Week 9: Intelligence & Morality 1

Question 1

Intelligence: Describes Interventions & Policies regarding individual differences

Answer 1

• Identify individuals with potential
• Identify individuals who are at risk
• Provide support and opportunities to people who could use them best

Question 2

How do Intelligence Tests Work? Name the main 3

Answer 2

1) Rely on very large samples
2) Test a variety of tasks
3) Compare individual performance to norms (by age)

Question 3

What causes differences in IQ?

Answer 3

Genetic contribution: More relatedness = higher correlation
(Identical twins being raised together vs siblings raised together)

Environmental contributions: Genetics doesn’t explain all (e.g., fraternal twins > siblings)

Question 4

Define Heritability

Answer 4

proportions of observed variability that can be explained by genetic inheritance

Question 5

Aside from heritability for IQ, what influences the 50% of variation?

Answer 5

This is explained by the environment

• Effects of shared environment (e.g., children in the same family)
• Effects of non-shared environment
• Different experiences within the family
• Different experiences/environmental factors outside the family

Question 6

Can IG Heritability vary by socioeconomic status?

Answer 6

YES

Question 7

What was the connection between SES(socioeconomic status) and IQ Heritability?

Answer 7

• For children in very low-income families, the estimated genetic influence on IQ is close to zero.
• Minimal expected environment

Question 8

What is the minimal expected environment?

Answer 8

If conditions are very impoverished, children do not attain their genetic potential

Question 9

What are the main problems with IQ tests?

Answer 9

• Content of IQ tests is designed to predict performance
• Features other than “general intelligence” correlate as much with academic success (e.g., Self-discipline, executive function)

Question 10

Describe the study of Self Discipline: Delay of Gratification

Answer 10

• Young children(4-5 years old) were placed in a room with a marshmallow and were asked to wait for the researcher to come back so they could have 2 marshmallows
• It was intended to measure the academic achievement in high school
• Self-control may matter more than IQ. “When IQ and self-discipline are entered simultaneously in a multiple regression analysis, self-discipline accounted for almost twice as much variance in GPA”.

Question 11

Who did the children prefer: the reliable experimenter who says she will bring crayons and does or the unreliable experimenter who says she will bring crayons and doesn’t?

Answer 11

The graph shows that the children prefer the reliable experimenter.

Question 12

Describe the Carolina Abecedarian Study (Ramey & Campbell, 1984)

Answer 12

• Infants from low-income families were randomly assigned to 1) High-quality infant intervention (0-3years) 2) No infant intervention
• Half of each of those groups was later assigned to 1) School-aged intervention (5-8years) 2) No school-aged intervention
• Main questions: 1) Do interventions improve cognitive outcomes?
  2) Does the timing of intervention experience matter?

Question 13

Describe the two folk theories of intelligence

Answer 13

1) Intelligence as fixed: Entity View
- You are smart or not smart
-Working hard indicates a lack of intelligence
- Think of this as a fixed mindset
2) Intelligence as acquired: Incremental view
- Intelligence is malleable
-You get smarter by practicing
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Folk theories do not correlate with intellectual ability, but they affect performance

Question 14

How do incremental theorists act when faced with a challenge?

Answer 14

Incremental theorists can thrive because they see failure and challenge as learning opportunities

Question 15

How do entity theorists act when faced with a challenge?

Answer 15

Entity theorists see failure as indicating a lack of intelligence or ability, so challenges are threatening

Question 16

Who seems to underperform when faced with a challenge: Entity theorists or Incrementalist theorists?

Answer 16

Entity theorists underperform in challenging situations!

Question 17

Explain Carol Dweck’s research on Mindsets

Answer 17

Children were given a task and the researcher would either emphasize, “you’re really smart with this task” vs “You tried your best on this task”. Fixed vs malleable mindset
Children with fixed mindsets want to work on the easy task
Children with malleable mindsets want to go back to the more difficult task

Question 18

How did the child with the entity praisework respond to a harder task? (Drawing; you’re a good drawer)

Answer 18

Children whow ere given entity praise felt more helpless, persisted less, didn’t want to play the game again, and didn’t like their drawings

Question 19

Does Intelligence test performance rely on both nature/nurture?

