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The Concept of Intelligence
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Controversies and Group Comparisons
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The Development of Intelligence
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The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
The Concept of Intelligence
What Is Intelligence?

Similar to thinking and memory skills

Cannot be directly measured
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Ability to solve problems; adapt to and
learn from everyday experiences

Individual differences are stable, consistent
The Concept of Intelligence
Intelligence Tests
Individual Tests
 The Binet Tests

 Mental age (MA) — individual’s level of
mental development relative to others
 Chronological age (CA) — age from birth
 Intelligence quotient (IQ) — individual’s
MA divided CA, multiplied by 100
 Normal distribution — symmetrical
distribution of scores around a mean
The Concept of Intelligence
The Normal Curve and
Stanford-Binet IQ Scores
The Concept of Intelligence
The Wechsler Scales
WAIS-IV — for adults
 WISC-IV — for children

 Provides overall IQ
 Measures verbal IQ
○ Six verbal subscales
 Measures performance IQ
○ Five performance subscales
The Concept of Intelligence
Group Tests

Stanford-Binet and Wechsler tests are
individually administered
 Requires extensive information outside
testing situation; assess individual behavior

More convenient and economical than
individual tests, but examiner cannot
 Establish rapport
 Determine level of anxiety
The Concept of Intelligence
The Use and Misuse of Intelligence Tests

Intelligence tests:
 Tools dependant upon user skill and knowledge
 Substantially correlated with school performance
 Moderately correlated with work performance;
correlation decreases as experience increases
 IQ tests can easily lead to false expectations and
generalizations; self-fulfilling prophecies
 Measures only current performance
 Other factors also affect success
The Concept of Intelligence
Theories of Multiple Intelligences

Controversy over breaking intelligence down
into multiple abilities
 Spearman’s two-factor theory: factor analysis
correlates test scores into clusters or factors
 Thurstone’s multiple-factor theory; seven abilities
 Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences; certain
cognitive abilities can survive brain damage
The Concept of Intelligence
Theories of Multiple Intelligences
Two-factor
theory
Spearman’s theory that individuals
have both general intelligence and
specific intelligences
Multiplefactor
theory
Intelligence is seven primary mental
abilities: verbal comprehension,
word fluency, number ability, spatial
visualization, associative memory,
reasoning, perceptual speed
Gardner’s
Theory
Eight types of intelligence: verbal,
math, spatial, interpersonal, bodilykinesthetic, musical, intrapersonal,
and naturalist skills
The Concept of Intelligence
Multiple Intelligences in the
Classroom

Allow students to discover and explore
domains in which they have natural
curiosity and talent

Attention given to understanding
oneself and others
The Concept of Intelligence
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

Three main types of intelligence
 Analytic
 Creative
 Practical

Assessing Sternberg Triarchic
Ability Theory (STAT)
 Effective in predicting college GPA
 More research needed
The Concept of Intelligence
Triarchic Theory in the Classroom

Goal is to discover and explore domains of
natural curiosity and talent
 Exposure to stimulating materials every day

Concerns about Traditional Classroom
 Analytic ability favored in conventional schools
 Creative students may be reprimanded or
marked down for nonconformist answers
 Practical students may do better outside school
The Concept of Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence

Perceive and express emotions
accurately and adaptively

Four aspects
 Perceiving and expressing emotions
 Understanding emotions
 Facilitating thought and affect of moods
 Managing emotions
The Concept of Intelligence
Comparing the Intelligences
The Concept of Intelligence
Do People Have One or Many Intelligences?

Many argue research base to support
theories not yet developed

Some say Gardner’s classification
seems arbitrary

Some experts who argue for general
intelligence believe individuals also
have specific intellectual abilities
The Concept of Intelligence
The Influence of Heredity and Environment

Controversies and Group
Comparisons
 Genetic Influences
○ Jensen argued heredity; used twin studies
 Adoption studies: educational levels of
biological parents better predictor of IQ
 Heritability: fraction of variance in IQ in a
population that is attributed to genetics
○ Influence increases in aging
The Concept of Intelligence
The Influence of Heredity and Environment

Environmental Influences
 Modifications in environment can change IQ
scores considerably; very complex
○ Socioeconomic status
○ Parent communication
○ Schooling
 Intelligence test scores increase each year
around the world; effects of technology?
 Flynn effect
The Concept of Intelligence
The Influence of Heredity and Environment

Emphasis on prevention, not
remediation
 High quality intervention improves IQ and
school achievement
 Effects strongest for poor with low educated
parents
 Positive benefits continue into adolescence
 Educates parents to be more sensitive

Abecedarian Intervention program
The Concept of Intelligence
Group Comparisons and Issues

Cross-cultural comparisons problematic
 Different cultures define intelligence differently
 Practical and academic intelligence can
develop independently
 Predictive validity affected by ethnicity

