Week 3: Intelligence

Question 1

Galton view on intelligence

Answer 1

Higher intelligence is caused by superior qualities passed down by heredity (1869)
* Central hypothesis: there are individual differences in intelligence, and it is possible to measure intelligence directly

Galton measured intelligence
– reaction time
– keenness of sight and hearing
– the ability to distinguish between colours

Question 2

Binet’s development 1905

Answer 2

Binet-Simon scale (1905): first intelligence test aiming to identify children who might require special education

Question 3

Binet-Simon scale (1905)

Answer 3

30 tasks related to everyday life, e.g.,
➢ following light with eyes, naming parts of the body, counting coins, recalling a number of digits, filling in missing words in a sentence
* Test results determined the child’s “mental age”

Question 4

Stern (1912)

Answer 4

idea of an Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

* Mental age varied among children proportionally to their real age  * The ratio mental age : chronological age was fairly constant, e.g., 5:6= 0.83, 8:10= 0.8

Question 5

Stern - calculating IQ

Answer 5

(mental age / chronological age) x 100

Question 6

Terman - Revision of the Binet–Simon scale

Answer 6

Stanford–Binet scale (1916)
* Tested > 1,000 children (Binet had only tested 50): far more accurate information on how children typically scored on intelligence tasks
➢Representative samples, standardized testing, age norms

Question 7

Spearman: development in differential psychology

Answer 7

First to use factor analysis techniques

1904 – 1921: He found positive correlations between intelligence tests
➢ a person who does well on one intelligence test will perform well on a variety of cognitive ability tests…

Question 8

Spearman: what did he call the positive correlation between tests

Answer 8

positive manifold

Question 9

Spearman: what did he create as underlying positive mantifold?

Answer 9

general intelligence, or ‘g’

Question 10

Spearman’s two-factor theory: ‘g’ and ‘s’

Answer 10

General intelligence ‘g’

Specific abilities factor ‘s’

Question 11

g

Answer 11

mental energy that is required to perform well on intelligence tests of all types; deeper fundamental mechanism

Question 12

s

Answer 12

specific types of intelligence needed to perform well on each different task – Vocabulary intelligence, mathematical intelligence, and spatial intelligence are all specific abilities

Question 13

Wechsler tests

Answer 13

– Wechsler-Bellevue Scale (1939)
– standardised among a sample of 1,500 adults
– Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS; 1955) standardised among 2,000 adults aged 16-75
– Wechsler Scale for Children (WISC; 1955) for children aged 5-16

Question 14

Wechsler: deviation IQ

Answer 14

• tested large groups of people to identify norms across different age groups, focus on comparison across similar ages

deviation IQ = (Actual test score / Expected score for age) x 100

Question 15

Wechsler: mean and standard deviation of IQ

Answer 15

mean = 100

standard deviation = 15

Question 16

Raven’s Progressive Matrices

Answer 16

• Measure the abstract ability to see relationships between objects, events and information and draw inferences from those relationships

It is (supposed to be) free of cultural influences and language and is often favoured as a good measure of ‘g’; culture-fair test

As in the Wechsler tests, the overall IQ score is based on an individual’s deviation from standardised norms

Question 17

Beyond g: Multi-factor theories

Answer 17

➢ Theory of primary mental abilities
➢ Fluid vs. crystallised intelligence
➢ Three-stratum theory
➢ CHC theory

Question 18

Theory of primary mental abilities

Answer 18

First multi-factor theory (1938)

multiple factors make up IQ:
- spatial visualisations
- number
- word fluency
- associative memory
- verbal comprehension
- perceptual speed

Question 19

Cattell: Fluid vs crystallised intelligence

Answer 19

General intelligence made up of:

Gc - acquired knowledge and skills

Gf - ability of abstract reasoning

Question 20

WAIS measures Gc, Gf or both?

Answer 20

both

Question 21

Ravens matrices: Gc, Gf or both?

