Chapter_10_Intelligence

Chapter 10: Intelligence

Crucial Questions

  • What is intelligence?

  • How to assess intelligence effectively?

  • What role do heredity and experience play in intelligence?

  • What do differences in test scores among individuals and groups signify?

    • Should these differences dictate rankings, admissions, or hiring?

What is Intelligence?

  • Definition: Ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations.

Factor Analysis and General Intelligence

  • Factor Analysis: Statistical procedure identifying clusters of related items on a test.

  • General Intelligence (g):

    • Foundational factor believed to underlie specific mental abilities.

    • Measured by tasks on an intelligence test.

    • Helps solve novel problems (Kanazawa).

Multiple Intelligences

  • Savant Syndrome: Exceptional specific skill despite limited general mental ability (e.g., calculation, drawing).

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

  • Types of Intelligence:

    • Linguistic (T.S. Eliot)

    • Logical-mathematical (Albert Einstein)

    • Musical (Mozart)

    • Spatial (Pablo Picasso)

    • Bodily-kinesthetic (Michael Jordan)

    • Intrapersonal (self) (Sigmund Freud)

    • Interpersonal (others) (Mahatma Gandhi)

    • Naturalist (Charles Darwin)

    • Existential (proposed) (Dalai Lama)

Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Theory

  • Categories:

    • Analytical (problem-solving in academic contexts)

    • Creative (adaptation to novel situations)

    • Practical (everyday tasks, multiple solutions).

Intelligence and Income

  • Scatterplot shows correlation (+.30) between intelligence scores and later income, tracked over 25 years.

Emotional and Social Intelligence

  • Social Intelligence: Understanding and managing social interactions.

  • Emotional Intelligence Components:

    • Perceiving emotions

    • Understanding emotions

    • Managing emotions

    • Using emotions for adaptive thinking.

Intelligence and Creativity

  • Creativity: Ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

    • Involves expertise, imaginative thinking, venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and a conducive environment.

Brain Function and Intelligence

  • Faster stimulus perception relates to higher intelligence test scores.

Comparing Theories of Intelligence

Theory

Summary

Strengths

Other Considerations

Spearman's general intelligence (g)

Predicts abilities across academic areas.

Correlation between different abilities.

Diversity in intelligence skills.

Thurstone's primary mental abilities

Seven factors including verbal and numerical skills.

More informative than a single g score.

Some ability clustering.

Gardner's multiple intelligences

Eight/nine independent intelligences.

Includes non-academic skills.

Are all abilities intelligences?

Sternberg's triarchic theory

Three areas: analytical, creative, practical.

Domains measured reliably.

Independence of domains questioned.

Assessing Intelligence

  • Aptitude Tests: Predict future performance.

  • Achievement Tests: Assess learned information.

  • Intelligence Tests: Compare individual aptitudes with others.

Origin of Intelligence Testing

  • Mental Age: A measure correlating performance level with age (e.g., Binet).

  • Stanford-Binet: American revision of Binet's test.

  • IQ Calculation: IQ = (mental age / chronological age) x 100.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

  • Most widely used intelligence test

  • Subtests Include:

    • Verbal comprehension

    • Perceptual organization

    • Working memory

    • Processing speed.

Principles of Test Construction

  • Standardization: Defining scores by comparison to pretested groups.

  • Normal Curve: Describes distribution of psychological attributes.

    • Indicates most scores are near average.

The Flynn Effect

  • Improvement in intelligence test performance over time due to various factors (e.g., education, environment).

Reliability and Validity

  • Reliability: Consistency of test results.

  • Validity Types:

    • Content Validity: Does the test sample relevant behavior?

    • Predictive Validity: Does the test forecast intended outcomes?

The Dynamics of Intelligence

  • Intellectual Disability: Score below 70 with adaptation difficulties.

  • Degrees of Mental Retardation:

    • Mild: IQ 50-70 (85% of cases)

    • Moderate: IQ 35-49

    • Severe: IQ 20-34

    • Profound: Below 20.

Genetic Influences on Intelligence

  • Heritability: Degree of variation among individuals attributed to genetics.

Environmental Influences and Group Differences

  • Impact of environments on intellectual performance.

  • Stereotype Threat: Self-confirming concern regarding negative stereotype evaluations.