Stability of and Influences on Intelligence

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to the stability and influences on intelligence, as discussed in the lecture.

Stability or Change?

A debate concerning whether intelligence is stable throughout life or subject to change.

Crystallized Intelligence

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills that tend to increase with age.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to reason speedily and abstractly, which tends to decrease during late adulthood.

Cohort

A group of people from a given time period.

Twin Studies

Research comparing the intelligence of identical twins to assess genetic and environmental influences.

Heritability

The proportion of variation among individuals that can be attributed to genes.

Stereotype Threat

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

Mental Age

A measure of intelligence test performance that reflects the age level at which a child performs.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A measure of intelligence derived from standardized tests, originally defined as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100.

Achievement Tests

Tests designed to assess what a person has learned.

Aptitude Tests

Tests designed to predict a person's future performance based on their capacity to learn.

Validity

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is intended to.

Reliability

The consistency of a test's results when administered multiple times.

Standardization

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with a pretested group.

Down Syndrome

A condition of intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.

Savant Syndrome

A condition in which a person with limited mental ability exhibits an exceptional specific skill.

Stability or Change?

A debate concerning whether intelligence is stable throughout life or subject to change.

Crystallized Intelligence

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills that tend to increase with age.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to reason speedily and abstractly, which tends to decrease during late adulthood.

Cohort

A group of people from a given time period.

Twin Studies

Research comparing the intelligence of identical twins to assess genetic and environmental influences.

Heritability

The proportion of variation among individuals that can be attributed to genes.

Stereotype Threat

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

Mental Age

A measure of intelligence test performance that reflects the age level at which a child performs.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A measure of intelligence derived from standardized tests, originally defined as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100.

Achievement Tests

Tests designed to assess what a person has learned.

Aptitude Tests

Tests designed to predict a person's future performance based on their capacity to learn.

Validity

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is intended to.

Reliability

The consistency of a test's results when administered multiple times.

Standardization

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with a pretested group.

Down Syndrome

A condition of intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.

Savant Syndrome

A condition in which a person with limited mental ability exhibits an exceptional specific skill.

General Intelligence (g factor)

A general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.

Emotional Intelligence

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.

Intellectual Disability

A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound.

Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner)

Howard Gardner's theory proposing eight or nine independent intelligences (e.g., linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, existential) rather than a single general intelligence.