Intelligence:

1

• Intelligence
• Measuring Mental Performance
• Chapter 9
• Dr. Pelaez

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What is Intelligence?

• Intelligence does not mean the same thing to
  everyone (Neisser et al., 1996)
• There is still no single definition of
  intelligence. Different theorists have very
  different theories as to which attributes are
  core aspects of the construct they call
  intelligence.
• Piaget (1970)

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• Psychometric Views of Intelligence
• According to psychometric theorists, intelligence
  is a trait or a set of traits that characterizes
  some people to a greater extent than others.
• Alfred Binets Singular Component Approach
• Binet and Simon (1904)
• Factor Analysis and the Multicomponent View of
  Intelligence
• Spearmans (1927) Factor Analysis and the g
  Factor
• Thurstones Primary mental abilities
• Guilfords Structure-of-intellect model
• Carrolls Three-stratum theory of intelligence

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• Multicomponent View of Intelligence
• Other psychometric theorists strongly believed
  that mental age was correlated to human
  intellectual performance.
• They believed that intelligence tests required
  individuals to perform on a variety of tasks.
• Individuals would perform in a large number of
  mental tasks and then their performances would be
  analyzed, using a method called factor analysis.

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• A Modern Information-Processing Viewpoint
• Some psychometrics believe that the definitions
  of intelligence are very narrow, focusing
  primarily on intellectual content, or what a
  person knows, rather than on the processes by
  which this knowledge is acquired, retained, and
  used to solve problems.
• Sternberg (1985)
• Context
• The Experimental Component
• The Componential (or Information-Processing)
  Component

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• Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences
• Gardner (1983) is another theorist who criticizes
  the psychometricians for trying to describe a
  persons intelligence with a single score.
• He is know for his theory of multiple
  intelligences.
• In his book, Frames of Mind, he proposes that
  humans display at least 7 distinctive kinds of
  intelligences.

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How is Intelligence Measured?

• The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
• The Wechsler Scales
• WISC-III
• WPPSI-R
• Distribution of IQ Scores
• A feature similar to all modern IQ tests is their
  normal distribution around an IQ of 100.
• Group Tests of Mental Performance
• Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
• American College Test (ACT)
• Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

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How is Intelligence Measured? (continued)

• 5. Newer Approaches to Intelligence Testing
• The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children
  (K-ABC)
• Dynamic assessment
• 6. Assessing Infant Intelligence
• Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Bayley,
  1969)
• Motor Scale
• Mental Scale
• Infant Behavioral Record
• 7. Stability of IQ in Childhood and Adolescence

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What do Intelligence Tests Predict?

• Scholastic Achievement
• Vocational Outcomes
• Health, Adjustment, and Life Satisfaction

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Factors that Influence IQ Scores

• The Evidence for Heredity
• Twin Studies
• Adoption Studies
• The Evidence for Environment
• Natural Experiments of Social Change
• Adoption Studies

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Social and Cultural Correlates of Intellectual
Performance

• Home Environment and IQ
• Sameroff et al., (1993)
• Assessing the character of the home environment
• Does the HOME really predict IQ?
• Birth Order, Family Size, and IQ
• The smaller the family, the brighter the children
• On average, first-borns outperform second-borns,
  who outperform third-borns, and so on.

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Social and Cultural Correlates of Intellectual
Performance(continued)

• Social Class, Racial, and Ethnic Difference and
  IQ
• Children from lower and working class homes
  average 10 to 15 points below their middle-class
  homes on standardized IQ tests.
• There are no racial and ethnic differences in
  intellectual performance.
• Why Do Groups Differ in Intellectual Performance?
• Cultural Test Bias Hypothesis
• Genetic Hypothesis
• Environmental Hypothesis

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Improving Cognitive Performance Through
Compensatory Education

• Compensatory interventions are special
  educational programs designed to further the
  cognitive growth and scholastic achievements of
  disadvantaged children.
• Head Start is a large-scale preschool educational
  program designed to provide children from
  low-income families with a variety of social and
  intellectual experiences that might better
  prepare them for school.

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• Improving Cognitive Performance Through
  Compensatory Education
• (continued)
• Long-Term Follow-ups
• Longitudinal studies show that program
  participants score higher in IQ than
  nonparticipants for 2 to 3 years after the
  interventions are over, but their IQ eventually
  declines.
• Participants tend not to be assigned to special
  education classes, or be retained in a grade,
  therefore meeting their schools basic
  requirements.

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• The Importance of Parental Involvement
• The most effective early intervention programs
  involve parents in one way or another.
• Two-generation programs tend to provide children
  with high-quality preschool education, and also
  provide disadvantaged parents with social
  support, education and vocational training.
• The Importance of Intervening Early
• Studies show evidence that high-quality preschool
  education that begins very early can have lasting
  intellectual benefits.

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Creativity and Special Talents

• What is Creativity?
• The ability to generate novel ideas or works that
  are useful and valued by others.
• It is important to individuals who must solve
  challenging problems on the job and in daily
  life, as well to society, when it underlies new
  inventions, new scientific discoveries, and
  innovations in social programs or the humanities
  that enrich our lives.

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• The Psychometric Perspective
• J. P. Guilfords (1967) structure-of-intellect
  model
• Convergent thinking
• Divergent thinking