makeup given to us from our parents is what partially impacts our intelligence. It can be affected in a way how we were treated when we were in our mothers womb (were we fed properly, was the mother using substances such as drugs or alcohol, was she smoking, did she fall causing a head injury,) all of these factors influence our intelligence.
On the other hand our intelligence is also defined by out upbringing, by the people we surround ourselves with (classmates, friends, family members etc.) all of these environmental factors also have an effect on our intelligence.
Outline of the study;
The study by Van Leeuwen aimed to measure the relative influence of assortative mating, cultural transmission, Gene-Environment interaction and correlation. The sample consisted of 112/214 families of twins about
to turn 9, with an extra sibling 9-14 years, drawn from the
Netherlands twin registry. The procedure was that all Families completed questionnaire or DNA cheek
swab at home - to confirm zygosity (whether the twins were identical or not). Children completed
Raven’s standard progressive matrices (SPM), adults
completed Raven’s advanced progressive matrices (APM).
Researchers also looked at phenotypic assortment and
social homogamy. The results showed high intelligence correlation between couples showing phenotypic assortment and that lower IQ scoring children were more prone to be influenced by environmental factors. Conclusions that can be drawn from this study show that Phenotypic assortment better explains spousal resemblance than social homogamy and that the main influence on IQ levels is genetic factors however environmental factors have an influence on our intelligence as well.
Applications;
Raven’s Progressive Matrices - RAPM intelligence test (Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices). This non-verbal test is usually used to measure general intelligence and abstract reasoning abilities. This test being a non-verbal (The subject is asked to identify a missing piece that completes the pattern) is great to use among a broad spectrum of people as it does not rely on verbal skills for example when someone is speaking a different language or when someone is unable to speak it is to purely test the fluid intelligence of a person.
Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test - is a psychological projective personality or cognitive test in which the test subject uses simple art supplies to produce depictions of people. It is used to evaluate children and adolescents for a variety of purposes.
Emotional Intelligence test - a type of social competence involving the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one’s thinking and actions.
