Chapter 11 p.334-340

Intelligence

What makes us smart?Or not so smart?

How do we measure intelligence?

• Intelligence test: a method for assessing aptitudes and comparing them to other’s numerical scores.

Francis Galton

• Founded the eugenics movement in an attempt to prove all human traits are inherited.

• Came up with the idea that intelligence can be measured quantitatively.

Brain Size and IntelligenceIs 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.

How do we Assess Intelligence?

• Binet and Simon created concept of mental age (what a person of a particular age should know).

• They discovered that by discovering someone’s mental age they can predict future performance.

• Hoped they could use test to help children, not label them.

Terman and his IQ Test

• Used Binet’s research to construct the modern day IQ test called the Stanford-Binet Test.

• IQ=Mental age/Chronological age X 100.

• A 8 year old has a mental age of 10, what is her IQ?

• A 12 year old has the mental age of 9, what is his IQ?

• A boy has the mental age of 10 and an IQ of 200, how old is he?

Intelligence

• The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

• 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 scientists use FACTOR ANALYSIS (FA):A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test.

• Charles Spearman used FA to discovery 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.

Multiple Intelligences

• Howard Gardner disagreed with Spearman’s g and instead came up with the concept of multiple intelligences.

• Savants - a condition where a person has limited mental ability but is exceptional in one area.

• Kim Peek - Savant

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

• Visual/Spatial • Verbal/Linguistic • Logical/Mathematical• Bodily/Kinesthetic • Musical/Rhythmic • Interpersonal • Intrapersonal • Natural

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

• First called social intelligence.

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

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

Quiz question

Lewis Terman’s widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test was the:

a. WISC.

b. WAIS.

c. Stanford-Binet.

d. Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Types of Tests

Aptitude• Measure ability or

potential.

Achievement• Tests that measure

what you have learned.

Wechsler Tests

• More common way to give IQ tests….does not use the formula but uses the same scoring system.

• WAIS• WISC• WPPSI

How do we construct Intelligence tests?

Tests must be:

• Standardized• Reliable

• Valid

Standardization• The test must be pre-tested to a

representative sample of people and• Form a normal distribution or bell

curve

Flynn Effect

Reliability

• The extent which a test yields consistent results over time.

• Split halves or test–retest method.

ValidityThe extent to which a test measures

what it is supposed to measure.• Content Validity: does the test

sample a behavior of interest

• Predictive Validity: does the test predict future behavior.

Criterion related validity

Quiz question 2

Aptitude tests are to _____ as achievement tests are to ____.

a. Current interests; past competence

b. Past competence; current interests

c. Current competence; future performance

d. Future performance; current competence

Does Intelligence Change Over Time? (p.348-352)

• By age 3, a child’s IQ can predict adolescent IQ scores.

• Depends on the type of intelligence, crystallized or fluid.

Extremes of Intelligence

• Akrit Jaswal - 7 year old surgeon

Robert Sternberg and his Triarchic Theory

• Most commonly accepted theory today.

• Three types of intelligence

1. Analytical2. Creative3. Practical

Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores

• The Bell curve is different for Whites v. Black.

• Math scores are different across genders and the highest scores are for Asian males.

Why?Nature or Nurture

Test Bias?

Tests do discriminate.But some argue that there sole

purpose is to discriminate.We have to look at the type of

discrimination.