Unit 7: Intelligence (Cognition)

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Unit 7 Intelligence (Cognition)

• Essential Task 7-1 Define intelligence, list
  characteristics psychologists include in their
  definition, and discuss how culture influences
  the definition of intelligence. 

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Mental Retardation
Savants
We are here
General Intelligence
Influences
Giftedness
Triarchic Theory
Special Topics
Theories
Multiple Intelligences
Intelligence
Stanford-Binet
Emotional Intelligence
IQ Tests
Psychometrics
WISC/ WAIS
Crystallized and Fluid intelligence
Standardization
Reliability
Culture Fair
Validity
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Essential Task 7-1
Outline

• Define intelligence
• Characteristics psychologists include in their
  definition
• Culture influences on the definition of
  intelligence. 

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What is Intelligence?
Intelligence (in all cultures) is the ability to
learn from experience, solve problems, and 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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APA on Intelligence
Intelligence refers to intellectual functioning.
Intelligence quotients, or IQ tests, compare your
performance with other people your age who take
the same test. These tests dont measure all
kinds of intelligence, however. For example, such
tests cant identify differences in social
intelligence, the expertise people bring to their
interactions with others. There are also
generational differences in the population as a
whole. Better nutrition, more education and other
factors have resulted in IQ improvements for each
generation.
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What is intelligence?
It seems to us that in intelligence there is a
fundamental faculty, the alteration or the lack
of which, is of the utmost importance for
practical life. This faculty is judgment,
otherwise called good sense, practical sense,
initiative, the faculty of adapting ones self to
circumstances. A. Binet 5
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What is intelligence?
An intelligence is the ability to solve
problems, or to create products, that are valued
within one or more cultural settings. H. Gardner
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What is intelligence?
. . . I prefer to refer to it as successful
intelligence. And the reason is that
the emphasis is on the use of your intelligence
to achieve success in your life. So I define it
as your skill in achieving whatever it is you
want to attain in your life within your
sociocultural context meaning that people have
different goals for themselves, and for some its
to get very good grades in school and to do well
on tests, and for others it might be to become a
very good basketball player or actress or
musician. R. J. Sternberg 36
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What is intelligence?
The ability to carry on abstract thinking. L.
M. Terman
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What is Intelligence?
A global concept that involves an individuals
ability to act purposefully, think rationally,
and deal effectively with the environment. D.
Wechsler
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IQ Score Distribution
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Conceptual Difficulties
Psychologists believe that intelligence is a
concept and not a thing.
When we think of intelligence as a trait (thing)
we make an error called reification viewing an
abstract immaterial concept as if it were a
concrete thing.
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Controversies About Intelligence
Despite general agreement among psychologists
about the nature of intelligence, controversies
remain

1. Is it more nature or more nurture?
2. Is it general or multiple?
3. Can it be measured?

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Intelligence Ability or Abilities?
Have you ever thought that since peoples mental
abilities are so diverse, it may not be
justifiable to label those abilities with only
one word, intelligence?
You may speculate that diverse abilities
represent different kinds of intelligences. How
can you test this idea?
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Cultural Influences on Intelligence Definitions

• People in Western cultures tend to view
  intelligence as a means for individuals to devise
  categories and to engage in rational debate
• People in Eastern cultures see it as a way for
  members of a community to recognize contradiction
  and complexity and to play their social roles
  successfully.

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Cultural Differences

• Taiwanese-Chinese conceptions of intelligence
  emphasize understanding and relating to
  others--including knowing when to show and when
  not to show one's intelligence.

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Cultural Differences

• Among the Luo people in rural Kenya,
• Ideas about intelligence consist of four broad
  concepts
• rieko, which largely corresponds to the Western
  idea of academic intelligence, but also includes
  specific skills. Only one of the four correlated
  with traditional Western measures of
  intelligence.
• luoro, which includes social qualities like
  respect, responsibility and consideration 
• paro, or practical thinking
• winjo, or comprehension.