LESSON 13: Human Intelligence

Human intelligence

can be viewed as an integrating, or “umbrella,” psychological construct for a great deal of theory and research in cognitive psychology

Intelligence

is the capacity to learn from experience, using metacognitive processes to enhance learning, and the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment

Metacognition

people’s understanding and control of their own thinking processes.

Intelligence

is the capacity to learn from experience, using metacognitive processes to enhance learning, and the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.

Implicit theories

usually unstated conceptions of intelligence used in many social situations

Taiwan

Chinese people in - include interpersonal and intrapersonal (self-understanding) skills as part of their conception of intelligence

Kenyan

Rural - conceptions of intelligence encompass moral as well as cognitive skills

Emotional intelligence

is “the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in the self and others”

Social intelligence

is the ability to understand and interact with other people

Cultural intelligence (CQ)

This term is used to describe a person’s ability to adapt to a variety of challenges in diverse cultures

Francis Galton

believed that intelligence is a function of psychophysical abilities.

Weight discrimination

the ability to notice small differences in the weights of objects.

Pitch sensitivity

the ability to hear small differences between musical notes.

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon

attempted to assess intelligence, but their goal was much more practical than purely scientific

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon

set out to measure intelligence as a function of the ability to learn within an academic setting.

Judgement

According to Binet, - is the key to intelligence, which is not psychophysical acuity, strength, or skill

1. Direction

2. Adaptation

3. Criticism

Three distinct elements of intelligent/mental thought according to Binet

Direction

involves knowing what has to be done and how to do it

Adaptation

refers to customizing a strategy for performing a task and then monitoring that strategy while implementing it;

Criticism

is your ability to critique your own thoughts and actions.

Mental age

Binet and Simon sought to determine each child’s —, the average level of intelligence for a person of a given age.

William Stern

suggested instead that we evaluate people’s intelligence by using an intelligence quotient (IQ)

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

a ratio of mental age (MA) divided by chronological age (CA), multiplied by 100

(MA/CA)(100)

Formula for IQ

Ratio IQs

Intelligence scores that are expressed in terms of a ratio of mental age to chronological age are termed

Deviation IQs

Scores based on deviations from the middle score in a normal distribution of scores on a test of intelligence are termed

Lewis Terman

built on Binet and Simon’s work in Europe and constructed the earliest version of what is known as the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale

Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale

was the standard for intelligence tests, and it still is used widely

Wechsler scales

More widely used and competitive standardized intelligence test

David Wechsler

Creator of the Wechsler scales

1. Wechsler Adult Intelligent Scale (WAIS-IV)

2. Wechsler Intelligent Scale for Children (WISC-IV)

3. Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-III)

Three levels of the Wechsler intelligence scales

Factor analysis

is a statistical method for separating a construct—intelligence in this case—into a number of hypothetical factors or abilities that the researchers believe form the basis of individual differences in test performance

Correlation

Factor analysis is based on studies of -

Charles Spearmean

credited with inventing factor analysis

General factor

A single - pervades performance on all tests of mental ability

Specific factors

A set of - is involved in performance on only a single-type of mental-ability test

G factor

According to Spearman, this provides the key to understanding intelligence.

Louis Thurstone

concluded that the core of intelligence resides not in one single factor but in seven such factors

Primary mental abilities

Thurstone referred to the seven factors as -

1. Verbal comprehension

2. Verbal fluency

3. Inductive reasoning

4. Spatial visualization

5. Number

6. Memory

7. Perceptual speed

Seven primary mental abilities according to Thurstone

Verbal comprehensions

measured by vocabulary tests

Verbal fluency

measured by time-limited tests requiring the test-taker to think of as many words as possible that begin with a given letter

Inductive reasoning

measured by tests such as analogies and number-series completion tasks

Spatial visualization

measured by tests requiring mental rotation of pictures of objects

Number

measured by computation and simple mathematical problem-solving tests

Memory

measured by picture and word-recall tests

Perceptual speed

measured by tests that require the test-taker to recognize small differences in pictures or to cross out the differences in strings of varied letters

Hierarchical

An economical way of handling a number of factors of the mind is through a - model of intelligence

Fluid ability and Crystallized ability

According to Cattell, general intelligence comprises two major subfactors:

Fluid ability

is speed and accuracy of abstract reasoning, especially for novel problems

Crystallized ability

is accumulated knowledge and vocabulary

Carroll

Namesake for the 3-strata hierarchy of intelligence

Stratum I

includes many narrow, specific abilities (e.g., spelling ability, speed of reasoning).

