Activity: Mensa Workout
Take (an abbreviated version of)
the Mensa workout.
You have 12 minutes.
Mensa Workout: Tally your Score
1. 1600 (sally likes perfect squares)
2. 6 (1 typist types 1 page in 2 minutes)
3. 21:00
4. C
5. 5 (1/10 of 400 is 40, 1/4 of 40 is 10, 1/2 of 10 is 5)
6. 20
7. 10 (each syllable is worth 5)
8. 25 (apples=7, bananas=8, strawberries=3, cherries=2)
9. 10 meters ( sqrt(3*3 + 4*4) * 2. They make 2 right ∆ )
10. 8 (Circle has one line, octagon has eight)
11. It is not really sensible to rely on something that has not
yet happened and may not ever happen.
12. No (the other 800 elephants can be any mix of all blue
and pink and green stripes)
Mensa Workout: Your ‘IQ’
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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12 / 12 – 100% (you’re in!)
11 / 12 – 92% (close but no banana)
10 / 12 – 83% (hmmmm, work on it)
9 / 12
– 75% (well… maybe another day)
8 / 12
– 66% (ditto)
7 / 12
– 58% (ditto)
6 / 12
– 50% (average)
5 / 12
– 42% (having a bad day?)
4 / 12
– 33% (owie)
3 / 12
– 25% (double owie)
2 / 12
1 / 12
0 / 12
– 17% (triple owie)
– 8% (are you conscious?)
– 0% (are you alive?)
How ya’ feeling now?
Ready to learn??
Intelligence: Outline

What is Intelligence?

What is IQ?

What does IQ predict?

Factors that Influence IQ scores

The general psychometric approach

Various Theories of Intelligence
 Sternberg’s
 Barab
Computational Theory of IQ
& Plucker’s Distributed Intelligence Approach
What is Intelligence?

Activity:



Summarize in a single sentence what intelligence
means to you.
List up to 5 attributes that characterize highly
intelligent people
______________________________________
Observation: Intelligence means different
things to to different people



“adaptive thinking or action” (Piaget, 1997)
abstract thinking, effective problem solving
(Sternberg, 1997)
analogical reasoning, discerning pattern,
speed of processing (~Mensa)
What is IQ?



Intelligence quotient (IQ): A numerical measure of a
person’s performance on an intelligence test relative to
the performance of other examinees
Test Norms: standards of normal performance on IQ
tests based on the average & range of scores of a
large, representative sample of test takers
IQ = MA/CA = 100
What does IQ predict?

IQ tests measure intellectual performance, not capacity

A person’s IQ can vary considerably over time

Schooling, which largely reflects cultural values, actually
improves IQ test performance
What does IQ Predict?

Scholastic Achievement


Occupational Status/Performance



grades, likelihood of dropping out or graduating HS, likelihood
of completing college
White-collar workers consistently score higher in IQ than
manual blue-collar workers (er…)
IQ correlates with performance on the job
Health, Adjustment, Life Satisfaction


Terman longitudinal study: High IQ children tended to walk/talk
sooner, exhibit better health, better emotional adjustment,
more moral maturity, more leadership
HOWEVER… twice as likely to show depression, feelings of
social isolation
Factors that Influence IQ
Why do people differ so dramatically in IQ?

Nature (Hereditary Influences)


Roughly 1/2 of the variation in IQ scores results from
genetic differences (twin studies, adoption studies)
Nurture (Environmental Influences)



Small to moderate correlation btwn IQs of children in
same house but genetically unrelated (adoption
studies)
Social & Cultural Correlates – Best predictors of
children’s IQ related to home environment:
Infancy
 Parental involvement
 Age-appropriate play materials
 Variety in daily stimulation

Preschool
 Parental warmth
 Stimulation of language & academic behaviors
Intelligence: Outline

What is Intelligence?

What is IQ?

What does IQ predict?

Factors that Influence IQ scores

The general psychometric approach

Various Theories of Intelligence
 Sternberg’s
 Barab
Computational Theory of IQ
& Plucker’s Distributed Intelligence Approach
General Psychometric Approach



A theoretical perspective that portrays intelligence as
a trait (or set of traits) on which individuals differ
Goal: to identify precisely what those traits might be
& to measure them
Responsible for the development of
standardized intelligence tests
Problem:
Little agreement on the structure
of intelligence…
Theories of Intelligence

Alfred Binet


Spearman’s g


Spearman’s g really equals
7 “primary mental abilities”
Guildford


General factor (g) + some special abilities (s) specific to
particular tests
Thurstone ‘s view


Single Component: Mental age: measure of intellectual
development reflecting level of age-graded problems a child is
able to solve
5 Content
x 6 Mental Operations
x 6 Products
180 distinct mental abilities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Spatial ability
Perceptual speed
Numerical reasoning
Verbal meaning
Word fluency
Memory
Inductive reasoning
Hierarchical Models of Intelligence

model of the structure of intelligence in which a broad, general
ability factor (g) is at the top of the hierarchy, with a number of
specialized ability factors nested underneath
Sternberg’s Triarchic
Theory of Intelligence


Criticism of other models: Too strong a focus on what
child knows rather than processes by which
knowledge is acquired, retained & used to solve
problems.
Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence - a recent
computational theory of intelligence that emphasizes
three aspects of intelligent behavior not normally
tapped by IQ tests:
a) The context of the action (cultural/historical period)
b) The person’s experience with the task/situation
(response to novelty or automation)
c) The information-processing strategies the person applies
to the task/situation (problem representation, strategies,
monitoring, efficiency, speed)
Distributed Intelligence
Approach (Barab & Plucker)

Distributed Cognition




Cognition is distributed among individuals
Knowledge is socially constructed thru collaborative efforts
to achieve shared objectives in cultural surroundings
Information is processed between individuals & the tools
& artifacts provided by culture
Where then lies IQ?




An individual’s competence is situation specific
What makes one person-in-situation more intelligent than
another is its contextualized functional value
The ability to act intelligently is accomplished or engaged
rather than possessed
Educators must develop smart contexts, not smart people
Activity
Read: “What you see is what you
get” in light of the film just viewed.
Write a 1-2 paragraph response
to the article.