Intelligence Flashcards
Francis Galton says
People with better senses acquire more knowledge.
Most psychologists now agree that
Intelligence has something to do with the capacity to understand theoretical concepts (abstract thinking).
Intelligence
capacity to: understand the world, think rationally and use resources effectively when faced with challenges.
Charles Spearman’s G-factor Theory
The general factor for mental ability. According to Spearman, this g factor was responsible for overall performance on mental ability tests.
What did later research find about intelligence?
That it’s not a uniform entity, it’s a multidimensional concept that includes different types of intelligence.
Stenberg’s Triarchic Model of Intelligence Theory
- Analytical Intelligence: the ability to reason logically, closely related to g-factor. (traditional intelligence tests, college admission exams)
- Practical Intellıgence: Tacit intelligence, ability to solve real-world problems. (employees & bosses & soldiers perform in business and military settings)
- Creative Intelligence: Ability to come up with new solutions to problems. (composing a poem, piece of music)
Cattell and Horn Fluid/ Crystallized intelligence Theory
Fluid intelligence: Reflects the ability to think logically, reason abstractly, and solve problems.
E.g. When trying to solve a new puzzle
Crystallized intelligence: Accumulation of information, knowledge, and skills that people learn through experience & education.
E.g. What is the capital city of Italy?
Evidence:
Fluid intelligence decreases when older
Crystallized Intelligence increases when older
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory
- Linguistic - Speak and write well
- Logico-mathematical - Use logic and mathematical skills to solve problems
- Spatial - Think and reason about objects in three-dimensional space
- Musical - Perform, understand, and enjoy music
- Bodily-kinesthetic - Manipulate the body in sports, dance, or other physical endeavours
- Interpersonal - Understand and interact effectively with others
- Intrapersonal - Understand and possess insight into self
- Naturalistic - Recognize, identify, and understand animals, plants, and other living things.
Biological bases of intelligence - Lateral prefrontal cortex facts
- Managing pieces of information simultaneously
- Solving new problems
- Higher intelligence is related to the thickness of the cerebral cortex
- People who think quickly tend to be more intelligent
Alfred Binet - Development of IQ Test (1857-1911)
- If performance on certain tasks improves with age, performance could be used to distinguish intelligent/nonintelligent in a particular age group
- Binet presented tasks to same-age students who had been bright /dull by their teachers
Mental Age
Age for which a given level of performance is average
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
Takes into account an individual’s mental and chronological ages (CA)
IQ score = MA/ CA X 100
* Anyone who has a mental age equals to chronical age has an IQ= 100
How are Binet’s Tests administered?
administered orally and includes verbal and non-verbal assignments.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale –IV
- 6 & older
- Consists of 15 subtests that give five scores:
1. Overall IQ
2. Verbal comprehension
3. Perceptual reasoning
4. Working memory
5. Processing speed
In order to asses intelligence, we need
Test validity and reliability, that are prerequisites for accurate assessment of intelligence
Reliability
Consistency of the measurement. Similar scores over time
In adults, scores tend to be highly stable over long periods of time
Validity
The test actually measures what it is supposed to measure
Norms
Standards of test performance that permit the comparison of one person’s score on a test with the scores of others (scores % top 15 )
Standardized tests
Adaptive testing
Every test-taker does not receive identical sets of test questions, computer individualizes the test to the test-taker.
The greater the number of difficult questions correctly, the higher the score.
Intellectual Disabilities
characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behaviour, which covers many everyday social and practical skills.
Levels of IQ on intellectual dissabilities
Mild = IQ of 55 to 69 - Constitutes 90% of all people with intellectual disabilities development is slow but able to hold jobs & families.
Moderate =IQ of 40 to 54 - motor & language skill deficits, simple job
Severe = IQ of 25 to 39
Profound = IQ below 25 - cannot function independently
Factors responsible for mental disabilities
Environmental and biological factors are responsible.
- Fetal alcohol syndrome
- Down syndrome
- Others
- Familial intellectual disability
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Occurs in newborns, caused by the mother’s use of alcohol during pregnancy.
Down syndrome
Occurs if a person is born with 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46 (an extra copy of the 21st chromosome)
Others
Birth complications. Lack of oxygen.
Familial intellectual disability
No apparent biological defect exists but there is a history of intellectual disability in the family
The more severe the retardation, the less likely it is to run in families.
Integrating individuals with intellectual disabilities - Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142), the middle 1970s
People with intellectual disabilities are entitled to a full education and must be educated and trained in the least restrictive environment
Mainstreaming
Integration into regular classrooms during specific time periods.
Full inclusion
Total integration of all students (even the most severe disabled) into regular classes, no separate special classes
The Intellectually Gifted and facts about them
2-4 % of the population who have IQ scores greater than 130.
- There are negative stereotypes associated with the intellectually gifted
- Intellectually gifted are most often outgoing, well-adjusted, healthy, popular, able to do things better than the average person.
What Lewis Therman’s (1920s) study was about?
1500 children (above140 IQ) followed rest of life more physically, academically, socially capable. Earned higher incomes, made more contributions to art & literature.
Gender differences - What are women/men better in?
Women better in
- verbal tasks; spelling, writing & pronouncing words
- facial recognition & understanding expressions of others
- arithmetic calculation (only in childhood)
Men better in tasks of spatial ability Mental rotation tasks Mathematical tasks involving complex reasoning & geometry
Racial Differences (factors)
tests scores between races might be different.
some IQ scores might be genetical
Environmental Factors
- Blacks- economically disadvantaged group
- Racial gap drops sig.ly after college education
- Blacks raised in economically enriched environments have similar scores to whites
- Adopted black children by white families score higher
- Greatest discrepancies in IQ scores occur when comparing individuals not when comparing mean IQ scores of different groups
Bias in IQ Testing
- The background and experience of test-takers do have the potential to affect results
- Tests may be biased against some racial and cultural groups on the basis of the types of questions provided
Culture-Fair IQ Tests
Consist of abstract-reasoning items that don’t depend on language
Flynn Effect
The average IQ of the population has been rising by about 3 points every 10 years
The average person today gets more items correct on IQ tests than the average person did several generations ago
