Module 5: Intelligence: Theories and Issues Flashcards
Definitions of Intelligence:
a multifaceted capacity that includes the ability to:
• Acquire and apply knowledge.
• Reason logically, plan effectively, and infer perceptively.
• Grasp and visual concepts.
• Find the right words and thoughts.
• Cope and adjust to novel situations.
Implicit definitions (laypersons):
personally, definitions influenced by culture, age, and experience.
Explicit definitions of Intelligence (the experts):
constructed by psychologists/social scientists and based on empirical research.
Considerable agreement between expert and layperson definitions of Intelligence.
Both tend to emphasise practical problem-solving abilities, verbal ability and social competence.
• However, laypersons more likely to emphasise social and interpersonal aspects of intelligence.
Expert definitions of Intelligence: Frances Galton
- Proposed that intelligence is related to sensory abilities.
- Simple human sensations and reactions were at the heart of individual differences and ability.
- Administered a series of psychophysiological tests that measured sensory acuity or efficiency.
Expert definitions of Intelligence: Alfred Binet:
• Criticized Galton’s approach, and called for more complex measurements of intellectual ability.
• Viewed intelligence as inseparable abilities requiring complex measurement.
o Can’t separate intelligence into subtests. Are all correlated.
Expert definitions of Intelligence: Wechsler
- The aggregate… capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment, it is composed of elements or abilities which… are qualitatively differentiable.
- Believed personality characteristics and mood can impact intelligence performance.
Theories of intelligence:
• Theories can be thought of as metaphors for what intelligence is.
• Often overlapping definitions of intelligence.
• Different theorists have different ideas about what factors are key in a theory of intelligence; however, clinicians can look for (and probably find) their preferred factors in most widely used tests of intelligence.
• The three major intelligence theories:
o Factor analytic models
o Information processing models
o Developmental models
Classic Factor Analytic Models for Defining Intelligence:
- Spearman’s classical model of intelligence: Spearman’s G
- Thurstone’s Multiple factor analysis
- The Cattel-Horn model: Fluid intelligence versus crystalized intelligence distinction
- Carroll’s hierarchical model – incorporating features of all of the above.
Spearman’s classical model of intelligence: Spearman’s G
General intelligence, also known as g factor, refers to a general mental ability that, according to Spearman, underlies multiple specific skills, including verbal, spatial, numerical and mechanical. … To arrive at this theory, Spearman used a technique known as factor analysis
- Charley spearman developed Factor Analysis (FA) to examine inter-correlations between different cognitive ability tests.
- First data-based theory.
- All cognitive ability tests appear to intercorrelate to some degree. I.e., they all mapped onto one factor to some extent.
- Spearman called this factors g (general intelligence).
- Each test was not independent of g.
- Therefore, any set of tests has unique/specific factors (s) not independent of g and g factor.
- Error variance to s factor.
- Areas of no overlap are s factors.
Thurstone’s Multiple factor analysis:
Classical
that intelligence is composed of several different factors. The seven primary mental abilities in Thurstone’s model were verbal comprehension, word fluency, number facility, spatial visualization, associative memory, perceptual speed and reasoning.
• Independent factors in intelligence. P is independent.
• Attempted to de-emphasise or eliminate any reference to g.
• Believed that correlations between tests were low enough to think that they were measuring several largely independent factors.
• Primary mental abilities (PMAs) test:
o Assessed 7 Primary Mental Abilities (PMAs) on separate subtests:
Verbal meaning
Perceptual speed
Reasoning number
Rote memory
Word fluency
Spatial relations
o Acknowledges a general intelligence.
The Cattel-Horn model: Fluid intelligence versus crystalized intelligence distinction:
Hierarchical
Postulates the existence of two major type of cognitive ability:
• Crystalised intelligence (Gc): includes acquired skills and knowledge; developed through education, experience, and practice. Education based tasks.
• Fluid intelligence (Gf): non-verbal, relatively culture free, and independent of specific instruction.
o Difference between the two are like; environmental vs hereditary influences.
• Horn added to the original model by proposing additional factors:
o Visual processing skills (Gv)
o Auditory processing skills (Ga)
o Quantitative processing (Gq)
o Speed of processing (Gs)
o Facility with reading and writing (Grw)
o Short term memory (Gsm)
o Long term storage and retrieval (Glr)
• Some of these abilities were more vulnerable to deterioration brain injury and age.
o Fluid is more vulnerable.
o Crystallized are more likely to be maintained.
Carroll’s hierarchical model
- Uses all other theories.
- Three-stratum theory presented three levels of cognition: narrow abilities (stratum I), broad abilities (stratum II) and general abilities (stratum III).
Developmental Models of Intelligence:
- Stage based.
- Sequence of stages is invariant. Everyone passes through the same stages in the same order, but maybe not at the same age.
- Stages are irreversible. Cant fall back.
- Usually, a relationship between progression through stages and chronological age.
Developmental Models: Jean Piaget
- Sensorimotor: (Birth-2years): limited to sensory input, lack of object permanence.
- Preoperational (2-6years): use of words to symbolize, lacks principles of conversation.
- Concrete Operational (7-12 years): uses principles of conservation and reversibility.
- Formal operational (12+): mature adult thinking in terms of hypotheses, cause and effect.
