Individual Differences in Cognitive Development

Question 1

Measuring Intellectual Power: Intelligence Quotient

Answer 1

• IQ
• defined in terms of a child’s mental age and chronological age
• compares a child’s performance with other children of the same chronological age
• FORMULA = mental age/chronological age all X 100

Question 2

Measuring Intellectual Power: Mental Age

Answer 2

• term used by Binet and Simon and Terman in the early calculation of IQ scores to refer to the age level of IQ test items a child could successfully answer
• used in combo w/ chronological age to calculate an IQ score

Question 3

Measuring Intellectual Power: Stanford-Binet

Answer 3

• created by Terman
• six sets of tests to test cognitive intelligence/ability
• IQ score above 100 for children whose mental age is higher than their chronological age
• IQ score below 100 for children whose mental age is below chronological age
• majority of children score right around 100
• more children with low IQ’s than there are children with very high IQ’s bc of brain damage and genetic anomalies

Question 4

Measuring Intellectual Power: WISC-IV Test

Answer 4

• wechsler intelligence scales for children (test III for children b/w 2.5-7 and test IV for 6-16)
• most often used in schools to diagnose learning problems
• consists of 15 tests

Question 5

Measuring Intellectual Power: WISC-IV Test INDEXES

Answer 5

• verbal comprehension: verbal skills such as knowledge of vocabulary and general info
• perceptual reasoning: block design, picture completion, to test nonverbal visual-processing abilities
• processing: times tests such as symbol search, measure how rapidly an examinee processes info
• working memory: digit span, measures working memory efficiency
• Full scale IQ: the WISC-IV score that takes into account verbal and nonverbal scale scores

Question 6

Measuring Intellectual Power: Bayley Scales of Infant Development

Answer 6

• the best-known and most widely used test of infant “intelligence”
• measure sensory and moor skills (reaching for a dangling ring, putting blocks in a cup, building a tower of cubes)

Question 7

Measuring Intellectual Power: Achievement test

Answer 7

-designed to test specific info learned in school, performance is compared to that of other children in the same grade across the country

Question 8

Measuring Intellectual Power: Competence Vs Performance

Answer 8

• competence: a person’s basic, underlying level of skill
• performance: behavior shown by a person under real-life rather than ideal circumstances (what a child has ACTUALLY learned)

Question 9

Measuring Intellectual Power: Reliability

Answer 9

-the stability of a test score over multiple testing sessions

Question 10

Measuring Intellectual Power: Validity

Answer 10

-the degree to which a test measures what it is intended to measure

Question 11

Explaining Individual Differences in IQ scores: Twins + Adoption

Answer 11

• identical twins are more like each other w/ IQ scores than fraternal twins
• IQ’s of adopted children are better predicted from IQ’s of natural parents
• both heredity and environment affect IQ
• children in upper-class homes have 11 point higher IQ’s than those in low-income homes

Question 12

Explaining Individual Differences in IQ scores: Shared Environment

Answer 12

• characteristics of a family that affect all children in the household
• biggest risk in shared environment is (SES) socio-economic status

Question 13

Explaining Individual Differences in IQ scores: cumulative deficit

Answer 13

• any difference b/w groups in IQ or achievement test scores that becomes larger over time
• the longer a child lives in poverty, the more negative the effect on IQ scores

Question 14

Explaining Individual Differences in IQ scores: factors that lead to higher IQ scores that increase with age

Answer 14

-an interesting and complex physical environment, parents are emotionally responsive, talking to children often, playing with or interacting with children, encourage/expect children to do well and encourage school achievement

Question 15

Explaining Individual Differences in IQ scores: non shared environment

Answer 15

• characteristics of a family that affect one child but not the others in the household
• ex. being the oldest is diff than the being the youngest
• older child typically has highest IQ bc they only interact w/ adults

Question 16

Explaining Individual Differences in IQ scores: Reaction range

Answer 16

• a range within upper and lower boundaries of possible functioning established by one’s genes
• in case of IQ scores, reaction range is estimated at 20-25 points
• possible outcomes = phenotypes
• basic genetic patterning = genotype

