LECTURE 4- INTELLIGENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Question 1

Flynn effect

Answer 1

• The substantial and sustained increase in intelligence scores over time
• Flynn (1984)- 73 studies using Wechsler and standard Binet tests from 7,500 white Americans. IQ scores rose between 1932 and 1978
• Flynn (1987, 1994)- data from 20 countries showed IQ scores were rising yearly across nations
• Pietsching and Voracek 2015- meta-analysis- 4 million ppts, 31 countries. Showed worldwide IQ gains across 1909- 2013. Full scale IQ= .28
• IQ have changed, which makes it unlikely that intelligence is determined by genes only

Question 2

nutrition and cognitive stimulation hypothesis

Answer 2

• Nutrition hypothesis- increased intelligence is part of a nurturing environment that includes increased height and life span, improved health, decreased rate of infant disease, better vitamin and mineral nutrition
• Cognitive stimulation hypothesis- increased intelligence driven by e.g., improved visual analysis skills, improved schooling, changes in parental rearing styles, better-educated parents, smaller families, greater availability of educational toys.

Question 3

parental environment

Answer 3

• Substance abuse- Mortensen et al., 2005- mothers who smoked 20+ cigarettes daily late in their pregnancy were likely to have children who performed less well on IQ tests at age 19/19
• Mattson & Riley 1998- Children prenatally exposed to alcohol may exhibit a variety of problems with memory and attention. Foetal alcohol syndrome

Question 4

nutrition

Answer 4

• Breastfeeding- Oddy et al., 2003- Children breast fed for more than 6 months scored 3-6 points higher on a vocab IQ test than children who were never breastfed
• However, maternal intelligence is positively correlated with the likelihood of breastfeeding (Der et al., 2006)
• When controlling for parental IQ or genetics, the effect is much smaller if at all oresent (review by Walfisch et al., 2013

Question 5

birth size and order

Answer 5

• Belmot and Marolla (1973)- children from larger families had a lower IQ. First born child always had a better IQ ; Decling scores with rising birth order

Question 6

group socialisation

Answer 6

• Judith Harris 1995
• Non shared factors outside the family may be more important in developing peoples intelligence.
  • Shared and non shared environments= Braungart et al., 1992- says non shared factors are influential over shared.
• As children get older, they become more influenced by their life outside the family
• Children may identify with several social groups based on age, gender, ethnicity, abilities, interests, personality etc; and share norms with and be incluenced by these groups
• Positions with in group and rejection of out groups influence behaviours, personality, and intelligence

Question 7

SES

Answer 7

• SES captures income, parental educational level, prenatal occupation and status in the community
• SES is significantly related with intelligence . r= .3-.4
• Improved SES can improve intelligence (Roher, 2018)

Question 8

edcuation

Answer 8

• Goverments across the globe do the one thing that is most likely to raise IQ- go to school
• Ceci (1991)- children attending school more regularly showed higher IQ scores. Students IQ scores decrease over the long summer holidays. Each year of schooling is associated with a rise of 2.7 IQ points
• Cause and effect-= intelligence is likely to influence school attendeance, length of schooling, and the quality of school attended (Neisser et al., 1996)

Question 9

culture

Answer 9

• Serpell (2000)= 3 ways which the concept of intelligence in Western societies is set apart from other cultures in the world.
• 1. Decontextualization= disconnecting from a particular situation and thinking abstractly, in contrast to context-dependence
• 2. Quantification= understanding and expressing something in terms of quantity or numbers
• 3. Biologisation= emphasis on biological and evolutionary theories in undertsnaidng mind and behaviours.
• Cocodia (2014) compared cultural perceptions of intelligence in Asia, Africa, and Western cultures * For instance, in Luo of East Africa people’s notions of intelligence consists of 4 main concepts: – Rieko: similar to the Western idea of academic intelligence – Paro: practical thinking – Luoro: social attributes (respect, responsibility, consideration) – Winjo: comprehending instruction
• • Western and Asian cultures emphasise academic ability, rural African cultures perceive practical ability as more important * Some Western concepts (e.g., speed when completing tasks) are unfamiliar in African cultures Ø cultural differences may affect equal access to the skills and knowledge required by IQ tests