Intelligence
Carolyn R. Fallahi, Ph. D.
Intelligence
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Why do we want to measure
intelligence?
What are some of the reasons we
measure intelligence?
If you had to construct an IQ test, what
kinds of questions would it contain?
What kinds of abilities do you think you’d
want to test?
Alfred Binet
Theodore Simon
Jean Piaget
What is Intelligence?
Binet & Simon
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Binet and Simon were commissioned by
the French government to ID kids who
would benefit from receiving remedial
education.
Assessment: attention, perception,
memory, numerical reasoning, verbal
comprehension.
Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal
Development
David Wechsler
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Wechsler’s definition of intelligence: the
global capacity of the individual to act
purposefully, think rationally, and to deal
effectively with his environment.
Vocabulary scores – the subtest that
correlates best with overall IQ tests
scores.
David Wechsler
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“Intelligence is the
aggregate or global
capacity of the
individual to act
purposefully, to
think rationally and
to deal effectively
with his
environment.” 1944
The Wechsler Tests
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Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV)
and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
(WISC-IV).
Greatly improved the normative process.
Wechsler viewed intelligence as an effect
rather than a cause; for example, nonintellective factors, such as personality,
contribute to the development of each
person’s intelligence.
Intelligence – Some important
topics.
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Mental Age versus Chronological Age.
The issue of Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
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IQ = (mental age / chronological age) x 100
If a 10 year old can answer questions of the same
difficulty level as most 13 year olds, then IQ =
(13/10) x100 = 130.
Now using normative standards.
Intelligence Testing
1. “One Score Tests”
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Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale IV–
Ages 2 through adult.
Modern version – scores no longer
reflect mental age. You’re now
compared to others – representative
sample used to obtain the distribution.
Links to Cattell-Horn’s theory.
Greater differentiation of abilities.
Wechsler Tests
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4-6.5 years – Wechsler Preschool and
primary scale of Intelligence – IV.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – IV
(16 and older).
Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-IV).
Wechsler Tests – WAIS-IV
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Updated in 2008. Why? Flynn Effect
WAIS-IV: 11 subtests, 3 supplementary
scales.
Full scale IQ (FSIQ) or g.
GAI = General Ability Index = 6 subtests
that comprise Verbal Comprehension
Index & Perceptual Reasoning Scale.
Intelligence Testing
Important Issue: Standardization
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Standardization: What does this mean?
• Lots of people take the test to make sure it’s
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reliable and valid.
Cultural Bias of tests – many have argued
that tests were written for white middle class
children and they were standardized in that
population.
Now – Stanford – Binet & WAIS tests have
been standardized via diverse populations but
still….
The Normal Curve
The normal curve
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Describe
• Show IQ scores for the WAIS-IV.
• 130 and above very superior
• 120-129 Superior
• 110-119 High average
• 90-109 Average
• 80-89 Low Average
• 70-79 Borderline
• 69 and below – Extremely low
WAIS-IV test now measures:
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Verbal
comprehension
Index
Perceptual
Organization Index
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Working Memory
Index
Processing Speed
Verbal comprehension Index
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Verbally acquired
knowledge and
verbal reasoning
Stored knowledge
Oral expression
General verbal skills
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Requires
understanding of
words, similarities,
knowledge of social
situations, etc.
Perceptual Organization Index
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Visual perception
Organization and
reasoning
Visual-motor
coordination
Nonverbal
reasoning
Fluid reasoning
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Comfort with new
and unexpected
situations
Ability to understand
a problem
Working Memory Index
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Measures the ability
to temporarily retain
information in
memory and
manipulate
Attention,
concentration,
mental control,
reasoning
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Arithmetic skills,
reading ability,
verbal fluency
Problem-solving
Higher-order
thinking
Processing speed
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Visual perception
and organization
Processing visual
information quickly
Attention and
sustained effort
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Motor coordination
Persistence and
planning
Interpretation
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Full-scale IQ
4 indices
Individual subtests
Pattern analysis
Strengths and weaknesses
Extreme scores
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Diagnosis of GT
Diagnosis of MR
Do we do a good job with extreme
scores?
Difference between intelligence (ability to
learn) and mastery tests like Wood-cock
Johnson (what you have learned).
Factor Analytic Approach
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Factor analysis – a statistical procedure for
identifying clusters of tests or test items (called
factors) that are highly correlated with each
other and unrelated to other items.
Some thinkers believed that IQ score might
reflect some particular ability, rather than
overarching intelligence.
Ask people to perform lots of different mental
tasks.
Each factor is a specific mental ability.
Cultural Bias Issues
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Verbal ability is a problem – requires
specific knowledge of the meaning of
words. What if you come from a home
where English isn’t spoken?
Vygotsky
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Vygotsky’s approach to intelligence
testing: “test, train, retest”
• Brown & Ferrara (1985)
• Not all average IQ kids are alike regarding the
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speed of learning or ability to transfer to
something new.
Low IQ kids – some are slow learners with
low transfer, some are slow learners with high
transfer, some are fast learners with high
transfer.
Vygotsky
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This pattern holds for high IQ children
too.
Thus two kids with IQs of 100 may not
be mentally the same!
So we should consider this when
developing individualized learning plans
for kids.
Robert J. Sternberg
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of
Intelligence
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Successful people = identify & capitalize
on their strengths, and identify and
correct or compensate for their
weaknesses in order to adapt to, shape,
& select environments.
