Intelligence Flashcards
Brilliance
Disciplines where people think “innate brilliance” is needed to succeed have a higher proportion of men than women
- Not about STEM vs. non-STEM fields
ex: Philosophy and Music Composition (not STEM), have very few women!
- Disciplines where people think “innate brilliance” is needed to succeed also have a lower proportion of Black individuals
Stereotypes about Brilliance: Parents
Parents google more relating to gender stereotypes relating to their child, ex: is my daughter overweight, is my son gifted?
Stereotypes about Brilliance: Children
- 5 to 7 year olds
- By 6 years of age:
Boys are more likely to associate their own gender with brilliance
Girls more likely to associate their own gender with niceness - No difference before age 6
Why study individual differences?
Interventions & policies:
- Identify individuals with potential
- Identify individuals who are at risk
- Provide support and opportunities to people who could use them best
Understand Development:
- What factors lead to better/worse outcomes
- How does genetic vs. environmental variation shape abilities?
Studying individual differences: behavioral genetics
Behavioral genetics is a field that seeks to understand how variation in behavior across individuals results from the differences in those individuals’ genes and environments
Sources of individual differences (variation):
1) Genes
- Measured by ‘heritability’
2) Shared Environment
3) Non-shared Environment
Behavioral Genetics: Sources of Variation
1) Genes
- For a given trait, different individuals may have different copies of genes
- Heritability: the proportion of the variation in a trait that can be explained by the genetic differences in a particular population
2) Shared Environment
- Experiences that are shared by individuals raised in the same family
- Lead to similarities between individuals on a specific trait when compared to the population
2) Non-Shared Environment
- Experiences that are NOT shared by individuals raised in the same family
- Lead to differences between those individuals
Family studies: twin studies, sibling studies, adoption studies
Identical (MZ) twins:
- 100% shared genes
- High shared environment
Fraternal (DZ) twins:
- 50% shared genes
- High shared environment
Non-twin siblings:
- 50% shared genes
- Moderate shared environment
Caroll’s Theory of General Intelligence “g”
- Core sets of abilities that seem to hang together and contribute to a specific type of intelligence
- General intelligence factor
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Multiple types of intelligence:
Ex: linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence, musical intelligence
How do intelligence tests work?
- Rely on very large samples
- Test a variety of tasks
- Compare individual performance to norms (by age)
- Performance scored along a normal distribution
Sample IQ Test Items (from WISC- III)
Picture arrangement: pictures are shown and the child is asked to place them in order to tell a story
Picture Completion: the child is asked to identify the part that is missing from the picture
What causes differences in IQ
Genetic contribution: more shared genes = higher correlation
Environmental contributions: more shared environment = higher correlation (e.g., fraternal twins > siblings)
Heritability of IQ
Heritability for IQ is, on average, around .50
- Around 50% of the variation in IQ across individuals can be explained by genetic differences
Still leaves 50% of the variation to be explained
- Effects of shared environment (i.e., children growing up in the same family)
- Effects of non-shared environment (i.e., individual experiences)
Varies by socioeconomic status
- For children in very low income families the estimated genetic influence on IQ is close to zero
- “Minimal expected environment”: if conditions are very impoverished, children do not attain their genetic potential
IQ as a Measure of Intelligence
Performance on IQ tests tend to be correlated with academic achievement
But…
Content of IQ tests are designed to predict academic performance
Features other than IQ correlate just as much with academic success (e.g., self-discipline, executive function)
Self-discipline: delay of gratification
- Delay of gratification (4-5 years old) predicts academic achievement (high school)
- Self discipline may matter more than IQ
Is Self Discipline Always the Best Strategy - Crayon Study
Children randomly assigned to interact with either:
Reliable experimenter who says she will bring crayons and does
Unreliable experimenter who says she will bring crayons and doesn’t
If the environment is unreliable, children don’t wait!
The Carolina Abecedarian Project
Study:
Infants from low-income families were randomly assigned to either:
1. High-quality infant intervention (0-3 years)
2. No infant intervention
Half of each of those groups was later assigned to either:
1. School ages intervention (5-8 years)
2. No school-aged intervention
Follow-up at age 30
Results:
- High-quality interventions have positive long lasting impacts
- The best outcomes when the interventions occur in the preschool years
Intelligence Summary
Children develop stereotypes about brilliance around 6 years of age:
- Correlated with interest in science and “smart” genes
- Can be counteracted (e.g., by focusing language on effort)
Intelligence as a case study of individual differences:
- Genetic and environmental contributions to differences in IQ
Success is broader than intelligence (e.g., self-discipline)
High-quality interventions for those at risk can improve outcomes
A growth mindset that values effort over intrinsic “smarts” is beneficial
