Myers’ EXPLORING
PSYCHOLOGY
(5th Ed)
Chapter 9 (Part II)
Intelligence
What is Intelligence?

Intelligence
mental abilities
 involves ability to:

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learn from experience
solve problems
reason effectively
meet challenges and achieve goals
adapt to new situations
Assessing Intelligence

Aptitude Test


assess a person’s capacity to learn
Achievement Test

assess what a person has learned
Origins of Intelligence

Mental Age



devised by Binet (Paris - early 1900s)
chronological age that typically
corresponds to a given level of
performance
child who does as well as the average
8-year-old is said to have a mental age
of 8
Origins of Intelligence

Stanford-Binet
Intelligence Test

the widely used
American revision of
Binet’s original
intelligence test

revised by Lewis
Terman (Stanford
University)
Origins of Intelligence

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

originally: ratio of mental age (ma) to
chronological age (ca) multiplied by
100


IQ = ma/ca x 100)
now: computerized data base - average
performance for a given age is
assigned a score of 100
Are There Multiple Intelligences?

Emotional Intelligence

perceiving emotions


understanding emotions

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recognition of emotions in faces, music, stories
important for predicting emotions
managing emotions

know how & when to express them in various situations
Theories of Intelligence

One General Intelligence?
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Spearman – believed we have one general
intelligence
one factor that underlies our mental abilities
OR
Multiple Intelligences?

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Gardner’s Eight Intelligences
Sternberg’s triarchic theory
Gardner’s Eight Intelligences

Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
Musical
Spatial (“picture smart”)
Bodily-kinesthetic
Intrapersonal (self)
Interpersonal (other people)
Naturalist (“nature smart”)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEFpaY3GI-I
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Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory
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Analytical Intelligence

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Creative Intelligence

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
academic problem-solving
assessed by intelligence tests with questions that
have a single correct answer
adapt to new situations
develop new ideas
Practical Intelligence


required for everyday tasks
problems that have multiple solutions
Assessing Intelligence

Wechsler Intelligence Scale

widely used intelligence test

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Adults age 16+ (WAIS)
Children age 6-16 (WISC)
IQ score & 4 index scores
verbal comprehension
 perceptual reasoning (nonverbal)
 working memory
 processing speed

Perceptual reasoning example
Perceptual Reasoning Example
Assessing Intelligence

Standardization
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Normal Curve
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testing a group of people to see the scores that
are typically obtained
most scores fall near the average
fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes
Malcolm Gladwell book – Outliers

factors that go into extraordinary achievement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz4hPbHIZ6Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSRu6CaJd_g&feature=fvw

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
Assessing Intelligence
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Reliability

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the extent to which a test yields consistent
results
assessed by consistency of scores on
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two halves of the test
alternate forms of the test
retesting the same individual
Validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts
what it is suppose to
Assessing Intelligence

Content Validity

the extent to which a test samples the
behavior that is of interest


driving test that samples driving
Predictive Validity

success with which a test predicts the
behavior it is designed to predict
Intelligence

Mental Retardation (Intellectual Disability)

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a condition of limited mental ability
indicated by intelligence scores below 70
varies from mild to profound
Down Syndrome

retardation and associated physical disorders
caused by an extra chromosome in genetic makeup
Intelligence
Degrees of Mental Retardation (Intellectual Disability - ID)
Level
Typical Intelligence Scores
Percentage of those with ID
Adaptation to Demands of Life
Mild
50-70
85%
May learn academic skills up to
sixth-grade level. Adults may, with
assistance, achieve self-supporting
social and vocational skills.
Moderate
35-49
10
May progress to second-grade level.
academically. Adults may contribute
to their own support by labor in
sheltered workshops.
Severe
20-34
3-4
May learn to talk and perform simple
work tasks under close supervision
but are generally unable to profit from
vocational training.
Profound
below 20
1-2
Require constant aid and supervision.

Savant Syndrome

a person otherwise limited in mental ability
has an amazing specific skill
computation
 drawing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkDMaJ-wZmQ
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Genetic Influences
Similarity of 1.0
intelligence 0.9
scores 0.8
(correlation) 0.7

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
Identical Identical
twins
twins
reared reared
together apart
Fraternal Siblings Unrelated
reared individuals
twins
reared togetherreared
together
together
The most
genetically
similar people
have the
most similar
scores
Genetic Influences

Heritability

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the proportion of variation among
individuals that we can attribute to genes
if variation in environments decreases
(become more alike)  heritability
(variation explained by genetics) will
increase
Genetic Influences
0.35
Child-parent
correlation in
verbal ability
scores
0.30
0.25
Children and their
birth parents
0.20
0.15
Adopted children
and their birth
parents
0.10
Adopted children
and their adoptive
parents
0.05
0.00
3 years
16 years