INTELLECTUAL

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INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENT
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4 Areas of Development...
Human beings develop in 4 different aspects of
growth. The areas are all inter-connected, so
when one is affected it may influence the others.
Social
Physical
Intellectual
Intellectual development refers to the
development of a persons mental and thinking
abilities.
Emotional
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Brain growth and development...
At birth, the brain is one-fourth its adult
weight. At six months, the brain has grown to
half its adult weight. At age two, the brain is
three-fourths adult size and weight. Females have
a physically smaller brain, but 11 more neurons
than males.
The brain is made up of nerve cells called
neurons, the majority of which were present at
birth. Neurons located in the various lobes or
segments of the brain are task specific. This
means certain neurons located in certain areas of
the brain are responsible for specific tasks.
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Brain growth and development...
Neurons are hooked together with varying numbers
and kinds of connections called synapses (a
neuron and its synapses are shown at right).
The number of connections results from inherited
growth patterns first, and then environmental
stimuli and challenge. New learning exercises the
brain, causing the blood supply to increase, and
leading to a greater supply of oxygen to the
brain.
The number of connections, or synapses,
determine a persons capacity to learn. The more
synapses, the greater the capacity for learning.
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Limitations to learning...
A window of opportunity is a critical period
between birth and about the age of 10, in which
the brain connections reach their peak. After
that time, the brain starts eliminating inactive
neurons. It is imperative that the childs brain
is provided proper nourishment, stimulation,
challenge, and nurturing during these early years
to encourage neuron activity.
The bodys ability to create new neurons,
especially after the age of 10, is severely
limited if not impossible. If they are destroyed
or eliminated, they are gone forever. (experimenta
l and controversial embryonic stem cell research
offers the most promise for restoring permanently
damaged or destroyed neurons)
Brain cells (neurons) and connections (synapses)
, can also be destroyed by brain injury, chemical
abuse, excessive levels of body chemicals
produced during stress, and diseases such as
Parkinsons and Alzheimers.
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Measuring the "capacity to learn"...
Alfred Binet was born on July 11, 1857 in Nice,
France. He was the only child of a physician
father and an artist mother. His parents
separated when he was very young and he was
raised by his mother. Binet attended college in
Paris at the age of 15, and received his license
to practice law in 1878 and then decided to
follow the family tradition of medicine.
Nevertheless, his interest in psychology became
more important than finishing his medical
studies.
1857-1911
In 1905 he developed a test in which he had
children do tasks such as follow commands, copy
patterns, name objects, and put things in order
or arrange them properly. He gave the test to
schoolchildren and created a standard based on
his data. From Binet's work, the phrase
"intelligence quotient," or "IQ," entered the
vocabulary. The IQ is the ratio of "mental age"
to chronological age. Binets tests (the
Binet-Simon IQ test) focused on measuring the
brains capacity for learning rather than on
actual achievement. Cognitive psychologist Lewis
Terman (1877-1956), while on staff at Stanford
University, later revised Binets work, with a
resulting IQ test still used today the
Stanford-Binet IQ test.
An IQ score indicates the capacity or learning
size of the brainthe brains potential to learn.
It does not measure what actual learning has
taken place.
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IQ Scores...
An Intelligence Quotient indicates a person's
mental abilities relative to others of
approximately the same age. Intelligence is
defined as the capacity for verbal and numerical
reasoning.
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Standard deviation...
Psychologist David Weschler, 1896-1981 developed
two well-known intelligence scales the
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales (WAIS) and the
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC).
These are often used today instead of the
Stanford-Binet. Scoring on all tests is similar.
Weschler also did work on the scoring of tests,
and the use of standard deviations. A standard
deviation is a degree of probable error. If
you scored 108 on a test, and the standard
deviation for that particular test was 3 points,
that means your score could be as much as 3
points lower or as much as 3 points higher.  
When calculating standard deviation, take the
score or the deviation.
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"Mean" and "average"...
When working with statistics and comparing one
individuals test scores to other individuals or
a group, it is helpful to calculate mean and
average scores.
