Intelligence
What makes us smart?
Or not so smart?
Introduction to Intelligence Reading Quiz
• Intelligence is a socially constructed concept.
This means that different cultures
– tend to view as intelligent those traits that
enable success in their own way of life.
• A 6-year-old child has a mental age of 9. the
child's IQ is
– 150
• The existence of ________________
reinforces the generally accepted notion that
intelligence is a multidimensional quality.
– savant syndrome
• The concept of a g factor implies that
intelligence:
• is a single overall ability.
• Gerardeen has superb social skills,
manages conflicts well, and has great
empathy for her friends and co-workers.
Peter Salovey and John Mayer would
probably say that Gerardeen possesses
a high degree of :
• emotional intelligence.
Intelligence
• The ability to learn
from experience, solve
problems, and use
knowledge to adapt to
new situations.
According to this
definition, are both
Albert Einstein and
Babe Ruth intelligent?
Theories of Intelligence
• Remember Fluid
versus Crystallized
Intelligence?
• 4 main theoretical
concepts of
intelligence….
1.) Charles Spearman and his G factor
• Used Factor Analysis (A
statistical procedure
that identifies clusters
of related items on a
test) and discovered
Jack Bauer is good
that what we see as
at torturing, bomb
defusing, shooting,
many different skills is
figuring out evil
plots and saving
actually one “General
the country (and he
is good looking). Is Intelligence.”
there anything he
• If you are good at one
cannot do?
subject you are usually
good at many others.
2.) Multiple Intelligences
• Howard Gardner disagreed with
Spearman’s idea of general
intelligence and instead came up
with the concept of multiple
intelligences.
• He came up with the idea by
studying people with savant
syndrome (a condition where a
person has limited mental ability
but is exceptional in one area).
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlNiAqYN6ZQ
Howard Gardner and Multiple Intelligences
• Gardner believes that
there exists at least 8
different types of
intelligences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
Spatial
Musical
Body-kinesthetic
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Naturalist
3.) Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory
• Most commonly
accepted theory today.
• Three types of
intelligence:
1. Analytical - academic
problem solving.
2. Creative - generating
novel ideas.
3. Practical - required
for everyday tasks
where multiple
solutions exist.
4.) Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
• First called social intelligence.
• The ability to perceive,
express, understand, and
regulate emotions.
• Some studies show EQ to be a
greater predictor for future
success than IQ.
Creativity
• The ability to produce novel and
valuable ideas.
• There seems to be NO relationship
between IQ and creativity.
• Components of Creativity:
• Expertise.
• Imaginative thinking skills.
• Venturesome personality.
• Intrinsic motivation.
• A creative environment.
• Damage to the frontal lobes can
destroy imagination.
Brain Size and Intelligence
Is there a link?
• Small +.15 correlation
between head size and
intelligence scores
(relative to body size).
• Using an MRI we found
+.44 correlation with
brain size and IQ score.
Brain Function and Intelligence
• Higher performing
brains are less active
than lower performing
brains (use less
glucose).
• But there is a positive
correlation with
neurological speed.
Assessing Intelligence Reading Quiz
Standardization refers to the process of:
A. determining the accuracy with which a test measures what it is supposed
to.
B.defining meaningful scores relative to
a representative pretested group.
C. determining the consistency of test scores obtained by retesting people.
D. measuring the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is
designed to predict.
Before about age ______, intelligence tests
generally do not predict future sores
A. 1
B. 4
C. 5
D.10
E. 15
The bell-shaped distribution of intelligence
scores in the general population is called a:
A. g distribution
B. standardization curve
C. bimodal distribution
D. normal distribution
Studies of 2- to 7-month-old babies showed
that babies who quickly become bored with
a picture:
A. often develop learning disabilities later on
B. score lower on infant intelligence tests.
C. score higher on intelligence tests
several years later
D. score very low on intelligence tests several years later
Which of the following is not a requirement
of a good test
A. reliability
B. standardization
C. reification
D. validity
E. criterion
How do we Assess Intelligence?
• Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon
set out to figure out a concept called
a mental age (what a person of a
particular age should know). They did
this by measuring their reasoning
skills.
• They discovered that by discovering
someone’s mental age they can
predict future performance.
• They were hoping to identify
children likely to have difficulty in
school.
I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient)
• Lewis Terman (Stanford University)
used Binet’s research to construct
the modern day I.Q. test called the
Stanford-Binet Test.
