Intelligence and Creativity

Lecture 6: Intelligence and Creativity

Today’s Lecture Overview

• Intelligence
  • Major theories
  • Methods of assessing intelligence
  • Developmental trajectory
• Creativity
  • Development in different stages of life

Intelligence

• Definition (APA Dictionary of Psychology):
  • The ability to derive information, learn from experience, adapt to the environment, understand, and correctly utilize thought and reason.

IQ Score Distribution

• Normal distribution with mean of 100.
• Standard deviations:
  • 68% of the population scores between 85 and 115.
  • 95% scores between 70 and 130.
  • Approximately 2% scores above 130, and 2% below 70.
• Mensa: Top 2% of IQ scores.

Psychometric Approach

• Identifies and measures traits characterizing people to varying extents.
• Focuses on:
  • Ability to use the mind actively to solve novel problems (raw information processing power).
  • Skills acquired through schooling and life experiences.
• Fluid Intelligence: Ability to solve novel problems.
• Crystallized Intelligence: Knowledge acquired through experience; if IQ test questions are leaked and practiced, then it becomes crystallized intelligence.

Binet and Simon

• Devised a battery of tasks, a forerunner to modern IQ tests.
• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.
• Mental Age: Level of age-graded problems a child can solve.
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ): Calculated as \frac{Mental Age}{Chronological Age} \times 100

Normed Assessment

• Standards of normal performance expressed as average scores and score ranges.
• Based on performance of a large, representative sample.
• Test norms indicate expected achievement levels by age.

Standard Deviation

• Measures how tightly scores cluster around the mean score.
• Approximately 95% of individuals score between 70 and 130.
• Less than 3% score above 130 (Giftedness).
• Less than 3% score below 70 (Intellectual disability).

Extremes of Intelligence

• Giftedness:
  • IQ score of 130 or higher.
  • Special abilities valued by society.
  • Identifiable in early childhood, exhibiting curiosity, motivation to learn, and advanced language skills.
• Intellectual Disability:
  • Significantly below-average intellectual functioning (IQ of 70 or below).
  • Limitations in adaptive behavior (self-care, social skills).
  • Varies across societies; also consider daily living skills.

Common Assessment Tools

• Binet's Test: Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.
• Wechsler Scales:
  • WPPSI-IV (for young children)
  • WISC-V (for school-aged children)
  • WAIS-5 (for adults)
  • Note: different versions exist; some may not be used in specific locations like Hong Kong.

Theories of Intelligence: Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Theory

• A hierarchical structure; g is general intelligence.
• Includes broad and narrow abilities such as:
  • Fluid Reasoning (Gf)
  • Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)
  • Quantitative Knowledge (Gq)
  • Reading & Writing (Grw)
  • Short-Term Memory (Gsm)
  • Long-Term Storage & Retrieval (Glr)
  • Visual Processing (Gv)
  • Auditory Processing (Ga)
  • Processing Speed (Gs)

Limitations of the Psychometric Approach

• Primarily measures academic abilities, not other areas.

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

• Rejects the IQ score as the sole measure of human intelligence.
• Considers Savant syndrome (extraordinary talent in a specific area despite overall intellectual challenges) and prodigies (children displaying adult-level abilities).

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

• Focuses on:
  • Establishing and achieving reasonable goals.
  • Optimizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses.
  • Adapting to the environment.
  • Using all three components of intelligence.

Creativity

• Ability to produce novel responses appropriate in context and valued by others.
• IQ scores and creativity scores do not correlate well.
  • IQ tests measure convergent thinking (Divergent thinking is more closely related to creativity).

Sample Creativity Evaluation Criteria

• Fluency
• Resistance to premature closure
• Elaboration
• Abstractness of titles
• Originality

Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Creative Potential by IQ

• Personality is correlated with creativity.
• Creativity potential (CP) can be broken down into fluency and originality.
• Influence of openness and other personality factors.

Componential Model of Creativity (Amabile, 1998)

• Involves:
  • Expertise: Knowledge (technical, procedural, intellectual).
  • Creative-thinking skills: Flexibility and imagination in problem-solving.
  • Motivation: Intrinsic motivation is more effective than extrinsic.

Sternberg's Investment Theory

• Creativity is a decision to "buy low and sell high" in the world of ideas.
• Creative individuals generate ideas that defy the crowd and move to the next unpopular idea when the previous one gains acceptance.

Resources Required for Creativity (Sternberg)

• Intellectual Abilities:
  • Synthetic Skill: Seeing problems in new ways.
  • Analytic Skill: Recognizing worthwhile ideas.
  • Practical Skill: Persuading others.
• Knowledge: Can help or hinder creativity.
• Styles of Thinking:
  • Legislative Style: Thinking and making decisions in new ways.
• Personality:
  • Willingness to overcome obstacles, take sensible risks, tolerate ambiguity, and self-efficacy.
• Motivation:
  • Intrinsic and task-focused motivation.
• Environment:
  • Supportive of creative ideas.

