Formal theories of intelligence

Question 1

Why was Galton so important to the study of intelligence?

Answer 1

His interest in studying the variations in human abilities made him the first person to suggest/show that humans differ in intelligence. He also maintained that it was possible to directly study intelligence - he is considered the forefather of intelligence tests

Question 2

What were Galton’s key beliefs about intelligence?

Answer 2

Higher intelligence caused by the passing down of “superior qualities” from parents to children.
Felt that intelligent people respond to a large range of information through their senses, while “idiotic” people demonstrate problems dealing with this information (they struggle to distinguish between hot and cold, and are unable to recognise pain, for example)

Question 3

What were Galton’s suggestions for how to assess intelligence?

Answer 3

Measuring reaction times, keenness of sight and hearing, ability to distinguish between colours, eye judgement and strength i.e. determining intelligence via responsiveness to different stimuli. Measures such as reaction times are still used today

Question 4

In one sentence, summarise the importance of Alfred Binet to the field of intelligence

Answer 4

Created the first intelligence test

Question 5

What was Binet commissioned to do?

Answer 5

Provide techniques for identifying children at primary school age whose lack of success/ability may lead them to require special education.

Question 6

What was the Binet-Simon scale?

Answer 6

The first intelligence test - “practical, rapid, convenient”
A very pragmatic approach concerned with facts/actual occurrences, involving a series of 30 short tasks relating to everyday life
Tests arranged to be of increasing levels of difficulty to indicate more advanced levels of intelligence

(See notes for detailed description and criteria for what different age children would be expected to do)

Question 7

How did the Binet-Simon scale assess intelligence?

Answer 7

Level of tests matched a specific developmental age (3-10 years) and could be used to determine a child’s “mental age” and thus whether they were backwards/advanced for their actual age.

Question 8

Why was the Binet-Simon scale significant?

Answer 8

The test allowed performance of a child to be compared to performance of children at the same age

Question 9

What was Terman’s notable discovery?

Answer 9

Decided to use the Binet-Simon scale (devised in France) on Californian school children –> discovered cultural issues in that age norms devised in France didn’t transfer well to American children

Question 10

How did Terman revise the Binet-Simon scale?

Answer 10

Adapted some of the items and wrote 40 new ones –> introduced the Stanford-Binet test which was applicable to children age 4-14 as well as a now upper age limit to “superior adults”

Items on the test were similar to those on the original in that children of different ages would be expected to show specific abilities

See notes for examples

Question 11

How did Terman advance the methodological procedure of Binet?

Answer 11

Tested over 1000 children, a much larger group than the 50 used by Binet, thus allowing him to gain far more accurate information on how children typically scored on intelligence tasks because he had a more representative sample –> recognition of the importance of a representative sample was the beginning of recognising the need for standardised testing

Question 12

What did William Stern do in 1912?

Answer 12

Developed the idea of the IQ (intelligence quotient)

Question 13

What did Stern recognise when using Binet’s intelligence test in Germany?

Answer 13

While studying scores he noted that “mental age” varied among children proportional to their actual age e.g. if a child at age 6 has a mental age of 5, at age 10 their mental age would be 8 –> ratio remains the same

Discovered that dividing mental age by chronological age produces a consistent ratio, which he then termed IQ. Average intelligence arbitrarily set at 100, around which children can then be compared

Question 14

Why was the IQ such a valuable development?

Answer 14

Allowed children to be compared not only across a particular age group but also across ages

Question 15

How did Terman adopt the IQ method?

Answer 15

Using the IQ procedure. combined with the Stanford-Binet test and the recognition of the need to obtain large and representative samples to develop age “norms” for the test, he developed the Stanford-Binet into an intelligence test against which all other tests were compared

Question 16

What happened during WW1?

Answer 16

The demand for intelligence tests increased - Yerkes headed a committee set up to meet the need for intelligence tests that could be completed simultaneously by a number of people, administered by 1 examiner (Binet and Terman’s testing methods were too time-intensive for group testing)

Question 17

Why was group intelligence testing so important during the war?

