Intelligence
4th class medical student
Dr. Banaz Adnan
How do you define intelligence?
Intelligence is one of our most prized possessions, yet it is a concept that even the most
intelligent people have not been able to agree on. Unlike such characteristics as height,weight,
and age, intelligence cannot be directly measured
There are many different definitions of intelligence.
* Some theorists view it as simply what the intelligence test measure.
*Some experts describe intelligence as the ability to solve problems.
*Others describe it as the capacity to adapt and learn from expierance.Still others argue that
defining intelligence in these cognitive terms ignores other dimensions of intillegence,such as
creativity and practical and interpersonal intelligence.
*Wechsler believed that intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity to act purposefully,
to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment.
Theories of Intelligence
1)Factor analysis, Two –Factor and Multiple-Factor Theory
Charles Spearman(1927)proposed that intelligence has two factors.
Two factor theory states that individuals have both general intelligence, which he called (g),and
a number of specific abilities, or( s).
Thurstone(1938)also used factor analysis in analyzing a number of intelligence tests.
Thurstone's multiple factor theory states that intelligence consists of seven primary mental
abilities:
1-Verbal comprehension
2- Number ability
3-Word fluency
4-Spatial visualization
5-Associative memory
6-Reasoning
7-Perceptual speed
2) Gardner's Theory of Eight Intelligence
Gardner believes there are eight types of intelligence:1-Verbal skills: The ability to think in words and to use language to
express meaning.
Occupations:Authors,journalists,speakers.
2-Mathematical skills: The ability to carry out mathematical operations.
occupations:engineers,scientists,accountants.
3-Spatial skills: The ability to think three-dimensionally.
Occupations:Artists,sailors
4-Bodily –kinesthetic skills: The ability to manipulate objects and be physically adept.
Occupations:surgeons,athletes,dancers
5-Musical skills: Asensitivity to pitch,melody,rhythm,tone.
Occupations: Musicians
6-Intrapersonal skills: The ability to understand oneself.
Occupations: psychologists
7-Interpersonal skills: The ability to understand and effectively interact with others.
Occupations:teachers,mental health professionals
8-Naturalist skills: The ability to observe patterns in nature and understand natural and
human-made systems.
Occupations:Farmers,ecologists
3)Sternberg's Triarchic Theory
He proposes that there are three types of intelligence:
Analytical,creative,and practical intelligence.
Analytical Intelligence:Sternberge believes such components include the ability to acquire
or store information; to retain or retrieve information; to transfer information; to plan, make
decision, and solve problems; and to translate thoughts into performance.
Creative Intelligence: According to Sternberge,creative people have the ability to solve
new problems quickly, but also they learn how to solve familiar problems in an automatic,
rote way, so that their minds are free to handle other problems that require insight and
creativity.
Practical Intelligence:Sternberg describes practical intelligence as all of the important
information about getting along in the world that you are not taught in the school. He
believes practical intelligence is some times more important than analytical intelligence
4)Emotional Intelligence
Both Gardner's and Sternberg's theories include one or more categories related to social
intelligence.
In Gardner's theory, the categories are interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal
intelligence; in sternberg's theory, practical intelligence.
Another theory that describes emotional intelligence, which has been popularized by Daniel
Goleman(1995) .The concept was initially developed by Peter Salovey and John
Mayer(1990),who defined it ;
As the ability to perceive and express emotion accurately and adaptively (such as
understanding the perspective of others), to understand emotion and emotional knowledge
(such as understanding the roles of emotion that play in friendship and marriage), to use
feelings to facilitate thought(such as being in a positive mood, which is linked to creative
thinking), and to manage emotions in oneself and others (such as being able to control one’s
anger).
How intelligence is measured?
Early psychologists completely ignore the" higher mental processes" such as thinking and
problem solving that equate with intelligence today. They believed that simple
sensory,perceptual,and motor processes were the key dimensions of intelligence.
1-The Binet Test:In 1904,the French Ministry of Education asked psychologist Alfred
Binet to devise a method that would determine which students did not benefit from regular
classroom instruction.
He and his student Theoophile Simon developed an intelligence test .Binet developed the
concept of mental age(MA),which is an individual's mental development relative to others.
Binet reasoned that a mentally retarded child perform like a child of a younger age.
Average mental age (MA) corresponds to chronological age (CA), which is age from birth.
Bright child has an MA considerably above CA.
A dull child has an MA considerably below CA.
The term intelligent quotient (IQ) was devised in 1912 by William Stem.
IQ =MA/CA×100
If mental age is the same as chronological age, then the individual's IQ is 100(average).
If mental age is above chronological age, the IQ is more than 100(above average).
If mental age is below chronological age, the IQ is less than 100(below average).
Revision of Binet test called the Stanford-Binet test.
Over the years, extensive effort has been expended to standardize the Binet test, which has
been given to thousands of children and adults of different ages selected at random from
different parts of the United States. By administering the test to large numbers of individuals
and recording the results, it has been found that intelligence measured by the Binet
approximates a normal distribution.
