Mental Abilities Flashcards
Structure of mental abilities / Intelligence Biological, genetic, environmental bases of mental abilities Life outcomes Alternative ideas about intelligence Emotional intelligence
Personality
Differences among individuals in their typical style of behaving, thinking, and feeling across situations and across time
Mental Ability
Differences among people in their maximum performance in producing correct answers to various problems and questions
- “Intelligence”
Assessment of Mental Ability
Task difficulty due to demands on mental processes such as reasoning, understanding, imagining, and remembering
Not due to demands on physical skills or sensory abilities
Demand skills are roughly equally familiar to all persons
Mental Abilities: Overview
- The Structure
- Developmental Change and Stability
- Biological Bases
- Genetic and Environmental influences
- Life Outcomes
- Not all g-loaded tasks are the same
- Alternatives
- The Structure of Mental Ability
History of Intelligence
Galton (1822-1911)
Cattell (1860-1920)
Binet (1857-1911)
Spearman: invented the correlation coefficient and factor analysis
Thurstone’s primary factors
Galton (1822-1911)
First psychologist studying individual differences
Hereditary Genius: differences in intelligence are determined by genetic factors
Statistical and methodological approach
Didn’t measure mental abilities, but physical and sensory abilities, e.g., reaction time, sensory discrimination…
Cattell (1860-1920)
“Intelligence” = 10 basic psychological functions such as tactile discrimination, hearing, weight discrimination
Developed “mental” tests
Reliably measured individual differences in performance
Not mental abilities
Binet (1857-1911)
Set the foundations of modern intelligence testing
Developed a variety of tasks to measure mental abilities to identify children with lower relative to higher mental abilities
Pragmatic approach first intelligence test
Didn’t investigate the nature of mental abilities
Spearman’s g factor (1863-1945)
Conducted factor analysis and data-reduction procedures to show that different ability tests were significantly correlated
The common variance = a single, general factor g
First, Spearman showed that school grades in various courses were positively correlated with each other
Motivation or g factor of intelligence?
Subsequent research showed that students’ scores on a variety of mental ability tasks were correlated with each other
Some tasks had strong g-loadings, whereas others had weaker g-loadings
Highly g-loaded tasks demanded reasoning processes
“The eduction of relations and correlates”
Thurstone’s primary factors
g factor does not explain the relations among various kinds of mental abilities
Intelligence should be conceptualized at the ‘primary’ level
7 primary abilities
- Verbal fluency
- Verbal Comprehension
- Numerical Facility
- Spatial Visualization
- Memory
- Perceptual Speed
- Reasoning
g plus group factors
Combining Spearman’s and Thurstone’s theories into a hierarchical model
Hierarchical models:
Carroll’s (1993) three stratum theory
Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory
Carroll’s (1993) three stratum theory
Narrow (I), broad (II), and general (III) levels differ in degree of generality
Broad (II): 69 narrow abilities, basic constitutional and long standing characteristics that govern or influence a great variety of behaviours in a given domain
Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory
Narrow (I), broad (II), and general (III) levels differ in degree of generality
Different factors in the II level
2.1 Developmental changes in mean levels of intelligence
Absolute levels of g:
- Rapid increase during childhood
- Continue to increase into late adolescence
- Decrease during old age
What happens in between early and late life stages?
Differences between subtests:
Wisdom, Mignogna, & Collins, 2012
Verbal ability somewhat higher for 40s-60s
Spatial ability & perceptual speed highest for young adults
Possible “cohort” effects
Lack of longitudinal research
2.2. Stability of intelligence across the life span
Rank order stability = Individual differences in mental abilities stable across the life span despite mean level changes (maintenance of individual position within a group)
Relative levels of mental ability show high levels of stability
Deary, Whiteman, Starr, Whalley, and Fox (2004)
- Biological bases of mental ability
- Brain size
- Nerve conduction velocity
- Reaction Time
- Inspection Time
- Brain waves
- Brain glucose metabolism
3.1. Brain size
Modest positive correlation with external head size
Brain volume (measured with MRI scan) shows an average correlation of .33 with intelligence (McDaniel, 2005)
Some regions of the brain might be the crucial “intelligent” regions
3.2. Nerve conduction velocity 神經傳導速度
Speed of electrical impulses between cells of the brain and nervous system (~Galton)
Research findings to date are inconsistent
- Reaction Time
e. g., Jensen Reaction Time Box
Indication that speed of brain and nervous system is related to g
longer RT = lower intelligence
3.4. Inspection Time
Exposure duration required for a human subject to reliably identify a simple stimulus
Mental speed is related to g
High speed = high score
3.5. Brain waves
EEG: Measuring electrical brain activity with electrodes -> Brain waves
Higher IQ scores relate to greater overall complexity of the waves
3.6. Brain glucose metabolism
PET: injecting small amount of radioactive glucose to measure the amount of glucose being metabolized in the brain
Higher IQ scores = less glucose consumption during IQ tasks
-> Brain is more efficient
- Genetic and environmental influences on mental ability
- Genetic influence
- Womb environment
- Nutrition
- Birth order
4.1. Genetic influences
MZ twins sharing 100% of their genes vs. DZ twins sharing 50%
Twins or siblings raised together vs. apart (adoption)
Family context becomes less important as one grows up
“Behavioural genetics”
Twins and siblings as valuable source of information to estimate genetic effects and effects of shared and unique environment
4.2. Womb environment
The first environmental influence on traits and mental abilities is the influence of the womb environment, e.g. nutrients, toxins, hormones, …
MZ twins (shared womb environment) vs. non-twin siblings
Sibling pairs vs. parent-child pairs
Conclusion of Devlin et al. (1997)
Heritability of mental ability has been overestimated in twin studies
Effects of chorion type on mental ability (Jacobs et al. 2001)
2/3 of the MZ twins have the same chorion, 1/3 their own
-> Levels of hormones and nutrients may be different
4.3. Nutrition
Fetal alcohol poisoning, lead poisoning, severe malnutrition 營養不良 -> lower IQ
Breastfeeding -> higher IQ scores
Causality problem!!
