Lecture 4

Question 1

describe a psychometric approach to intelligence testing.

Answer 1

based on the findings of factor-analytic studies that have looked at the various psychometric properties of intelligence scales.

Question 2

describe a cognitive approach to intelligence testing.

Answer 2

The cognitive approach is based on another set of intelligence tests that highlight biological and physiological processes of intelligence

Question 3

what did tiedemann suggest?

Answer 3

there is an indisputable connection between the size of a person‘s brain and their mental energy.

Question 4

what did McDaniel 2005 find about brain size?

Answer 4

“Big-brained people are smarter“
In a meta-analysis

, the correlation between brain size and overall intelligence was r = 0.33.

Question 5

what did Shaw et al. 2006 do and find about cortical thickness?

Answer 5

Correlation between intelligence and cortical thickness

Generally positive (but small) correlation

Negative correlations with IQ were only present in the youngest group (particularly frontal and temporal)

Positive correlations in IQ were found in late childhood and later

Dynamic neuroanatomical expression of intelligence

Question 6

what did Deary et al find out about skull size and intelligence?

Answer 6

Sample: 48 male, resident in Scotland (age 71-76 years)
→ intracranial volume was estimated from external skull length and width by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
→ IQ scores were estimated from the National Adult Reading Test (NART)
→ Intracranial area (which is highly related to brain volume) accounts for about 74% of the variance shared by NART and estimated intracranial volume

Question 7

what did deary do in regard to kind robert I of scotlands skull?

Answer 7

A cast Robert Bruce’s skull was measured and its intracranial volume estimated. and used their data from experiment to estimate IQ- of king estimated 2 SD above aerage which is congruent with his military, political and other intellectual skills.

Question 8

what are Elementary cognitive tasks

Answer 8

simple tasks to measure cognitive processes, such as understanding stimulus, stimulus discrimination, visual search, retrieval of information, etc.

Question 9

how can response time in elementary cognitive tasks be measured?

Answer 9

median reaction time (average response time over a number of trials)

• standard deviation of reaction time (RTSD) (individual variability in response time over a number of trials)
• Inspection time (IT) / Evoked potential (EP) – the time people take to process (visual or auditory) information

Question 10

in ECT’s what is thought to show higher intelligence?

Answer 10

a shorter delay between the stimulus and response

Question 11

what is the Hick reaction time task?

Answer 11

common procedure in psychometric testing
measuring people’s choice reaction times with various numbers of choices
Slope indicates efficiency of a person’s mental processing
Hypothesis: high psychometric intelligence = flatter slope
Being steady is important!
In other words: People with higher abilities have less variable RTs
Conclusion: simple cognitive processes underpin complex thinking

Question 12

why are ECT’s useful?

Answer 12

because they involve no past learned information

Question 13

how are ECT’s correlated with traditional measures of intelligence.

Answer 13

they are correlated with correlations averaging at about r=0.35

Question 14

how do ECT’s correlate with scores on general intelligence tests?

Answer 14

are found to correlate with scores of general intelligence tests of between r=0.50 and r=0.70

Question 15

what memory is basic to intelligence differs and explain how. and what task is used as a measument of this

Answer 15

working memory- it reflects the ability to keep a representation active especially in the face of interference and distraction

N-back task

Question 16

discuss working memory tasks and psychometric intelligence.

Answer 16

high correlations between working memory tasks and psychometric intelligence.
tests of working memory are very similar in format and content to standard psychometric tests.

individual differences in g= differences in working memory capacity.

Question 17

what do neurons in the prefrontal cortex do?

Answer 17

keep a representation alive- particularly in the face of interference and distraction.

dorsolateralPFC could be brain area of general fluid intelligence.

Question 18

list features of good intelligence tests

Answer 18

Variety of tasks provide a fuller understanding of a person’s overall intelligence and particular strengths.
→ Standardisation of administration provides a controlled test environment (i.e. test situation cannot explain individual differences).
→ Norm referenced allows to compare individual IQ scores to people of the same age and of similar demographics

Question 19

what are uses of intelligence tests

Answer 19

selection (e.g. to select people with high abilities)
→ diagnosis (e.g. to help teachers to detect children with specific problems)
→ evaluation (e.g. to decide which people might be capable to perform better)

Question 20

what did hernstein and murray find

Answer 20

probability of dropping out of highschool decreased as IQ increased and correlated to parental SES.

Probability of getting a bachelors degree increased with IQ and correlation with parental SES.

Question 21

what is the correlation between IQ and job status in adults?

Answer 21

between 0.50 and 0.60

Question 22

what is the correlation between children’s IQ (8 yrs) and job status (40yrs)

Answer 22

0.40

Question 23

what happens in regard to variation of IQ in each occupation

Answer 23

as average IQ decreases the variation of IQ increases.

Question 24

how does IQ correlate with income.

Answer 24

r= 0.40

Question 25

what did Deary (2008) find?

Answer 25

intelligent people live longer found that those suffereing from cardiovascular disease and cancer had a lower IQ than those not diagnosed with the diseases.

Question 26

talk about lifespan and IQ

Answer 26

IQ scores taken aged 11. In both men and women those with higher IQ’s were more likely to live longer. (overlap in men from ages 20-50)

Question 27

talk about IQ and life outcomes

Answer 27

people with lower IQ scores have poorer life outcomes.

Question 28

What did shaw find about the superior in group and cortical thickness?

Answer 28

Superior IQ group has a thinner superior prefrontal cortex at the earliest age
Rapid increase in cortical thickness in the superior IQ group (peaking at age 13, waning in late adolescence)