Thinking and Intelligence

THINKING AND INTELLIGENCE

AGENDA

  1. What are intelligence and creativity?

  2. Measures of intelligence

  3. The source of intelligence

WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE?

INTELLIGENCE

Intelligence is defined as a set of cognitive skills that includes abstract thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, and the ability to acquire knowledge. This definition is debated among scholars, hinting at the complexity and evolving nature of the concept.

Theories of Intelligence

There are two dominant views regarding intelligence:

  • Single, general ability

  • Multiple abilities

CLASSIFYING INTELLIGENCE

Psychologists have developed various definitions of intelligence, acknowledging that it remains a debated concept.

Charles Spearman's Theory

Charles Spearman believed that intelligence consisted of one general factor he called g. He focused on identifying the commonalities among various intellectual abilities.

Cattell and Horn's Components

Raymond Cattell and John Horn proposed dividing intelligence into two components:

  • Crystalized intelligence: This involves acquired knowledge and the ability to retrieve it. It is essentially knowing facts. (Labeled “WHAT”)

  • Fluid intelligence: This refers to the ability to see complex relationships and solve problems, emphasizing knowing how to do things. (Labeled “HOW”)

SINGLE-FACTOR THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE

According to Spearman, intelligence is a general ability (referred to as g), but he later proposed specific dimensions of intelligence, including:

  • Verbal intelligence

  • Spatial intelligence

  • Quantitative intelligence

  • Mechanical intelligence

MULTI-FACTOR THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

Multiple Abilities Perspective

This theory posits the existence of distinct types of intelligence, as proposed by Cattell and Horn:

  • Fluid intelligence: Ability to see complex relationships and solve problems.

  • Crystallized intelligence: Characterized by acquired knowledge and the ability to retrieve it.

Sternberg's Theory

Robert Sternberg identified three types of intelligence:

  1. Analytical intelligence: Related to academic problem-solving and computation.

  2. Creative intelligence: Associated with imaginative and innovative problem-solving abilities.

  3. Practical intelligence: Reflects street smarts and common sense and the ability to tackle everyday problems.

TRIARCHIC THEORY (Robert Sternberg)

Sternberg’s triarchic theory asserts three aspects of intelligence are essential for living a successful life:

  • Analytic intelligence: Involves information processing, reasoning, and evaluating, often likened to “book smarts.”

  • Creative intelligence: The capability to develop fresh and useful ideas to solve problems.

  • Practical intelligence: The skill to solve everyday life problems, often termed “street smarts.”

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES THEORY

Howard Gardner proposed the existence of at least eight intelligences in each person:

  1. Linguistic: The ability to learn and use language in various ways.

  2. Logical-mathematical: The capacity for logical reasoning and mathematical operations.

  3. Musical: The ability to recognize and produce musical patterns.

  4. Bodily-kinesthetic: Awareness and control over one’s body.

  5. Spatial: The ability to understand and solve problems in three-dimensional space.

  6. Interpersonal: The aptitude to understand and get along with others.

  7. Intrapersonal: The ability to understand and regulate one’s own psychological processes.

  8. Naturalist: The capacity to learn about and interact with the natural world, including plants and animals.

Additionally, emotional intelligence is often combined with Gardner's intelligences, defined as the ability to understand the emotions of oneself and others, to show empathy, manage one's own emotions, and respond appropriately in social contexts.

HOWARD GARDNER’S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES THEORY

  • Linguistic: Proficient in learning and using language.

  • Logical-mathematical: Ability to reason and perform mathematical operations.

  • Spatial: Skill in solving problems involving 3D space.

  • Musical: Capability to recognize and produce musical patterns.

  • Bodily-kinesthetic: Awareness and control of one’s physical movements.

  • Interpersonal: Understanding and interacting well with others.

  • Intrapersonal: Insight into one’s psychological processes.

  • Naturalistic: Proficient in understanding nature and living organisms.

SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE QUESTIONS

Example problem: Which rotated image corresponds to its original image from the left? Options are provided as images labeled A, B, C, D for selection.

TEST WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED! (1)

Which of the following is not one of Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences?

  • A. creative

  • B. spatial

  • C. linguistic

  • D. musical

TEST WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED! (2)

Fluid intelligence is characterized by:
A. being able to recall information
B. being able to create new products
C. being able to understand and communicate with different cultures
D. being able to see complex relationships and solve problems

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

CREATIVITY

Creativity is defined as the ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities. Creative individuals typically:

  • Possess intense knowledge about a subject.

  • Engage in prolonged focus on specific topics.

  • Explore novel solutions.

  • Seek advice and assistance from other experts.

  • Are willing to take risks.
    Creativity is often linked to divergent thinking, characterized by thinking "outside the box."

Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking

  • Divergent thinking: Produces multiple ideas to solve a problem and is non-linear and free-flowing (e.g., brainstorming).

  • Convergent thinking: Provides a correct or established answer to a problem, characterized by a linear and logical approach (e.g., multiple-choice questions).

MEASURES OF CREATIVITY

Remote Associates Test (RAT)

This test involves identifying a fourth word that links three seemingly unrelated words, for example:

  • Cottage, Swiss, Cake → ?

  • Sleeping, Bean, Trash → ?

  • Falling, Actor, Dust → ?

Unusual Uses Task (UUT)

Participants are tasked with coming up with alternative uses for an object.

DUNCKER'S CANDLE PROBLEM

An illustration involving problem-solving methods, highlighting challenges in approaching problems creatively.