Answer 19

Intelligence test peformance relies on both nature (genetic contribution) and nurture (experience)

Question 20

How do different mindsets influence how we deal with things?

Answer 20

Different mindsets can impact learning by influencing whether people will try challenging tasks/ how they deal with failure

Question 21

Define Rationalism

Answer 21

We can study morality by looking at children’s explicit reasoning and justification about moral situations

Question 22

Name the 3 stages of Piaget’s Theory of Moral Judgment

Answer 22

Stage 1: Moral Realism (under 7 years)
Stage 2: Transitional period (8 to 10 years)
Stage 3: Moral Relativism (11 years +)

Question 23

Describe Piaget’s Theory of Moral Judgment Stage 1: Moral Realism

Answer 23

Under 7 years

• Outcomes matter
• Rules = rigidly accepted
• Punishment = chosen by authority figure

Question 24

Describe Piaget’s Stage 2: Transitional Period

Answer 24

(8 to 10 years)

- Interactions with peers teach children that rules can be constructed and changed by the group

Question 25

Describe Stage 3: Moral Relativism

Answer 25

(11 years +)

• Intentions matter
• Rules = product of social agreement
• Punishment = “fair” and “fits the crime”

Question 26

What differed between Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Judgment and Piaget’s Theory of Moral Judgment?

Answer 26

Similarities: 
- strongly influenced by Piaget 
- also a stage theory 
Differences: 
- Kohlberg cared more about justifications than the moral judgments themselves (is that right or is that wrong?)

Question 27

What were the 3 stages of Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Judgement?

Answer 27

1) Preconventional Level (Stages 1 & 2)
2) Conventional Level (Stages 3 & 4)
3) Postconventional/Principled Level (Stages 5 & 6)

Question 28

Describe Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Judgement: Preconventional Level (Stages 1&2)

Answer 28

Rules should be followed because they are rules, avoid punishment

Question 29

Describe Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Judgement: Conventional Level(Stages 3&4)

Answer 29

You should do things so that people see you as “good”

Question 30

Describe Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Judgement: Postconventional/Principled Level (Stages 5&6)

Answer 30

Universal principles (e.g., equal human rights) should be followed

Question 31

What was shown in the video about daxing by Rakoczy, Warneken, & Tomasello 2008?

Answer 31

3 year old in test condition: tries to correct puppet about daxing
Although the puppet gets the pole in the slot, the child cares about how they do it (just like how the researcher demonstrated)
- Overall: KIDS CARE ABOUT RULES

Question 32

What was a challenge to Piaget & Kohlberg’s standpoint

Answer 32

• Kids don’t treat all rules equally

- younger children reason differently about moral rules violations than conventional rule violations

Question 33

How did 3 and 4-year olds react to being asked to judge moral breaches and conventional breaches?

Answer 33

Moral breaches more serious
Moral breaches wrong even in the absence of a rule
- Even though it was okay to not push someone, children still refused
|Moral = involve harm | Conventional = social norms |

Question 34

Did Kohlberg or Piaget say that young kids value outcome over intention?

Answer 34

Piaget

-Much younger children, and even infants, seem to be able to reason about the importance of intentions

Question 35

Which researcher did the infant (21-months) choose to give the toy to?
Researcher 1: Previously failed to give the infant a toy because she was clumsy/unable
Researcher 2: Previously failed to give that infant a toy because she was tricky/unwilling

Answer 35

Researcher 1! Infants were more willing to give the toy to the clumsy person
Babies know the difference between unable and unwilling

Question 36

Do infants act in prosocial/helpful ways?

Answer 36

Dropped object - clothespin (infant helps pick them up)
Hands Full - Books (infant opens the closet)
-Toddlers (starting at 14-months) help in a wide variety of situations
-Toddlers’ helping is not dependent on being rewarded
-Toddlers will event ake a cost in order to help
Physical cost-Will traverse a difficult landscape to help
Social cost-Will leave a fun game (ball pit) to help

Question 37

In the Yale Infant Studies, which character did the infants choose? Helpful vs unhelpful?

Answer 37

80% of infants choose the helpful character

Question 38

Regarding the incest example in class, did people change their initial moral judgment about incest being wrong?

Answer 38

People stubbornly resist changing their initial moral judgment even when they have no supporting reasons to justify their opinion