Answer 17

Using the results of the tests, individuals could be placed in job roles best suiting their abilities, thus maximising possible success in the war effort. High intelligence individuals could be employed in strategic and technical jobs, while low intelligence individuals would be sent to front-line duties

Question 18

What was so significant about the Army Alpha and Beta tests?

Answer 18

Intelligence testing which accounted for cultural differences

Question 19

Briefly outline the components of the Army Alpha test

Answer 19

Testing for literates involving examination of cognitive abilities via assessment of knowledge in both oral and written language.
8 time-sensitive tests of abilities including ability to follow oral directions, arithmetic, showing practical judgement, use of analogies, and ability to complete an incomplete series of numbers

See notes for full list

Question 20

What was the basis of the Army Beta test?

Answer 20

Comparable to the Alpha test but free from the influences of literacy and understanding of the English language. Recognised that lack of understanding of English didn’t mean low intelligence.
7 time-sensitive tests including completion of a maze task and undertaking geometrical constructions

See notes for full list

Question 21

How was a person’s intelligence level determined for both the Alpha and Beta tests?

Answer 21

Scores for all subtests combined into one total score. Based on that total score each individual was assigned a category based on a letter grade - A was superior intelligence, B/C/C+ meant average intelligence, and anything below C was considered inferior intelligence

Question 22

What were the significant areas of growth in intelligence testing which resulted from the work of Terman and Yerkes?

Answer 22

Growth in terms of what was measured and who was measured, and also the number of people able to be tested at once. Additionally IQ became an official way to score intelligence, and intelligence tests incorporated considerations of culture and time-limits

Question 23

How did the work of Spearman differ from historical work into intelligence testing?

Answer 23

Up until that point intelligence testing approaches has been very practical i.e. tests were developed to meet particular needs e.g. the war effort. Spearman introduced a new way to CONCEPTUALISE intelligence and theorise it

Question 24

What are the 2 key features of the work done by Spearman?

Answer 24

Based his approach on factor analysis of data (technique for simplifying relationships between variables, classifying them into themes)
Introduced one of the most influential ideas in psychology, the concept of “general intelligence” or “g”

Question 25

What did Spearman find among the data he collected?

Answer 25

There was a trend of positive correlations between intelligence tests i.e. a person who does well on one test of intelligence performs equally well on a variety of other intellectual tests

Called this positive correlation between tests the “positive manifold” and used this idea to propose a 2-factor theory of intelligence

Question 26

What was Spearman’s first factor in this theory?

Answer 26

“Specific abilities” i.e. “s”, the name given to each type of intelligence needed for performing well on each different intelligence task Spearman observed
e.g. understanding how to fix the transmission of a car would be a specific intelligence

Specific abilities will vary within the same individual for different tasks

Question 27

What is Spearman’s concept of “general intelligence”?

Answer 27

A factor he thought was underlying all the positive correlations he had observed between intelligence tests; the intelligence required for consistent performance of intelligence tests of all types; a kind of mental energy underlying the specific factors but an intelligence also able to see relationships between objects, events and information and draw inferences from those relationships.
E.g. if a specific ability is understanding how to fix the transmission of a car, corresponding general intelligence would be awareness of spatial relationships and how moving objects affect one another

Question 28

What followed on from Spearman’s work?

Answer 28

A central interest to intelligence researchers in the development of a good measure of general intelligence, particularly among a representative sample of adults in the general population

Question 29

What are the 2 key tests developed to measure general intelligence, and how were they similar?

Answer 29

The Weschler tests and the Raven Matrices
Both used overall scores on a number of items to measure general intelligence and these scores are what we refer to today as IQ scores

Question 30

Briefly outline the key principles of the Weschler tests

Answer 30

Modelled on the 2 factor model and the idea that intelligence covers a huge range of specific abilities that correlate with each other to form an overall measure of general intelligence
Administered 1-to-1, and contain subtests to measure several different aspects of intelligence, including verbal (v) and performance (p) tests

Question 31

Name the 11 sub-tests on the Weschler tests

Answer 31

1) Arithmetic (v)
2) Block design (p)
3) Comprehension (v)
4) Digit span (v)
5) Digit symbol (p)
6) Information (v)
7) Object assembly (p)
8) Picture arrangement (p)
9) Picture completion (p)
10) Similarities (v)
11) Vocabulary (v)

See full descriptions and images in notes

Question 32

What were the 2 important ways in which the Weschler tests departed from previous intelligence tests?

