UNIT 11

Intelligence

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

General Intelligence (g)

A concept by Charles Spearman that underlies all mental abilities and is measured by every task on an intelligence test.

Factor Analysis

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test, used to find different dimensions of performance.

Howard Gardner

identified eight relatively independent intelligences

musical

ability to produce and understand pitch, tempo and rhythm

visual-spatial

ability to think in images and pictures

logical-mathematical

ability to think abstractly and see patterns and logic and math

bodily-kinesthetic

ability to control body movements and handle objects

interpersonal

ability to work well with and understand others emotionally and socially

verbal-linguistic

ability to understand word meanings and sounds

Savant Syndrome

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

Grit

A personality trait characterized by perseverance and passion for achieving long-term goals, involving strenuously working to overcome challenges.

Emotional Intelligence

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

Robert Sternberg

proposed the triarchic theory, there are three, not eight or nine, intelligences

analytical

academic problem—solving intelligence is assessed by intelligence tests, which present well-defined problems having a single right answer

creative

creative intelligence is demonstrated in innovative smarts: the ability to adapt to new situations and generate novel ideas

practical

practical intelligence is required for everyday tasks that may be poorly defined and may have multiple solutions

Intelligence Test

A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with others using numerical scores.

Achievement Test

A test designed to assess what a person has learned.

Aptitude Test

A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; it assesses capacity to learn.

Mental Age

A measure of intelligence test performance associated with the typical performance level of children at a certain chronological age.

Stanford-Binet

The widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Originally defined as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

The most widely used intelligence tests containing verbal and performance subtests.

Standardization

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a protested group.

Normal Curve

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data.

Reliability

The extent to which a test yields consistent results over time or across different forms.

Validity

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

Content Validity

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest.

Predictive Validity

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict.

Cohort

A group of people sharing a common characteristic from a given time period.

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 with age.

Cross-Sectional Study

Observational studies that analyze data from a population at a single point in time.

Longitudinal Study

Studies employing continuous measures to follow particular individuals over time.

Intellectual Disability

A condition of limited mental ability indicated by an intelligence test score of 70 or below.

Down Syndrome

A condition of mild to severe intellectual disability caused by an extra copy of chromosomes.

Heritability

A measure estimating how much of the variation in a trait is due to genetic differences.

Stereotype Threat

The risk of confirming negative stereotypes about one's group, which can lead to stress and cognitive overload.