Stratum II

includes various broad abilities (e.g., fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence).

Stratum III

is just a single general intelligence, much like Spearman’s “g” factor.

Stratum II

most interesting stratum, includes learning and memory processes, visual perception, auditory perception, facile production of ideas (similar to verbal fluency), and speed

Speed

According to Carroll, this includes both sheer its response and accurate responding

Carroll’s

Whose model is probably the most widely accepted of the psychometric models?

Johnson and Bouchard

proposed a variation of hierarchical theory in which they suggested that abilities are properly divided into verbal, perceptual, and image rotation.

Information-processing theorists

study how people mentally manipulate what they learn and know about the world

Inspection time

the amount of time it takes you to inspect items and make a decision about them

Arthur Jensen

proposed the notion that the smart person is someone whose neural circuits conduct information rapidly.

Choice reaction time

Jensen’s proxy measure for measuring neural processing speed

Choice reaction time

the time it takes to select one answer from among several possibilities.

Lexical-access speed

the speed with which we can retrieve information about words (e.g., letter names) stored in our long-term memories

Hunt and Lansman

According to -, more intelligent people are better able to timeshare between two tasks and to perform both effectively.

Components

the mental processes used in performing these tasks, such as translating a sensory input into a mental representation, transforming one conceptual representation into another, or translating a conceptual representation into a motor output

Componential analysis

breaks down people’s reaction times and error rates on these tasks in terms of the processes that make up the tasks.

Global planning

encoding the problem and formulating a general strategy for attacking the problem

Local planning

forming and implementing strategies for the details of the task

Integrative approach

would combine models of various kinds of cognitive functioning as bases for intelligence

1. Breadth of declarative knowledge

2. Breadth of procedural skills

3. Capacity of working memory

4. Speed of processing

Four sources of individual differences in intelligence according to Ackerman

Human brain

biological basis for human intelligence

Men; women

On average, (men or women?) have larger brains than women. But (men or women?), on average, have better connections through the corpus callosum of the two hemispheres of the brain.

Parietal-frontal integration theory

stresses the importance of interconnected brain regions in determining differences in intelligence.

Contextualism

intelligence must be understood in its real-world context

Culture

the set of attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviors shared by a group of people

Culture-fair test

test that is equally appropriate and fair for members of all cultures

Culture-relevant

measure skills and knowledge that relate to the cultural experiences of the test-taker

Theory of multiple intelligences

intelligence includes multiple independent constructs, not just a single, unitary construct.

Howard Gardner

Proponent of the theory of multiple intelligences

Linguistic intelligence

Used in reading a book; writing a paper, a novel, or a poem; and understanding spoken words

Logical-mathematical intelligence

Used in solving math problems, in balancing a checkbook, in solving a mathematical proof, and in logical reasoning

Spatial intelligence

Used in getting from one place to another, in reading a map, and in packing suitcases in the trunk of a car so that they all fit into a compact space

Musical intelligence

Used in singing a song, composing a sonata, playing a trumpet, or even appreciating the structure of a piece of music

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence

Used in dancing, playing basketball, running a mile, or throwing a javelin

Interpersonal intelligence

Used in relating to other people, such as when we try to understand another person’s behavior, motives, or emotions

Intrapersonal intelligence

Used in understanding ourselves—the basis for understanding who we are, what makes us tick, and how we can change ourselves, given our existing constraints on our abilities and our interests

Naturalist intelligence

used in understanding patterns in nature

Modularity theorists

believe that different abilities—such as Gardner’s intelligences—can be isolated as emanating from distinct portions or modules of the brain

Savants

are people with severe social and cognitive deficits but with corresponding high ability in a narrow domain

Robert Sternberg

tends to emphasize the extent to which they work together in the triarchic theory of human intelligence

Triarchic theory of human intelligence

According to the intelligence -, is composed of three aspects, dealing with the relation of intelligence

1. To the internal world of the person

2. To experience and

3. To the external world

Three aspects of the triarchic theory of human intelligence

1. Metacomponents

2. Performance components

3. Knowledge-acquisition components

Components of information processing (Sternberg)

Metacomponents

higher-order executive processes (i.e., metacognition) used to plan, monitor, and evaluate problem solving.

Performance components

lower-order processes used to implement the commands of the metacomponents.

Knowledge-acquisition components

the processes used for learning how to solve the problems in the first place.

Reaction range

This is the range of broad limits of possibilities in which an attribute can be expressed in various ways

Head Start program

was initiated in the 1960s to provide preschoolers with an edge on intellectual abilities and accomplishments when they started school