Answer 32

1) Designed so people of all ages could take them

2) Introduction of concept of deviation IQ (see notes for details on this)

Question 33

How do the Raven Matrices differ from the Weschler tests?

Answer 33

While the Weschler tests try to capture Spearman’s model by measuring lots of specific abiltiies and summing them to get general intelligence, the raven matrices focus on the concept of abstract energy directly

Question 34

What was the underlying principle of the raven matrices?

Answer 34

Raven thought that the best way to test “g” as an abstract ability was to develop a test free from cultural influences, particularly language –> the matrices rely only on non-verbal problems requiring abstract reasoning, no need to have existing cultural knowledge

Question 35

How is intelligence tested using the raven matrices?

Answer 35

Ppt shown a matrix of patterns in which one is missing and the aim of each test is to test a person’s ability to form perceptual relations and to reason by analogy independent from language.
Higher intelligence is shown by being able to work out the rules governing the patterns and using those items to select an item that best fits the missing pattern.
Arranged in order of increasing difficulty, and ppts are given an overall score

Question 36

How did Cattell, Thurstone and Guilford advance Spearman’s original theory?

Answer 36

They all sought to develop the theoretical elements of the approach, as opposed to developing testing methods. They all used the technique of factor analysis and all sought to represent their findings in reference to “g”, but each developed different perspectives on the exact nature of “g”

Question 37

What was Thurstone’s perspective?

Answer 37

Agreed with Spearman’s hypothesis of a general factor of intelligence, however differed from Spearman in how he viewed “g” - rather than seeing it as a central factor underlying and informing all aspects of intelligence, he argued that Spearman had only shown that intelligence tests CORRELATE positively i.e. there was no evidence for the theoretical description of “g”.
Argued instead that “g” results from, rather than lies behind, 7 primary mental abilities

Question 38

What were Thurstone’s 7 primary mental abilities underlying “g”?

Answer 38

1) associative memory (rote memory, learning through repetition)
2) Number
3) Perceptual speed
4) Reasoning
5) Spatial visualisation
6) Verbal comprehension
7) Word fluency

Question 39

Why is Thurstone’s approach so important?

Answer 39

Was the first multifactor approach to intelligence i.e. he was the first to suggest that there were a number of factors to intelligence, rather than just 1 or 2

Question 40

What did Cattell do?

Answer 40

Acknowledged Spearman’s work in accepting the idea of a general intelligence, but suggested that “g” comprised the 2 related but distinct components of fluid and crystallised intelligence

Question 41

Describe the concept of fluid intelligence

Answer 41

A primary reasoning ability labelled as “Gf” i.e. ability to solve abstract relational problems, free of cultural influences
Defined by intelligence abilities such as acquisition of new information, understanding new relationships, patterns and analogies in stimuli

Question 42

Describe the concept of crystallised intelligence (Gc)

Answer 42

Acquired knowledge and skills, such as factual knowledge. Generally related to a person’s stored information and their cultural influences
Knowledge of vocabulary, comprehension and general knowledge would all be tests of crystallised intelligence

Question 43

What did Cattell suggest regarding the relationship between crystallised and fluid intelligence?

Answer 43

Dynamic relationship wherein crystallised intelligence can increase throughout life reflecting cumulative learning experiences, and fluid intelligence is thought to be present from birth and stabilise in adulthood

See notes for example

Question 44

What is one particularly interesting aspect of Cattell’s work?

Answer 44

The distinction between fluid and crystallised intelligence in relation to developments in IQ testing
The Weschler tests arguably measure crystallised intelligence, while Raven’s progressive matrices which reflect more abstract thinking are often used as a measure of general fluid intelligence

Question 45

What was Guilford’s perspective?

