Lecture 6: Language, Education, and Work Flashcards
Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID)
the most well-known widely used test measuring intelligence for young children
- created for 1-42 months and measures social-emotional skills and adaptive
- three scales
three scales of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development
- the motor scale: measures the ability to do things like grasp an object and throw a ball
- the cognitive scale: measures how the young child thinks and reacts to various typical events
- the language scale: measures preverbal communication
general adaptive composite (GAC)
this data shows how well or poorly a young child performs on the BSID
- however correlations between GAC and IQ score are low
correlation between GAC and IQ
- there is not a high correlation at a later age
- but when looking at the age of 4, correlations are high
creativity
mapped by measuring how many different ideas a child can produce
- ideas peak until the child is 9 years
- decreases after the 11th year
originality
how many original ideas a child has
- peaks until the child is about 10 years old
changes in the adolescent brain
may underlie various cognitive abilities, such as improved memory, information processing and performance on intelligence tests
Flynn effect
average IQ scores have increased over time
reasons for the Flynn effect
- children have better education than previous generations
- economic conditions have improved
- better health
predictors of school performance
- intellectual abilities (especially during secondary school)
- personal qualities (e.g. motivation)
relationship between IQ scores and employment status of adults
intelligence is related to both income and job prestige
- takes more intellectual skills to complete a degree
- people with higher IQ’s are healthier and live longer
correlation between success and intelligence
can be explained by SES, motivation, education, and opportunity
cohort effects and intelligence
your intelligence score depends on when you were born
risk factors for a decline in intellectual abilities
- poor health
- unchallenging lifestyle
wisdom
a constellation of factual knowledge about life and procedural knowledge such as giving advice and resolving conflicts
- a combination of intelligence, personality, cognitive style, and a supportive social environment
when does creativity peak
in creative professions (art, music, philosophy, science) creativity is seen to increase from the 20s to the early 40s
- requires enthusiasm and experience so peaks in midlife
why do people differ in IQ scores
both genetic and environmental factors
- 50% of variation in IQ scores is due to genetic differences
influence of genes on intelligence
not the same throughout life
- 20% of the differences in intelligence for babies
- 80% for older people
risk factors for having a lower IQ score
- child belongs to a minority group
- head of the househould has no job
- mother didn’t finish school
- family has 4 or more children
- father is absent
- family has experienced many stressful events
- parents have rigid education values
- mother is very anxious/stressed
- mother has poor mental health
- mother shows little positive affect
cumulative limitation hypothesis
states that children who live in poverty for a long time or who have a low SES cannot develop themselves cognitively quickly
- improving economic living conditions can therefore also improve children’s IQ
Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)
used to identify characteristics of the environment that are important for cognitive development
- can predict the IQ scores of 3 year old children
crying
crying is an important way for babies to communicate
- babies who seldom (rarely) cry may have neurological problems
- necessary for a baby to survive
babies who cry continuously
may have colic
- caused by an immature nervous system
- babies experience so much stress after birth due to all the stimuli that they experience
- colic is short lived and disappears around 4 months
what did Skinner believe about language learning
Skinner believed that we learn language by being empowered to produce sounds
Chomsky (1928)
humans are biologically programmed to produce language through the language acquisition device (LAD) (nature)
- people learn to speak a language through the spoken language in their environment
- suggest that language is a fundamental aspect of the human mind, influenced more by innate structures than by external environmental factors alone
social-interactionist perspective of language
babies are motivated to communicate and adults are motivated to help babies learn to speak (nature + nurture approach)
the emergence of language
occurs in stages
- after the new-born’s reflexive crying comes cooing (3rd/4th month)
- vocal circular responses, also known as babbling (6 months)
- first word emerges from babbling (11 months)
first phase of real speech
- around 12 months
- a word in combination with a gesture indicates actual understanding of the word
- one word sentences
- 1.5-2 years children learn to combine a number of words
- by 24 months children are using simple sentences and can understand simple instructions
vocabulary spurt
from 18 months onwards, the vocabulary increases significantly
Genie
extreme example about language development
- started talking at 1.5 years old and was behind in normal development
- followed by years of severe neglect and abuse
- when she was 13 years old, she was barely able to communicate
- learned to talk again but hit a ceiling in her development
overregulation
the overgeneralization of general rules about past tense or plural (e.g. ‘I swam’ instead of ‘I swim’)
overextension
too broad use of a verbal category (e.g. all four legged pets are called ‘dog’)
underextension
too narrow use of a verbal category (e.g. only one’s own grandfather is called ‘grandfather’)
intelligence
the ability to solve problems and to adapt and learn from experiences
- strong predictor of academic performance
- consistently protective factor
IQ
intelligence quotiont
- measures people’s academic skills
achievement tests
tests taken by children to measure their overall academic potential or their ability to master certain school-related tasks
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
the intelligence test used by children
- measures performance in 4 areas
- scores can be converted into IQ scores
specific learning disability
children who have a score that is much lower than expected compared to the score on performance tests
- umbrella term for any kind of impairment related to language or to listening, thinking, reading, spelling, or mathematics
IQ score below 70
children are classified as mentally disabled
IQ score above 130
children are classified as gifted and may qualify for special programs
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
the test used for adult intelligence
- divided into verbal and non-verbal sub-scales
- corrected for age
- normal IQ range: 70-130
intelligence factor g
Spearman believed IQ scores reflect a general intelligence factor
Robert Sternberg (1949)
conventional intelligence tests are too limited because they only measure one type of intelligence and do not cover all other areas
- IQ tests measure analytical intelligence (how well people can solve academic problems)
creative intelligence
the ability to think outside the box or to formulate problems in a new way
practical intelligence
common sense or ‘street smarts’
multiple intelligences theory
developed by Howard Gardner (1943) and claims that human abilities come in eight and possibly even nine distinctive forms
distinctive forms of human abilities
- verbal and mathematical skills: measured using traditional IQ tests
- interpersonal intelligence: understanding others
- intrapersonal intelligence: the ability to understand oneself
- spatial intelligence: grasping objects arranged in space
- musical intelligence
- kinesthetic intelligence: ability to use the body properly
- naturalistic intelligence: ability to get on well with animals or plants/trees
- existential (spiritual) intelligence
fluid intelligence
refers to the speed with which one can reason when faced with new intellectual challenges
- is changeable and usually comes from the context and the environment
- is highest when one is in one’s 20s
crystalized intelligence
the knowledge one has acquired over the years
- more static
- continues to rise into late middle age
- falls off around the age of 60
intelligence across the lifespan: dual-component model of intelligence
- basic information processing: content-poor, universal, biological, strong genetic determination (mechanics)
- knowledge - factual and procedural: content-rich, culture dependent, experience-based (pragmatics, meaning)
impact of schools
it is important that schools have high standards and that teachers believe that every child can benefit from challenging work
- schools must provide appropriate care for each child
motivation and learning
learning activities fall into extrinisic motivation, which often leads to one not being intrinsically motivated to learn, and therefore not enjoying it
importance of teachers
the quality of a teachers education has a positive influence on the performance of the children
- a child’s income in adulthood can be influenced by the quality of teachers at a younger age
boundless careers
adults change jobs more easily and more often than in the past
career success
a higher degree of self-confidence and optimism has a positive influence on having a successful career
- more likely to go for better jobs
- proactive attitude
- want realistic feedback to grow
work environment
- it is important that the workplace offers intrinsic career-enhancement
- extrinsic career empowerment is also important depending on the person’s situation
role overload
when one has too much work pressure to be able to perform the work properly
conflicting roles
when one experiences a conflict between different important things in life (e.g. family and career)
- importance of work-life balance
role ambiguity
when an employee is unclear about the work you are supposed to do
working in adolescence
an increasing amount are working part-time and also going to school
working in early adulthood
diversity of school and work patterns
- some follow full-time education (e.g. uni) others work full-time
work in mid-adulthood
role of work is central, reaching peak position and income, but also most financial burden
work in late adulthood
recent increase in the percentage still working (linked to cognitive ability and retirement age)
factors that can damage job satisfaction
- ambiguous roles: unclear roles
- role overload
- role conflict
- work-life conflict
effects of unemployment
- produces stress
- financial problems
- identity threat
- lower self-esteem
increased risks of unemployment
- physical/mental problems
- substance abuse and marietal difficulties
- decreased quality of relationships
factors influencing job success
- personality
- fit between person and environment
- cognitive skills
- contextual factors
phase model for transition to retirement
- Atchley (1976)
- preretirement phase: gathering informaiton, planning for the future
- honeymoon phase: enjoying the newfound freedom
- disenchantment phase: the novelty is gone -> aimless and sometimes unhappy
- reorientation phase: realistic and satisfying lifestyle
