IntelligenceChapter 10

Unit 11

AP Psychology ~ Ms. JusticeAP Psychology ~ Ms. Justice

What is Intelligence?Assessing IntelligenceThe Dynamics of IntelligenceGenetic & Environmental Influences on Intelligence

BIG IDEASBIG IDEAS

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.”

1: What argues for and against considering

intelligence as one general mental

ability?

Intelligence: Ability or Abilities?

Have you ever thought that since people’s mental abilities are so diverse, it

may not be justifiable to label those abilities with only one word, intelligence?

General Intelligence

The idea that general intelligence (g) exists comes from the work of Charles

Spearman (1863-1945) who helped develop the factor analysis

approach in statistics.

Athleticism, like intelligence, is many things

General Intelligence

Spearman proposed that general intelligence (g) is linked to many clusters that can be analyzed by

factor analysis.

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.

2: How do Gardner’s and Sternberg’s

theories of multiple intelligences differ?

Contemporary Intelligence Theories

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.

People with savant syndrome excel in abilitiesunrelated to general intelligence.

Gardner: Multiple Intelligences

Gardner speculates about a ninth intelligence— existential intelligence, or the

ability to think about the question of life, death and existence.

Table 10.1, p. 408

Sternberg: Multiple Intelligences

Robert Sternberg (1985, 1999, 2003) also agrees with Gardner, but suggests three

intelligences rather than eight.

1. Analytical Intelligence: Intelligence that is assessed by intelligence tests (academic problem-solving).

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).

3: What is creativity and what fosters it?

Intelligence and Creativity

Creativity is the ability to produce ideas that are both

novel and valuable.

It correlates somewhat with intelligence.

Five Components of Creativity: (p. 411)1.Expertise: A well-developed knowledge base.2.Imaginative Thinking: The ability to see things in novel ways.3.A Venturesome Personality: A personality that seeks new experiences rather than following the pack.4.Intrinsic Motivation: A motivation to be creative from within.5.A Creative Environment: A creative and supportive environment allows creativity to bloom.

Intelligence and Creativity

4: What makes up emotional

intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions (Salovey and others, 2005).

Emotional Intelligence: Components

Component Description

Perceive emotionRecognize emotions in

faces, music and stories

Understand emotion

Predict emotions, how they change and blend

Manage emotionExpress emotions in different situations

Use emotionUtilize 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.

Emotional Intelligence

# 1 – 33

1 = strongly disagree

2 = disagree

3 = neither disagree nor agree

4 = agree

5 = strongly agree

Emotional Intelligence Scale Scoring

• Reverse the numbers that you put in response to items 5, 28, and 33

• Add the numbers in front of all 33 items• Mean score = 131 for females and 125 for

males• Higher scores = greater optimism, less

depression and less impulsivity

5: To what extent is intelligence related to

brain anatomy and neural processing speed?

Recent Research

• Einstein’s brain was average size, but his parietal lobe’s lower region (center for mathematical and spatial information) was 15% larger than average

• Highly educated people die with 17% more synapses

• Higher intelligence scores are linked with more gray matter (neural cell bodies) in areas involved in memory, attention, and language

6: When and why were intelligence tests created?

Assessing Intelligence

Psychologists define intelligence testing as a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with others

using numerical scores.

Alfred BinetAlfred Binet developed questions that would

predict children’s future progress in the Paris

school system.

Binet hoped the test would be used to

improve children’s education, but also

worried that the test would be used to label children & limit their

opportunities.

Lewis Terman

In the US, Lewis Terman adapted Binet’s test for

American school children and named

the test the Stanford-Binet Test.

William Stern introduced the

following formula to derive a person’s

Intelligence Quotient (IQ):

Today, “IQ” is still used as shorthand to represent an

intelligence test score – or a test taker’s performance relative to

the average performance of others the same age.

7: What’s the difference between aptitude and

achievement tests, and how can we develop and evaluate

them?

Achievement vs. Aptitude

• Achievement tests – measure what a person has learned

• Aptitude tests – predict a person’s future performance (aptitude = the capacity to learn)

David WechslerWechsler developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

(WAIS) and later the Wechsler Intelligence

Scale for Children (WISC), an

intelligence test for school-aged children.

It is now the most widely used

intelligence test.

WAISWAIS measures overall intelligence and 11

other aspects related to intelligence that are designed to assess clinical and educational

problems.

from Figure

10.5, page 419

WAIS: Verbal

WAIS: Performance

from Figure

10.5, page 419

WAIS: Spatial

from Figure

10.5, page 419

WAIS: Object Assembly

from Figure

10.5, page 419

WAIS: Digit-Symbol Substitution

from Figure

10.5, page 419

Principles of Test Construction

For a psychological test to be acceptable it must fulfill the following three criteria:

1. Standardization – defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pre-tested group

2. Reliability – the extent to which a test yields consistent results

3. Validity – the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

8: How stable are intelligence scores over the

life span?

Stability of Intelligence Scores

• The stability of intelligence test scores increases with age

• By age 4 scores fluctuate somewhat but begin to predict adolescent and adult scores

• By age 7 scores become fairly stable and consistent

9: What are the traits of those at the low and high

intelligence extremes?

Extremes of IntelligenceA 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.

High Intelligence

Contrary to popular belief, people with high intelligence test scores tend to be healthy,

well adjusted, and unusually successful academically.

MENSA“Membership of Mensa is open to persons who have attained a score within the upper two percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test that has been properly administered and supervised.”

www.mensa.org

Mental RetardationMentally retarded individuals required

constant supervision a few decades ago, but with a supportive family environment and special education they can now care for

themselves.

Table 10.3, p. 425

Rosa’s LawPassed in 2010, the law removed the terms "mental retardation" and "mentally retarded" from federal health, education and labor policy and replaced them with

“individual with an intellectual disability” and “intellectual disability.”

10: What does evidence reveal about heredity and

environmental influences on intelligence?

Genetic InfluencesStudies of twins, family members, and adopted

children support the idea that there is a significant genetic contribution to intelligence.

Page 428

Environmental Influences

Studies of twins and adopted children 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.

•Early neglect from caregivers leads children to develop a lack of personal control over the environment, and it impoverishes their intelligence.•Schooling is an experience that pays dividends, which is reflected in intelligence scores. Increased schooling correlates with higher intelligence scores.

Environmental Influences

11: How and why do gender and racial groups differ in

mental ability scores?

Ethnic Similarities and Differences

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.

To discuss this issue we begin with two disturbing but agreed upon facts:

Reasons Why Environment Affects Intelligence

1. Races are remarkably alike genetically. 2. Race is a social category.3. Asian students outperform North American

students on math achievement and aptitude tests.4. Today’s 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.

12: Are intelligence tests inappropriately biased?

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