Chapter 11
Intelligence
Quiz
1. An operational definition is the operations (actions or
procedures) used to measure a concept
2. Reliability is the ability of a test to measure what it
purports to measure
3. Validity is the ability of a test to yield to the same
score, or very nearly the same score, each time it’s
given to the same person.
4. An average IQ score in the U.S., is 100, with below
70 being mentally retarded and above 130 being
highly intelligent.
5. Culture fair test is a test designed to maximize the
importance of culturally specific knowledge.
Defining Intelligence
• What is the best definition of intelligence?
• How can we define it outside of IQ scores?
How are people in here intelligent?
• Global capacity to act purposefully, think
rationally, and deal effectively with the
environment
• Operational Definition: Operations used to
measure a concept
• For example: How do you and your friends
define “good looking?” Or “alcoholic”?
Intelligence Recognition
• Who is the smartest person you’ve ever
known?
• How would they score on an IQ test?
• How smart is your PSY 202 teacher?
• As a class, write an intelligence test I would
fail. Each group can contribute two questions
More Definitions
• Aptitude: Capacity for learning certain abilities
• Special Aptitudes Test: Predicts whether you
will succeed in a certain area
• Multiple Aptitude Test: Test that measures
two or more abilities
• General Intelligence Test: Test that measures
a wide variety of mental abilities
• S.A.T.’s, Career Assessment
Fig. 11-1, p. 364
Sample questions like those
found on tests of mechanical
aptitude. (The answers are A
and the Driver.)
Fig. 11-2, p. 364
Reliability
• Reliability: A reliable test should give the
same score (or close to it) each time the
same person takes it
• Test-Retest: Give test to a large group, then
give exactly the same test to same group
later
• Split-Half: Making sure scores on one-half of
a test match the scores on the other half
Validity
• Validity: Ability of a test to measure what it is
purported to measure
– Criterion Validity: Comparing test scores to
actual performance
• Comparing SAT to college grades
More Information
• Ages: Chronological Age: Person’s age in
years
• Mental Age: Average intellectual performance
• Norms: Average score for a designated group
of people
• Intelligence Quotient: Intelligence index;
mental age divided by chronological age,
then multiplied by 100
– Average IQ in the USA is 100
More IQ Terms
• Deviation IQ: Scores based on a person’s
relative standing in his or her age group; how
far above or below average a person’s score
is, relative to other scores
• IQ scores are not very dependable until a
child reaches age 6
• Terminal Decline: Abrupt decline in measured
IQ about 5 years before death
Normal (Bell-Shaped) Curve
• Most scores fall close to the average, and
very few are found at the extremes
IQ Research
• Men and women do not appear to differ in
overall intelligence
• A strong correlation (about .50) exists
between IQ and school grades
• Having a high IQ (usually above 130) or
special talents or abilities (playing Mozart at
age 5)
• Research shows it’s not important to have a
super high IQ to do something amazing, just
high enough. IT’S MORE IMPORTANT TO
WORK HARD THAN TO BE “SMART”
Person Centered Language
• Referring to someone as a diagnosis:
“retarded” or “schizophrenic” is not respectful
and does not imply value to who they are as
a person
• Example: referring to people by hair color,
body type or interest
• “Who was that intelligent, charismatic person
you were talking to in the last psychology
class?”
• “Oh, you mean The blonde?”
Mental Retardation (or Developmental
Disabilities): Some Definitions
• Presence of a developmental disability and
an IQ score below 70; a significant
impairment of adaptive behavior also figures
into the definition
– Adaptive Behavior: Basic skills such as
dressing, eating, working, hygiene;
necessary for self-care
Mental Retardation Categories
•
•
•
•
Mild: IQ of 55-70
Moderate: IQ of 40-55
Severe: IQ of 25-40
Profound: IQ less than 25
Familial Retardation
• Mild mental retardation that occurs in homes
that have inadequate nutrition, intellectual
stimulation, medical care, and emotional
support
• Due to environmental causes
Organic Causes of Mental Retardation
• Related to physical disorders
• Birth Injuries: Lack of oxygen during delivery
• Fetal Damage: Prenatal damage from
disease, infection, or drug use
• Metabolic Disorders: Disorder in metabolism;
affects energy use and production in the body
• Genetic Abnormalities: Abnormality in the
genes, such as missing genes, extra genes,
or defective genes
More Organic Causes of Mental
Retardation
• Microcephaly: Head and brain are abnormally
small; brain is forced to develop in a limited
space
• Hydrocephaly: Buildup of cerebrospinal fluid
within the ventricles (brain cavities); pressure
can enlarge the head and damage the brain
Down Syndrome Data
• Down Syndrome: Genetic disorder caused by
presence of extra chromosome (usually on
the 21st pair; trisomy 21); results in mental
retardation and shorter life span
• Does not run in the family
• Older a woman is, greater the risk to produce
a Down’s child
• Older fathers may also contribute (about 25%
of the time)
• No cure, but is detectable before birth
Heredity and Environment
• Eugenics: Selective Breeding for desirable
characteristics
• Fraternal Twins: Twins conceived from two
separate eggs
• Identical twins: Twins who develop from a
single egg and have identical genes
New Ways of Viewing Intelligence
• Speed of Processing: Brain’s speed and
efficiency; how fast you and your brain can
process information
• Inspection Time: Amount of time a person
must look at a stimulus to make a correct
judgment about it
• Neural Intelligence: Speed and efficiency of
the brain or nervous system; innate
• Experiential Intelligence: Specialized
knowledge and skills acquired over time
Stimuli like those used in
inspection time tasks.
Fig. 11-9, p. 379
Gardner’s Theory of Eight Multiple
Intelligences
• Language: Used for thinking by lawyers,
writers, comedians
• Logic and Math: Used by scientists,
accountants, programmers
• Visual and Spatial Thinking: Used by
engineers, inventors, aviators
• Music: Used by composers, musicians, music
critics
Gardner’s Theory of Eight Multiple
Intelligences Continued
• Bodily-Kinesthetic Skills: Used by dancers,
athletes, surgeons
• Intrapersonal Skills (Self-Knowledge): Used
by poets, actors, ministers
• Interpersonal Skills (Social Abilities): Used by
psychologists, teachers, politicians
• Naturalistic Skills (Ability to Understand
Natural Environment): Used by biologists,
organic farmers
A Different Type of Intelligence Test
• Is it possible to develop a culture free test?
What would it look like?
• What is the next best thing?
• Culture-Fair Test: Test designed to minimize
importance of skills and knowledge that may
be more common in some cultures than in
others
Conclusion
• Many researchers believe that intelligence is
a combination of heredity (genes) and
environment (upbringing); contributing
percentage of each is not known yet
• And that there is no fair way to measure
general intelligence in different subject areas
in a culturally sensitive manner
Answers to Miller Analogy Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Kitten
Herd
Show
Light
Door
Quart
fruit
Floor
Trees
Dust
Deaf
Sap
finished
81
Author
Cuff
Seed
Sparrow
19. Chairperson
20. 48
21. Betray
22. Rim
23. Client
24. Vice
25. L
26. Wednesday
27. Laziness
28. Create
29. Surface
30. run