Intelligence

What makes us intelligentOr

Not so intelligent

Intelligence

• The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to a new situation

• Is socially constructed thus…

Can be culturally specific.

According to this definition, are both Einstein and Ruth intelligent?

Is Intelligence one thing or Several

different abilities?

• To find out scientist use FACTOR

ANALSYSIS:

– A statistical procedure that identifies

clusters of related items on a test

– Charles Spearman used FA to

discover his g or (general

intelligence).

• He saw using FA that doing well in

one area of a test predicted that you

will do well in another

Jack Bauer is good at torturing, bomb defusing, shooting, figuring out evil plots and saving the country (and he is good looking). Is there anything he cannot do?

Are there multiple intelligences?

• Howard Gardner (1943- ) disagreed with

Spearman’s g and instead cameup with the

concept of multiple intelligences

• He came up with the idea by

studying savants �A condition

where a person

has limited

mental abilities

but is

exceptional in

one area

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Linguistic

Logical-Mathematical

Visual-Spatial

Musical

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Linguistic

Logical-Mathematical

Visual-Spatial

Musical

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

• Often measured on IQ tests with reading comprehension and vocabulary tests

Naturalistic

Visual-Spatial

Musical

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Linguistic

Logical-Mathematical� Often measured on IQ tests

with analogies, math

problems and logic problems

Logical-Mathematical

Musical

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Visual-Spatial

Linguistic

� Ability to form mental images

of objects and think about

their relationships in space

(Geometry, reading a map)

Logical-Mathematical

Visual-Spatial

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Musical

Linguistic

� Ability to perceive and create

patterns of rhythms and

pitches

Logical-Mathematical

Visual-Spatial

Musical

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Linguistic

� Ability for controlled

movement and coordination

(balance, strength, endurance)

Logical-Mathematical

Visual-Spatial

Musical

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Interpersonal

Linguistic

� Ability to understand other people’s emotions, motives and actions (listening, cooperation, sensitivity to others)

Logical-Mathematical

Visual-Spatial

Musical

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Naturalistic

Intrapersonal

Linguistic

� Ability to know oneself and to

develop a sense of identity

Logical-Mathematical

Visual-Spatial

Musical

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal • Appreciate nature, ability to work with nature and animalsNaturalistic

Linguistic

Sternberg’s comes along and simplifies Gardner

Robert Sternberg (1949- )

• Analytical (academic, problem

solving, analyzing, comparing,

evaluating, IQ tests)

• Creative (generating novel ideas,

inventing, designing)

• Practical (required for everyday

tasks where multiple solutions

exist, street smarts)

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

• The ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions

• Some studies show EQ to be a greater predictor for future success than IQ.

Intelligence Testing

Intelligence Testing

• Play “Pros and Cons of Intelligence

Tests” (6:29) Segment #17 from

Psychology: The Human Experience.

Origins of Intelligence testing

• Intelligence Test

– a method of assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them to those of others, using numerical scores

• Alfred Binet (1857-1911)

– Developer of the first test to classify

children’s abilities using the concept of

mental age

– Mental age

• The chronological age that

corresponds to the difficulty of the

questions a child can answer

• Child who does as well as the

average 8-year-old is said to have

a mental age of 8

• Lewis Terman (1877-1956)

–Adapted Binet’s tests for use in the

United States as the Stanford-Binet

intelligence test

–The test reported intelligence as a

calculated IQ score.

• Side note: Terman promoted use of

intelligence testing to encourage or

discourage people from reproducing

• Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

– IQ = (MA/CA) X 100

– On contemporary tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

– Works great for children, but not for adults

• A 50 yr old does as well as a 25 yr old

would have an IQ of 50?

– Technically there is no longer an intelligence quotient, but we still use the term IQ.

Assessing Intelligence

• Achievement Tests

– A test designed to

assess what a person

has learned

• Classroom test at

the end of a unit

�Aptitude Tests

�A test designed to

predict a person’s

future

performance

�Aptitude is the

capacity to learn

oACT and SAT

Assessing Intelligence

• David Wechsler (1896-1981)

–Wechsler intelligence scales

• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

• WAIS (most widely used today)

–Includes 11 subtests

–Gives overall intelligence score, but also separate verbal and performance (nonverbal) scores

Assessing Intelligence:Sample items from the wais

From Thorndike and Hagen, 1977

VERBAL

General Information Similarities Arithmetic ReasoningVocabularyComprehensionDigit Span

PERFORMANCE

Picture Completion Picture ArrangementBlock DesignObject AssemblyDigit-Symbol Substitution

How do we construct Intelligence tests?

Tests must be:

• Standardized

• Reliable

• Valid

Assessing Intelligence

• Standardization

– Test must be pre-tested to a

representative sample of

people

– Form a normal distribution

• Normal Curve (Normal distribution/Bell Curve)

– The symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes

– Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes

The Normal Curve

• Performance on IQ scores has steadily

increased over generations

• Known as the Flynn Effect

– Environmental factors?

• Reduction in

malnutrition

• Access to

schooling

• Technological

advances

Assessing Intelligence

• Reliability

– The extent to which a test yields consistent

results over time

– Assessed by consistency of scores on:

• Two halves of the test (split-half)

• Alternate forms of a test

• Retesting

• Validity

– The extent to which a test measures or

predicts what it is supposed to

Assessing Intelligence

• Content Validity

–The extent to which a test samples the

behavior of interest

• Driving test that samples driving tasks

• Criterion

–Behavior (such as college grades) that a

test (such as the SAT) is designed to

predict

–The measure used in defining whether the

test has predictive validity

Assessing Intelligence

• Predictive Validity

–Success with which a test predicts the

behavior it is designed to predict

–Assessed by computing the correlation

between test scores and the criterion

behavior

–Also called criterion-related validity

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).

• Neurological speed is

also a bit quicker.

does intelligence change over time?

•By age 3, a child’s IQ

can predict adolescent

IQ scores.

•Depends on the type of

intelligence, crystallized

or fluid.

(fluid = flexibility)(crystallized = concrete)

Extremes of intelligence

• Akrit Jaswal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_eAkdtYa

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