Module 25

INTELLIGENCE

In your journals…• I

n your opinion, does your overall "intelligence" or motivation play a

bigger role in your academic success in school? Does your environment influence your academic success? Explain.

•http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/w1_interactive1.html

What is intelligence?How can we measure/test it?Are their ethnic/gender differences?

JUST TO THINK ABOUT…

True or False•T

here may be more than one kind of intelligence.•T

wo children can answer exactly the same items on an intelligence test correctly, yet one may have an above-average IQ and the other may have a below-average IQ.

•When we think we will not succeed at something, we may not try as hard as we can.

•Intellectually gifted people are by definition highly creative.

•Preschool programs have a long-term effect on the children who attend them.

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=astISOttCQ0

Does each of us have an inborn general mental capacity?

Can we quantify this capacity as a meaningful number?

History•F

rench government required ALL children to attend school

•Some incapable of benefiting from “regular” school

•Didn’t trust teachers’ subjective judgements

•1904, commission: Binet & Simon

Binet & Simon•A

ssumed all children followed some intellectual development, but some were “retarded” in development

•Set out to measure “mental age” (MA)

•Purpose: identify children needing special attention

•Binet feared assessments would limit/label children

Terman (1911)•B

inet’s test worked poorly for children in the USA•C

hanged/re-standardized test and renamed it Stanford-Binet

•Promoted widespread use of intelligence testing

•“ultimately result in curtailing the reproduction of feeble-mindedness, and in the elimination of an enormous amount of crime, pauperism, and industrial efficiency.”

Stern•D

erived intelligence quotient (IQ)

•IQ = mental age/chronological age X 100

•100 is the average score

•Works well with children but not adults

•2/3 of people between 85-115

What is intelligence?•I

Q is not a “thing” (can’t view an abstract, immaterial concept as if it were a concrete thing)

•Socially constructed concept

•Cultures deem “intelligent” whatever attributes/characteristics enable success

•Intelligence: abilities to learn from experience, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with others

IS IT A SINGLE OVERALL ABILITY???

Different Views…•1

800s, Franz Joseph Gall - phrenology: relationship between shape of skull and mental capabilities

•Charles Spearman helped develop factor analysis

•Factor analysis – enables researchers to identify clusters of test items that measure a common ability

•Spearman believed in general intelligence – g factor

•Increase in one intelligence, increase in another

Thurston• identified 8 clusters of “primary mental

abilities”:1. Visual & spatial2. Perceptual speed3. Numerical ability4. Verbal reasoning5. Memory6. Word fluency7. Deductive reasoning8. Inductive reasoning

Sternberg• Different kinds of intelligences

work together1. Analytic – ability to solve

problems2. Creative – ability to deal with

new situations3. Practical – ability to accomplish

everyday tasks

Gardner

• Intelligence comes in different packages; intellectual “potentials”

• Each intelligence is based on different areas of the brain

1. Linguistic 2. Logical-mathematical3. Visual-spatial4. Bodily-kinesthetic5. Musical-rhythmical 6. Interpersonal7. Intrapersonal8. Naturalistic

Review1. What is the “g factor”? Whose idea was this?

2. What is a major difference between the theories of Thurston and Gardner?

3. What was phrenology?

4. Who developed the IQ quotient?

5. What is the formula for IQ?

6. Why were IQ tests first developed?

Emotional Intelligence• Goleman – why are smart people not always

successful?

1. Self-awareness

2. Mood management

3. Self-motivation

4. Impulse control

5. People skills

Creativity• Ability to produce new ideas that are novel

and valuable• 5 components:1. Expertise2. Imaginative thinking skills3. Venturesome personality4. Intrinsic motivation5. Creative environment

Not creative BUT want to be??No worries…

Research offers some advice…

1.Develop YOUR expertise

2.Allow time for incubation

3.Set aside time for the mind to roam freely

4.Experience other cultures and ways of thinking

Assessment•A

ptitude – predict ability to learn new skills (college entrance exams)

•Achievement – reflects what you have learned (current skills – chapter tests)

•Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV)

•Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

- 11 subtests

- overall intelligence AND separates verbal/performance (nonverbal)

- large differences btw verbal/nonverbal = LD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8uUrxfXpJ8

Important Concepts•S

tandardization – process of defining meaningful scores relative to a pretested group

•Reliability – yields consistent results

•Test-retest reliability – comparing scores earned by the same person on the same test taken at different times

•Validity – extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

The TWO extremes…•I

ntelligence scores below 70 – mental retardation•L

ow test score AND difficulty in adapting to the demands of life•1

% of population meet both criteria•M

ild profound•M

ales outnumber females by 50%•M

ost, with support, can live in mainstream society•C

auses – brain damage, difficulties during childbirth, genetic disorders or abnormalities (Down Syndrome)

•Savant Syndrome*

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oZaCrkCxu8

(musical talent)

Figure 9.9The prevalence and severity of mental retardation. The overall prevalence of mental retardation is roughly 1 to 3% of the general population. The vast majority (85%) of the retarded population is mildly retarded. Only about 15% of the retarded population falls into the subcategories of moderate, severe, or profound retardation.

Giftedness•I

Q scores 130 or above•P

ossess outstanding talent or to show the potential for performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment compared to other people

•Tracking: separates “gifted” from “ungifted” students

- self-fulfilling prophecy

- low self-esteem

- widens achievement gap

Figure 9.27Estimated prevalence of psychological disorders among people who achieved creative eminence. Ludwig (1995) studied biographies of 1004 people who had clearly achieved eminence in one of 18 fields and tried to determine whether each person suffered from any specific mental disorders in his or her lifetime. The data summarized here show the prevalence rates for depression and for a mental disorder of any kind for four fields where creativity is often the key to achieving eminence. As you can see, the estimated prevalence of mental illness was extremely elevated among eminent writers, artists, and composers (but not natural scientists) in comparison to the general population, with depression accounting for much of this elevation.

Review•1

. What is phrenology?•2

. What is the IQ score for mental retardation? Giftedness?

•3. What is your ACTUAL age also known as?

•4. Thurston theorized that we have ____ _________ __________ _______.

•5. What is the ability to develop novel ideas?

•6. Who theorized emotional intelligence? Why?

Figure 9.12Studies of IQ similarity. The graph shows the mean correlations of IQ scores for people of various types of relationships, as obtained in studies of IQ similarity. Higher correlations indicate greater similarity. The results show that greater genetic similarity is associated with greater similarity in IQ, suggesting that intelligence is partly inherited (compare, for example, the correlations for identical and fraternal twins). However, the results also show that living together is associated with greater IQ similarity, suggesting that intelligence is partly governed by environment (compare, for example, the scores of siblings reared together and reared apart). (Data from McGue et al., 1993)

Genetic Influences•5

studies, 63 sets of identical twins reared together = virtually as similar as if the same person took the same test

•Fraternal twins are much less similar

•Identical twins reared differently – similar scores

•Fraternal twins score more alike than other siblings

•Adopted children’s scores are MORE similar to biological parents’

•Hereditability: extent to which genetic factors can explain differences in traits from person to person

Differences•C

urve for whites – 100•C

urve for blacks – 85•H

ispanics between 85-100•S

AT results are similar•R

acial gaps – environmental?•B

IAS? – self-fulfilling prophecy (women/blacks)•D

ISCRIMINATION? •G

ENDER?

Figure 9.18Asian Americans’ academic success. On various measures of educational success, such as the high school graduation rates shown here, the performance of Asian American students tends to exceed that of other ethnic groups in the United States. More research is needed on the matter, but most theorists believe that cultural factors are responsible for Asian Americans’ academic prowess. (Data from Sue & Okazaki, 1990)

Environmental Influences•E

nvironment that siblings share doesn’t influence aptitude, but significantly influences achievement

•No environmental recipe for “superbabies” beyond normal exposure to sights, sounds, and speech

•Preschool & Head-Start Programs (Zigler)

- enhance chances for success

- short-term cognitive gains

- increases school readiness

- decreases likelihood of repeating a grade or being placed in special ed

• Most effective early intervention programs:

1. Begin earlier/continue longer

2. More intensive (more days/hours)

3. Provide children with direct educational experiences

4. Offer support program for maintaining positive attitudes and behaviors

Rise in intelligence during school year drop over the summer

Should school be year round?

MORE SCHOOLING HIGHER INTELLIGENCE

Do our environments encourage these differences?

IS THIS EVOLUTIONARY?

Conclusions•E

nables schools to recognize who might benefit from early intervention

•Doesn’t measure a person’s worth

•Reflects only ONE aspect of personal competence

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS