Intelligence Flashcards
what are some differences between the brains of men and women?
- Recent report looked at sex differences in brain sizes in detail in 5000+ people who underwent brain scans.
- They found that male brains were larger than female brains on average, but also more variable in size
- Females found to have thicker cortices
- Males showed a very small advantage on general IQ test and reaction time test
define personality
what you are like psychologically
define intelligence
what you can do mentally
why does intelligence matter?
it matter in reality and in perception
why does intelligence matter in reality?
- Possessing more or less intelligence reflects your actual capabilities
- The most obvious way to see this is to look at your own development from a baby to a child to an adult
- As you grow, you get smarter and can do more e.g. vocabulary grew, mathematical ability grew
- However, people differ in intelligence e.g. college students are generally smarter than the average person
- There are other differences that exist too e.g. journalist tend to have higher linguistic intelligence
why does intelligence matter in perception?
- If someone can do something mentally, but they are believed not to be able to by people, then this assumption may hold them back and short-change society from their talents being utilised.
- If the difference is presumed to be larger than it is, or more consistent than it is e.g. men and women do not differ much in intelligence but women might be less likely to be hired despite being qualified
- On the other hand, if someone cannot do something mentally but are believed to be able to by people, then this assumption may be a mistake and cause problems due to underperformance down the line
- Expectations do not change performance
- Self-fulfilling prophecies are weak
- Most expectations are rooted in reality
- There is no known reliably means of increasing general intelligence - this includes just presuming that people are smarter
- Other’s perceptions impacts their decision-making
what are the two types of theories?
implicit and explicit
what are implicit theories?
- What non-experts think
- Laypeople who are not familiar with theory and research on intelligence
- They are lay, informal, intuitive, everyday, naïve
- They may be informed by stereotypes and prejudices which could be accurate
what are explicit theories?
- What experts think
- Experts who are not familiar with theory and research on intelligence
- They are formal, scientific, specialised and informed
- More likely to be accurate but may still be debated
how are implicit and explicit theories related?
- Implicit theories inspire and inform explicit theories
- Explicit theories partly shape implicit theories
what do laypeople think intelligent behaviours are?
- Practical problem-solving
- Verbal ability
- Social competence
what do laypeople think intelligent traits are?
- Goal directed
- Fluid thought
- Pattern perception
- Adapts to environment
explain the method of Robert Sternberg’s first study
He asked different groups of people to write down behaviour characteristics of intelligence.
He then asked other people to rate the characteristics they had listed
explain the findings of Robert Sternberg’s first study
Three characteristics emerged:
1. Practical problem-solving: analysing a variety of difficult situations for a solution - practical as opposed to intellectual
2. Verbal ability: the ability to articulate oneself well - using language, only better than normal
3. Social competence: the ability to confidently interact with and cooperate with others - noticeably social
explain the method of Robert Sternberg’s second study
In a different study, he asked people to list the characteristics of intelligent people.
explain the findings of Robert Sternberg’s second study
The same elements came out as well as:
1. Contextual intelligence - the ability to adapt to the environment
2. Pattern perception - the ability to make connects and recognise similarities and differences
criticisms of Robert Sternberg’s studies
However, these studies were done in the USA.
The western world tends to have a practical, individualistic and capitalistic orientation.
what do people in the West believe about intelligence?
The western world tends to have a practical, individualistic and capitalistic orientation.
Things like mental speed for fluid thought and spontaneous adaptability for contextual intelligence are values as people have to work quickly and have to be mobile.
People are supposed to be ‘movers and shakers’
The west highlights the importance of asserting oneself
People classify themselves relatively more individually rather than as part of their social circle - bounded cognition.
The West emphasises mental speed and spontaneous adaptability like individualism, self-assertion, create change and bounded cognition.
what do people in the East think about intelligence?
However in the East, things are different
Other virtues are emphasised due to the influence of philosophers such as Confucius and Lae Tze.
e.g. Demetrius and Papadopoulos (2004) said that problem-solving is seen in more social and cognitive terms.
One is advised to draw on traditional wisdom, the advance of family and friends and one’s spiritual needs
The east highlights the importance of humility.
People classify themselves relatively more collectively rather than as separate individuals - shared cognition.
The East emphasises interpersonal skills, intrapersonal awareness and traditional wisdom like collectivism, humility, maintain harmony and shared cognition.
what are some exceptions to the differences between the west and east?
There are some exceptions and qualifications.
e.g. Indians, Irish, Canadians etc
Many Western criteria
How do they gel?
what are some moderators of implicit theories?
age
professional disciplines
people’s own abilities
explain age as a moderator of implicit theories
- What makes a child intelligent is different to what makes an adult intelligent
- Fry (1984) found that social as opposed to intellectual attributes were counted more towards intelligence for children than young adults
- People are different ages have different views of intelligence.
- Yussen & Kane (1985) found that children thought that social ability was more important to intelligence than adults did
- Also found that children, unlike adults, did not fully acknowledge that people could be smart in one way but dumb in another (thought intelligence was one-dimensional) and thought that intelligence was innate (rather than acquired)
explain professional disciplines as a moderator for implicit theories
- Sternberg (1985) asked professors of philosophy, business, arts and physics the same questions he asked laypeople
- Philosophy - logical thinking
- Business - focus on essential issue
- Arts - weigh up alternatives
- Physics - precise maths thinking
explain people’s own abilities as a moderator for implicit theories
- People define intelligence in terms of the abilities they possess
- This constitutes something of a self-serving bias
- This effect was shown by Dunning et al. (1991) - self enhancement