Intelligence

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Chapter 10
Intelligence
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What is Intelligence?
Intelligence (in all cultures) is the ability to
1.learn from experience 2. solve problems 3. use
our knowledge to adapt to new situations.
In research studies, intelligence is whatever
the intelligence test measures. This tends to be
school smarts.
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Intelligence Ability or Abilities?
Is intelligence a single ability that manifests
itself in multiple ways? Some people have more
of it and those people are better at what they
decide to do. - If so all tests of ability for a
single person should correlate positively with
each other. - Some people seem to be good at
everything, others struggle with every
thing. - In School Many students seem to stay
close to their average regardless of the subject
(Are you usually a B student? a C student?) OR
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Intelligence Ability or Abilities?
Are there multiple intelligences that are
independent of one another, such that people who
are artistically gifted may not be verbally
gifted? - A person may have a gift for music or
art but struggle with math or history. - Savant
Syndrome (Well come back to this
momentarily) - If so, does everyone
necessarily have to have a strength?
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Intelligence Theories General Intelligence

• Charles Spearman proposed that general
  intelligence (g) is linked to many clusters that
  can be analyzed by factor analysis (empirically
  assessed).
• Supported by Specific abilities (s)
• Math, reading, writing, etc.

For example, people who do well on vocabulary
examinations do well on paragraph comprehension
examinations, a cluster that helps define verbal
intelligence. Other factors include a spatial
ability factor, or a reasoning ability factor.
Athleticism, like intelligence, is many things!
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Savants

• People with savant syndrome excel in abilities
  unrelated to general intelligence or have limited
  mental capacity.
• 4 or 5 are males
• Rainman

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Contemporary Intelligence TheoriesMultiple
Intelligences

• Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) supports the idea
  that intelligence comes in multiple forms.
  Gardner notes that brain damage may diminish one
  type of ability but not others.
• Gardner proposes eight types of intelligences and
  speculates about a ninth one existential
  intelligence. Existential intelligence is the
  ability to think about the question of life,
  death and existence.

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Robert Sternberg

• Sternberg (1985, 1999, 2003) also agrees with
  Gardner, but suggests three intelligences rather
  than eight.
• Triarchic Theory

1. Analytical Intelligence Intelligence that is
   assessed by intelligence tests success in school
2. Creative Intelligence Intelligence that makes us
   adapt to novel situations, generating novel
   ideas.
3. Practical Intelligence Intelligence that is
   required for everyday tasks (e.g. street smarts).

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Raymond Cattell

• Crystallized Intelligence - ability to absorb,
  retain, and access information
• Playing School
• Fluid Intelligence - ability to solve problems
  one has not seen before and encode short term
  memories quickly
• Speed and flexibility in problem solving

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Intelligence and Creativity
Creativity is the ability to produce ideas that
are both novel and valuable. Creative people
tend to be divergent thinkers.
Convergent thinking - thinking that involves
following a series of logical steps with the goal
of arriving at the correct answer.
Divergent thinking thinking used to generate
creative ideas by exploring many possible
solutions spontaneous, unorganized thought.
Creative people generate new, unexpected ideas
first through divergent thought. Ideas are then
organized using convergent thought.
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Intelligence and Creativity

• It correlates somewhat with intelligence.
• a high IQ alone does not guarantee creativity.
• personality traits that promote divergent
  thinking are more important.
• Sternberg identified five components of
  divergent thinkers and creativity