BARRIERS TO CREATIVITY

Obstacles to creativity include:

  • Fixation: Inability to think outside of established conceptual boundaries.

  • Mental sets: Reliance on previously successful strategies which may no longer be suitable.

  • Functional fixedness: Limits thinking to the typical uses of objects, inhibiting alternative applications or uses.

REVIEW: WHAT ARE INTELLIGENCE AND CREATIVITY?

  • Intelligence is a complex characteristic of cognition, and various theories have been developed to explain its nature and workings. For example, Sternberg's triarchic theory and Gardner's multiple intelligences emphasize different aspects and types of intelligence.

  • Emotional intelligence plays a critical role in how intelligent behavior manifests.

  • Creativity can be seen as an aspect of intelligence, yet measuring it objectively poses significant challenges.

MEASURES OF INTELLIGENCE

HISTORY OF INTELLIGENCE TESTING

  1. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Developed in the early 1900s by Alfred Binet to identify children who may struggle in school. Louis Terman adapted the test to standardize it and to test thousands of children, establishing norms (standardization involves consistent testing and scoring practices; norming involves testing a large population for comparison).

  2. Alfred Binet: A major contributor to the evolution of intelligence testing. Notably, a 1908 version of the Binet-Simon scale involved children's subjective assessments of beauty through comparisons of facial images.

WECHSLER ADULT INTELLIGENCE SCALE (WAIS)

David Wechsler defined intelligence as “the global capacity of a person to act purposefully, think rationally, and effectively engage with their environment.” The WAIS was developed in 1939, combining various subtests from other intelligence tests. It assesses a range of verbal and nonverbal skills and has seen various iterations, including WISC-V for children, covering aspects of intelligence such as:

  1. Verbal comprehension

  2. Visual spatial

  3. Fluid reasoning

  4. Working memory

  5. Processing speed

FLYNN EFFECT

Periodical recalibrations of the WAIS led to the Flynn effect, which observes that each generation exhibits higher IQ scores than the previous one.

HISTORY OF INTELLIGENCE

  • In 1918, Henry Goddard applied intelligence testing to immigration processes to screen for "mentally defective" individuals, attributing low scores from immigrants to a perceived innate stupidity.

  • Buck v. Bell was a landmark case resulting in the Supreme Court upholding the compulsory sterilization of individuals labeled as “retarded,” a law that remained until the 1970s.

THE BELL CURVE

Intelligence test results often adhere to a bell curve distribution, demonstrating the normal distribution of traits in the human population.

  • A representative sample is necessary for accurate generalization to the entire population, usually requiring a large participant pool.

IQ BELL CURVE

The average IQ score is set at 100. The dispersion of data in populations can be quantified via standard deviations, where one standard deviation equates to 15 points. Hence:

  • A score of 85 is defined as one standard deviation below the mean.

  • An IQ score within one standard deviation above or below the mean is considered average; approximately 68% of the population falls within the range of 85 to 115.

REVIEW: MEASURES OF INTELLIGENCE

  • The development of intelligence tests began with Binet’s work, which was later expanded by Wechsler, resulting in the WAIS-IV and WISC-V still in use today.

  • The bell curve illustrates the distribution of intelligence scores, showcasing average range and standard deviations.

SOURCE OF INTELLIGENCE

NATURE vs NURTURE

There exists ongoing debate regarding the source of intelligence, typically framed as nature vs. nurture.

  • Nature perspective: Suggests that intelligence is inherited from parents; this is often investigated through twin studies showing significant correlations in IQ scores between identical twins.

  • Nurture perspective: Argues that a child’s developmental environment significantly shapes their intelligence level, especially when parents offer intellectual stimulation.

  • Modern psychologists generally agree that both genetics and environment contribute to intelligence.

RANGE OF REACTION

This theory explains that each individual's reaction to their environment is influenced by their genetic makeup, with the potential to reach intellectual peaks being contingent on external factors.

GENETICS AND IQ

Research indicates that birth and rearing environments significantly affect correlated IQ levels between unrelated and related individuals.

LEARNING DISABILITIES

  • Learning disabilities are cognitive disorders impacting various cognition aspects, particularly language and reading. They do not reflect broader intellectual or developmental problems, frequently impacting those with average or above-average intelligence and often co-occur with other disorders.

  • Dysgraphia: A specific learning disability against legible writing, hindering the expression of thoughts on paper.

  • Dyslexia: The most common learning disability in children, characterized by challenges in processing letters and often leading to letter reversals or confusions in words.

  • Dyscalculia: Another learning disability, whereby individuals struggle with understanding arithmetic and math-related tasks.

REVIEW: SOURCES OF INTELLIGENCE

  • Various perspectives persist on intelligence sources, weighing the influence of nature and nurture.

  • The range of reaction implies genetic predispositions interact with environmental influences.

  • It has been established that enriching early environments promote intelligence development.

  • Notably, highly intelligent individuals may exhibit resilience that helps them overcome challenges in less favorable environments.

  • Learning disabilities pose significant challenges, as they are neurologically based problems distinct from developmental disabilities and do not correlate with intelligence levels.

TEST WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED! (3)

What is a learning disability?

  • A. developmental disorder

  • B. neurological disorder

  • C. emotional disorder

  • D. intellectual disorder

SUMMARY QUESTIONS

  • Identify different theories of intelligence.

  • What is creativity and how can it be measured?

  • How have IQ tests evolved over history, and how are they currently utilized?

  • What sources of intelligence have psychologists proposed?

  • Define learning disabilities and their implications.