A mean score is the middle score in the entire
range of possibilities. You would take all the
scores in a sample group line them up in order
of low to high, and find the middle.
An average score is when you add together all
the scores in a sample group, and then divide by
the total number of samples.
Mean and average scores for any one test
group may or may not be the same. Can you
determine the mean and average scores for a group
with the following individual test scores?
85, 86, 86, 90, 95, 105, 105, 105, 105, 106, 106,
109, 109, 109, 115, 117, 119, 119, 140
106 is the mean score 105.8 is the
average score
Answer
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Mental handicap...
When the Stanford-Binet was developed,
individuals scoring below 70 were called
mentally deficient, and the 4 levels of
deficiency were labeled from least to most severe
as borderline deficiency, moron, imbecile, and
idiot. Societys misuse of those terms
eventually led to a change. The term mental
retardation replaced deficient, and the words
mild, moderate, severe and profound replaced
previous labels.
Today, the term mental retardation has been
replaced with mental handicap. Mildly mentally
handicapped individuals are considered educable.
Moderately handicapped individuals are considered
trainable. Name changes have occurred to
reinforce the idea that all human beings have
value within American society, as well as general
acceptability. Even the upper scores have been
changed from superior labels to gifted and
high ability learners.
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Achievement test scores...
A second type of educational testing is
achievement testing. Rather than measure the
capacity or potential for learning like the
intelligence testing, achievement tests measure
what has actually been learned.
There are many standardized achievement tests.
Some common ones would be the California
Achievement Tests (CAT or CAT/5), The Iowa Test
of Basic Skills (ITBS), The Comprehensive Test of
Basic Skills (CTBS), The American College Testing
Program (ACT), The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
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Roadblocks to learning...
A learning disability exists when there is a 20
point discrepancy between IQ and achievement test
scores. This disability is simply some type of
roadblock or barricade to learning it can
never be cured.
Other conditions that meet legal definitions as
roadblocks to learning are Autism, behavioral
disorders, hearing impairment including
deafness, mental handicap, multiple disabilities,
orthopedic impairments, other health impairments,
specific learning disabilities, speech and
language impairments, traumatic brain injury, and
visual impairment or blindness.
Students experiencing roadblocks are eligible
for special education services.
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Special Education...
The federal government enacted a law in 1975, now
known as the Individuals with Disability
Education Act or IDEA, guaranteeing that ALL
children, regardless of physical, mental or
emotional handicap, are entitled to a free,
appropriate public education in the least
restrictive environment. This law is very
important in setting up what is expected of
school districts and of the state. With this law
came federal funds to help pay for the costs of
special education.
As a result of these laws, the federal and state
governments set up ways to protect parents' and
students' rights. These procedures are outlined
in Rule 51. In addition to actual education
services, it covers other related services such
as physical, speech and occupational therapies
and transportationfrom birth to age 21. The
specific program of services for each child
meeting Rule 51 eligibility is outlined in a
document called an Individual Education Plans
(IEPs).
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Piaget's theory on cognitive development...
Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland, the oldest
child of Arthur Piaget, professor of medieval
literature at the University, and of Rebecca
Jackson. At age 11, while he was a pupil at
Neuchâtel Latin high school, he wrote a short
notice on an albino sparrow. This short paper is
generally considered as the start of a brilliant
scientific career made of over sixty books and
several hundred articles. After a semester spent
at the University of Zürich where he developed an
interest for psychoanalysis, he left Switzerland
for France. Here he did his first experimental
studies of the growing mind. Piaget married and
had 3 children, whose intellectual development
from infancy to language was studied. His
researches in developmental psychology and
genetic epistemology had one unique goal how
does knowledge grow? His answer is that the
growth of knowledge is a progressive construction
of logically embedded structures superseding one
another by a process of inclusion of lower less
powerful logical means into higher and more
powerful ones up to adulthood.. Piaget's oeuvre
is known all over the world and is still an
inspiration in fields like psychology, sociology,
education, epistemology, economics and law as
witnessed in the annual catalogues of the Jean
Piaget Archives. He was awarded numerous prizes
and honorary degrees all over the world.