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Imaginative Thinking The ability to see things
in novel ways.
Expertise A well-developed knowledge base.
Creative Environment A creative and
supportive environment allows creativity to bloom.
creativity
Venturesome Personality A personality that
seeks new experiences with perseverance.
Intrinsic Motivation A motivation to be
creative from within.
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Emotional Intelligence
Social intelligence is the know-how involved in
comprehending social situations and managing
oneself successfully Emotional intelligence is
the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and
use emotions (Salovey and others, 2005). The test
of emotional intelligence measures overall
emotional intelligence and its four components.
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Emotional Intelligence Components
Component Description
Perceive emotion Recognize emotions in faces, music and stories
Understand emotion Predict emotions, how they change and blend
Manage emotion Express emotions in different situations
Use emotion Utilize emotions to adapt or be creative
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Emotional Intelligence Criticism
Gardner and others criticize the idea of
emotional intelligence and question whether we
stretch this idea of intelligence too far when we
apply it to our emotions.
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Assessing Intelligence
Psychologists define intelligence testing as a
method for assessing an individuals mental
aptitudes and comparing them with others using
numerical scores.
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Alfred Binet
Alfred Binet and his colleague Théodore Simon
practiced a more modern form of intelligence
testing by developing questions that would
predict childrens future progress in the Paris
school system.
Why he did it To identify students who needed
special help in coping with the school
curriculum.
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Lewis Terman
In the US, Lewis Terman adapted Binets test for
American school children and named the test the
Stanford-Binet Test. The following is the formula
of Intelligence Quotient (IQ), introduced by
William Stern
Problem with different mental ages as people got
older Standard Average Score
Self fulfilling prophecy- teachers expectations
for a student influences that students self
image and performance
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Lewis Terman
Why he did it Terman believed in eugenics
Eugenics a social movement aimed at improving
the human species through selective
breedingpromoted higher reproduction rates of
people with superior traits, and aimed to
reduce reproduction rates of people with
inferior traits.
Self fulfilling prophecy- teachers expectations
for a student influences that students self
image and performance
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David Wechsler

• Wechsler developed the Wechsler Adult
  Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and later the Wechsler
  Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and the
  Weschsler Preschool and Primary Scale of
  Intelligence (WPPSI)
• Addressed language and age
• Most widely used IQ tests today

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WAIS

• WAIS measures overall intelligence and 11 other
  aspects related to intelligence that are designed
  to assess clinical and educational problems.
• Separates scores for verbal comprehension,
  perceptual organization, working memory, and
  processing speed

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Myers-Briggs Inventory

• Personality Inventory
• Forced Choice Test
• Asked to choose which of three statements is most
  representative of your thoughts, feelings or
  behaviors in many given situations
• 4 letter results
• Unreliable results

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Modern Tests

• Achievement Tests - assess what a person has
  learned reflects
• AP Test
• Aptitude Tests - designed to predict a persons
  future performance
• Aptitude- capacity to learn SAT
• Achievement tests assess current performance and
  aptitude tests predict future performance and can
  be paper and pencil or performance based

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Modern Tests

• Group Tests - given to many people at once
• Individual Tests - given in a one-on-one setting
• Speed Tests - timed consisting of more item than
  a typical person can answer
• Relies on Fluid Intelligence
• Power Tests - items become increasing difficult
  as the test goes on
• Upper limit

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Principles of Test Construction
For a psychological test to be acceptable it must
fulfill the following three criteria

1. Standardization
2. Reliability
3. Validity

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Standardization

• Given in the same manner, at the same time, with
  the same instructions, etc.
• Norms - Standardizing a test involves
  administering the test to a representative sample
  of future test takers in order to establish a
  basis for meaningful comparison.

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Normal Curve
Standardized tests establish a normal
distribution of scores on a tested population in
a bell-shaped pattern called the normal curve.
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(James )Flynn Effect
In the past 60 years, intelligence scores have
risen steadily by an average of 27 points while
the SAT score has dropped. This phenomenon is
known as the Flynn effect.
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Reliability
A test is reliable when it yields consistent
results. To establish reliability researchers
establish different procedures

1. Split-half Reliability Dividing the test into
   two equal halves and assessing how consistent the
   scores are.
2. Test-Retest Reliability Using the same test on
   two occasions to measure consistency.
3. Equivalent Form Reliability does the score
   correlate with the score you received on another
   test of the same material
4. Inter-rater Reliability one graders score
   correlates with another graders score
5. Intra-rater Reliability same grader gives the
   same score twice

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Validity
Reliability of a test does not ensure validity.
Validity of a test refers to what the test is
supposed to measure or predict.

• Content Validity Refers to the extent a test
  measures the material a particular behavior or
  trait
• Face Validity does the test seem to evaluate
  what it claims to evaluate
• Construct Validity does the assessment evaluate
  the operational definition
• Criterion Validity do results from the
  assessment correlate with other similar
  assessments
• Predictive Validity Refers to the function of a
  test in predicting a particular behavior or
  trait.
• Predictive power diminishes as students get
  older narrower the range
• SAT less than .5

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Extremes of Intelligence
A valid intelligence test divides two groups of
people into two extremes the mentally retarded
(IQ 70) and individuals with high intelligence
(IQ 135). These two groups are significantly
different.
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High Intelligence
Contrary to popular belief, people with high
intelligence test scores tend to be healthy, well
adjusted, and unusually successful
academically. May appear to be more isolated,
introverted, or appear in their own worlds
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Mental Retardation
Mentally retarded (intellectual disability)
individuals required constant supervision a few
decades ago, but with a supportive family
environment and special or mainstreamed education
they can now care for themselves.
Down Syndrome
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Genetic Influences
Identical Twin Studies- similar test
scores Similar gray matter- neural cell
bodies Polygenetic many genes appear to be
involved
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Environmental Influences
Studies of twins and adopted children also show
the following

1. Fraternal twins raised together tend to show
   similarity in intelligence scores.
2. Identical twins raised apart show slightly less
   similarity in their intelligence scores.

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Adoption Studies
Adopted children show a marginal correlation in
verbal ability to their adopted parents.
Genetic influences- not environmental ones-
become more apparent as we accumulate life
experiences
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Heritability
The variation in intelligence test scores
attributable to genetics. We credit heredity with
50 of the variation (difference between
individuals) in intelligence. It pertains only
to why people differ from one another, not to the
individual. Our genes shape the experiences that
shape us.
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Early Intervention Effects
Early neglect from caregivers leads children to
develop a lack of personal control over the
environment, and it impoverishes their
intelligence.
J. McVicker Hunt found Romanian orphans with
minimal human interaction were delayed in their
development. He implemented tutored human
enrichment.
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Schooling Effects
Schooling is an experience that pays dividends,
which is reflected in intelligence scores.
Increased schooling correlates with higher
intelligence scores.
To increase readiness for schoolwork, projects
like Head Start facilitate leaning.
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Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores
Why do groups differ in intelligence? How can we
make sense of these differences?
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Gender Similarities and Differences
There are several ways in which males and females
differ in various abilities.
1. Girls are better spellers
2. Girls are verbally fluent and have large vocabularies
3. Girls are better at locating objects
4. Girls are more sensitive to touch, taste, and color
5. Boys outnumber girls in counts of underachievement
6. Boys outperform girls at math problem solving, but under perform at math computation
7. Women detect emotions more easily than men do
8. Boys earn more science and math degrees
9. Boys have better spatial abilities (video games)
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Ethnic Similarities and Differences
To discuss this issue we begin with two
disturbing but agreed upon facts

1. Racial groups differ in their average
   intelligence scores.
2. High-scoring people (and groups) are more likely
   to attain high levels of education and income.

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Racial (Group) Differences
If we look at racial differences, white Americans
score higher in average intelligence than black
Americans (Avery and others, 1994). European New
Zealanders score higher than native New
Zealanders (Braden, 1994).
White-Americans Black-Americans
Average IQ 100 Average IQ 85
Hispanic Americans
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Environmental Effects
Differences in intelligence among these groups
are largely environmental, as if one environment
is more fertile in developing these abilities
than the other. We are the same under our skin!
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Reasons Why Environment Affects Intelligence

1. Races are remarkably alike genetically.
2. Race is a social category stereotypical?
3. Asian students outperform North American students
   on math achievement and aptitude tests.
4. Todays better prepared populations would
   outperform populations of the 1930s on
   intelligence tests.
5. White and black infants tend to score equally
   well on tests predicting future intelligence.
6. Different ethnic groups have experienced periods
   of remarkable achievement in different eras.

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The Question of Bias
Aptitude tests are necessarily biased in the
sense that they are sensitive to performance
differences caused by cultural differences. A
valid aptitude test will detect inequalities.
However, aptitude tests are not biased in the
sense that they accurately predict performance of
one group over the other.
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Test-Takers Expectations
A stereotype threat is a self-confirming concern
that one will be evaluated based on a negative
stereotype which will cause them to perform
poorly on the test
This phenomenon appears in some instances in
intelligence testing among African-Americans and
among women of all colors.