No difference between breastfed children and their non-breastfed siblings
Der et al. (2006)
Cognitive cost of being a twin because of sharing nutrients in the womb?
Inconsistent findings
Folate levels: weakly positively related to IQ in childhood and in old age
Low B12: weakly related to relative cognitive decline
Good nutrition -> higher IQ
4.4. Birth order
Consistent small link between birth order and mental ability
-> due to womb or parenting?
Kristensen and Bjerkedal (2007) investigated data of 240,000 men
Second-born men raised as the eldest due to early loss of an older sibling -> scored equal to first-born men
Second-born men -> lower IQ than first-born men
-> Support the social hypothesis of birth order effect that parenting does affect the IQ
- Mental ability and life outcomes
- Academic performance
- Job Performance, occupational status, and income
- Longevity and health
- Criminality
- Marriage: assortative mating
5.1. Academic performance
IQ are scores strongly correlated with school grades
School grades also depend on motivation, participation, teacher’s perceptions of attitude and effort
= underestimation of link between IQ and academic achievement
5-year prospective, longitudinal study of 70,000+ English children
Deary, Strand, Smith, and Fernandes (2007)
Correlation between g at age 11 and academic achievement in 25 subjects at age 16
Difference between IQ tests and tests of academic achievement
IQ tests
- problem solving and information of a general nature
- does not focus on specific skills from school curriculums
Both types of tests involve working with numbers and words
Indeed, highest correlations with mathematics and English
However, correlations are high across all subjects
Also non-verbal IQ tests (spatial or picture arrangements) show high correlations with achievement
Correlations become weaker, but are still strong in secondary school (.50) and in college/university (.40)
Lower IQ in primary school also strongly related to high school drop-out
5.2. Job Performance, occupational status, and income
Personality traits: Disciplined, organized, diligent, honest, trustworthy workers -> more hireable
Not easy to measure job performance objectively
Hunter & Hunter (1984): data from hundreds of studies, thousands of workers
-> Smarter workers are better workers
Relation depends on job complexity
Level 1: highest complexity, high IQ almost a necessity
Level 5: lowest complexity, higher IQ level still predict better performance
Correlation between mental ability and occupational status: .50, income: .40
Socioeconomic status (SES) relates to education, better jobs = educational and environmental advantages
SES relates to IQ
A weaker correlations
Moderately strong tendency for smarter people to gain higher-status jobs and income (about .40) after controlling for SES
Deary et al. (2005): 242 men
IQ age 11 predicted the…
Social position at mid-life
Education
Social class of 1st job
5.3. Longevity and health
Whalley and Deary (2001): IQ and survival
Higher IQ tend to live longer than lower IQ
Why do children with higher IQs tend to live longer than children with lower IQs?
-> Low IQ at age 11 might reflect:…
- Prior health-related problems during childhood or before birth
- Record of bodily system integrity (body and brain are not functioning very well)
- Predictor of unhealthy behaviour, low understanding of health information and health risks
- Predictor of entry into unhealthy environments (e.g. stressful occupations)
Types of cancer on death certificate and IQ at age 11
Deary, Whalley, and Starr (2003)
Low childhood intelligence = more likely to die from lung and stomach cancer
-> childhood social privation and unhealthy behaviour (e.g. smoking)
Possible mechanisms explaining the association of childhood intelligence and survival
(childhood, pre-11 years
) Genes, Childhood illnesses, Nutrition & other privations -> IQ age 11 -> Healthy environments, Healthy behaviours -> Age at death
5.4. Criminality
Do persons who commit crimes have lower IQs
Or do persons who are caught for having committed crimes have lower IQs?