Intelligence at Infancy

• How to measure an infant's intelligence?

Developmental Milestones

• Examples include rolling over, sitting unsupported, walking unaided, speaking clearly, etc.
• Observed at various months

Bayley Scales of Infant Development

• Summarizes infant performance compared to a norm group.
• Developmental quotient (DQ) is more associated with later intelligence.

Merrill-Palmer-Revised Scales of Development (MPR)

• Provides global assessment with separate scores for:
  • Cognitive
  • Language/Communication
  • Motor (fine and gross)
  • Social-Emotional Development
  • Self-Help/Adaptive

Prediction to Later Intelligence

• Low correlations between infant DQ and child IQ (different abilities).
• Information processing measures (attention, speed of habituation) may have better predictive value.

Development of Intelligence in Childhood

• Around age 4, a fairly strong relationship exists between early and later IQ.
• IQ scores can fluctuate due to motivation, testing procedure, and intelligence.

Causes of Gain and Loss in IQ

• Children in unstable home environments show the most score fluctuation.
• Gainers have parents who converse more, expose them to a wide vocabulary, and offer more encouragement.
• Drops in IQ often occur in children living in poverty.

Cumulative-Deficit Hypothesis

• Impoverished environments inhibit intellectual growth.
• Negative effects accumulate over time.
• Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory assesses intellectual stimulation.

Emergence of Creativity in Childhood

• Preschool-aged children display high levels of divergent thought, increasing until third grade, then declining after fifth grade.
• Originality declines sharply starting in sixth grade.

Intelligence in Adolescence: Flynn Effect

• Average IQ scores have increased in all countries studied during the 20th century.
• In the U.S., the increase is approximately 3-4 IQ points per decade.
• Possible rationales include better education, improved nutrition/living conditions, increased familiarity with standardized testing, and a healthier environment.

Reverse Flynn Effect

• Trends in cohort IQ are decreasing.
• Possible rationales include a poorer environment, worsening nutrition and health standards, less intelligently stimulating environment, and increased air pollution and use of electronics (TV, internet, social media).
• Questions if IQ tests accurately measure the type of intelligence needed in the modern world, as some test items may be irrelevant.

IQ and School Achievement

• Correlations between children’s and adolescents’ IQ scores and grades range from 0.50 to 0.86.
• IQ is one of the best predictors of school achievement.
• IQ scores do not predict college grades as well due to the role of motivation and the reduced IQ variance.

Emergence of Creativity in Adolescence

• The ability to elaborate on ideas increases in middle school.
• Fostering creativity involves a supportive environment, rewards, and interventions through play.
• Creative individuals have talent, motivation, and supportive environments.
• Parents can give children freedom to explore; schools can encourage idea generation and elaboration.

Social Contextual Factors in Adolescent Creativity (van der Zanden et al., 2020)

• Individual Factors: Openness to experience (+), State and trait anxiety (-), Intrinsic motivation (+), Creative self-efficacy (+), Academic achievement (+)
• Parental Factors: Parental support (+), Autonomous motivation with maternal involvement (+)
• Educational Factors: Balancing exploration and guidance (+), Flexible activities (+), Openness to student ideas (+), Varied learning resources (+)

Intelligence in Adulthood

• IQ remains stable into older adulthood.
• Terminal drop: Decline associated with poor health, diseases, and an unstimulating lifestyle.
• Strongest predictor of intelligence in old age: intelligence at age 11.
• Recently born cohorts outperform earlier cohorts; declines in intellectual abilities are not universal.

Fluid vs. Crystallized Intelligence in Adulthood

• Fluid intelligence tends to decline with age, whereas crystallized intelligence remains more stable.

IQ and Occupational Success

• Professional and technical workers score higher on IQ tests than white-collar workers.
• The gap between those with higher intelligence and lower intelligence has widened.

IQ and Health

• People with higher IQ scores tend to be healthier and live longer.
• Possible rationales include socioeconomic status and better health monitoring.

Creative Endeavors in Adulthood

• Creative production increases from the 20s to early 40s, then gradually declines.
• Peak creativity times vary from field to field.
• Creative behavior is possible throughout life, with associations between creative activity and well-being.

Factors That Affect Intelligence

• Genes and Environments:
  • Heritability of IQ scores ≈ 0.50.
  • Genes play a lesser role in IQ among children from the lower class.
  • Environmental influence is stronger in early life stages.
  • Mother’s IQ is reliably associated with her children’s IQ.
• Race and Ethnicity:
  • Most studies find racial and ethnic differences in IQ scores.
  • Possible explanations for group differences:
    • Bias in the tests
    • Motivational factors
    • Genetic differences among groups
    • Environmental differences among groups
    • Stereotype threat

Lecture Overview

• Psychometric approach to intelligence.
• Different theories related to intelligence.
• Measurement of intelligence in different developmental stages.
• Change in intelligence and creativity across the lifespan.