PSY 2012 General PsychologyChapter 8: Thinking and Intelligence

Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D.Associate Professor

The Department of PsychologyThe University of West Florida

Intelligence: Early work• Galton

• Saw intelligence as genetically based;• Viewed intelligence as a single construct that

encompassed all mental processes (memory, perception, language production, etc.,)

• Suggested that culture would be greatly improved if “…talented men were mated with talented women…generation after generation we might produce a highly bred human race, with no more tendency to revert to our meaner ancestral types than is shown by our long established breeds of race horses and fox hounds.”

From: Galton (1865). Hereditary Talent and Character, Macmillan's Magazine, 12, 157-166, 318-327.

Intelligence: Early work• Binet

• Saw intelligence as driven by experience• Viewed intelligence as being made up of discrete constructs;

he suggested that memory, perception, and other mental constructs were relatively independent and could be impacted by experience

• Constructed a test to assess intelligence• Developed the early version of our own intelligence quotient

(“IQ”)– The difference between Mental Age and Chronological age

• Both perceived intelligence as a “general intellectual ability— the “g factor” (Spearman, 1927) reflects this point of view

Intelligence: Contemporary Views • Psychometric view is reflected in traditional IQ

tests– Stanford-Binet IQ test:

• Yields an Intelligence Quotient (IQ)IQ = (Mental Age/Chronological Age) X 100

• Includes verbal and performance (non-verbal) subtests• Individually administered

– Wechsler Intelligence tests:• Yields and Intelligence Quotient (same formula)• Includes verbal, quantitative, and performance subtests• Individually administered

Intelligence: Contemporary Views

• Crystallized Intelligence:– One’s knowledge base (e.g. schema, scripts)

and the ability to access that knowledge

• Fluid Intelligence– Mental processes (identify relationships; solve

problems, etc.,)

• Cattell (1963) suggests both are necessary

Intelligence: Contemporary Views• Problems with traditional measures:

– Cultural biases (Sternberg, 2004)• Intelligence as defined by success within one’s

cultural milieu using resources, making decisions, solving problems, with cultural tools at hand

• Alternative to traditional IQ tests:– Dynamic testing:

» Initial assessment provides a baseline of performance

» Intervention is provide in which skills and knowledge are taught

» Second testing indicates what the individual has learned;

» Gains are considered more accurate indication of intellectual power.

Intelligence: Contemporary Views• Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory:

– Contextual Intelligence (Practical Intelligence):• “Street smarts”• Adaptation to one’s environment

– Componential Intelligence (Analytical Intelligence):• Executive Control• Basic mental processes• Elements of Componential Intelligence measured by

traditional IQ tests

– Experiential Intelligence (Creative Intelligence)• Performance varies based on the novelty of a task• One’s experiences within a culture lead to differential

performance• Reflects the ability to cope flexibly and creatively with

problems

Intelligence: Contemporary Views

• Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences:– The traditional models of intelligence lend little information on

many important areas of knowledge and performance that relate to success in life

– Gardner suggested multiple areas of intelligence:• Domains range from linguistic and logical-mathematical to emotional

intelligence (see pg. 332, Zimbardo, et al. for complete list)

• Some domains can be linked to specific brain functions

• Assessment is based on a broad spectrum from paper and pencil tests to observations in so-called real life situations.

Intelligence: Contemporary Views• Intelligence, Race, Class, & Culture

– Galton, Jenson & Heritability of IQ & Racial Differences:

• Initial claims that IQ is largely a product of genetics with environmental factors minimized has been refuted with the Scarr & Weinberg study (initial differences were minimized as children reached adolescence)

– Social/Economic Class:• Differences IQ attained by members of different socio-

economic classes most likely attributed to multiple factors:– Health care– Nutrition– Access to equal educational opportunities (in and out of school)

– At the core is the definition of intelligence• Differences are most obvious with traditional views and less

obvious with more contemporary views (e.g. Sternberg, Gardner)