A normal distribution is a symmetrical, bell shaped curve, with a majority of the scores
falling in the middle of the possible range and few scores appearing toward the extremes of
the range.
Expected Distribution of IQ scores
NORMAL CURVE
The Binet test has been revised many times to incorporate advances in the understanding of
intelligence and intelligence testing.
The current Stanford-Binet is given to individuals from the age of 2 through adulthood. It
includes a wide variety of items, some requiring verbal responses, others nonverbal
responses.
The Stanford-Binet continues to be one of the most widely used individual tests of
intelligence.
2-The Wechsler Scale: Beside the Stanford-Binet,the most widely used intelligence
tests are the Wechsler scales, developed by David Wechsler. In 1939, he introduced the first
of his scales, designed for use for adults. Now in its third edition, the Wechsler Adult
intelligence scale-III(WAIS-III),was followed by the Wechsler intelligence Scale for
children-III(WISC-III)for children between the ages of 6 and 16,and the Wechsler preschool
and primary Scale of intelligence(WPPSI)for children from the ages of 4to 6 ½.
The Wechsler scales not only provide an overall IQ scores but also yield scores on verbal
and nonverbal measures. This allows the examiner to separate verbal and nonverbal IQ
scores and to see quickly the areas of mental performance in which the individual is below
average, average, above average
.
Verbal scales include:
(Information, comprehension, arithmetic, similarities, digitspan, vocabulary, letter number
sequencing).
Non verbal (performance) scales include:
(Digit symbol, picture completion, picture arrangement, blocks design, matrix reasoning,
object assembly, symbol search).
3-Group tests of intelligence: On some occasions, though, it is more convenient and
economical to administer group intelligence tests than individual tests. Though it has some
disadvantages, when the test given to a large group, the examiner cannot establish rapport,
determine the level of anxiety, and so on.
The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), a group test taken each year by more than 1 million
high school seniors.
The extremes of intelligence and creativity:
1-Mental retardation 2-Giftedness 3-Creativity
1-Mental Retardation:Is a condition of limited mental ability in which individual have low IQ, usually below 70,
has difficulty adapting to every day life; and has an onset of these characteristics during the
developmental period by age 18.
Types of mental retardation:
Mild MR: IQ Range (55-70)
Moderate MR: IQ Range (40-54)
Sever MR: IQ Range (25-39)
Profound MR: IQ Range (below 25).
Mental retardation may have an organic cause, or it may be social and cultural in origin.
Organic retardation: is mental retardation caused by a genetic disorder or by brain
damage, so there is some physical damage in organic retardation. Down syndrome and
Williams syndrome are forms of organic retardation.
Cultural-familial retardation: is a mental deficit in which no evidence of organic
brain damage can be found. Individuals with this type of retardation have IQs between 55
and 70.Psychologists suspect that such mental deficits result at least in part from growing up
in a below-average intellectual environment.
2. Giftedness:
Individuals who have an IQ of 130 or higher and or superior talent in a particular domain.
3.Creativity:
The ability to think about something in novel and unusual ways and come up with
unconventional solutions to problems. Creative people tend to be divergent thinker.
Divergent thinking produces many answers to the same question.
What do heredity and environment contribute to intelligence?
Genetic influences:
There is no doubt that genes influence intelligence. Researchers recently have found genetic
markers for intelligence on chromosome 4, 6, and 22.The genetic marker on chromosome 6
was shown to be carried by approximately one-third of children with high IQ but by only
one-sixth of children with average IQs. It is expected to that more markers will be found and
identified.
Genetic similarity might explain why identical twins show stronger correlations on
intelligence tests than fraternal twins do.
Some studies indicate that the IQs of adopted children are more similar to the IQs of their
biological parents than to those of their adoptive parents.
The genetic and environmental influences are qualitatively separate factors, with each
contributing a distinct amount of influence.
Environmental influences: Today, most researchers agree that heredity doesn't
determine intelligence to the extent that claimed.
For most people, modifications in environment can change their IQ scores considerably.
Enriching environment can improve school achievement and the skills needed for
employment.
Researchers are increasingly interested in manipulating the early environment of children
who are at risk for impoverished intelligence. Many low income parents have difficulty
providing an intellectually stimulating environment for their children. Programs that educate
parents to be more sensitive care givers and that train them to be better teachers can make
differences in a child's intellectual development.
Studied of schooling also reveal effects on intelligence. The biggest effects have been
found in cases in which large groups of children have been deprived of formal education for
an extended period of time, resulting in lower intelligence.
Group influences:
Cross-cultural comparisons: Cultures vary in the way they define intelligence.
Ethnic Comparisons: e.g. in the United States, children from African American and
Latino families score below children from white families on standardized intelligence tests.
Gender Comparisons: The average scores for male and female do not differ on intelligence
tests, but their scores' variability does differ. For e.g. males are more likely than females to
have extremely high or low scores. There also gender differences in specific intellectual
abilities
Refrence Book
Psychology 7updated edition, JOHN W.-SANTROCK,2005
Best regards
Dr.Banaz Adnan Saeed
(M.B.Ch.B,FICMS(Psych).