Intelligence and Creativity

Chapter 7

Intelligence

A trait or set of traits that people vary on - no universally accepted definition

Thinking or behaviour is adaptive (Piaget)

Intelligence is not fixed - changeable, subject to influences

The Measurement of Human Intelligence

Used to predict school performance, place children in classrooms of 'best fit', and screen American men in WW1.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Tests

Average IQ score is 100, with a standard deviation of 15; reliable across different versions and times.

Is mostly stable

Intellectual Disability

IQ score of 70–75, with difficulties in meeting age-appropriate expectations.

Spearman’s g-factor

A general intelligence factor (g) and a specific factor (s)

Differences in individuals due to difference in ‘g factor’

A general cognitive ability that underlies our skills; if you perform well in one test, you also tend to perform well in other tests.

Fluid intelligence

Ability to solve new problems, use logic in new situations, identify patterns; declines in late adulthood

Correlated with ‘g’

Crystallized intelligence

Applying past experience and knowledge to problem-solving or a situation; increases with age and continues to grow throughout adulthood.

Analytical intelligence

Mental steps used to solve problems; Analyze, critique, judge, compare/contrast, evaluate, assess

Creative intelligence

Use of experience fostering insight ; create, invent, discover, imagine, suppose, predict

Practical intelligence

Ability to read and adapt to the contexts of everyday life; apply, use, put into practice, implement, employ, render practical

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Intelligence is a biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture - limited evidence to support

Flynn Effect

Rise in average IQ scores over the 20th Century; influenced by environmental factors.

2-4 points per decade

Stereotype threat

A risk of confirming, as a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's social group e.g. women in math

Creativity

The ability to produce novel responses appropriate in context and valued by others involves divergent thinking - originality & uniqueness of ideas

Measures convergent thinking

IQ scores

Fluency

The number of different correct ideas you came up with

Elaboration

The number of details you gave to your correct ideas

Creativity : Investment Theory (Sternberg)

Sufficient intellectual skills, enough knowledge of a field, enjoys mentally toying with ideas, open to some risk and stepping outside the norm, motivation to stay focused on task, persistence, supportive/rewarding environment for creative input

Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence

Includes 3 intelligences: Analytic, Creative, Practical

Factors that influence intelligence scores

Genetics (50%), Environment (risk factors), Genes & Environment (parental involvement + stimulation opportunities)

Flexibility

The number of different correct ideas you came up with, but without repeating ideas within the same category, e.g., plate, bowl

Originality

The number of correct ideas you came up with, that no one else in the class came up with

Divergent thinking - Guilford’s Alternate Uses

Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, Elaboration

Giftedness

High IQ over 130 or special abilities in areas valued by society

Factors that influence creativity

Genetic = little impact

Environment = home and multicultural families

Common IQ tests

Stanford-Binet & Wechsler

Theory of successful intelligence

Extended from Sternberg, factors needed to be successful in a particular sociocultural contex

Infant IQ measures

Bayley scales = motor, mental behaviour ratings

Corresponding developmental quotient (DQ)

Schaie’s sequential study

1. DOB (cohort) influence test performance

2. No major declines in mental abilities till 60-70

3. Some abilities (fluid) decline more than others (crystallised)

4. Not all people’s abilities decline in old age - poor health