• I.Q. is a measure of intelligence that
is obtained by comparing mental age
(MA) as determined by testing, with
chronological age (CA).
• German psychologist William Stern
derived the famous formula for I.Q.
Stern’s I.Q. Formula
• IQ=Mental age
diveded by
Chronological age
X 100.
• A 8 year old girl has a
mental age of 11, what is
her IQ?
• 138
• A 12 year old boy has
the mental age of 9,
what is his IQ?
• 75
• A boy has the mental
age of 10 and a
chronological age of 10
what is his IQ?
• 100
Problems with the IQ Formula
• It does not really work well on adults, why?
If a 60 year old man…
does as well as an average 30 year old,
then his IQ would be 50!!!!!!
That makes no sense!!!!!
Wechsler Intelligence Tests
• David Wechsler designed a
test to measure “real world”
intelligence, not just verbal
skills. Most widely used test
today.
• Consists of 11 subtests; gives
an overall IQ score and scores
for the subtest areas (i.e.
verbal, performance).
• WAIS (for adults).
• WISC (for children).
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
(sub-scores and subtests)
The Flynn Effect
How do we construct an IQ Test?
• Standardization.
• Reliability.
• Validity.
Standardization
• The test must be pre-tested to a
representative sample of people and…
• Form a normal distribution or bell curve.
Reliability
• The extent which a
test yields consistent
results over time.
• Spilt halves or test–
retest method.
Validity
The extent to which a test measures what it is
supposed to measure.
• Content Validity: does the test sample a
behavior of interest?
• Predictive Validity: does the test predict
future behavior. (Criterion related validity =
the strength of the correlation).
Types of Tests
Aptitude
• Measure ability or
potential.
Achievement
• Tests that measure
what you have learned.
Does Intelligence Change Over Time?
By age 4, a child’s IQ can
predict adolescent IQ scores.
After age 7, IQ scores
stabilize and the consistency
of the scores increase with
the age of the child.
Extremes of Intelligence
Superior Intelligence
• Marilyn vos Savant recorded one of
the highest IQs ever. At 7 years of
age she was answering questions like
a typical 13 year old.
• People with superior intelligence tend
to be healthier, more successful and
have higher self esteem than the
general population.
• Superior intelligence = 130+
• Genius = 140+
Intellectual Disability
• A condition of limited mental ability; not
able to perform at a level appropriate for
their age (indicated by below a 70 IQ).
• Can be caused by physical defects (injury,
disease and genetic defects) that affect
brain growth and development.
• Environmental factors such as nutrition,
poor health, drug abuse and lack of
stimulation can also contribute to
intellectual disability.
Intellectual Disability
• Classifications of Intellectual
Disability:
•
•
•
•
50-70
35-50
20-35
Under 20
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Profound
• People with IQ scores around 70 can
hold jobs with assistance, but as you
move down towards severe and
profound, the physical defects are
more severe.
Is Intelligence Inherited?
• Most psychologists believe
intelligence is 50% inherited.
• Other factors: education,
social class, environment,
nutrition and stimulation
(especially at an early age).
Figure 9.13 Studies of IQ similarity
Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores
• As a group, white Americans tend
to have an average IQ test score
about 8 to 15 points higher than
their Hispanic or AfricanAmerican counterparts.
• Evidence suggests environmental
differences are largely
responsible for the IQ
differences in ethnic groups.
• Asian students outperform North
American students on math
achievement and aptitude tests.
Gender Similarities and Differences
Females Are Good At:
• Verbal ability: girls excel at •
reading, spelling, and
writing.
• Recognizing emotions.
•
• Spatial memory: females
tend to have better memory
for spatial locations of
objects.
Males Are Good At:
Around age 11 boys
start to excel in higher
levels of math.
And also spatial skills
(like reading a road
map). Prenatal
testosterone may be a
factor.
Stereotype Threat
• The tendency to perform
worse when conscious of being
in a group stereotyped as
performing poorly.
• Equally capable women will
perform worse than men on
math tests if they believe that
women aren’t good in math.
• This same phenomenon has
been found with African
Americans when testing with
whites or Asians.
Test Bias
Some tests do discriminate.
But this is primarily due to different
cultural experiences.
2 Tests designed to illustrate cultural bias:
1. Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity
(B.I.T.C.H. Test)
2. Dove Counterbalance I.Q.Test (Chitlings Test)