Unit 7

Science Practice

• Hypothesis Investigation:
  • Researchers examined how mindset affects beliefs about intelligence.
  • Compared those with growth mindsets versus fixed mindsets.
  • Beliefs assessed via self-report measures.
  • Growth Mindset Condition: Participants received messages on intelligence malleability.
  • Fixed Mindset Condition: Participants received messages on intelligence stability.
  • Prediction: growth mindsets lead to resilience, motivation, and better cognitive performance.

Researcher's Hypothesis

• Growth mindset group expected to show more resilience when challenged compared to the fixed mindset group.
• Greater resilience and motivation would result in better performance on cognitive tasks.

Review & Introduction to Intelligence

• The unit will focus on the analysis of intelligence using intelligence inventories, and understanding intelligence & psychometric assessment.
• The unit is extensive, flashcards are recommended.

Discussion Questions on Intelligence

• What characteristics do you look for when ”sizing up” another person’s intelligence?
• How would you define intelligence?
• Who is smarter: someone good at many things vs. an expert at one specific thing?
• What are “street smarts”?
• Are there multiple types of intelligence?

7. 1 Activity

• The activities are not IQ tests.
• They assess which types of intelligence come more naturally to you.

Defining Intelligence

• Intelligence: Ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations.
• Debate: Is intelligence a general ability (g) or comprised of multiple abilities?
• Example: A student excels academically (algebra, essays, science), socially (reading emotions, mediating conflicts), and personally (coding apps).

g (General Intelligence)

• g: Overarching mental ability influencing performance on cognitive tasks.
• Analogy: General athleticism influences performance across various sports (basketball, track, soccer).
• General intelligence is a universal set of cognitive skills impacting all mental activity.

Multiple Intelligence Theory by Howard Gardner

• Individuals have different types of intelligence:
  • Linguistic
  • Logical-mathematical
  • Musical
  • Spatial
  • Bodily-kinesthetic
  • Interpersonal
  • Intrapersonal
  • Naturalistic
• Example: An arts center showcases visual-spatial, musical, and naturalistic intelligences through paintings, musical performances, and environmental art workshops and activities.

Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory: CAP

• Creative, Analytic, and Practical intelligences.

Intelligence for Success

• General intelligence: passing tests, getting into a good school, acquire an academic skill set..
• Grit: passion and perseverance in achieving long-term goals.
  • Successful people are conscientious, well-connected, and energetic.
• Emotional intelligence:
  • Perceiving Emotions
  • Understanding emotions
  • Managing emotions
  • Using emotions

Savant Syndrome

• Exceptional skill in a specific area despite limited mental ability.
  • Examples: math, memorization, music, art.
• Most savants are male (4 in 5).
• Many have Autism Spectrum Disorder, often with intense fixations.
• Rain Man based on savant Kim Peek.
• Supports the argument for multiple intelligences.

Intelligence Across Lifespan

• Two types of intelligence:
  • Crystallized: Accumulated knowledge (vocabulary, analogies).
  • Fluid: Speedy and abstract reasoning (logic problems).
• Crystallized intelligence increases with age.
• Fluid intelligence decreases from 20s/30s and declines faster after 75.

Growth Mindset

• Belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and effort.
• Example: A student seeks help, uses resources, and analyzes mistakes, viewing challenges as opportunities for improvement.

Fixed Mindset

• Belief that intelligence is predetermined and cannot be changed.
• Example: A student avoids challenges, gives up easily, and doesn't seek help, believing their math ability is predetermined.

Analyzing IQ Tests

• WAIS: Are there questions that seem to have multiple correct answers?
• WISC: Are there questions that seem to reflect cultural backgrounds or socioeconomic status rather than intelligence?

Group Analysis of Test Questions

• Stanford-Binet: Questions 1, 7, 8, 15, 21
• WISC: Questions 1, 3
• Disagreement Analysis: Is it about being wrong or a different way of thinking?

Environmental Factors

• Stanford-Binet: Questions 2, 16
• WISC: Questions 9, 11
• What environmental factors might impact a child’s ability to answer these questions?

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

• Numerical measure of cognitive abilities compared to others in the age group.
• Mental Age: Performance level associated with a chronological age.
• Example: An 8-year-old performs at the level of a 10-year-old, so their mental age is 10.
• Formula: IQ = (Mental Age / Chronological Age) * 100

IQ Calculation Example

• If a child's mental age is 10 and chronological age is 8:
  • IQ = (10 / 8) * 100 = 125
• An IQ of 125 indicates the child is performing intellectually 25% beyond their age.
• Modern tests use standard scores adjusted for age.

Standardization

• Establishing consistent testing procedures and norms for psychological assessments.
• Ensures fairness and reliability by providing a basis for comparison among test-takers.
• Example: WAIS uses a diverse sample for baseline, controls the environment, and provides standardized instructions. Norms help interpret scores by comparing them to the baseline sample.

WAIS IQ Scores

• Mean (average) IQ score is 100.
• Standard deviation is 15.
• About 68% of people have an IQ between 85 (100 - 15) and 115 (100 + 15).
• Scores from 85 to 115 are considered average.
• Scores below 70 (more than two standard deviations below the mean) indicate intellectual disability.
• Scores above 130 (more than two standard deviations above the mean) indicate giftedness.