Answer 21

Fluid intelligence

Question 22

Three stratum theory: 1993 (Caroll)

Answer 22

Hierarchal theory

systematic organisation & integration of over 50 yrs of research

Stratum 3 was g

Stratum 2 is broad factors making up g (e.g. Gf)

Stratum 1 is specific abilities (e.g. creativity)

Question 23

CHC: Cattel-Horn-Carrol theory

Answer 23

• Cattell, Horn, and Carrol met Richard W. Woodcock
• Further integration of existing theories with practicalities of psychometric testing in mind (~1999; first reference to CHC in Flanagan, 2000)

Question 24

Positive manifold summary

Answer 24

Positive manifold of seemingly unrelated tests is one of the most well-replicated findings in psychological science
➢ This is not captured by the definition “Intelligence is what is measured in an intelligence test”

Question 25

Multiple intelligences? Aren’t we missing something?

Answer 25

Standard intelligence theories/tests focus on cognitive abilities & performance measures Critics: tests ignore important parts of mental life, e.g., noncognitive domains such as socio-emotional abilities and interpersonal skills ➢ Theory of Multiple intelligences ➢ Emotional Intelligence ➢ Creativity

Question 26

Theory of Multiple intelligences Howard Gardner (1983, 1996)

Answer 26

- Postulated that intelligences – reside in separate sections of the brain, – are independent of each other, and – are not controlled by any central function of the brain

Question 27

theory of multiple intelligences criticism

Answer 27

- * Some of the Gardner’s intelligences (e.g., intrapersonal) are hard to define; whether they are measurable is questionable - * Empirical research is limited (non-existent?) - * Evidence does not support the existence of separate neural mechanisms (e.g., Waterhouse, 2006) - * Intelligences are intercorrelated with each other highly and with personality traits (e.g., Furnham, 2009) - * Ability tests designed to measure intelligences are highly positively correlated with each other and with general intelligence (e.g., Visser et al., 2006)

Question 28

emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995)

Answer 28

Five components of emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995) 1. Identify one’s own emotions (self-awareness) 2. Managing and controlling one’s emotions (self-regulation) 3. Emotional states related to a drive for achievement (motivation) 4. Assess and influence other’s emotions (empathy) 5. Ability to sustain good interpersonal relationships (social skills) EI is linked to a variety of psychiatric conditions (e.g., anxiety, bipolar disorder), academic and job performance, health

Question 29

Emotional Intelligence: Personality traits or intelligence? (e.g., Mayer & Salovey, 1993)

Answer 29

– Intelligence involves a series of mental abilities – Traits: behavioural preferences, as opposed to abilities – Knowing what a person feels was identified as mental ability, as opposed to a behavioural tendency

Question 30

Creativity

Answer 30

* The ability to generate ideas or products with novelty and usefulness; inventiveness & innovation * The core of creativity is divergent thinking (DT) – the ability to – think outside the box – reconceptualize old problems in new ways – come up with multiple potential solutions * Tests of DT typically involve assessing the quantity and quality (originality) of ideas produced

Question 31

Does a person have to be smart to be creative? The threshold hypothesis

Answer 31

* The threshold hypothesis – creativity and IQ are correlated only when IQ is below, but not above, a threshold or breakpoint (Guilford, 1967) (so need a certain level of intelligence to be creative, but after that it doesn't matter) – Mixed findings, the hypothesis is/was highly debated (e.g., Weiss et al., 2020) * Moderate correlation between creativity and intelligence (~0.25; e.g., Gerwig et al., 2021, meta-analysis)

Question 32

Psychology of intelligence: The current status

Answer 32

* Despite some critiques, the ideas of general intelligence ‘g’, fluid intelligence and crystallised intelligence still dominate the field * Standardised and norm-referenced IQ measured by the Wechsler tests and Raven’s progressive matrices are still widely used * Multiple intelligences and non-cognitive abilities are increasingly valued in education and other applied settings * Cognitive abilities (e.g., rationality) presumably not measured by conventional IQ tests have gained increasing attention

Question 33

WAIS III test considered 2 main types of IQ

Answer 33

verbal and performance IQ