Intelligence

Question 1

IQ

Answer 1

IQ = (Mental age/Calendar age) x 100

Question 2

Savanna-Intelligence principle

Answer 2

Movement across Africa created many problems that needed high intelligence - those who could solve them survived. Evolves through predator-prey interaction and challenging environments.

Question 3

IQ Score Distribution

Answer 3

Falls into a bell curve with 68% of population between 85 and 115; then 14% for 70-85 and 115-130 and 2% for 55-70 and 130-145

Question 4

Flynn effect

Answer 4

long-sustained increase in intelligence test scores measured in many parts of the world. Using the IQ values of today, the average IQ of US in 1932 is 80. Reasons include more preschool, testing skills, nutrition, educated parenting

Question 5

Argument of “The Bell Curve” book

Answer 5

Central argument is that human intelligence is substantially influenced by financial income and parents’ socioeconomic/education status. Controversial statement that “both genes and the environment have something to do with racial differences”

Question 6

The health effects of high IQ

Answer 6

Beter health and more likely to live longer.

Question 7

4 theories of intelligence

Answer 7

Spearman - general and fluid factor
Thurstone - a person’s “pattern” of mental abilities
Gardener - multiple intelligences
Sternberg - Triarchic theory

Question 8

Charles Spearman

Answer 8

Theorized that a general intelligence factor (g) underlies other more specific aspects of intelligence. Based on observation that people who do well on one test tend to do similarly well on others. Crystallized intelligence - learning from past experiences (memorization/experience); becomes stronger with age. Fluid intelligence - ability to think and reason abstractly to solve problems. Considered independent of learning, experience, and education (problem solving, etc). Fluid intelligence peaks in adolescence and begins to decline around 30-40

Question 9

Louis Thurstone

Answer 9

Intelligence is a cluster of abilities. Believed that there were 7 different “primary mental abilities” each independent from the other. The g factor was just an overall average score of these independent abilities (ex. verbal comprehension, numerical ability)

Question 10

Howard Gardner

Answer 10

Multiple intelligences consisting of eight separate kinds of intelligence - several independent mental abilities are defined within the context of culture. Linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic , interpersonal, interpersonal, naturalist

Question 11

Sternberg

Answer 11

Triarchic theory - three mental abilities. Disagrees with Gardner in calling these intelligences = talents or abilities. Intelligence is a general quality. There are both universal and particularly adapted (social and cultural) intelligent behaviors. 3: Analytic intelligence (learning how to solve problems), creative intelligence (novel situations by drawing on existing skills), practical intelligence (adaptability)

Question 12

Duncan et. al - neural basis for general intelligence using PET

Answer 12

Gave a group of images that required participants to find the panel that differed - could be any property, abstract or complex. Subtracted areas activated in low-intensity/low-g problems from high-g problems. Found that high-g associated with lateral frontal cortex in one or both hemispheres, not diffuse recruitment of multiple brain regions

Question 13

Fluid intelligence region

Answer 13

Involves increased activity in dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex. People with damage to this area do not perform as well on fluid intelligence tasks

Question 14

Superior-g region

Answer 14

Posterior parietal cortex is particularly implicated. In test with adolescents using fMRI, found via regression analysis that activity of superior and intraparietal cortices strongly covered with individual differences in g. Superior-g may not be due to recruitment of additional brain regions but to the functional facilitation of the fronto-parietal network particularly driven by the posterior parietal activation

Question 15

Einstein’s brain

Answer 15

Parietal lobes were 15% wider than regular ones. Also had rare pattern of grooves and ridges in the parietal regions of both sides of the brain. Language areas directly merge into math/spatial areas in brain. Einstein often claimed that he thought in images and sensations rather than in words - synthetic thinking may have risen from anatomy of brain.

Question 16

Limitations of IQ tests

Answer 16

Can measure abstract thinking, problem solving, capacity to acquire knowledge. Yet cannot measure creativity, motivation, goal-oriented behavior, adaptability

Question 17

Controversial correlates with IQ

Answer 17

Height, atheism, liberals, humor, homosexuality. On average, males score higher by 3-5, but if sociodemographic and health variables are controlled for, gender differences disappear

Question 18

Impact of wealth on IQ

Answer 18

Income across US states is correlated with IQ
Childhood malnutrition - cognitive impairment.
Fetal growth and premature birth

Question 19

Galton

Answer 19

Argued that genius and talent were hereditary. Influenced by Darwin. Concluded that artificial selection could increase fitness of human race (eugenics). However, this has been used for bad ends. His def “the science which deals with all influences that improve the inborn qualities of a race; also with those that develop them to the utmost advantage”

Question 20

Dunning-Kruger effect

Answer 20

Cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, rating their ability much higher than average. Metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes. Incompetent people:

1. Overestimate their skill
2. Fail to recognize others’ skills
3. Fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy.

Question 21

Impostor syndrome

Answer 21

Psychological phenomenon where people cannot internalize accomplishments, despite external evidence of competence. Feel like frauds and that they don’t deserve.

Question 22

Acquired savant syndrome

Answer 22

Jason Padgett - got attacked, concussion -> geometry

Musical talent - Derek Amato - hit his head in pool -> Piano

Question 23

Improving fluid intelligence

Answer 23

People get better at the 2-back test over time. Individuals who perform the task become better and better at fluid intelligence.

Question 24

Professor and Mozart effects

Answer 24

Professor - Subjects primed with words associated with stupidity do worse on 42 difficult multiple-choice questions from Trivial Pursuit and better with positive words.
Mozart - IQ score higher when listening to Mozart

Question 25

Patterns of intelligence and brain damage

Answer 25

Characteristic pattern of activity in posterolateral frontal, dorsomedial frontal, midparietal cortex. 80 patients with focal cortical lesions - damage to each of the proposed regions predicted intelligence loss, whereas damage outside was not predicted. Deficits of intelligence after brain damage reflects extent of damage to restricted but complex brain circuit in frontal and posterior cortex

Question 26

Raven’s advanced progressive matrices

Answer 26

Participants asked to identify missing lament that completes a pattern. Test’s reasoning ability - Spearman’s g.

Question 27

Gray et. al, 2003 - general fluid intelligence

Answer 27

Used Raven’s advanced progressive matrices. Then performed a working-memory task while brain activity was measured using fMRI. Lateral prefrontal and parietal regions involved in performance - attentional control and memory