Chapter 11 pt. 1: Measuring
“Intelligence”
Agenda
1. Bell Ringer: Review and Catch Up
2. Lecture: Day 1 Intelligence (25)
- Rain Man Trailer
3. WAIS Test Items (10)
4. Which Intelligence are you? (5)
5. Crash Course Intelligence (12)
6. Racism and Intelligence (30)
 Discussion
Measuring Intelligence
Intelligence
Tests: tests for
assessing a person’s mental
abilities and comparing them
with the abilities of other
people, by means of
numerical scores.
Origins of Intelligence Tests
Alfred Binet, a French
psychologist, is most often
considered to be the pioneer
of the intelligence testing
movement.
 What was Binet’s purpose for
developing his tests?
 Assumed children follow the
same course of intellectual
development, but some
develop faster and slower
than others

Alfred Binet and Intelligence
Tests
Binet’s looked to identify a child’s:
 Mental Age: chronological age that most
typically corresponds to a given level of
performance.
 A child who does as well as the average 8year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.
 Binet did not believe his test measured inborn
intelligence.
 Tests predicted how well the children handled
schoolwork
 Purpose was to ID children who need help

Agree or Disagree. Discuss with your
partner.

“The children of successful and cultured
parents test higher than children from
wretched and ignorant homes for the
simple reason that their heredity is
better.”
 -Lewis
Terman, 1916
Lewis Terman and Intelligence
Tests
 Lewis
Terman, an
American psychologist at
Stanford, adapted Binet’s
test in an attempt to
measure what he thought
was inherited
intelligence.
 Stanford-Binet: refers to
the widely used revision of
Binet’s original intelligence
test.
IQ Tests
In an attempt to measure inherited intelligence,
tests developed the “IQ.”
 IQ: (intelligence quotient): defined
originally the ratio of mental age (ma) to
chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100
IQ = ma/ca x 100)
Not used today; not accurate for adults

 on
contemporary tests it is the average
performance for a given age is assigned a
score of 100
The Normal Curve
Number
of
scores
Sixty-eight percent
of people score
within 15 points
above or below 100
Ninety-five percent
of all people fall
within 30 points
of 100
55
70
85
100
115
130
Wechsler intelligence score
145
“Intelligence” is Hard to Define
 Intelligence
is often defined as the
ability to learn from experience, solve
problems, and use knowledge to adapt
to new situations.
 Intelligence
is not a “thing” it is an
abstract concept…an IQ is simply a
score on an intelligence test.
Discuss with your partner

What types of things are usually
NOT measured on an IQ test that
might illustrate “intelligence?”
Is Intelligence a Singular Ability?
To measure general ability within specific
mental abilities a statistical method is used
called:
 Factor Analysis: used to identify clusters of
related items (called factors) on a test; used to
identify different dimensions of performance
that underlie one’s total.
 Ex: People who do well on vocabulary items
also usually do well on paragraph
comprehension…which are both related to
the verbal intelligence factor.


Charles Spearman and The GFactor
General intelligence (g):
Spearman’s belief that there was
a factor that underlies specific
mental abilities and was therefore
measured by every task on an
intelligence test.



Ex. Intelligence is one thing (verbal skills)
translates in other fields of knowledge too
(like math skills).
Ex2. Being athletic means many things
not just one skill like playing basketball.
You can also be a good runner.
Specific intelligences tended to be
positively correlated.
Broadening Theory of
Intelligence
 Savant
Syndrome: a
condition in which a
person otherwise
limited in mental ability
has an exceptional
specific skill.
 Many
are autistic
 4/5 are male
 Does
this relate to the
g-factor?
Howard Gardner and Multiple
Intelligences
From a biological point of view,
Gardner has noted that brain
damage often may diminish
some abilities but not
others.
 Gardner argues humans do not
have an intelligence but instead
multiple intelligences which
are relatively independent of the
others.

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

1.
2.
3.
Gardner argues there are 8 intelligences:
Verbal Linguistic :Processing information
through reading, writing, speaking, and
listening.
Logical-mathematical : Processing
information through working with numbers
and patterns.
Musical: Processing information through
working with rhythm, melodies, moods,
patterned sounds.
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
4. Visual Spatial: Processing information
through images, visualizing and drawing.
5. Intrapersonal: Processing information
personally through reflection, visualization
and finding the meaning to something.
6. Interpersonal: Processing information by
sharing, cooperating, teaching, and relating.
7. Body-kinesthetic :Processing information
through touch, movements, and dramatics.
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Naturalist: Processing information
through outdoor activities, sensitive to
environment, enjoys animals, notices
patterns and things from nature easily.
Robert Sternberg and “Successful
Intelligence”
Sternberg looked to overcome the fact that
although IQ tests predicted school tests
relatively well, they did less well predicting
vocational success.
 Sternberg’s 3 Aspects of Intelligence:
1. Analytical Intelligence: (academic
problem solving)
2. Creative Intelligence: (reacting to new
situations and creating new ideas)
3. Practical Intelligence: (often required
for everyday tasks, “common sense”)

More “Intelligences?”
 Social
Intelligence
 the know-how involved in
comprehending social situations and
managing oneself successfully
 Emotional Intelligence
-ability to perceive, express,
understand, and regulate emotions
-critical part of social intelligence
Multifactor Emotional Intelligence
Scale (MEIS)
Measures how people:
1. Perceive emotions
2. Understand emotions
3. Regulate emotions
Intelligence and Creativity

Creativity- ability to produce ideas
that are both novel and valuable
5 Parts
1. Expertise
2. Imaginative Thinking Skills
3. Venturesome Personality
4. Intrinsic Motivation
5. A Creative Environment
Is Intelligence Neurologically
Measurable?
 correlation
between
head size and
intelligence score.
 correlation between
brain size and
intelligence score.
 What effects the size of
your brain?
Is Intelligence Neurologically
Measurable?
 Einstein’s brain was
15% larger in the
parietal lobe’s lower
region…center for
mathematical
processing and
spatial information.
But smaller in some
other regions.
Brain Function: How fast does
your brain work?

Perceptual
Speed: People
who can perceive
the stimulus very
quickly tend to
score somewhat
higher on
intelligence tests
Stimulus
Mask
Question: Long side on left or right?
Assessing Intelligence: Aptitude
vs. Achievement Test
 Aptitude
Tests: are tests designed to
predict a person’s future performance.
 SAT’s and GRE’s
 Achievement Test: a test designed to
assess what a person has learned.
 Midterm Psych exam, chapter 3 history
test, etc.
Assessing Intelligence
 Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale
(WAIS)
 most widely used intelligence test
 subtests
verbal
performance (nonverbal)
Also a WISC (Wechsler Intelligence
Test for Children).
Assessing Intelligence- Sample Items
from the WAIS
VERBAL
PERFORMANCE
General Information
Similarities
Arithmetic Reasoning
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Digit Span
Picture Completion
Picture Arrangement
Block Design
Object Assembly
Digit-Symbol Substitution
From Thorndike and Hagen, 1977
WAIS SAMPLE
WAIS SAMPLE
Exit Ticket

Which intelligence do you think you are?

Do you hold more than one intelligence?
 If
so, list which ones you are in your notes
and explain why.