Intelligence - 1

Question 1

Why is the concept of intelligence contentious?

Answer 1

• No agreed standard definition

- Because psychologists don’t agree on theory of intelligence

Question 2

How can culture impact what they perceive intelligence to be?

Answer 2

-Different societies and cultures perceive intelligence in different way and see different components as determinants of intelligence

Question 3

How does gender and ethnicity affect historically the way intelligence was perceived?

Answer 3

• Male smarter than females

- Asians perceived to be more intelligent

Question 4

What other key component could define intelligence?

Answer 4

-Different rules if you disabled

Question 5

What other individual characteristics could contribute to intelligence?

Answer 5

• Personality
• Morality
• Integrity
• Empathy
• Honesty

Question 6

What demonstrates intelligence?

Answer 6

• Ability to demonstrate knowledge
• Education
• Analytical skills
• Financial acumen

Question 7

What do psychologists argue regarding intelligence?

Answer 7

• That intelligence doesn’t exist as a real entity

- Argue that is just a label

Question 8

What is general definition for intelligence?

Answer 8

-A hypothetical mental ability that enables people to direct their thinking adapt to their circumstances and learn from their experiences

Question 9

What should intelligent people be able to do?

Answer 9

• Have general ability to understand and use information, and to think logically.
• Form mental representations or models of how we understand our surroundings and the world
• to adapt to new situations and make sense of the world

Question 10

What was Francis Galton’s theory of Intelligence and what year was it proposed?

Answer 10

-Theory of Hereditary Genius (1869)

Question 11

What did Galton’s theory entail?

Answer 11

• Variation in ability within the population
• Variations are inherited
• Proposed idea of Nature vs nurture
• First person to use questionnaire assessments to measure intelligence

Question 12

Who proposed the idea of Mental age?

Answer 12

-Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon

Question 13

Why was the idea of mental age proposed?

Answer 13

• In the 1900s in France there was eduction reform
• Children of all social classes were allowed into education
• Issue was all children had different levels of education and meant that classes had different ranges of ability
• Billet and Simon devised aptitude tests to test Childs raw ability regardless of education to devise mental age
• With these tests they placed children into classes most suited to them

Question 14

What is mental age?

Answer 14

-Refers to abilities a child should have for their age

Question 15

Who proposed theory of general intelligence and in what year?

Answer 15

• Charles Spearman

- 1904

Question 16

What did theory of general intelligence propose?

Answer 16

• Spearman noticed performance on one type of intelligence test correlated to performance in other types of test
• He thought it was due to underlying general ability
• He then proposed “TWO FACTOR THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE”
• First factor was just general underlying intelligence (g)
• Second was that each individual had special factor abilities (s)

Question 17

How did Raymond Catell develop Spearman theory?

Answer 17

• Suggested that intelligence is crystallised or fluid
• What is fluid intelligence (gf)- ability to solve new problems and find patterns such as abstract reasoning or problem solving (don’t depend on education or experience or prior knowledge)
• Crystallised intelligence (gc) - ability of individual to use learnt knowledge or experience

Question 18

What was the theory of Howard Gardner?

Answer 18

• Multiple intelligences - potentials
• That there are multiple intelligences rather than one underlying intelligence

Linguistic
Musical
Logical / mathematical
Spatial 
Bodily- kinesthetic
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal

-Individuals are better at some rather than others

Question 19

What is evidence for Gardner theory?

Answer 19

• Difficult to support empirically

- Evidence from stroke patients where one area of brain is damaged or in car accidents

Question 20

What is Savant syndrome?

Answer 20

• Where individual has general low IQ
• But have high abilities in specific area of intelligences
• Such as musical or linguistics