Answer 45

Disagreed with Spearman, and Thurstone and Cattell to some extent, in that he didn’t acknowledge the existence of “g”
He proposed that intelligence was the result of 150 independent abilities - his theory was named the Structure of Intellect (SI) theory

Question 46

What is the basic structure of Guilford’s SI theory?

Answer 46

1) Operations - types of mental processing
2) Contents - mental material we have upon which operations are performed
3) Products - the form in which information is stored, processed and used by a person to make associations/connections

Question 47

What are Guilford’s 5 “operations”?

Answer 47

1) Evaluation
2) Convergent production
3) Divergent production
4) Memory
5) Cognition

See notes for details

Question 48

What are Guilford’s 5 “contents”?

Answer 48

1) Visual
2) Auditory
3) Symbolic
4) Semantic
5) Behavioural

See notes for details

Question 49

What are Guilford’s 6 types of “products”?

Answer 49

1) Units
2) Classes
3) Relations
4) Systems
5) Transformation
6) Implication

See notes for full details

Question 50

What did Guilford argue?

Answer 50

Theoretically 150 different components of intelligence can emerge from combinations of all the different skills he outlined. For example, the ability to remember seeing a dog would use all of the following components:

1) Visual content i.e. remember SEEING the dog
2) Unit product i.e. the dog itself, remember seeing the DOG
3) Memory operation i.e. the remembering part

Question 51

What is an advantage and a disadvantage of guilford’s SI theory?

Answer 51

Really opens up the possibilities of intelligence, broadening the view and detailing how different aspects can intertwine to form specific abilities

However, may be too complex to provide a definitive theory and there has been little empirical evidence to support it

Question 52

Why is the work of Vernon and Carroll different from work done on intelligence previously?

Answer 52

Bridge the gap between the extreme approaches of Spearman and Thurstone, proposing “hierarchical” models of intelligence

Question 53

What did Vernon do?

Answer 53

Described a number of different levels of intelligence - concept of “group factors” that link “g” to the specific abilities, arguing that intelligence comprises of various sets of abilities that could be described at various levels of generalisability

Question 54

Briefly summarise the levels of Vernon’s hierarchical theory of intelligence

Answer 54

1) Highest intelligence level is “g”
2) Two “major group factors” - verbal/educational (v:Ed) and spatial/mechanical (k:m)
3) “Minor group factors” divided out of the major group factors
4) Specific intelligence factors divided out of the minor group factors

Question 55

Define the v:Ed and k:m major group factors in Vernon’s hierarchical model

Answer 55

1) v:Ed - factor representing largely verbal/educational intelligence including verbal/numerical abilities
2) k:m - factor comprised of spatial/mechanical intelligence including practical and physical abilities

Question 56

What are the minor group factors corresponding to each major group factor in Vernon’s model?

Answer 56

1) v:Ed - Verbal, numerical, educational abilities

2) k:m - Practical, mechanical, spatial, physical abilities

Question 57

Provide an example of how specific intelligence factors fit this model

Answer 57

For example, for the v:Ed major group factor, and the educational abilities minor group factor, there would be specific abilities such as reading, spelling, use of grammar and punctuation

Question 58

What hierarchical model did Carroll propose?

Answer 58

The “Three stratum model” of human cognitive abilities - based on factor analysis of 461 data sets obtained between 1927 and 1987, including a number of classic IQ data sets

Question 59

What are the 3 stratums proposed by Carroll?

Answer 59

1) Comprised specific levels of intelligence (69 different cognitive abilities/intelligences identified)
2) Made up of 8 broad factors arising from these specific abilities
3) General level of intelligence representing general intellectual ability (similar to “g”)

Question 60

What are the 8 broad factors in Carroll’s Stratum 2?

Answer 60

1) Fluid intelligence (Gf)
2) Crystallised intelligence (Gc)
3) General memory and learning (Gy)
4) Broad visual perception (Gv)
5) Broad auditory perception (Gu)
6) Broad retrieval ability (Gr)
7) Broad cognitive speediness (Gs)
8) Processing speed (Gt)

Question 61

Why was Carroll’s work so significant?