1896-1980
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Piaget's theory on cognitive development...
Piaget's theories on intellectual development
were based on cognitive development and
functioning.  Cognitive development relates to
the process of acquiring knowledge by the use of
reasoning, intuition, or perception, and
organizing it through language, mental imagery,
reasoning, problem-solving, and memory. He
believed that all children go through 4 stages of
cognitive development , but not all at the same
ages. 
The 4 stages and ages that they typically occur
in are Sensorimotor(birth-2) babies learn
primarily through their senses and their own
actions. Preoperational(2-7) children think
about everything in terms of their own activities
and in terms of what they perceive at the moment
Concrete Operational(7-11) children are able
to think logically but still learn best from
direct experiences Formal Operational(12-15)
children become capable of abstract thinking
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Sensorimotor...
Learning begins with sensory perception.
Perception is the ability to receive and use
information from the senses. It is important to
provide stimuli for all the senses seeing,
hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting.
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Preoperational...
During the preoperational stage of learning, the
child does not use logic. They would believe
that the moon or a shadow was actually following
them around. They concentrate on only one thing
at a time. They solve problems by pretending or
imitating rather than by thinking things through.
The child cannot distinguish between their own
perspective and someone elses. They cannot
think abstractly, so time and numbers mean
nothing unless they have something concrete to
associate them with.
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Concrete operational...
During this stage, the child still relies on
actually being able to see or experience a
problem, but is capable of reasoning. Reasoning
is the logical thinking necessary to solve
problems and make decisions. They understand the
principles of conservation (pouring water from
one shape container into a different shaped
container does not change the amount of water).
They understand that operations can be reversed,
so subtraction is possible. Children in this
stage can make categories of things.
6 5 - 2 - 3 4 2
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Formal operational...
During the formal operational stage of learning,
the individual can think about what might have
been the cause of the event without having
experienced that cause. This ability allows
problem-solving just by thinking.
The formal operational child does not
automatically accept everything they hear or
read, but can think everything through critically
and logically. They can form ideals, understand
subtle messages, and understand deeper meanings.
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Attention span...
Attention span is the length of time one is able
to concentrate on a task at hand. Research
suggests that the average childs attention span
equals 3-4 minutes per year of age, with a
maximum of approximately 20 minutes. After 20
minutes, concentration levels weaken and
attention wanders off periodically.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or
ADHD, is a neurological disability characterized
by inappropriate degrees of inattention,
impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Research
indicates ADHD is caused by an inherited trait
that affects the part of the brain (primarily the
frontal lobes) that is responsible for
persistence, planning, impulse control, and
foresight.
Attention span can be increased with practice and
an environment free from distractions. Too many
hours of video games and TV may be responsible
for short attention span development in children.
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Language development...
Language is a code made up of rules that include
what words mean, how to make words, how to put
them together, and what word combinations are
best in what situations. Speech is the oral form
of language.
The development of language includes developing
the ability to listen, to understand what is
said, and to speak to others.
The child eventually develops the ability to see
and understand the use of written language and to
write and read. We call this language-related
learning "literacy."
Receptive language skills include the ability to
understand words in accord with chronological
age. Expressive language skills include the
ability to express oneself verbally.
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Language development...
3 months vowel-like sounds in form of cooing
ooh,
ah, aw 4 months consonant sounds
p,b,m,l 12-18 months first words 2 years 2
word sentences 3-4 years perfects sounds of m,
b, n, t, p, d, k, g, w, h, and vowels
3-4 word sentences 900-1,000 word
vocabulary 5-6 years perfects sounds of sh, ch,
l, l blends
5-6 word sentences 1500-2500 word
vocabulary 7-8 years perfects sounds of v, j,
th, s, z, r, s blends, r blends
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INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENT
THE END
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• Preparing individuals for life and work
• Strengthening families
• Empowering communities
• Created by Barbara L. Swarthout, Family
  Consumer Sciences teacher at Elkhorn High School