Psych Chapter 10

Intelligence:

Hundreds of definitions, and researchers do not agree on one single definition.

However, there is an agreement amongst researchers as to some of the components of intelligence. 

Components of Intelligence:

Think rationally 
○ Detect underlying pattern: 
○ Act purposefully: 
○ Solve problems effectively: 
○ Learn from experience: 
○ Cope with the changes in our environment and in our lives: 
○ Flexibility: (Cognitive/behavioral flexibility) 
■ Flexibility is the ability to change, adjust how we think, feel, behave in 
order to meet the demands of the situation we’re in 
■ Do not blindly apply solutions

Aristotle

Intelligence: He says it is the ability to quickly and intuitively recognize fundamental principles and truth.

Theoretical Wisdom (Aristotle)

Our ability to deeply understand those fundamental truths. Ability to have wide knowledge in different fields, and the ability to discuss this knowledge and share it intelligently.

Practical Wisdom (A)

Our ability to apply good judgements, make good decisions in order to live a good life. 

 
Self-Enhancement Bias

Most of us tend to believe that we are better than average on the qualities that are valued by our culture. We have this need to boost our sense of self to feel good about who we are. 

Knowledge Illusion

Our tendency to believe that we know more than we actually do. 

B.1 The Factor Analysis Approach

 
Spearman: Co-creator of factor analysis and he used factor analysis in order to ask and answer is it one intelligence or is it multiple intelligences?  

s:

● As humans we have a variety of abilities (ex. Verbal, mathematical), and we 
use them in specific situations to solve specific problems → ex. Verbal ability 
to answer an essay question 
● These are not multiple intelligences, as all these abilities have one common factor 
underlies them, and that common factor is g

g:

Means general intelligence and it is one singular construct. Underlines all the s’. Because of this, if we perform well on one ability, we are likely to perform well on the others. 

Thurstone

He used factor analysis.

He refuses the idea of g, according to him we have multiple intelligences that are independent of each other. Study the table in the textbook.

When modern researchers look at his data, they still found evidence of g. G is one of the better predictors for success at school and work. 

According to Raymond Cattell, g is much more complex. it is not a singular construct. It consist of two main components: 

Crystalized intelligence (gc): all of the knowledge and all the skills we have acquired. It is also about knowing when to use what and where. It increases with age as long as we continue to learn.  

 
Fluid intelligence (gf): intelligence that does not have a content, about how fast we process info, being able to recognize patterns, being able to deal with novel problems and solve them, and according to the textbook, it drops slowly up to age 75 and then drop sharply after 85. 

B.2 Modern Approaches

Gardner: he rejects G. According to him there is more to intelligence than the IQ score we get and according to him we have multiple intelligences that are independent of each other.

Logic: different abilities have different developmental courses. 

 
Different abilities: Some abilities are affected whereas other abilities remain functioning well. 

 
Brain damage: They are independent from each other. The presence of savant and prodigies.

 
Savants: It is a person who is expectational in some abilities but below average in others. 

 
Prodigies: People who are exceptional in some ways but average in other ways. 

The 8 Intelligences:

The 8 Intelligences: 

 
Linguistic: being intelligent about language and using it – poet, lawyer, politician

 
Logical-mathematical: being intelligent in math, science, engineer 

 
Musical: writing music, understanding music, singing 

 
Bodily kinesthetic: being intelligent about our bodies and using our bodies to solve problems, create products and physical stuff. Athletes, crafts people, etc.

Spatial: being intelligent about space, home decorator, architect 

 
Interpersonal: people smart 

 
Intrapersonal: self-smart, understand ourselves, regulate emotions 

 
Naturalist: intelligent about nature – biologist 

Sternberg:

More: Sternberg says there is more to intelligence than just g, more to intelligence than just an IQ score, according to him there are three aspects to intelligence: (see below) 

 
Successful: according to Sternberg, to be intelligent is to be successful. He means being able to be clear about what matters most and then making it happen. 

3 Intelligences According to Sternberg:

Analytical: We use this intelligence to analyze, evaluate, assess, compare and contrast. We use this int to solve problems that have one single solution. Book smart.  

 
Creative: thinking outside the box, and coming up with new ideas that are useful, and we can be creative in business, school, etc. 

Practical: being people smart, life smart, street smart, being able to affectively deal with life and its everyday challenges.

Emotional Intelligence:

Researchers once believed that people with higher IQs would have more successful lives, including better parenting, emotional management, finances, and relationships.

However, research showed that a high IQ does not necessarily lead to a more successful or satisfying life.

Genetic and Environmental Influences: 
A. to C. 1) Genetic Influences

Twin studies: Identical twins are more similar in IQ than fraternal twins → clear suggestion genes play important role in IQ 
Polygenetic: Intelligence is polygenic (a number of different genes are involved instead of 1 single gene)... Over 1000 genes have been identified to be linked to intelligence and found on different locations on the genome.
As we get older: The influence of genes on our intelligence seems to go up. 
Mom’s IQ: Best predictor of your own IQ! Why? 
X chromosome: It’s because many of the genes linked to intelligence are 
found on the X chromosome... 
People with high IQ consume less glucose than those with lower IQ!

2) Environmental Influences

The Flynn Effect: 
What is it? 
For most of the 20th century, IQ scores tended to go up with every generation, with every 
new generation scoring higher on IQ tests than the generations that came before them! 
By how much? 
Every decade, about 3 points up 
What? 
● In fluid intelligence 
Why? 
● nutrition 
● education 
● medical care 

Infectious diseases: if we’re very sick and fighting the illness, at that point the 
body is not going to care about its IQ, so it will put all its energy into healing 
and less into brain doing well 
● complex world... puts pressure on us to learn more! 
Reversing? 
● BUT! The Flynn Effect might be reversing! Since 2016, the newer generations 
are scoring lower on IQ tests than the generations before them! 
● We don’t know if this is a fluke or a pattern... 
● Likely reason: over-reliance on technology... using brains less and less!

Impoverished vs Enriched

Both humans and animals who live in enriched environments have higher IQ scores than those who live in impoverished environment.

Nutrition:

Allows brain to focus on its IQ than survival.

Schooling Effects:

Higher the education, the higher the IQ. In the summer the IQ scores go lower, and during the fall IQ scores go up.

Stereotype Threat: Stereotype lift:

ST: If in negative stereotype about a group we belong to is activated, we are likely less to do well than usual.

Stereotype lift: If in positive stereotype about a group we belong to is activated, we tend to perform better than usual.

Mindset: How we think about intelligence. 2 main types: 

Growth mindset: we tend to believe that intelligence can be changed and we can grow our intelligence with hardworking and learning by putting in effort. We will work harder and perform better. Tend to perform better than people with a fixed mindset.  
Fixed mindset: when we believe that intelligence is innate and there is nothing we can do about it. If we believe this, we are going to put in less energy and hard work.

Stress:

Stress: When we’re very stressed, it can impact performance... 
Early life stress (ELS): Children who grew up in consistently abusive or neglectful households... they have more cognitive deficits and lower IQ scores than those living in loving, nurturing families

3) Interaction:

Between nature and nurture. The interactions can influence or affect IQ scores.

IV- Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores:

Ethnic differences: some races score higher on IQ score than other races. Most researchers are likely to have to do with environmental factors rather than biological. Historically in the US, white Americans as a group score higher on IQ test than African American as a group  
Babies: There are no significant IQ score differences between white and black babies... so the differences we notice later are likely due to environmental factors!
Biracial: no significant differences in IQ.
Poverty: poor children no matter their race tend to score lower on IQ tests than those coming from upper or middle class.
Discrimination: any group that is discriminated against anywhere tend to have a lower IQ as a group.

V. Bias & Misuse:

Yes: they are created by people and people grow up in a certain environment with certain beliefs. IQ tests reflect the knowledge, culture, beliefs, and assumptions of people who created them. If we happen to be from a diff culture and we don’t know much about their culture, we are likely to do poor on IQ test.
No: IQ tests are not likely to be biased because statistically they make the same prediction for the same score. A score of 100 will get you the same prediction no matter gender, age, race.

Misuse:

IQ tests can be misused.
Social Darwinism: some people took the ideas from evolutionary theory and applied them to society's. They talk about survival of the fittest.  
Survival of the fittest: if they are rich or powerful, they are genetically superior and someone who is struggling and poor it is because they're genetically inferior.  
No interference: believe that the govn’t should not interfere and help the poor.  
Justification: use this to justify the abuse of poor people and to stop any regulations or any boundaries on capitalism. 

Justification: They use this to justify the abuse and exploitation of poor people and workers; to stop any regulations on capitalism.

Eugenics (Francis Galton) 

As social Darwinism was spreading, a new science called Eugenics was founded by Francis Galton. 
Goal: To better the human condition (example: eradicating disease) 
At the beginning, many scientists were excited by these ideas and adopted them. However, in certain circles, these ideas took a dark turn and became perverted. Example: to better the human condition we must get rid of anyone who is inferior. A policy followed by the Nazis. 
In Canada and the US, these ideas were used to: 
Forcefully institutionalize people with low IQ scores. 
Forcefully sterilize people with low IQ scores. 
Justify and further social injustices – such as the exploitation of the poor.

Francis Galton

Psychologist and statistician Who believed intelligence was inherited and related to sensory abilities.

Galtons method:

Used 17 physiological tests, including weight, discrimination, and pitch sensitivity to try to measure intelligence.

Wissler (1901)

Found that Galton’s physical measures did not correspond with school performance.

Normal distribution

A bell shaped curve where most scores cluster around the average and fewer occur at the extremes.

Mean, median and mode

Mean is average, median is middle score, and mode is most frequent score

Standard deviation

Measures how spread out scores are around the mean. Large standard deviation = more variability. Small standard deviation = less variability.

Innate

Naturally present rather than learned.

Galtons test results

His tests had low concurrent and predictive validity because they were unrelated to one another and did not predict school performance.

Binet and Simon

French researchers who developed intelligence tests based on cognitive abilities to help identify children’s educational needs.

Being and Simon’s definition of intelligence

The ability to judge well, comprehend well, and reason well.

Direction, adaptation, and criticism

Direction is knowing what to do. Adaptation is creating in monitoring strategies. Criticism is identifying errors in thinking.

Mental age and standardization

Mental age is the age level corresponding to the tasks a child can perform.

Standardization means using consistent tests and scoring methods so results can be compared.

What six abilities did Binet and Simon test?

Attention, memory, imagination, reasoning, common sense, and abstraction.

What was Galtons laboratory used for?

People paid a small fee to have physical characteristics and sensory abilities measured.

What did Galton contribute to the statistics?

He plotted his results and observed that many abilities followed a normal distribution.

Why did France need Binet and Simon’s intelligence test?

Public education was expanding, and schools needed to determine children’s educational needs.

How did Binet and Simon’s tests become more difficult?

They progress from simple tasks, such as responding to an examiner, to harder tasks, such as defining words and repeating digit sequences.