Moffit & Silva (1988) compared three groups of youths
Group 1: delinquents who had been in contact with the police
Group 2: delinquents who had avoided contact with the police
Group 3: youths with no police contact and no delinquency
Group 3: scored higher on an intelligence test than groups 1 and 2
No difference between groups 1 and 2
When high IQs commit crime,
the payoffs are higher and probability of arrest is lower
“White-collar” crimes are likely committed mainly by high IQs
because you first need to achieve a higher position (businesses and government professionals) to be able to commit those crimes
5.5. Marriage: assortative mating
Similarity between spouses in verbal ability (vocabulary) = More rewarding conversations
Very weak correlation between spouses’ mathematical reasoning ability
-> Less important for relationship quality
- Not all g-loaded tasks are the same
- Theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence
2. The Flynn effect
6.1. Theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence
Catell, 1905-1998
Factor analyses of the structure of and relationship between different types of ability tests: 2 factors
Fluid intelligence (Gf)
The ability to learn new things and solve novel problems, capacity to reason and solve novel problems, independent of any knowledge from the past
Crystallized intelligence (Gc)
The ability to do well on tasks that require previous knowledge and is dependent on experience and education within a culture
6.2. The Flynn effect
People today score substantially higher on intelligence tests than people did a few generations ago = generational increases in IQ scores across nations
-> massive increase
智商測試的結果逐年增加的現象
Stronger for fluid intelligence than for crystallized intelligence
Flynn (1987): the Flynn effect
consistent in different countries, that people are improving in IQ score
Education and test familiarity?
Education should mainly influence verbal tests and crystallized intelligence
Nutrition?
Cannot account for the entire effect
Societal change?
Technological and cultural changes: cognitively complex, more visual (TV, internet)
Parenting: creating more stimulating environments
New habits of mind, we train and use our brains differently
Hypothetical reasoning, abstract thinking
Cause of the Flynn effect is unclear
Multiple factors likely play a role
- Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
- 8 distinct types of intelligences
Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
Spatial
Musical
Bodily-kinesthetic: motor coordination
Interpersonal: understanding social situations
Intrapersonal: understanding one’s own behaviour, thoughts and feelings
Naturalistic: classify elements in the natural world
Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Everyone can recognize his/her strengths and weaknesses
Not all purely mental abilities
No statistical factor analyses
Empirical studies largely contradict Gardner’s theory
7.2. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
Analytic
- academic abilities typically measured by intelligence test, logical and critical thinking
- > academic performance
Creative
- formulating new ideas, gain original insights
- > artistic performance
Practical
- problem-solving in everyday life, “street smarts”
- > real world success
Sternberg et al. (2000): Knowing the unwritten rules or tacit knowledge of how to succeed within an organization
Compare respondents’ answers with answers of “successful” experts
Higher match is related to better job performance, but still correlated with g
Koke and Vernon (2003):
3 aspects are not independent
All correlated with each other and correlated with general intelligent test scores
7.3. Emotional Intelligence (EI)
Very popular idea in the 90s, Best-selling books, tv, radio, newspapers,…
-> All suggesting that emotional intelligence is more important than traditional intelligence
Goleman (1995) The ability to regulate one’s emotions: “journalistic account”
Self-control, self-confidence, trustworthiness, empathy, optimism, achievement orientation, conflict management, teamwork, awareness of one’s emotions
-> Very broad and unclear definition of EI
Four branch model of Emotional Intelligence
Mayer & Salovey (1993; 1997); Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, (2008)
Managing emotions: regulation of emotions enabling emotional and intellectual growth
Understanding emotions and emotional information, language, and the signals conveyed by emotions
Using emotions to facilitate thinking / generating emotions advantageous for thought
Perceiving emotions accurately in oneself and others
Debate and Controversy of EI
Does it exist? -> Stable individual differences
Can it be measured? -> yes but reliably
Is it important? -> maybe but predictive validity?
Is it an ability? related to IQ rather than personality
Is it more important than IQ? incremental validity
How to measure Emotional Intelligence?
Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI)
Ability Emotional Intelligence (AEI)
Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI)
Emotion-related self-perceptions and dispositions
Self-report questionnaire: self-perceived use of emotional abilities
Ability Emotional Intelligence (AEI)
Set of abilities related to processing of emotional information that support the adaptive use of emotions (= cognitive processes)
Maximal performance test: emotional problem-solving tasks
TEI example:
Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS)
Salovey, Mayer, Goldman, Turvey, & Palfai (1995)
Attention to Feelings
Clarity of Feelings
Mood Repair
AEI example:
Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT)
Perceiving emotions: identify emotions in pictures of faces
Understanding emotions: given a question
Big Five and Emotional Intelligence
Positive correlation:
- E, O, C, A
Negative correlation:
- N
TEI and Big Five
Strong relations with socially desirable personality traits
Negatively related to N
Positively related to E, C
Unrelated to grade point average and test scores (academic)
Less impact on life outcome
AEI and Big Five
Positive correlations
- A, O
Verbal-based tests of mental ability
-> an overlap in AEI and TEI
Predictive validity of EI
High EI = better social relations
Low EI = deviant behaviour -> criminality
EI is associated with…
Psychological health/well-being/satisfaction
Better social relations for children and adults
Better family and intimate relationships
More positively perceived by others
Better social relations at work and during negotiations
Better academic achievement as reported by teachers
But often unrelated to grades/academic achievement once IQ is taken into account
-> Not enough evidence to support all theoretical claims