Question 17

Explaining Group Differences in IQ or Achievement Test Scores: Ethnic Groups

Answer 17

• caucasian children have 12 higher IQ points than African-Americans (noticeable at the age of 2-3)
• Also may be because of low birth weight of African Americans, and more likely to be poor, differences in prenatal care
• Asians cultural beliefs tend to encourage education more than caucasians or african americans
• minority children do better on the KABC than they do on the Wechsler tests, therefore its used more often in preschools, elementary schools, and clinicians to assess minority children
• asians believe working harder can make you smarter, they actually are smarter
• boys test more as mathematical gifted, have more spatial visualization concepts
• girls more organized and developed in social and language section of brain

Question 18

Alternative Views of Intelligence: Psychometric Approach

Answer 18

• using IQ tests to define and explain individual and group differences in intelligence
• approach is too narrow, too much emphasis on defining intelligence in terms of correlation b/w IQ tests and school achievement

Question 19

Alternative Views of Intelligence: Sterberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence

Answer 19

• Sternberg developed test Triarchic abilities test to measure the 3 aspects of intelligence
• analytical (componential intelligence) = what is normally measured on the IQ test including planning, organizing, memorizing facts and applying them to new situations
• creative (experiential intelligence) = insightfulness and the ability to see new relationships among new events or experiences
• practical (contextual intelligence) = “street smarts”, skill in applying info to the real world or solving practical problems

Question 20

Alternative Views of Intelligence: Multiple Intelligences

Answer 20

• Howard Gardner proposed 8 types of intelligence
• Linguistic = good writers/speakers, learn languages easily, a lot of knowledge on language
• Logical/mathematical = math skills and able to generate logical solutions to various kinds of problems
• Spatial = used in production/appreciation of works of arts such as painting and sculptures
• Bodily Kinesthetic = professional athletes
• Musical = musicians, singers, composers, conductors
• Interpersonal = those in “helping professions” aka counselors, social workers, ministers
• Intrapersonal = people good at identifying their own strengths and choosing goals accordingly
• Naturalistic = scientists, ability to recognize patterns in nature

Question 21

Alternative Views of Intelligence: Gardner’s Theory

Answer 21

• based on observations of people with brain damage, mental retardation, and other conditions like savant syndrome (a person with a developmental disability demonstrates profound and prodigious capacities or abilities far in excess of what would be considered normal)
• argues that brain damage causes disruption of functioning in specific parts of the brain/mental abilities rather than just a general decline in intelligence
• many mental people are talented
• 9th intelligence = existential intelligence = deals w/ spiritual realm and enables us to contemplate the meaning of life

Question 22

Measuring Intellectual Power: The Flynn Effect

Answer 22

• the tendency of IQ scores to rise over time
• flynn said scores rise as general health, nutrition, and educational opportunities increase
• recent studies show education is more responsible fore this effect than advances in the physical domain

Question 23

Measuring Intellectual Power: What can IQ scores predict?

Answer 23

-school performance, years of education

Question 24

Explaining individual difference in IQ scores: how do heredity and environment interact to influence IQ scores?

Answer 24

• concept of reaction range aka heredity determines some range of potential; environment determines the level of performance within that range
• parents intelligence shapes environment they create for their children, influence them both genetically and environmentally

Question 25

Explaining Group Differences in IQ or Achievement Test Scores: In what ways are home computers and internet access linked to achievement test scores among poor children?

Answer 25

• poor childrens achievement test scores decline as computer/internet access increase in neighborhoods
• hypothesized causes focus on parental monitoring of children’s computer activities

Question 26

Explaining Group Differences in IQ or Achievement Test Scores: how does stereotype threat theory explain ethnic group differences in cognitive test scores?

Answer 26

• proposes that minority test takers are aware of the cultural stereotypes regarding their performance on cognitive tests
• they experience levels of performance anxiety that negatively impact scores
• does not fully explain ethnic group diff in scores