Intelligence
What makes us intelligent
Or
Not so intelligent
Achievement
Achievement
• Knowledge and sills gained from experience
– The things you know and can do
• An achievement test is a test designed to
assess what a person has learned.
– Semester Exams
Intelligence
• The ability to learn
from experience, to
think rationally, and
to deal effectively
with others
Is intelligence one thing or
several different abilities?
• To find out scientists
use FACTOR
ANALYSIS:
A statistical procedure
that identifies clusters
of related items on a
test.
• Charles Spearman used
FA to discovery his g or
(general intelligence).
He saw using FA that doing well in
one area of a test predicted that you
will do well in another.
Spearman Two-Factor Theory
Spearman said we have a general intelligence
(g)
For example, people who do well on vocabulary
examinations also do well on paragraph
comprehension examinations. Other factors
include a spatial ability factor or a reasoning
ability factor.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences
• Howard Gardner disagreed
with Spearman’s G and
instead came up with the
concept of multiple
intelligences.
• He came up with the idea
by studying savants (a
condition where a person
has limited mental ability
but is exceptional in one
area).
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Visual/Spatial
Verbal/Linguistic
Logical/Mathematical
Bodily/Kinesthetic
Musical/Rhythmic
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Natural
Existential/philosophical
Robert Sternberg
Sternberg says intelligence breaks down into:
1.
2.
3.
Analytical Intelligence: Intelligence that is assessed
by intelligence tests.
Creative Intelligence: Intelligence that makes us
adapt to novel situations, generating novel ideas.
Practical Intelligence: Intelligence that is required
for everyday tasks (e.g. street smarts).
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
• First called social
intelligence.
• The ability to
perceive, express,
understand, and
regulate emotions.
• Some studies show
EQ to be a greater
predictor for future
success than IQ
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence consists of 5 factors:
• Self awareness
• Mood management
• Self-motivation
• Impulse control
• People skills
Measuring Intelligence
• Stanford- Binet Scale
• Wechsler Scales
How do we Assess Intelligence?
• Alfred Binet and Theodore
Simon set out to figure out a
concept called a mental age
(what a person of a particular
age should know).
• They discovered that by
discovering someone’s mental
age they can predict future
performance.
• Hoped they could use test to
help children, not label them.
IQ
formula of Intelligence
Quotient (IQ),
IQ Test
• A 8 year old has a
mental age of 10, what
is her IQ?
• A 12 year old has the
mental age of 9, what is
his IQ?
• A boy has the mental
age of 10 and an IQ of
200, how old is he?
David Wechsler
Wechsler developed the
Wechsler Adult
Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
and later the Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for
Children (WISC), an
intelligence test for
preschoolers.
WAIS
WAIS measures overall intelligence and 11 other
aspects related to intelligence that are designed to
assess clinical and educational problems.
Reliability
• The extent which
a test yields
consistent results
over time.
Validity
The extent to which a test measures what
it is supposed to measure.
• Does the test measure the behavior of
interest?
• Does the test predict future behavior?
Problems with Intelligence
Tests
Bias:
• Cultural Bias
• Educational bias
• Economic bias
• Gender bias
Differences in Intelligence
A valid intelligence test divides two groups of
people into two extremes: the mentally retarded (IQ
70) and individuals with high intelligence (IQ 135).
These two groups are significantly different.
Extremes of Intelligence
Mental Retardation
Gifted Intelligence
Contrary to popular belief, people with high
intelligence test scores tend to be healthy, well
adjusted, and unusually successful academically.
Intelligence and Creativity
Creativity is the ability to produce ideas that are
both novel and valuable. It correlates somewhat
with intelligence.
Genetic Influences
Studies of twins, family members, and adopted
children together support the idea that there is a
significant genetic contribution to intelligence.
Is Intelligence Neurologically
Measurable?
Recent Studies indicate some correlation (about
+.40) between brain size and intelligence. As brain
size decreases with age, scores on verbal
intelligence tests also decrease.
Gray matter concentration in people with high intelligence.
Adoption Studies
Adopted children show a marginal correlation in
verbal ability to their adopted parents.
Environmental Influences
1. Home & Parenting
2. Preschool Programs
Early Intervention Effects
Early neglect from caregivers leads children to
develop a lack of personal control over the
environment, and it impoverishes their intelligence.
Romanian orphans with minimal
human interaction are delayed in their development.
Schooling Effects
Schooling is an experience that pays dividends,
which is reflected in intelligence scores. Increased
schooling correlates with higher intelligence scores.
To increase readiness for schoolwork,
projects like Head Start facilitate leaning.
Environmental Effects
Differences in intelligence among these groups are
largely environmental, as if one environment is
more fertile in developing these abilities than
another.
Reasons Why Environment Affects
Intelligence
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Races are remarkably alike genetically.
Race is a social category.
Asian students outperform North American
students on math achievement and aptitude tests.
Today’s better prepared populations would
outperform populations of the 1930s on intelligence
tests.
White and black infants tend to score equally well
on tests predicting future intelligence.
Different ethnic groups have experienced periods
of remarkable achievement in different eras.
Gender Similarities and Differences
There are seven ways in which males and females
differ in various abilities.
1. Girls are better spellers
2. Girls are verbally fluent and have large vocabularies
3. Girls are better at locating objects
4. Girls are more sensitive to touch, taste, and color
5. Boys outnumber girls in counts of underachievement
6. Boys outperform girls at math problem solving, but
under perform at math computation
7. Women detect emotions more easily than men do
Adults & Intelligence
Biological factors that
affect intelligence:
• Biological changes
– Health changes
• Personality
Environmental factors
that affect intelligence:
• Level of income
• Level of education
• Job history
• Family life
• Cultural education
• Marriage