The Psychological Corporation 1921

1
The Psychological Corporation (1921)
James McKeen Cattell
Robert Sessions Woodworth
David Wechsler (1939)
Edward Lee Thorndike
2
Robert Sternberg
3
The triarchic model
4
Linda Gottfredson
5
Emotional Intelligence in the wider assessment
landscape

• MHS EQi Conference 2007
• Geoff Trickey

6
It has to make sense

• Biochemical
• Statistical
• Conceptual
• You have to get it to use it

7
Implicit practitioner models

• What are the key elements?
• Where do they come from?.how do they develop in
  the individual?
• How do the elements fit together? .combine?
  .overlap? interact?

8
Implict to explicit
9
The Territory (so far)

• In psychometric measurement
• Intelligence and ability
• Personality
• Measures of maximum performance, and measures of
  typical performance
• (Cronbach 1949)

10
Ability Aptitude Testing

• Thurstone - primary mental abilities
• Guilford - structure of intellect
• Sternbergs Triarchic Theory
• G vs special aptitudes
• The Eysenck-Furneaux hypothesis
• Wechsler intellective (and recognition of
  nonintellective) factors

11
Ability Testing - consensus?

• Abstract Reasoning
• Practical (Mechanical) Reasoning
• Spatial Reasoning
• Verbal Reasoning
• Numerical Reasoning
• Grammatical Reasoning
• Critical Reasoning
• General Ability Tests

12
Personality Testing - consensus?

• Situationalism (Walter Mischel)
• Projective (from ink blots to handwriting)
• Humanistic (the road to self actualisation)
• Behavioural (counting behaviours)
• Traits (Cattell, Eysenck)
• Types (Myers Briggs)
• The Five Factor Model (FFM)

13
The growing consensus

• From 1940s, consensus about ability testing (in
  spite of the never-ending debate)
• Since late 1980s, consensus about FFM (at least
  in the personality research arena)
• But, science requires dominant ideas to be
  continually challenged
• Oh, and if people like something they go on
  using it anyway!

14
..and clearer objectives

• Hoftsee (1990)
• a hodgepodge of descriptions of overt and
  covert reactions, trait attributions, wishes and
  interests, biographical facts, attitudes and
  beliefs, descriptions of others reactions to the
  subject, and more or less bizarre opinions
• Clearer taxonomies and clearer objectives lead to
  better, more focused assessments.

15
What did we know about emotions, pre EI?

• That people vary in their emotionality
• That neuroticism is the biggest single factor in
  personality
• In FFM terms, there is a distinction between
• emotionality, anxiety, passion, volatility
• agreeabiliy, sympathy, givingness, approachability

16
My pre-EI landscape

• Personality from the observers perspective
• FFM
• The individuals perspective on their own
  personality (identity)
• Preferences, values, motives
• The Dark side of personality
• Behaviours that offend, undermine loyalty and
  commitment
• Ability, reasoning, aptitude (cognitive NOT
  conative)

17
FFM as phenotype

• Based on the language that we use to describe one
  another
• Personality from the observers point of view
• The you that others see
• Self-presentation
• What comes naturally, (and what you have to
  wrestle with)

18
Values

• What attracts and motivated you
• The basis of personal decisions
• The you that you know
• Closely associated with your sense of identity
• Determines fit and who you get along with

19
The Dark Side

• Extreme chacteristics
• Marks of distinction
• Basis of both success and failure
• Difficult to reign in
• Interferes with relationships
• Undermines loyalty and commitment

20
Traditional Intelligence

• A pervasive moderating variable
• A significant part of the survival kit
• Influences perceptions, understanding, adaptation

21
Nature and Nurture
22
Nature VIA Nurture
23
Short circuit
24
A Triarchic Personality Model
25
Clues to Genotype

• The id
• Personality theory
• Evolutionary neurology
• Evolutionary psychology
• Genome
• Human Universals
• Instinctive Acquisition
• Revisiting childhood
• Neonate survival kit

26
Clues to Culture

• Language
• Identity
• Values
• Taboos
• Institutions
• History
• Art and literature
• Non universal features

27
Emotional Intelligence

• Trait EI and Ability EI (Petrides Furnham 2001)
• Two studies exploring EI in both FFM and
  Eysenckian factor space
• .strong empirical evidence for the existence of
  a coherent and distinguishable trait EI factor.

28
Emotional Intelligence

• Confirms Wechslers original recognition of
  conative as well as cognitive aspects of
  intelligence
• Adds something to the intelligence domain
• Adds to the FFM domain
• Sits well with measures of dysfunctional
  behaviours

29
Emotional Intelligence

• Focus on development
• Addresses dysfunctional behaviours
• Constructive, accessible and appealing
• Adds to importantly to our understanding

30
The Lizard and the Wolf Boy

• Separation of nature nurture
• The old brain?
• Feral children?

31
Old Brain

• Reptilian brain - concerned with reproduction,
  self-preservation, life support
• circulation of blood
• Breathing
• Sleeping
• Reflexes
• Limbic system - generates emotions
• Fear
• Aggression

32
Old brain response

• Attack
• Submit to
• Run away from
• Have sex with
• Nurture
• Be nurtured

33
Cortex

• Language
• Reason
• Identity
• Culture
• Values
• Awareness of the outside world

34
Feral Children

• Over 50 cases reported
• Aggressive
• No language
• Growl, snarl, bite
• Lost to the human race

35
The innocence of childhood?

• If we are NOT born with values, but ARE born with
  temperament, Humanity is innately capable of
  ANYTHING (as history shows)
• Civilisation is based on values, the moulding and
  restraint of behaviour IS civilisation

36
Keeping the lid on

• Football - competitiveness/ aggression
• Warfare - turning off the killing
• Babes in the boardroom - egos out of control
• Child soldiers

37
Some Coaching Implications

• Personality can be managed and developed
• Values can change (but can they be taught?)
• Behaviour is restrained by values
• Non-deferential feedback is crucial
• Power can corrupt absolutely
• Self awareness - planting the seed

38
Things that still puzzle me

• Is personality stable and static or is it
  variable and dynamic?
• Is the conative/ cognitive distinction..
• a continuum?
• a dichotomy?
• an operant/ operand distinction?

39
THE END