Module 5: Intelligence- Theories and Issues

Question 1

Define a multi-faceted approach to intelligence

Answer 1

• Acquire and apply knowledge
• Reason logically, plan effectively, and infer perceptively
• Grasp and visualise concepts
• Find the right words and thoughts
• Cope and adjust to the novel situations

Question 2

Implicitly versus explicitly definitions of intelligence

Answer 2

• Implicitly definitions (laypersons): personal definitions influenced by culture, age, and experience.
• Explicitly definitions (the experts): constructed by psychologists/social scientist and based on empirical research.
• Considerable agreement between expert and layperson definitions. 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.

Question 3

Francis Galton definition

Answer 3

• Proposed that intelligence is related to sensory abilities
• Simple human sensations and reactions were at the heart of individual differences and ability
• Administration of a series of psychophysiological tests that measured ‘sensory acuity’ or efficiency

Question 4

Alfred Binet definition

Answer 4

• Criticised Galton’s approach, and called for more complex measurements of intellectual ability
• Viewed intelligence as inseparable abilities requiring complex measurement.

Question 5

Wechsler

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Three major intelligence theories:

Answer 6

1. Factor analytic models
2. Information processing models
3. Developmental models

Question 7

Spearman’s g

Answer 7

• Charles Spearman developed Factor Analysis (FA) to examine inter-correlations between different cognitive ability tests
• All cognitive ability tests appeared to inter correlate to some degree i.e. they all mapped onto one factor to some extent
• Spearman called this factor g (general intelligence.

Question 8

Thurstone’s Multiple Factor Theory

Answer 8

• Louis Thurstone attempted to de-empathise 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; assessed seven PMAs on separate subtests: verbal meaning, perceptual speed, reasoning, number, rote memory, word fluency, spatial relations.

Question 9

The Cattell-Horn Model

Answer 9

Postulates the existence of two major types of cognitive ability:
- Crystallised intelligence (Gc): includes acquired skills and knowledge; developed through education, experience, and practise.

• Fluid Intelligence (Gf): non-verbal, relatively culture free, and independent of specific instruction.
  Horn added to the original model by proposing additional factors
• visual processing skills (Gv)
• Auditory processing skills (Ga)
• Quantitative processing (Gq)
• Speed of processing (Gs)
• Facility with reading and writing (Grw)
• Short term memory (Gsm)
• Long term storage retrieval (Glr)

Question 10

Carroll’s hierarchical model

Answer 10

Carroll’s three-stratum theory presented three levels of cognition: narrows abilities (stratum I), broad abilities (stratum II), and general abilities (stratum III).

Question 11

Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Model

Answer 11

Blends together Cattell-Horn and Carroll models of intelligence.
Each broad-stratum ability subsumes two or more narrow-stratum abilities.
Features ten broad-stratum abilities, and over seventy narrow stratum abilities. CHC theory has been used (either implicitly or explicitly) as the foundation for nearly all intelligence tests since the year 2000.

Question 12

Developmental models

Answer 12

• Stage-based
• Sequencing of stages is invariant
• Stages are irreversible
• Usually, a relationship between progression through stages and chronological age.

Question 13

Information processing models: Luria

Answer 13

• Focuses on how material is processed by the brain
• Simultaneous (parallel) processing: the integration of information occurs all at once
• Successive (sequential) processing: information is individually processed in a logical sequence.

Question 14

Information processing models: Triarchic theory

Answer 14

Robert Sternber (1997) distinguished between three components/units of processing

• Analytical abilities (componential)
• Creative abilities (experimental)
• Practical abilities (Contextual)

Question 15

What do intelligence tests actually involve?

Answer 15

• Intelligence testing involves sampling a person’s performance on various developmentally appropriate tests.
• Infant testing focuses on sensorimotor development (e.g. non-verbal motor responses)
• For older children, the focus shifts towards verbal and performance abilities (e.g. vocabulary or social judgment).

Question 16

Paediatric measures of intelligence

Answer 16

Three major child intelligence batteries used in Australia; selected based on child’s age:

• Bayley Scales of Infant Development
• WPPSI-IV
• WISC-V (6-16)

Used for diagnostic purposes, and to characterise a child’s cognitive strengths an weaknesses.

Question 17

Adult measures of intelligence

Answer 17

Tap abilities such as retention of general information, quantitative reasoning, expressive language, memory, and social judgment.

Used to ascertain clinically relevant information. E.g., establish diagnosis, identify necessary supports, and guide clinical management.

Question 18

Nature- Nurture debate

Answer 18

Scientists have proposed several factors that might contribute to variation in measured human intelligence.

The role of nature and nurture:

• Intelligence results from the interaction of hereditary and environmental factors.
• Current scientific endeavours focused on probing the relative contributions of these variables, and how the interplay is best characterised.

Question 19

Influence of age

Answer 19

Raw intelligence scores across the lifespan:
- Very steep growth curve through first 12 years of life; rate slows after age 20, before declining in older adulthood. (Depends on what you are testing).

• Stability of relative intelligence across the lifespan
  o The greater the age, the greater the stability
  o Very high degree of stability after age 16.

Question 20

The Flynn effect

Answer 20

• Measured intelligence shown to vary across generations
• Flynn effect refers to a well-documented steady increased in scores on standardised IQ tests since the 1930s.
• Average IQ increase is about 3 IQ points every decade.

Question 21

Personality Factors

Answer 21

• Wechsler and Binet both argued that the study of intelligence was synonymous with the study of personality.
• Greater gains in IQ linked to several personality variables: aggressiveness with peers, high needed for achievement, self-confidence.
• Personality may also impact aspects of the test environment.

Question 22

The influence of sex

Answer 22

• Sex differences in IQ appear to be fairly minimal, in fact, easily diffable.
• In the developmental years, females outperform males on verbal tasks, but differences disappear by late adolescence.
• Males outperform females on some tasks of spatial ability, but effects can disappear if females are given exposure and experience on the tasks.

Question 23

Cultural Factors

Answer 23

Individuals from different cultures may have divergent views on what constitutes human
intelligence.

Question 24

Culture-Fair tests

Answer 24

• Culture-fair tests: devised to measure intelligence, while relying as little as possible on culture specific knowledge.
• Where possible, clinicians should select tests that are normed on the appropriate cultural group.
• Translating items into another language does not guarantee their equivalence in terms of item difficulty.