Sternberg’s theory
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Intelligence = forming competencies,
and competencies as forms of
developing expertise.
Intelligence is modifiable rather than
fixed.
Raymond B. Cattell
John L. Horn
Cattell-Horn Theory
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Fluid abilities (Gf) drive the individual’s
ability to think and act quickly, solve
novel problems, and encode short-term
memories.
They have been described as the source
of intelligence that an individual uses
when he/she doesn’t already know what
to do.
Cattell-Horn Theory
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Crystalized abilities (Gc) stems from
learning and acculturation and is reflected
in tests of knowledge, general information,
use of language (vocabulary) and a wide
variety of acquired skills.
Crystallized Intelligence
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Personality factors, motivation and
educational and cultural opportunity are
central to its development, and is only
indirectly dependent on the physiological
influences that mainly affect fluid
abilities.
Horn & Cattell
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Fluid Intelligence = ability to perceive
relationships, ability to adapt, ability
to learn new material. Independent of
culture and formal training.
Vulnerable to brain damage and aging.
Crystallized intelligence = completely
dependent on culture and formal
training or learning. Increases with
age.
Howard Gardner (Harvard)
“I want my children to
understand the world,
but not just because the
world is fascinating and
the human mind is
curious. I want them to
understand it so that
they will be positioned to
make it a better place.”
Gardner, 1999
Gardner – Theory of Multiple
Intelligences
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Surveyed atypical populations, e.g. prodigies,
idiot savants, autistic children, LD children.
Found jagged cognitive profile.
These profiles inconsistent with a unitary view
of intelligence.
Question: does training in 1 area influence
skills in other areas. For example, math
training affect musical ability?
Gardner - MI
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Gardner (1993) defines intelligence as
the ability to solve problems or to create
products that are valued within one or
more cultural settings.
Within this definition of intelligence, a
variety of skills valued in different
cultures and a history setting become
objects of study.
Gardner – MI – currently 8
intelligences identified
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Linguistic intelligence
("word smart“)
Logical-mathematical
intelligence
("number/reasoning
smart")
Spatial intelligence
("picture smart")
Bodily-Kinesthetic
intelligence ("body
smart")
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Musical Intelligence
(“music smart”)
Interpersonal
intelligence ("people
smart")
Intrapersonal
intelligence ("self
smart“)
Naturalistic Intelligence
(“nature smart”)
Peter Salovey – Yale University
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Yale University
Developed the idea
of EQ or emotional
intelligence.
Goleman expanded
upon this theory.
Emotional Intelligence
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Most intelligences can be grouped into 1
or 3 clusters … abstract, concrete, or
social intelligence.
Social intelligence (Thorndike): ability to
understand and relate to people.
Emotional intelligence has its roots in
social intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence includes:
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Being aware of one’s own emotions.
Being able to manage one’s own
emotions.
Being sensitive to the emotions of others.
Being able to respond to & negotiate with
other people emotionally.
Being able to use one’s own emotions to
motivate oneself.
Emotional Intelligence
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Emotionally intelligent individuals are said
to be particularly adept at regulating
emotions.
Utilized in problem solving. Propose that
they have the ability to organize their
emotions to solve problems.
Goleman includes: conscientiousness,
self-confidence, optimism, communication,
leadership and initiative.
Infant intelligence & memory
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The history of studying infant intelligence
has seriously underestimated their
abilities.
Why?
High sedatives during childbirth, used
adult based IQ tests, separated from
mother.
How infants learn?
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Learning is a relatively permanent change in
behavior resulting from experience.
We are all born with the ability to learn; but
learning does not take place without
experience.
Only with experience can a baby use his
intellect to distinguish between sensory
experiences (like sounds) and to build on
their inborn repetoire of behaviors (like
sucking).
Types of learning
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Habituation: repeated exposure to
something reduces the response, e.g.
nursing baby.
Habituation gives us information about
development. Children with lowered
apgar scores, brain damage, distress at
birth, etc.
Types of learning
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Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
• Positive reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement
• punishment
Self-righting tendency
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Given a favorable environment, infants
generally follow normal developmental
patterns unless they have suffered
severe damage.
Between 18-24 months, this self-righting
tendency seems to decrease as children
begin to acquire skills (like verbal
abilities).
Infant’s Memory
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Infant researcher: Carolyn RouieCollier: found that if a mobile was hung over
an infant’s crib and attached a ribbon to one
of the baby’s limbs.
6 week old infants quickly discovered which
arm or leg would move the mobile.
Two weeks later, the infants were placed in
the same situations. They remembered
which arm/leg to move, even though they
were not attached to the mobile.
Is infant’s memory conscious?
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One study: 9 month old girls looked for
ribbons originally kept in a drawer.
When did not find ribbons, she searched
new drawer until she found them.
Another study
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7 month old infant will search for an object
shown to him/her.
Younger infant will not.
First 6 months…memory of infants not similar
to what adults think of as memory.
It is not conscious memory for specific past
episodes, but learning of adaptive skills.
Why does conscious memory
develop later than other
learning?
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Possibly conscious memory must await
the maturation of certain brain
structures, such as the hippocampus.
Conscious memory depends on the
development of cognitive structures, like
Piaget’s theory suggests.
Recall minimum before age 3 – infantile
amnesia.