Cultural bias in testing
 Culture-fair tests: intelligence tests intended
not to be culturally biased
Ethnic Comparisons

The Bell Curve

African American students average lower
intelligence test scores than White students
 Individual scores vary considerably

SES may have more effect than ethnicity;
gap narrows in college
Ethnic and Gender Comparisons

Stereotype threat — fear of confirming
negative stereotypes raises anxiety in testing
 Some studies confirm existence
 Others believe stereotype threat is exaggerated
to explain gap

Gender differences in intellectual abilities
 Males more likely to have extremely high or low
scores; controversy over gender differences
The Development of Intelligence
Tests of Infant Intelligence

Gesell
 Distinguishes normal from abnormal infants
 Four categories of behavior
○ Motor
○ Language
○ Adaptive
○ Personal-social
 Combined overall score is developmental
quotient (DQ)
The Development of Intelligence
Tests of Infant Intelligence

Bayley Scales of Infant Development
 Three components
○ Mental scale
○ Motor scale
○ Infant behavior profile
 Diagnoses developmental delays
 Overall scores do not correlate highly with
IQ scores obtained later in childhood
The Development of Intelligence
Tests of Infant Intelligence

Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence
 Increasingly being used
 Focuses on infant’s ability to process
information
 Obtains similar results cross-culturally
 Correlated with measures of intelligence
in older children
The Development of Intelligence
Stability and Change in Intelligence through
Adolescence

Group scores remain stable
 Strong relation between IQ scores obtained at
ages 6, 8, and 9 and IQ scores obtained at 10
 Correlation between IQ in preadolescent years
and 18 still statistically significant

Individual scores vary more
 Children are adaptive
 IQ scores fluctuate dramatically in childhood
The Development of Intelligence
Intelligence in Adulthood

Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence
 Crystallized intelligence
○ Accumulated information and verbal skills, which
increase with age
 Fluid intelligence
○ Ability to reason abstractly, which steadily
declines from middle adulthood on
 Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and cohort testing
The Development of Intelligence
Fluid and Crystallized Intellectual
Development Across the Life Span
The Development of Intelligence
The Seattle Longitudinal Study
• Since 1956, studied
– Vocabulary
– Verbal memory
– Number computations
 Spatial orientation
 Inductive reasoning
 Perceptual speed
• Criticism: intellectual abilities more likely
to decline in cross-sectional rather than
longitudinal assessments
The Development of Intelligence
Longitudinal Changes in Six
Intellectual Abilities
The Development of Intelligence
Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal
Comparisons of Intellectual Change
The Development of Intelligence
Cognitive Mechanics

Hardware of the mind

Speed and accuracy of processes
involved in sensory input, attention,
memory, organizing, and discrimination

Strong influence of biology and
heredity

Declines with age
The Development of Intelligence
Cognitive Pragmatics

Culture-based software of the mind

Skills include
 Reading and writing skills
 Language comprehension
 Educational qualifications
 Professional skills
 Knowledge about self and life skills

Can improve with aging
The Development of Intelligence
Wisdom

Expert knowledge on practical aspects of
life permitting excellent judgment about
important matters
 High levels of wisdom are rare
 Emerges late adolescence and early adulthood
 Factors other than age are critical
 Personality-related factors better predictors of
wisdom
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
Mental Retardation

Condition of limited mental ability
 Low IQ on traditional test of intelligence
 Difficulty adapting to everyday life
 Onset of characteristics by age 18
 Range of impairments vary

Some causes include
 Organic retardation
 Cultural-familial retardation
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
Classification of Mental Retardation based
on IQ
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
Giftedness

Above-average intelligence; IQ averaged
150 on Stanford-Binet
 Precocity
 March to their own drummer
 Passion to master

Intelligence and creativity not same thing;
most creative people are quite intelligent
but reverse not necessarily true
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
Creative Thinking
Creativity
Ability to think in novel and unusual
ways and come up with unique
solutions to problems
Convergent
thinking
Gives one correct answer; is
characteristic of thinking tested
by standardized intelligence tests
Divergent
thinking
Produces many answers to the
same question and is characteristic
of creativity
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
Steps in the Creative Process
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Preparation
Incubation
Insight
Evaluation
Elaboration
Not all creative people follow in linear
sequence
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
Characteristics of Creative Thinkers

Flexibility and playful thinking
 Brainstorming

Inner motivation

Willingness to risk

Objective evaluation of work
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
Changes in Adulthood

Individuals’ most creative products
were generated in their thirties

80% of most important creative
contributions completed by age 50

Researchers found creativity often
peaks in forties before declining

Age of decline varies by domain
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
Living a More Creative Life
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Try to be surprised by something every day
Try to surprise at least one person every
day
Write down the surprises of each day
Follow sparked interests
Wake up in the morning with a specific goal
Take charge of your schedule
Spend time in stimulating settings