1 1 Intelligence Chapter 10 Psy 12000.003 My Brilliant Brain • Susan Polgar, Chess Champion • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VlGGM5WYZo • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95eYyyg1g5s 2 3 What is Intelligence? Intelligence (in all cultures) is the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use our knowledge to adapt to new situations. This is the conceptual definition. In research studies, intelligence is whatever the intelligence test measures. This tends to be “school smarts” and it tends to be culture-specific. This is the operational definition. 4 Conceptual Difficulties Psychologists believe that intelligence is a concept and not a thing. Unfortunately, it is treated like a thing…a real thing. When we think of intelligence as a trait (thing) we make an error called reification — viewing an abstract immaterial concept as if it were a concrete thing. 5 Controversies About Intelligence Despite general agreement among psychologists about the nature of intelligence, at least three controversies remain: Is intelligence a single overall ability or is it several specific abilities? With modern neuroscience techniques, can we locate and measure intelligence within the brain? Do between group differences in IQ scores (and distributions around the mean for each group) reflect real group differences in intelligence or are they artifacts of the testing instrument and procedure? 6 Intelligence: Ability or Abilities? Have you ever thought that because people’s mental abilities are so diverse, it may not be justifiable to label those abilities with only one word, intelligence? You may speculate that diverse abilities represent different kinds of intelligences. How can you test this idea?2 7 General Intelligence The idea that general intelligence (g) exists comes from the work of Charles Spearman (1863-1945) who helped develop the factor analysis approach in statistics. 8 General Intelligence Spearman proposed that general intelligence (g) is linked to many clusters that can be analyzed by factor analysis. Spearman, using an earlier approach to factor analysis, found that scores on all mental tests (regardless of the domain or how it was tested) tend to load on one major factor. Spearman suggested that these disparate scores are fueled by a common metaphorical “pool” of mental energy. He named this pool the general factor, or g (Spearman, 1904). 9 General Intelligence L. L. Thurstone, a critic of Spearman, analyzed his subjects NOT on a single scale of general intelligence, but on seven clusters of primary mental abilities, including: Word Fluency Verbal Comprehension Spatial Ability Perceptual Speed Numerical Ability Inductive Reasoning Memory 10 General Intelligence Later psychologists re-analyzed Thurstone’s data and found a weak relationship between these clusters, suggesting some evidence of a g factor. 11 Contemporary Intelligence Theories Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) supports Thurstone’s idea that intelligence comes in multiple forms. Gardner notes that brain damage may diminish one type of ability but not others. People with savant syndrome excel in abilities unrelated to general intelligence. 12 Savants Brainman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKk96kOAnLg&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vs6R5YZQ3c On Letterman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXG-1YLGAS0&feature=related Daniel Tammet, “Brainman”3 13 Howard Gardner Gardner proposes eight types of intelligences and speculates about a ninth one — existential intelligence. Existential intelligence is the ability to think about the question of life, death and existence. 14 Robert Sternberg Sternberg (1985, 1999, 2003) also agrees with Gardner, but suggests three intelligences rather than eight. Analytical Intelligence: Intelligence that is assessed by intelligence tests. Creative Intelligence: Intelligence that makes us adapt to novel situations, generating novel ideas. Practical Intelligence: Intelligence that is required for everyday tasks (e.g. street smarts). 15 Other Intelligences: Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand, and use emotions (Salovey and colleagues, 2005). The test of emotional intelligence measures overall emotional intelligence and its four components. Peter Salovey 16 Emotional Intelligence: Components Component Description Perceive emotion Recognize emotions in faces, music and stories Understand emotion Predict emotions, how they change and blend Manage emotion Express emotions in different situations Use emotion Utilize emotions to adapt or be creative http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bl_eq_quiz.htm 17 Emotional Intelligence: Criticisms 1. Gardner and others criticize the idea of emotional intelligence and question whether we stretch this idea of intelligence too far when we apply it to our emotions. 2. Sex differences draw into question whether the EQ test is sex biased. 18 Intelligence and Creativity Creativity is the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable. It correlates somewhat with intelligence. Factors associated with creativity: Expertise: A well-developed knowledge base. Imaginative Thinking: The ability to see things in novel ways. Adventuresome Personality: A personality that seeks new experiences rather than following the pack. Intrinsic Motivation: A motivation to be creative from within. A Creative Environment: A creative and supportive environment allows creativity to bloom.4 19 Is Intelligence Neurologically Measurable? Recent Studies indicate some correlation (about +.40) between brain size and intelligence. As brain size decreases with age, scores on verbal intelligence tests also decrease. Gray matter concentration in people with high intelligence. Get ready… 20 21 Long side on left or right? 22 Brain Function Studies of brain functions show that people who score high on intelligence tests perceive stimuli faster, retrieve information from memory quicker, and show faster brain response times. People with higher intelligence respond correctly and quickly to the above question. 23 Assessing Intelligence Psychologists define intelligence testing as a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with others using numerical scores. 24 Alfred Binet Alfred Binet and his colleague Théodore
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