Intelligence 1 Definition and History a Definiton of Intelligence i 50 experts concluded 1997 Intelligence is the ability to direct one s thinking adapt to one s circumstances and learn from one s experiences ii Intelligence tests can be and have been manipulated to prejudicial ends Goddard and Ellis Island 1920s 1 Goddard developed tests to indicate where or not someone was feebleminded 2 Feebleminded groups were subjected to immigration restricitons jews Hungarians Italians Russians and states passed laws requiring sterilization of mental defectives b History of Intelligence Testing i The logic of intelligence testing 1 Intelligence tests are not like thermometers a Heat mercury level 2 Intelligence should predict performance in important life domains getting good grades becoming a leader earning a large income inventing the microprocessor 3 Intelligence intelligence tasks good life outcomes ii Binet and Simon wanted to idenrify students who were lagging behind their peers in school 1 Teachers might disproportionally select poor children so they needed an objective measure 2 The test should assess aptitude for learning independently of piror education achievement 3 The test included logic problems remembering words copying pictures making rhymes a When anyone has offended you and ask you to excuse him what ought you to do iii Lewis Terman The Intelligence Quotient 1 A statistice obtained by dividing a person s mental age by the person s physical age and then multiplying the quotient by 100 a A 10 year old whose score is the same as an average 8 year old would receive a score of 80 i 8 10 100 80 b A 6 year old child whose score is the same as an average 10 year old child would receive a score of 167 i 10 6 X 100 167 2 In adulthood the comparison of mental age to actual age doesn t make much sense 3 Deviation IQ a statistic obtained by dividing a person s test score by the average test score of people in the same age group and then multiplying the quotient by 100 a Standard Deviation of 15 b Does not allow comparisons between different age groups 2 Current Assessments of Intelligence a Stanford Binet and WAIS i Stanford Binet based on Terman Stanford and Binet Simon ii WAIS The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale iii Sample items from the WAIS 1 Vocabulary 2 Information 3 Letter number sequencing iv Matrix Reasoning Which of the four symbols at the bottom goes in the empty cell v Comprehension vi Why do people put food in a refrigerator vii Why are people required to have driving licenses viii What does it mean to say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush b Predictive power of Stanford Binet WAIS i Correlates with grades occupational status money health longevity c The Structure and Number of Intelligences i Hierarchies of Intelligence 1 Spearman s g a general intelligence ability that applies across domains 2 But do people who excel at one task excel at everything video 3 Spearman s s a specific ability that applies to specific tasks ii Gardner s multiple intelligences 1 Is the g notion of intelligence too broad a Would Derek be considered intelligent 2 Identified 8 distinct types of intelligence 3 8 types of intelligence a Ligistic b Logical mathematical c Spatial d Musical e Bodily kinesthetic f Interpersonal g Intrapersonal h Naturalist discerning patterns 4 Two others a Spiritual achieving a spiritual understanding of life and the universe b Existential understanding the meaning of existence 5 Gardner s typology does not have much empirical support but they offer a useful theoretical perspective a Why can t intelligence incorporate all of these different skills that people may or may not have iii Emotional Intelligence 1 The ability to reason about emotions and to use emotions to enhance reasoning 2 Associated with social skills of friends quality of romantic and workplace relationships life satisfaction iv Sternberg s Triarchic Theory 1 Meant to assess successful intelligence a The ability to balance the needs to adapt to shape and select environments in order to attain success within one s socio cultural context 2 Three components a Analytical Analyzing evaluating contrasting critiquing The skills typically measured by intelligence tests b Creative creaing exploring discovering inventing imagining supposing c Practical applying using implementing putting knowledge into practice 3 Intelligence and Genetics a Twin Studies i Monozygotic twins MZ share 100 of their genes identical ii Dizygotic Twins DZ Share 50 of their genes fraternal iii But the environment also plays an important role and genetic does not mean unchangeable 1 The Flynn effect The average intelligence test score rises 3 each year 2 Today we score 15 IQ points higher on average than 50 years ago a Probably due to better nutrition parenting and schooling 3 Genes may determine the range but environment determines the exact point in the range where a person s IQ will be 4 Groups and intelligence i One of the biggest controversies in all of psychology ii The most controversial claim of all differences in geners are the reason that some groups perform better than others on intelligence tests b Three relevant claims i Genes influence performance on intelligence tests 1 This clain is not controversial and the evidence in facor is clear as we have just seen ii Groups differe on intelligence tests 1 Women Men semantic information blah blah blah blah 2 Men women Visual spatial memory certain motor skills spatiotemporal responding fluid reasoning in abstract mathematical and scientific domains iii Groups differ on intelligence tests because they differ in their genes 1 No evidence for this a Intelligence scores do not correlate with of European vs African American genes b African American and mixed race students have equivalent IQs when raised in middle class families 2 Sometimes there are important genetic differences between groups a Ex Many African Americans have genes that make them less responsive than Whites to Hepatitis C Drugs b But non have been identified related to intelligence 3 Why do groups differ a Originally Intelligence questions were potentially culturally specific but it is harder to find blatant cultural bias on items used today b The environment i On average African American children have lower birth weights poorer diets higher rates of chronic illness poorer medical care attend worse schools than whites ii These factors could easily account for the 10 point IQ difference 4 Testing Situation a