Lecture 10_Intelligence Assessment (1)

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Page 2: What is Intelligence?

• Definitions of intelligence vary widely:

  • Abstract thinking ability

  • Capacity to learn from experience

  • Capacity to acquire capacity

  • Ability to adapt to the environment

• Wechsler’s Definition:

  • "A global concept that involves an individual’s ability to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment"

• Gardner’s Definition:

  • "The ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings"

Page 3: Psychological Testing

• Standardized measure of a person’s behavior

• Measures individual differences including:

  • Intelligence

  • Interests

  • Personality

• Two Major Types of Tests:

  • Mental Ability Tests

  • Personality Tests

Page 4: Mental Ability Tests

• Intelligence Tests:

  • Assess general mental ability

  • Assess potential, NOT knowledge

• Aptitude Tests:

  • Measure potential in various domains (verbal, numeric, spatial, abstract reasoning, etc.)

• Achievement Tests:

  • Measure previous learning

  • Categories cover math, language, sciences, etc.

Page 5: Standardisation & Norms

• Standardisation:

  • Process of assessing a group to determine typical scores

  • Involves uniform administration and scoring

• Norms:

  • Standards based on large group measurements

  • Allows comparison of individual scores

  • Concepts include bell curve, standard deviation, and mean

Page 6: Psychometric Properties

• Reliability:

  • Consistency of scores produced by a measurement tool.

  • Reliable tests yield similar scores over time.

• Validity:

  • Degree to which a test measures what it intends to measure.

  • For example, a personality test should effectively measure personality, not behavior.

Page 7: Intelligence Testing (1)

• Sir Francis Galton: 19th Century British Scholar

  • Suggested intelligence differences are quantifiable

  • Proposed that intelligence is inherited (nature over nurture)

  • Started the Eugenics movement.

Page 8: Intelligence Testing (1)

• Alfred Binet:

  • Developed a test to identify mental stability in children

  • Predicted future academic progress through abstract reasoning skill assessment

  • Scores expressed as "mental age" (MA) relative to chronological age.

Page 9: Intelligence Testing (1)

• Intelligence Quotient (IQ):

  • Measure comparing mental age (MA) to physical age (PA)

  • Calculated as:

    • IQ = (Mental Age / Physical Age) x 100

  • Example:

    • MA = 10, PA = 7

    • Calculation: (10 / 7) x 100 ≈ 143 (high IQ)

Page 10: Interpreting IQ Scores

• Scale of intelligence scores:

  • Categories of "Dull normal", "Bright normal", "Superior", etc.

  • Ranges significantly across the scale.

Page 11: Theories of Intelligence

• General Intelligence vs Multiple Intelligences:

  • Spearman’s "g":

    • Believed in a general intelligence factor underlying specific mental abilities.

Page 12: Theories of Intelligence

• Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities:

  • Proposed seven distinct factors:

    • Word fluency

    • Verbal comprehension

    • Spatial ability

    • Perceptual speed

    • Numeric ability

    • Inductive reasoning

    • Memory

Page 13: Theories of Intelligence

• Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory:

  • Three forms of intelligence:

    • Analytical (logical reasoning, critical thinking)

    • Creative (novel problem solving)

    • Practical (adapting knowledge in real-world settings)

Page 14: Theories of Intelligence

• Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences:

  • Proposed multiple forms of intelligence.

  • Evidence: specific abilities might remain while others diminish (e.g. savant syndrome).

• Eight types of intelligence are recognized.

Page 15: Types of Intelligence

• Intellectual Domains:

  • Linguistic: Good use of language (e.g. Journalist)

  • Logical/Mathematical: Logical reasoning (e.g. Scientist)

  • Musical: Creating and performing music (e.g. Musician)

  • Spatial: Visualizing relationships (e.g. Artist)

  • Bodily/Kinesthetic: Physical control (e.g. Athlete)

  • Interpersonal: Understanding others' emotions (e.g. Therapist)

  • Intrapersonal: Understanding one’s own emotions (e.g. Self-aware individual)

  • Naturalist: Recognizing patterns in nature (e.g. Biologist)

Page 16: Theories of Intelligence

• Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence:

  • Comprises emotional self-awareness, managing emotions, empathy, and understanding emotions of others.

Page 17: Intelligence Testing (2)

• Lewis Terman:

  • Revised Binet’s test, established the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.

  • Popularized IQ calculation formula.

Page 18: Intelligence Testing (2)

• David Wechsler:

  • Created Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC).

  • Less reliance on verbal ability than the Stanford-Binet.

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Page 20: Influence of Intelligence

• Studies show faster processing speeds and information retrieval in those with higher IQs.

• High intelligence correlates with achievement test performance.

Page 21: Influence on Intelligence

• Schooling Effects:

  • Better schooling experiences correlate with higher intelligence scores.

• Flynn Effect:

  • Rise of approximately 3 IQ points per decade attributed to improved schooling, environment, and nutrition.

Page 22: Intelligence & Creativity

• Creativity: Ability to produce valuable, novel ideas.

• Correlation to intelligence studied through:

  • Expertise, imaginative thinking, adventurous personality, intrinsic motivation, creative environment.

Page 23: Intelligence & Creativity

• Assessing Creativity:

  • Divergent thinking measured by tests on functional fixedness.

  • Moderate correlation between IQ and divergent thinking.

Page 24: Controversies of Intelligence

• Nature vs. Nurture:

  • Intelligence debated over genetic vs environmental sources.

  • Studies show both factors contribute.

Page 25: Controversies of Intelligence

• Showed differing degrees of correlation in intelligence across various family structures and environmental settings.

Page 26: Controversies of Intelligence

• Average IQ differences among racial groups attributed largely to environmental factors.

  • Better conditions yield higher scores.

Page 27: Controversies of Intelligence

• Critique of intelligence tests:

  • Bias in favoring certain cultural and educational backgrounds.

  • Issues with the validity of intelligence tests in determining educational placement.