Chapter 9-Intelligence

Intelligence

an overall capacity to reason, act purposefully, and adapt to one's surroundings.

G-factor

A general ability factor proposed to underlie intelligence; the core of general intellectual ability that involves reasoning, problem-solving ability, knowledge, and memory.

Aptitude

A capacity for learing specific abilities

Special Aptitiude Test

A test to predict a person's likelihood of succeeding in a particular area of work or skill

multiple aptitude test

test that measures two or more aptitudes

What makes a good intelligence test?

reliability and validity

Psychometric test

any instrument of a person's mental functions

Reliability

Ability of a test to yield very similar scores for the same individual over repeated testings

Validity

the ability of a test to measure what it's supposed to measure.

Objective tests

a test that gives the same score when people correct it

test standardization

standards for administering test and interpreting scores

Norm

an average score for a designated group of people

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon

Charged by the French government to measure the intelligence of French children who would not do well in traditional education.

Benet

Having intelligence makes one a good problem sover

Mental age

attention, judgement, and reasoning skills

Chronological age

A mental age that exceeds one's chronological age indicates above-average intelligence, and a mental age that is below a child's actual age indicates a below-average level of intelligence.

Fluid Reasoning

Ability to solve novel problems.

knowledge

Skills, experience, and expertise coupled with information and intelligence that creates a person's intellectual resources

Quantitative Reasoning

the ability to estimate the amount of things and changes in the amounts of things in terms of number, size, weight, volume, speed, time, and distance

Visual-Spatial Processing

The ability to analyze visually presented information, including relationships between objects, spatial orientation, assembling pieces to make a whole, and detecting visual patterns; also one of five factor scores of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales—Fifth Edition

working memory

A newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Wechler intelligence scale for children

widely used test designed to measure the intelligence of children 6 years and older

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

most widely used intelligence test

performance intelligence

intelligence measured by solving puzzles, assembling objects, completing pictures, and other nonverbal tasks

verbal intelligence

Intelligence measured by answering questions involving vocabulary, general information, arithmetic, and other language- or symbol-oriented tasks.

Scholastic Aptitude Tests

SAT, ACT, CQT

IQ

intelligence quotient, an index of intelligence defined as a person's mental age divided by his or her chronological age and multiplied by 100

Normal Curve

A bell shaped curve characterized by a large number of scores in a middle area, tapering to very few extremely high and low scores

Deviation IQ

An IQ obtained statistically from a person's relative standing in his or her age group; that is, how far above or below average the person's score was relative to other scores.

fluid intelligence

the ability to solve novel problems involving perceptual speed or rapid insight

crystallized intelligence

the ability to solve problems using already acquired knowledge

Intellectual Disability

the presence of a developmental disability, a formal IQ score below 70, and a significant impairment of adaptive behavior

Metabolic disorders

affect energy use and production in the body

genetic disorder

extra or missing/defective genes

savant syndrome

The possession of exceptional mental ability in one or more narrow areas, such as mental arithmetic, calendar calculation, art, or music, by a person of limited general intelligence.

Down Syndrome

a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra chromosome; results in intellectual disability(1in 800 babies); extra 21st chromosome (also called trisomy 21)

Fragile X Syndrome

a genetic form of intellectual disability caused by a defect in the X chromosome; boys are most often affected; only mild impairment as children but it becomes more severe with age

Phenylketonuria

a genetic disease that allows phenylpyruvic acid to accumulate in the body; linked with low levels of dopamine, can caus severe disability if not treated. If their PA is removed from diet the they are fine.

microchephaly

A disorder in which the head and brain are abnormally small; skull fails to grow so the brain has no space. Typically institutionalized, but are affectionate and well behaved

Hydrocephaly

A buildup of cerebrospinal fluid within brain cavities. About 10k babies are born with this every year in the US and Canada. Doctors can implant a drain from brain to abdomen and minimize damage. Will still have lower than average IQ but not severe impairment.

The Flynn effect

The rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations