psych8 Life-Span Development: Intelligence

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions, psychometric assessments, multiple intelligence theories, life-span cognitive development, intellectual disability, giftedness, and creativity from Chapter 8 of Santrock's Life-Span Development.

Intelligence

The ability to solve problems and to adapt and learn from experiences.

Mental age (MA)

An individual's level of mental development relative to others, introduced by Alfred Binet.

Chronological age (CA)

An individual's actual age measured from birth.

Normal distribution

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve with a majority of cases falling in the middle of the possible range and few cases at the extremes.

Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence–Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV)

An intelligence test designed for young children aged $2\text{ years } 6\text{ months}$ to $7\text{ years } 3\text{ months}$.

Triarchic theory of intelligence

Robert J. Sternberg's theory stating that intelligence exists in three distinct forms: analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence.

Analytical intelligence

In Sternberg's triarchic theory, the ability to analyze, judge, evaluate, compare, and contrast.

Creative intelligence

In Sternberg's triarchic theory, the ability to create, design, invent, originate, and imagine.

Practical intelligence

In Sternberg's triarchic theory, the ability to use, apply, implement, and put ideas into practice.

Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences

Howard Gardner's theory proposing eight distinct types of intelligence (verbal, mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist), with a recently considered ninth type (existentialist).

Emotional intelligence

The ability to perceive and express emotion accurately and adaptively, understand emotion, and manage emotions in oneself and others; concept originally developed by Peter Salovey and John Mayer.

Flynn effect

The worldwide increase in intelligence test scores observed over a relatively short period of time.

Stereotype threat

The anxiety or fear that one's behavior might confirm a negative stereotype about one's group, potentially impairing test performance.

Culture-fair tests

Intelligence tests designed to avoid cultural bias by either using questions familiar to people of all backgrounds or omitting verbal questions entirely.

Bayley-III Scales of Infant Development

An infant assessment tool that evaluates cognitive, language, motor, socio-emotional, and adaptive skills.

Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence

An infant test assessing information processing—such as encoding object attributes, detecting similarities and differences, and forming/retrieving mental representations—that correlates with intelligence measures in older children.

Crystallized intelligence

An individual's accumulated information and verbal skills, which continues to increase throughout the life span according to John Horn.

Fluid intelligence

The ability to reason abstractly, which steadily declines from middle adulthood onward according to John Horn.

Cross-sectional study

A research design that compares individuals of different ages at the same single point in time.

Longitudinal study

A research investigation that tracks and repeatedly tests the same group of individuals over an extended period of time.

Seattle Longitudinal Study

K. Warner Schaie's extensive study examining six primary mental abilities across adulthood: verbal comprehension, verbal memory, numerical ability, spatial orientation, inductive reasoning, and perceptual speed.

Cognitive mechanics

The 'hardware' of the mind reflecting the brain's neurophysiological architecture, including speed and accuracy in sensory input, attention, visual/motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and categorization, which typically declines with age.

Cognitive pragmatics

The culture-based 'software' of the mind, including reading, writing, language comprehension, professional skills, and life skills, which can continue to improve or hold steady into old age.

Wisdom

Expert knowledge about practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters, including insight, coping strategies, and understanding of human development.

Intellectual disability

A condition of limited mental ability characterized by a low IQ (typically below $70$), difficulty adapting to everyday life demands, and onset prior to age $18$.

Organic intellectual disability

Intellectual disability caused by a genetic disorder or brain damage (such as Down syndrome), where IQs typically range between $0$ and $50$.

Cultural-familial intellectual disability

Intellectual disability with no evidence of organic brain damage, often emerging from below-average intellectual environments, usually associated with IQs between $55$ and $70$.

Intermittent support

Support for an intellectual disability provided 'as needed' during life transitions or crises (such as job loss or acute medical events), which may be low or high intensity.

Limited support

Support for an intellectual disability that is intense, relatively consistent, and time-limited rather than intermittent, often needed for school-to-adult transitions.

Extensive support

Support for an intellectual disability characterized by regular, ongoing involvement (such as daily assistance) in at least one setting (home or work) that is not time-limited.

Pervasive support

Constant, highly intense, across-setting support that may be life-sustaining and typically requires more staff members and high intrusiveness.

Giftedness

Possessing high intelligence or superior talent of some kind, typically marked by an IQ threshold of $130$ or higher.

Creativity

The ability to think about something in novel and unusual ways and to come up with unique, effective solutions to problems.

Divergent thinking

A style of thinking that generates multiple answers to the same question; central to creativity.

Convergent thinking

A style of thinking aimed at finding the single correct answer to a question; measured by conventional intelligence tests.

Brainstorming

A technique to increase creative thinking by coming up with ideas in a group, playing off each other's suggestions, and saying whatever comes to mind that may be relevant.