The Intelligence Debate
 Some of the issues related to the Intelligence debate
(psychological, social, economic, political)
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What is intelligence??!
What do intelligence measures really tell us? Success (validity)?
How applicable is intelligence to life? (e.g. street smarts)?
Does one view of intelligence demean (or underestimate) other types of
intelligence?
What about Intelligence tests? Bias/problems in intelligence testing?
Nature v. nurture? What are the relative contributions of each?
Can intelligence be improved or is it stable?
How might we close gaps between groups?
 Gifted education and private testing? How did I get here?
 Ads/disads of segregating on the basis of intelligence?
 What is the role of intelligence in esteem?
One Definition
 Intelligence A mental quality consisting of the ability to learn
from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt
to new situations
 What about Achievement? Knowledge?
Early Theories of Intelligence
 Spearman’s general intelligence (g)
A single factor that Spearman and
others believe(d) underlies specific
mental abilities
Early Theories of Intelligence
 L.L.Thurstone identified seven
distinct Primary mental abilities
(spatial, perceptual speed, numerical
ability, verbal meaning, memory,
word fluency and reasoning) taken
together = general intelligence
 Influences intelligence testing/field
of
psychometrics.
Emphasized
Factor analysis
 First to suggest multiple intelligence
Cattell’s Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence
 Fluid intelligence the ability to find meaning in confusion and
solve new problems; to draw inferences and understand the
relationships of various concepts; independent of acquired
knowledge
 Crystallized intelligence the ability to use skills, knowledge,
and experience. Not equated with memory or knowledge, but it
does rely on accessing information from long-term memory
 CI is not the "crystallized" form of Fluid. They are believed to
be separate neural and mental systems. Most intelligence tests
attempt to measure both (WAIS)
Measuring Intelligence
 Origins of Intelligence Testing
 Binet-Simon. Original purposes
 The term "IQ” was devised by the
German psychologist William Stern
in 1912 as a proposed method of
scoring
children's
intelligence
(MA/CA x 100 = I.Q.)
 Lewis Terman (Stanford-Binet I.Q.
Test) – adapted Binet for American
uses – Assessed mental aptitudes
and compared them to others.
Father of gifted education (and …)
Measuring Intelligence
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Children (WISC-IV) and the Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV)
 Most widely used intelligence test
 Comprised of 15 multiple subtests
(10 indexes, 5 supplemental)
 Role of factor analysis (clusters of
aptitudes)
 Verbal and performance
(nonverbal) scales
Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI)
Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI)
Working Memory Index (WMI)
Processing Speed Index (PSI)
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
WISC-IV and WAIS-IV
 The most current WISC-IV
was produced in 2003.
Updated versions are renormed to compensate for the
Flynn effect. Questions are
refined and made less biased
against minorities and females
 Adults (16+) are tested using
the WAIS-IV updated in 2008
Psychometrics – Measuring Intelligence
 Aptitude Test A test designed to predict a person’s future
performance. Aptitude is the capacity to learn
 Achievement Test A test designed to assess what a person
has learned
 Standardization and Norms Defining meaningful scores by
comparison with the performance of a pre-tested
“standardization group”. Re-norming
 Normal Curve The symmetrical bell-shaped curve that
describes the distribution of many physical and
psychological attributes
The Normal Curve
The Normal Curve
Psychometrics - Measuring Intelligence
 Reliability The extent to which a tests yields
consistent results. Test-retest, split half and
equivalent form methods
 Validity
The extent to which a test measures or
predicts what it is supposed to measure.
content validity
predictive validity
Bias in testing
 Concerns over gender and cultural (language and race) bias in
testing persist
 Ways to account for bias
 Performance scales/items
 Culture-fair tests - Raven's
 More culture fair items
 Stereotype threat or bias (self-fulfilling prophecy)
Resource: Discovering Psychology
The Flynn Effect
Sources of intelligence
Nature v. Nurture
*To what extent is intelligence
inherited from parents?
* Evidence from quantitative
genetics research (twin and
adoption studies) points to a
genetic component for
intelligence
* Specific criticisms of this
research/Counter-research
Genetic Influences (Review)
 Heritability
 The proportion (%) of variation among individuals
that we can attribute to genes
 We can not say that genes are responsible for such
and such a % of an individual’s intelligence
 Variability depends on range of populations and
environments studied
Environmental Influences (Review)
Environment What is environment and how can the one in
which a person is raised affect intelligence?
• The role of proper nutrition, access to quality education and
enriched environment (issues of developmental plasticity)
• Nurture enables nature (gene expression) and epigenetics
• Nature v. nurture is a false dichotomy
Environmental Influences
 The Schooling Effect (Not stable when young)
Multiple Intelligences
 Daniel Goleman’s Emotional
Intelligence has five components
 Knowing one’s own emotions
 Managing one’s own
emotions
 Using emotions to motivate
oneself
 Recognizing the emotions of
other people
 Managing relationships
 EI Test
Multiple Intelligences – Other Factors
 Related research on emotional intelligence
 Executive function The set of cognitive abilities that control
and regulate other abilities and behaviors. They include the
ability to initiate and stop actions, monitor and change
behavior as needed, and to plan future behavior when faced
with novel tasks and situations
 Executive function
 Mischel’s delayed gratification longitudinal study
Multiple Intelligences
 Sternberg’s Triarchic theory - Properly
defined and measured intelligence MUST
translate into real-life success
 Analytical intelligence (Componential)
ability to learn how to do things, solve
problems, and acquire new knowledge
 Creative intelligence (Experiental)
ability to adjust to new tasks, use new
concepts, and respond well in new
situations
 Practical intelligence (Contextual)
ability to select contexts in which you
can excel and solve practical problems
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory
 "I define [intelligence] as your skill in achieving whatever it is you want to
attain in your life within your sociocultural context by capitalizing on your
strengths and compensating for, or correcting, your weaknesses.”
 Sternberg Defines Intelligence
 According to Sternberg conventional intelligence tests tell us little about
performance in everyday life. He suggests a number of reasons why
“intelligent” people fail
 lack of motivation
 lack of impulse control
 lack of perseverance
 fear of failure
 procrastination
 inability to delay gratification
 too little/too much self-confidence
Multiple Intelligences
Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences - What are they?
Research? Value? Criticisms?
Gardner Powerpoint
An Intelligent Haiku
A spear man has just
One point but a young gardner
Has many sharp tools.
IQ Myth and Reality
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Intelligence is plural, not singular
Breast feeding affects IQ +
Correlations with head size
Despite recent claims IQ unrelated to birth order (genetically)
School attendance correlates with IQ
IQ scores are predictive of success
- Gender differences in IQ
- Maccoby studies detect difference. Subsequent research
sees as statistically insignificant, though spatial tasks still
slightly favor boys and memory for objects, girls
- Boys are on extremes of curve
- Some gender bias is assumed to remain