Answer 61

Provided a much-needed systematic organisation and integration of over 50 years of research on the structure of human cognitive abilities, bringing together a number of themes including Spearman’s “g” and specific factors; Cattell’s “Gc” and “Gf”; Thurstone’s specific factors and Vernon’s hierarchical approach

Question 62

What did Gardner suggest regarding intelligence?

Answer 62

There are difficulties transferring scientific findings in intelligence to practical intelligence settings - they may not be compatible as science demands objectivity, quantifiable data and direct measurement while education and applied settings require more versatile methods of assessment

Suggested that Western education systems are biased towards “the law professor brain” i.e. teaching tailored around logical/mathematical/linguistic intelligences rather than, for example, interpersonal intelligences. Children strong in the biased intelligences do better than others, unfairly

Question 63

What was Gardner’s belief regarding intelligence and the myths surrounding it?

Answer 63

Main myth is that intelligence is a sensory system - instead, he believed that intelligence does not depend on an individual’s sensory system but rather is the sum of processes that can take place regardless of the sensory system
e.g. linguistic intelligence can be demonstrated by all the senses, via being able to express oneself intelligently about what one sees, hears, touches, tastes and smells.

Question 64

What 9 intelligences did Gardner propose?

Answer 64

1) Linguistic (language skills)
2) Logical-mathematical skills
3) Spatial
4) Musical
5) Bodily kinaesthetic
6) interpersonal
7) Intrapersonal
8) Naturalist
9) Existentialist (spiritual intelligence)

See notes for details

Question 65

What did Gardner suggest about his 9 intelligences?

Answer 65

Independent of each other, operating as separate modular systems without a “central control” coordinating them. In this way, a person’s abilities assessed under one intelligence should, in theory, be uncorrelated with abilities as assessed under another intelligence i.e. you can be good at some things and not so good at others.

Although separate, the intelligences do interact and work together where needed e.g. solving a worded mathematical problem requires both linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences

Also, each individual has a different SET of intelligences, unlike those of others e.g. two people might both have musical intelligence, but one may sing while one may be able to play piano

Question 66

Briefly summarise the componential sub-theory proposed by Sternberg within his triarchic theory (all the detail can be found in the notes)

Answer 66

Sub-theory referring to the mental mechanisms underlying intelligent behaviour, otherwise known as “analytical intelligence”, or “internal aspects” of intelligence

1) Meta-components - mental mechanisms used to recognise a problem, determine its nature and develop solution strategies
2) Performance - processes actually involved in solving a problem, operating according to plans laid out by meta-components
3) Knowledge-acquisition - processes involved in learning new material

Question 67

Briefly summarise the contextual sub-theory proposed by Sternberg (details in notes)

Answer 67

Otherwise known as practical intelligence, this sub-theory describes how mental mechanisms interact with the external world to demonstrate intelligent behaviour

Intelligence forms within the context of 3 external dimensions:

1) Adaptation - an individual’s intelligence behaviour adapts them to the world around them
2) Selection - choosing one environment over another based on intelligence abilities
3) Shaping - adapting an environment around oneself

Question 68

How is intelligence within the contextual sub-theory measured?

Answer 68

Rather than being measured via traditional general intelligence tests, it is measured using “tacit knowledge” i.e. action-oriented knowledge usually learned without the help of others and based on procedures rather than facts.

See notes for details and examples

Question 69

What is the experiential sub-theory?

Answer 69

Otherwise known as creative intelligence, this sub-theory describes how experience interacts with the internal and external worlds to form intelligence behaviours

1) Novelty - ability to deal with relative novelty is a good way of assessing intelligence i.e. how an individual takes advantage of what they have learned through previous experiences to solve new problems
2) Automation - ability to automatize information is a key aspect of intelligence i.e. an ability that has been performed many times and can now be done with little thought e.g. reading subtitles while also watching a film