Intelligence Flashcards
What may be considered as intelligence?
A persons general cognitive ability.
What is meant by fluid intelligence?
A biological or innate ability.
What is meant by crystallised intelligence?
What we have learned and assimilated.
When is fluid/crystallised intelligence higher and what does this mean?
- Fluid intelligence tends to be higher in younger adults and crystallised tends to be higher in older adults
- This means that innate skills are lost as we age (such as problem identifying etc) and learned skills increase as we age
What did Sternberg come up with in 1985 to do with intelligence?
The triarchic theory of intelligence.
What three skills does the triarchic theory of intelligence contain?
- Analytical intelligence
- Practical intelligence
- Creative intelligence
What did Gardener come up with later on?
He expanded upon the three skills in the triarchic theory of intelligence and split them all into sub-sections.
What physical differences do male and female brains have?
- Males have fewer but thicker white matter fibres and more neuron efficiency during special tasks
- Females have more neuron efficiency in tasks requiring verbal skills
What percentage of genetic transference of intelligence has previous research found?
25-50% contribution of genes to intelligence
What 3 main factors can affect intelligence due to genes?
- Prenatal stress
- Exposure to toxic chemicals
- Post-natal nutrition
What has previous research found to with the link between intelligence and pre-natal nutrition?
That babies who were breastfed had higher cognitive skills than bottle-fed babies.
What has previous research found to do with the link between intelligence and nutrition?
Research found that children who lacked a nutritious diet had the biggest improvement in IQ after a daily vitamin and mineral supplement.
What has previous research found to do with the link between intelligence and toxic substances?
-Mothers who heavily used cannabis during the first three months of pregnancy linked to lower verbal reasoning scores in their children
What has previous research found to do with the link between intelligence and prenatal stress?
That when a mother stresses, a hormone is produced which may affect the babies intelligence.
What did Susanne King investigate to do with prenatal stress?
- Studied children born after ice storm of Quebec
- Found mothers who were highly stressed by storm had children who scored lower on an IQ test
What was the aim of Van Leeuwen’s research? (Key Research)
To not only use twins but parents and siblings to identify the relationship between family members and IQ.
What did Van Leeuwen’s study assume about shared genetic material in twins? (MZ and DZ)
100% genetic material shared in monozygotic twins
50% genetic material shared in dizygotic twins
50% genetic material shared between parent and child
Outline the sample used in Van Leeuwen’s study.
- 112 families
- Either MZ on DZ twins
- Volunteered to take part and passed screening for disabilities
What data was collected for Van Leeuwen’s study?
Biological data to check twin status, plus hormonal and MRI scans.
What was the cognitive testing in Van Leeuwen’s study based on?
- Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (children)
- Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (parents)
How long was the whole testing period in Van Leeuwen’s study?
About 5 hours
What model was applied to take into account the difficulty of each question in Van Leeuwen’s study?
The Rasch Model
What results were found to do with males and females in Van Leeuwen’s study?
No sex differences in any of the three groups (twins, siblings or parents)
What results were found to do with MZ twins?
Correlations were higher for MZ twins than first-degree relatives
What results were found to do with the IQ of parents?
Quite a high correlation between IQ of parents and offspring.
What do the results suggest about the heritability of intelligence (percentage)?
67% heritability
What is the most usual way of testing intelligence?
An IQ test.
What is one of the most common IQ tests used today?
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale.
What IQ test did Sternberg create and what did it include?
The Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test, which consists of multiple-choice questions that assess three aspects of intelligence.
What is the ceiling and floor effect?
Ceiling effect is when people can answer all questions correctly therefore there is not a visible ‘ceiling’ to their intelligence. The floor effect is the opposite.
What is the Human figure drawing test and who is it used on?
Children asked to draw a number of people, and analysis of features of the drawings can give an estimation of intelligence (for children).
