PSYD13 Delkurs 1 - Intelligence Flashcards
Define intelligence
The ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively, and to deal adaptively with the environment. Note: intelligence is a social construct, therefore there are different definitions
What is the Mozart effect?
The supposed increase of cognitive function due to listening to music before, or during, a task, such as taking a test.
What contribution did Sir Francis Galton have for measuring intelligence?
In his book “Hereditary Genius” he showed through the study of family trees that eminence and genius seemed to occur within certain families. Even though Galton’s theory does not hold up today, his work had its contribution through generating interest in the subject
What contribution did Alfred Binet have for measuring intelligence?
Inspired by Galton’s work, Binet launched the modern intelligence movement by creating his mental test for French schoolchildren. He stated that there were certain abilities that you should have at certain ages, which determines your mental age
What 2 assumptions did Binet make about intelligence?
1) Mental abilities develop with age 2) the rate at which people gain mental competence is a characteristic of the person and is relatively constant over time
What is Stern’s intelligence quotient? (IQ)
The ratio of mental age to chronological age, multiplied by 100: IQ = (mental age/chronological age) x 100
What intelligence-tests emerged from Binet?
Army Alpha, Army Beta, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) -> todays: WAIS-IV
Psychometrics?
The statistical study of psychological tests
What is Charles Spearman’s psychometric argument for mental capacity?
The correlation between different types of tests reflect a more basic or general mental capacity. A persons intellectual performance ability is decided partly by ones g-factor, and partly what it takes to solve a specific problem
What is Charles Spearman’s g-factor?
g factor = general factor = general intelligence
What was the conclusion from a meta-analysis of the g-factor? (2004)
The g-factor was related to success in both work and academic studies
Who challenged Spearman’s conclusion about the centrality of the g-factor, and what did his theory say?
While Spearman was impressed by the fact that scores on different tasks are correlated, Thurnstone was impressed by the fact that they were far from perfect - therefore he concluded that human mental performance was no determined by g-factor, but by primary mental abilities
What were Thurnstone’s primary mental abilities?
S Space (reasoning about visual scenes)
V Verbal (understanding verbal statements)
W Word fluency (producing verbal statements)
N Number facility (Dealing w numbers)
P Perceptual speed (Recognising visual patterns)
M Rote memory (Memorisation)
R Reasoning (Dealing w novel problems)
What is Cattell and Horn’s theory of crystallised and fluid intelligence?
They broke down Spearman’s g-factor into two parts - gc and gf.
Crystallised intelligence (gc)?
The ability to apply previously acquired knowledge to current problems - connection with LTM
Fluid intelligence (gf)?
The ability to deal with novel problem-solving situations for which personal experience does not provide solution - connection with WM
What is Carroll’s Three-Stratum Theory of cognitive abilities?
Carroll used factor analysis to re-analyse more than 460 differents sets of data -> 3 hierarchal levels of mental skills: general, broad and narrow
Cognitive process theories?
Explore the specific information-processing and cognitive processes that underlie intellectual ability
What is Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence?
A theory that addresses both the psychological processes involved in intelligent behaviour and the diverse forms that intelligence can take - he means that there are 3 classes of cognitive processes that underlie each type of intelligence
What are the 3 classes of cognitive processes (components) in Sternberg’s theory?
- Metacomponents 2. Performance components 3. Knowledge acquisition components
Metacomponents?
The higher-order processes used to plan and regulate task performance