Intelligence

Intelligence

1. General Definition

   • Intelligence is whatever intelligence tests measure!
   • Learning from experience
   • Problem solving
   • Adapting to new situations
   • Varies depending on culture
     • intelligence could be doing well in school in our culture, while having knowledge of natural medicinal healing is intelligence in Cambodia (Myers, Dewall 360)

2. General intelligence (g)

   • Belief: factors of different primary mental abilities (e.g. verbal comprehension, spatial ability) relate back to one general ability
     • The G factor usually measures a person's general cognitive ability, often using school tests about learned facts and problem solving
   • Charles Spearman (1863-1945)
   • excelling at school
   • exceeding athletic abilities

3. Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

   • Robert Sternberg (1949 - )
   • Analytical
     • academic problem solving: to excel in school related assessments such as math or science tests
     • "book smarts"
   • Practical
     • "street smarts"
     • common sense: solving everyday tasks that may have multiple solutions
   • Creative
     • innovative smarts: imaginative ideas and superior adaptability to new situations
     • "artistic"

4. Environmental Influences

   • Life experiences matter e.g. infants receiving proper care, receiving schooling and interaction, were more likely to be intellectually successful
   • Poverty-related stressed can impede cognitive performance
     • Biological needs can overpower and diminish thinking capacity like a computer running too many programs
   • Growth Mindset: A Healthy Mindset
     • Students encouraged to focus and "grow their brain" (receiving praise) are reported to have been able to work harder and become successful. Talent is important but "grit" is also needed: ability + opportunity + motivation = success

5. Multiple Intelligences

   • Howard Gardner (1943 - )
   • Eight relatively independent intelligences
     • Naturalist, Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal
     • "multiple abilities that come in different packages" (Gardner 1983, 2006, 2011; Davis et al., 2011) --> if someone lacks a certain ability, others may be heightened e.g. savant syndrome
   • CRITICISM: research shows that g exists because success is talent and grit combined, not just being intelligent in one single field

6. Assessing Intelligence

   • Intelligence Tests - assessment method of individual comparing them to others using numerical scores
     • Achievement Tests: reflects on learned knowledge
     • Aptitude Tests: predicts ability to learn a skill
   • Francis Galton: believed that intelligence could be inherited following Darwin's theory of "survival of the fittest"
   • Alfred Binet: Co-designed test that measures "mental age" that is still relevant to modern intelligence tests
   • Lewis Terman: believed revised Binet's method as the "IQ test" could reflect inborn intelligence and education
   • WAIS - Created by David Wechsler by testing separate strengths with subtests such as similarities (vocabulary, block design, letter-number sequencing) now the most widely used IQ test

7. Principals of Test Construction

   • Standardization
     • Defining uniform testing and meaningful scores comparing performances of pretested group
     • Scores from a sample of people used as the basis of comparison when an individual takes an IQ test. The Bell Curve (normal curve) shows the range of physical and psychological attributes
   • Reliability
     • Extent of a test with consistent results using alternative tests or retests
     • When test results of an individual match those of a similar test, the test is reliable
   • Validity
     • Extent of a test that measures or predicts what is supposed to
     • For a test to be valid, it has to have both content and predictive validity: accurately testing behaviour of interest and the success predicted results the test is designed to predict

8. Dynamics of Intelligence

   • Aging and Intelligence: As you age, FLUID INTELLIGENCE (ability to reason fast/abstractly) declines while CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE (accumulated knowledge) remains stable
     • Longitudinal studies show that age increases the ability to reason better, explaining why the older you get the wiser you are, but lose processing speed and the ability to recall memory
       • Mathematicians, scientists peak at 20-30 when fluid int. peaks
         • Historians, philosophers peak beyond 40's when crystallized int. stabilizes and the become wiser
   • Cross-Sectional Studies
     • Studies of different groups at one time (people of different ages, education, backgrounds)
   • Longitudinal Studies
     • Studies of the same group at different times in their life (same people over x amount of years)

9. Genetic Influences

   • Heritability: "genius" is inherited - some studies show that there is a genetic influence on intelligence.
     • If parents have a certain level of intelligence there is a good chance their offspring will show similar levels when compared to those with lower levels of intelligence
   • Twin and Adoption Studies:
     • Identical twins raised together had higher score correlation than when they were raised differently. Fraternal twins and siblings raised together showed less correlation which shows genetic influence

10. Bias in Intelligence

    • Two meanings of bias: predicting behaviour for some groups and detecting performance differences based on cultural experiences
      • Biased question: detecting how a saucer goes with a cup - answers vary with upbringing
    • Stereotype threat: self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on negative stereotypes
      • e.g. Math tests: women do worse when expected, while they do equally well when similar results expected when compared to men

11. Extremes: Low and High Ends

    • Low Extreme: Individuals with intellectual disability (limited mental ability) have 2 criteria: difficulty adapting to normal living and a low IQ score
    • Down syndrome is an example of a disorder that be considered an intellectual disability depending on the severity
    • High Extreme: Individuals considered "gifted" who had high IQ scores and were unusually academically successful
      • People who usually fall under this category became doctors, scientists, lawyers etc. for example Jean Piaget the famous developmental psychologist

12. Emotional Intelligence

    • Using
      • Proper usage of emotions to promote adaptive and creative thinking
    • Perceiving
      • Recognizing emotions in different media: faces, stories, music
    • Understanding
      • Predicting how emotions can change and mix together
    • Managing
      • Knowing how and when to express emotions
    • A social intelligence: having the ability of knowing how to act and successfully manage a social situation e.g. consoling a grieving friend or managing a conflict

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