Week 3 - DE100 Investigating Psychology

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Investigating Intelligence, Chapter 3

challenges in constructing a culturally neutral intelligence test

difficulties of determining what it is that intelligence tests actually measure

Role of IQ measurement in the diagnosis of learning disability

criticisms of current diagnostic criteria

outline concept of emotional intelligence, how it differs from traditional notions of intelligence.

Challenges in constructing a culturally neutral intelligence test

Raven's Progressive Matrices test pp 85 - 87

- not affected by schooling/knowledge/experience

no words = no reading ability

no pictures = no issue with different cultures

used in test of fluid intelligence - logical thinking + problem solving, no knowledge needed

by John C Raven, 1930's - culture neutral test, simple and quick to administer

3 versions

standard - general population

Advanced - more complex for those do very well in standard

coloured matrices - children/learning disabilities

Standard - 60 'matrix problems' see pp 86 for example - ascending order difficulty - 40 minutes - need to find missing piece in a pattern

Problems: pg 88-89

still an intelligence test

schooling helps feel more familiar with testing - so would perform better

pen and paper - 'cultural tools' experience needed - how much are they used to using them - linked to education

reading direction - culturally dependent - seperate test in arabic countries due to different reading direction

class - lower classes, less confident, perform less well

need to understand verbal instructions

some analytical/puzzling skill = better performance

testing should recoginse that culture, experience and intellectual ability can't be seperated. so culture/class/experience will always have an impact

skills tested are not relevant everywhere or important to all.

Taiwan - 'intelligent' have characteristics Western tests ignore. - emotional intelligence

Kenya - 'intelligent' = doing chores without reminder

Africa - thinking slowely about a problem

pg 90 - 91

What is intelligence - need to abandon current analogies (strength)

belief intellectual strength measurable and independent of culture like physical strength and is universal, Ken Richardson beliefs this misleading

more appropriate analogy = 'distance' belief more intelligent if match cultural values tested

Learning disability pg 94

learning disability - a condition that affects how a person learns, understands and cope with life.

disability = general impairment of abilities

learning difficulties = specific problem ( reading, maths,etc) causing barrier to higher achievment

learning disability - mild, moderate, severe or profound - different levels, some can cope and work, others need 24hr care

many causes - genetic (down's), autism, epilepsy birth issues cause brain damage, illness or injury.

diagnosis - for educational/support needs can affect life outcome, what help/support given

diagnosis pg 96 - 98

diagnosis - 3 criteria:

signicicant intellectual functioning difficulties - IQ tests, WAIS, <70, believed can be measured

significant difficulty in adapting to environment and interaction with others - BPS introduced in 2000, assessment of how well function, seen as important alongside IQ

these occur in childhood

Less <70 significant due to normal distribution, which shows it only affects 2.3% of population, 2 standard deviations from average

Problems pg 99 - 101

practitionars see overall score less important that that of subtests and other info

overall iq score seen as only accurate withing 4 pts. (margin of error)

but in diagnosis overall score used and most important

Simon whitaker (08)

? iq tests for diagnosis,

believs least accurate in lower iq range,

believes margin of error = 13 pts as most affected by testing situation

now believed IQ not good measure, and should be judged on a case by case basis. everyone individual

definitions of learning disability need to be revised : whitaker suggests:

need of community/educational services

failure to cope with intellectual demands of environment

can't take core of themselves/dependents

unable to protect against harm

ie not 'intellectual functioning' but 'intelectual demands instead this would not be included in iq test

does it prevent them doing certain things?

so more qualitive assessment of needs

Emotional Intelligence pp 104 - 111

Weschler: 'intelligent behaviour' not just IQ

believed people need to use social skills in order to deal effectively with the environment

Emotional intelligence-1990, Peter Salovey and John de Mayer

belief can be measuredused in applied settings such as job recruitment

monitor feelings and emotions of self and others, to discriminate among them and use that information to guide actions

social and emotional skills needed for success

2002 space-space the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso emotional intelligence test space (MSC EIT)

141 items, 40 minutes, paper or computer

8 subtests (tasks) 2 per branch

4 components or branches of emotional intelligence, seperate but interrelated see fig 3.4 pg 106, importance in this order: must be competent in perceiving to be competent in using, and so on.

perceiving emotion - recognising emotions in self and others.

Using emotion - using them in thinking, solving problems etc.

understanding emotion - label them and recognise similarities/differences

managing emotion - modify them and responses and recognise how appropriate they are

no right or wrong answers

consensus scoring - answers compared with 000's others stored in database - works due to 'common understanding'

2007, British government, social and emotional aspects of learning (seal)

teach social and emotional skills, behaviour, attendance, learning, etc.

2010-90% primary and 70% secondary

belief that emotional intelligence can be learned

Still debate as to whether it is:

an ability

personality characteristic

learnable skill

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Video: Intelligence and the Brain

3 studies - explores biological basis of psychology.

What are similarities and differences between methods?

Cattel Study - used fMRI while asking non-verbal odd one out questions, testing fluid intelligence

teenage study - tested over 4 years, test at beginning and end, fMRI used, verbal and non-verbal tests

Toxins test - group of farmers, battery tests over 4 years, including Wais, weschler memory, cognitive, etc

Do they use brain imaging techniques?

Cattel and Teenage study both used brain imaging

What are possible practical applications?

cattel - will help in diagnosis and treatment of cognitive impairment

Teenage - Education system, selection and streaming

Toxins - Health and safety guidelines for use and handling of toxic substances

how can changes in the envirolment influence brain development?

Toxins affect nervous system, causing deterioration in cognitive function

Teenagers can be affected by the support they get.

how do they teenage fluctuation and toxin effects study define environment?

teenage - education, socio-economic status and parental involvement

toxin - workplace

In-text citation: Intelligence and the brain (The Open University, 2014)

Reference list: The Open University (2014) ‘Intelligence and the brain’ [Video], DE100 Investigating psychology 1. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842334§ion=2URL (Accessed date).

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Audio: Testing the Emotions

What are the main advantages of SEAL?

What are the main disadvantages of SEAL?

What are the methods of evaluating the effectiveness of such programs?

What are the abilities and skills mentioned as relevant to social and emotional learning?

Is the term intelligence appropriate in this context?

In-text citation: Testing the emotions (The Open University, 2014)

Reference list: The Open University (2014) ‘Testing the emotions’ [Audio], DE100 Investigating psychology 1. Available athttps://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842334§ion=3 URL (Accessed date)