Achievement Tests

• Assess knowledge/skills in specific areas (academics, job-related tasks).
• Measure learned or accomplished material.
• Example: A biology test assessing knowledge of cell biology, genetics, ecology, and human anatomy.

Aptitude Tests

• Measure a person's potential for learning or mastering skills in the future.
• Assess innate abilities and predict future performance.
• Example: The SAT assesses high school students’ readiness for college-level work, measuring critical thinking and problem-solving.

Validity

• Very Accurate, test measures what it intends to measure accurately.
• Example: A logical reasoning test is valid if its scores correlate with other logical reasoning tests and if experts agree its questions reflect logical reasoning tasks.

Construct Validity

• Checks if a test measures what it's supposed to measure.
• Example: A new intelligence test for abstract thinking is construct valid if it correlates with other tests of abstract thinking and predicts success in innovative problem-solving.

Predictive Validity

• Shows how well a test forecasts future outcomes or behaviors.
• Example: If a college student's intelligence test score predicts their grades or graduation rate, the test has good predictive validity.

Reliability

• Repeat Results: consistency in test results over time and among different scorers.
• It assures that a test yields stable and dependable measurements.
• Example: An intelligence test is reliable if scores are consistent when administered to the same group at different times.

Test-Retest Reliability

• Assesses consistency by administering the same test to the same group twice.
• Measures score stability over time.
• Example: Giving an IQ test at the beginning and end of the school year; high reliability means similar scores.

Split-Half Reliability

• Divides a test into two halves and compares scores between them.
• Measures internal consistency by checking if both halves yield similar results.
• Example: Dividing a 60-question intelligence test into two 30-question halves and correlating the scores.

Flynn Effect

• Average IQ scores increasing over generations.
• Suggests a rise in general intelligence due to environmental and cultural factors.
• If a new group of students took the same IQ test, without any adjustments, their average scores were significantly higher than scores from when the test was created.
• Researchers attribute this phenomenon to various factors including improved education, better nutrition, and increased complexity in daily life through technology and problem-solving demands.

Stereotype Threat

• Underperformance in situations where individuals feel at risk of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group.
• Example: If a group of students believe that their race is less intelligent, those students might perform worse on the IQ test.

Stereotype Lift

• Individuals from stereotypically advantaged groups perform better on tests due to the positive expectations associated with their group.
• Example: Students from privileged backgrounds may perform better because of assumed intelligence.

Intelligence Unmeasured: Critical Analysis

• ”The Miseducation of Larry P” from Radiolab's “G” series examines IQ testing, racial biases, and educational policies.

Formative Multiple-Choice Practice Questions

• Question 1: The correct answer is (A) The Flynn Effect.
• Question 2: The correct answer is (B) Stereotype Threat.
• Question 3: The correct answer is (C) Aptitude Test.
• Question 4: The correct answer is (A) Growth Mindset.
• Question 5: The correct answer is (B) Reliability.

Science Practice: Ethical Procedures

• Ethical consideration implemented to uphold rights and well-being of study participants.
  *Standardized cognitive assessments were performed across various cognitive domains.

Ethical Procedures

• Obtaining informed consent: Participants received comprehensive information about the study's purpose, procedures, potential risks, and their rights. This ensured voluntary and informed decisions.
• Ensuring confidentiality: Participants were assured that their data would be kept confidential, safeguarding privacy and anonymity.
• Minimizing distress: Measures were in place to minimize potential psychological or emotional distress, demonstrating concern for well-being

Claim Challenge: Intelligence Testing

• Develop and justify an argument on whether intelligence testing accurately reflects cognitive abilities.
  • Claim: Your position on whether the test is accurate.
  • Evidence: Supporting facts for your claim.
  • Reasoning: Logical explanation for your claim.

Science Practice: Data Collection

• Determine whether the question is collecting quantitative or qualitative data.
• Qualitative and quantitative data were collected
  • variety, uniqueness, and originality of the participants' ideas as qualitative data.
  • the participants' verbal explanations and thought processes as qualitiative data.

Introduction to Cognition

• This unit builds on biological insights, emphasizing memory, perception, and cognitive processes like thought and problem-solving.
• Introduces memory improvement strategies and achievement assessments.
• Links perception with biological sensations.
• Foundational for discussions on cognitive development.

What is Metacognition?

• Metacognition: Thinking about one's own thinking processes.
• Example: Student assesses their understanding, identifies areas of confusion, and creates a study plan tailored to their needs.

Executive Functions

• Executive Functions: Cognitive processes that allow individuals to generate, organize, plan, and carry out goal-directed behaviors and experience critical thinking.
• High school student organizing a community cleanup event:
  • Generating Ideas: The student generates the idea to organize a cleanup event
  • Organizing: The student outlines what needs to be done in order to plan for the event
    *Planning: The student plans for the event by setting a date, securing a location,
    *Carrying Out Goal-Directed Behaviors: The student takes active steps to execute the plan
    *Critical Thinking: assessing what is working and what isn’t, making adjustments as needed.

Prototypes

• Prototypes: Mental image/best example of a category that aids in recognizing and categorizing objects/concepts.
  Example: