intelligence

Spearman’s General Intelligence (g)

A single, basic intelligence, g, predicts our abilities in varied academic areas

• General intelligence (g)

Critics:  human abilities are too diverse to be encapsulated by a single general factor

factor analysis

 a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test

• Mental abilities (like verbal or spatial) tend to form clusters or correlate 

• People tend to show about the same level of competence in all abilities in a certain cluster

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

Sternberg agreed with Gardner that there is more to success than traditional intelligence (and that we have multiple types)

• classified into 3 areas that can be reliably measured: analytic, practical, and creative intelligence

CRITICS – These areas may be less distinctive than sternberg thought (may share an underlying g factor)

social intelligence

The know-how involved in comprehending social situation and managing oneself successfully

emotional intelligence

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

• Found to be higher in women

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

• Exceptionally creative people do not score higher on intelligence tests than than non-creative peers

• Convergent thinking vs. divergent thinking

• 5 components: expertise, imaginative thinking skills, a venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and a creative environment

savant syndrome

Condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing

• often, these individuals score low on IQ tests with limited or no language ability

• 4 out of 5 savants are male, and many also have autism spectrum disorder

intelligence test

a method for assessing and individuals mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

aptitude

capacity to learn

Alfred Binet

French intelligence researcher

• Was hired by the French education system to determine which students needed support

  • to do so, he had to compare a child’s potential to what the child was actually doing, and this becomes the concept of mental age

proposed mental age

• a measure of intelligence; the chronological age at which a person intellectual functions

  • Ex: A 9-year old can be advanced and perform at a mental age of 12

intelligence quotient (IQ) formula

German researcher William Stern (1871-1939) developed the intelligence quotient (IQ)

• IQ is no longer computed this way

• TODAY: IQ refers to…the test takers performance relative to the performance  others of the same age

Stanford-Binet test 

revision of Binet’s test created by Lewis Terman

• Some questions were adapted. established new age norms and extended the upper end of the tests age range

• Believed that children who scored high on his test were “gifted” and likely to become successful in adulthood (followed them in a longitudinal study)

• Believed his results proved the superiority of white men to people of color (HUGE proponent of eugenics) 

aptitude test

Designed to predict the ability/potential to learn a new skill

Ex: SAT (previously called the Scholastic Aptitude Test - seeks to predict your ability to do well in college)

achievement test

Designed to assess what a person has learned

Ex: EOC (End of Course exam - seeks to assess what you learned in a course)

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Wechsler Adult intelligence Scale (WAIS) - developed by David Wechsler who suggested that IQ tests were limited in their usefulness because they measure intelligence verbally 

• 11 subtypes - both verbal and nonverbal

• Yields an overall intelligence score, and also scores for verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, working memory, and processing speed

• Also made a version for children (WISC)

• Score is based on standard deviation IQ - this means that your mental ability is scored in comparison with the average person your age

Principles of Test Construction

To be widely accepted, psychological intelligence (aptitude and achievement) tests must be: 1) standardized, 2) reliable, and 3) valid

standardization

An assessment that has clearly defined norms, so that a person's score is an indication of how well they did in comparison to a large group of individuals representative if the population for which the test is intended

• The number of correct responses on an intelligence test would reveal almost nothing…your performance must be compared to others

• First the test is given to a sample population, then later give with the same procedures to other groups

Flynn effect

The tendency of IQ scores to rise over time; the apparent increase in intelligence across the population

reliability

The extent to which a test yields consistent results

• Retest the same people, split the test in half, and see if scores are consistent - higher the correlation between scores, higher the reliability 

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

• Ex: A driving test assess driving skill

predictive validity

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

criterion

the behavior a test is designed to predict

• Ex: The SAT is designed to predict future college performance (which is the criterion) 

intellectual disability

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

• Sometimes have a physical cause - Down syndrome- a condition of disability and associated physical disorders 

• Hallmarked by a struggle with conceptual, social, or practical skills

gifted

an unusually high ability or potential in any domain 

• controversy over gifted children programs: not as many children labeled as gifted are actually extraordinarily gifted

• “tracking” children of different abilities can cause them to live up or down to a perception of their intelligence/abilities (self-fulfilling prophecy)

stereotype threat

the self confirming belief that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype 

• Stereotypes are “in the air” of society, but awareness is often sufficient to prevent underperformance

Are intelligence tests discriminatory?

YES: They are designed to distinguish individuals apart from their peers

NO: They are not designed to distinguish individuals baked on political, radical, or ethnic backgrounds

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence’s

Theory that intelligence is more than just verbal and mathematical skills—other abilities are equally important

• This theory better addresses the abilities that make our minds adaptable

CRITICS - Should all abilities be considered intelligences? Shouldn’t some of them just be “less vital” talents?