Intelligence Flashcards
Define intelligence
the ability to solve novel problems, adapt to one’s environment, and learn from experience
What is a psychological factor?
an element of psychology that predicts performance in a specialized domain, but not others
what is the Two-Factor Theory?
the theory that intelligence is made up of one general factor and several separate factors that explain aptitude in specialized domains
What is the general intelligence factor? (Two-Factor Theory)
the hypothesized single factor of intelligence that explains aptitude in all domains of knowledge (aka “g”
What are the specific factors of intelligence? (Two-Factor Theory)
the hypothesized separate factors of intelligence that explain aptitude in specialized domains of knowledge on top of g
what is the positive manifold?
the tendency for a person’s performances on a variety of tests to be positively correlated
What is the independent factor theory?
intelligence is many non-overlapping abilities, each unrelated to the others
what is the hybrid theory of intelligence?
intelligence is a group of interrelated factors, with g at the top, various middle-level abilities after, and specific tasks underneath that
what is fluid intelligence? (Gf)
learning new information and solving novel problems
what is crystallized intelligence? (Gc)
applying knowledge learned from experience
what is the triarchic theory of intelligence?
intelligence is made up of creative, analytical, and practical intelligence
what is analytical intelligence?
the ability to identify and define problems and to find strategies for solving them
what is creative intelligence?
the ability to generate solutions that other people do not
what is practical intelligence?
the ability to implement these solutions
what is emotional intelligence?
the ability to reason about emotions and use emotions to enhance reasoning
what is a standardized test?
a test that has a highly controlled and guided administration protocol, and gives a score that shows performance relative to the general population
what is IQ?
the standard unit of intelligence, 100 is the average score and 15 is one standard deviation
what is the WAIS-V?
the most popular modern intelligence test, based on a hybrid model of intelligence
what is a General Ability Index?
measure of a person’s intellectual abilities in the absence of time pressure (more a measure of crystallized intelligence, testing things like verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning)
what is a Cognitive Proficiency Index?
measure’s a person’s intellectual speed and capacity for processing (tests working memory, processing speed, etc.)
what are Raven’s Progressive Matrices?
a non-verbal intelligence test based on matching pictures that follow particular types of rules
what are some major problems with modern intelligence tests?
- education: content of intelligence tests overlaps with school content
- test-taking ability: are we measuring intelligence or test practice
- stereotypes: how well somebody does on a test depends on whether they think they should be doing well or not
- cultural bias: different cultures have different definitions of intelligence
what are individual differences?
differences in a psychological trait across people
what are the causes of individual differences?
genetic variability, environmental variability, and epigenetics
what outcomes can IQ predict?
higher IQ leads to higher lifetime earnings, better education, better job performance, and is also a predictor of health and longevity
what is genetic determinism?
the (false) belief that if a person carries some set of genes, that their expressed phenotype is fixed and immutable - rather, genes increase the probability of phenotype expression
do genetics predict at the level of the population, or at the level of the individual?
level of the population
how can we think about genetic prediction?
the genetic range of different phenotypes that could be expressed, and how strong the influence of the environment has to be dramatically change that range
what are Quasi-experiments?
a study design where the independent variable occurs naturally, but has no random assignment or selection
what are dizygotic (fraternal) twins?
twins resulting from two different sperm fertilizing two different eggs, they share 50% of genes just like any other siblings
what are monozygotic (identical) twins?
twins resulting from 1 sperm fertilizing 1 egg that then splits, sharing 100% of their genes
if genetic variability predicts ~40-60% of IQ scores, but what predicts the rest?
- education
- home environment
- birth weight
- birth order
how is intelligence affected by age?
relatively stable and stays similar to same-age peer groups, after age 50 it starts to dip slightly (also in tandem with peers), fluid intelligence starts to decrease, but crystallized stays the same except in cases of dementia
what is the Flynn Effect?
average intelligence increases with each successive generation
how does binary gender effect intelligence?
men a- men and women have identical average intelligence, but more men are the tails of the distribution, men tend to do better on tests of spatial intelligence, women tend to do better on tests of emotional intelligence (Men also believe their intelligence is higher, women believe their intelligence is lower than it actually is)
how does ethnicity/geography effect IQ?
Asian Americans typically outperform White Americans, who outperform Hispanic Americans, who outperform African Americans, average IQ scores in global south are lower than in global north
what are stereotype threats?
the anxiety associated with the possibility of confirming other people’s stereotypes about one’s group
how can intelligence be improved?
supplementing diets of pregnant women and neonates with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, putting low SES kids into early education interventions, reading to kids in an interactive manner, sending kids to preschool
what are cognitive enhancers?
drugs that improve the psychological processes that underlie intelligent performance
what are the current conclusions around differences in intelligence?
majority of psychologists believe that differences in intelligence between groups are due to sociological/environmental causes, test biases, or third variables, more interest in removing/eliminating sociocultural barriers to help maximize the range of expressed intelligence
what is the Bell curve?
a 1994 book advocating for changes in public policy to protect high IQ individuals and reduce reproduction for low IQ individuals
what are the claims of the Bell Curve?
- intelligence is stable, genetically determined, and reliably measured
- intelligence tests are valid and unbiased (not a fact about genetics, but about society)
- intelligence is the best predictor of life outcomes, job and school success, etc.
- welfare allows low IQ individuals to have more children, decreasing the overall fitness of our society
what is narrow AI?
AI made to solve specific problems
what is general AI?
AI able to solve a wide range of problems and mirrors human intelligence
