PSY 2012 0004 Katie s Notes Chapter 9 Intelligence 9 1 Intelligence and Intelligence Tests What is intelligence Here are some attempts to define intelligence The mental abilities that enable one to adapt to shape or select one s environment The ability to deal with novel situations The ability to judge comprehend and reason The ability to understand and deal with people objects and symbols The ability to act purposefully think rationally and deal effectively with the environment Spearman s Psychometric Approach One of the earliest research studies in psychology was Charles Spearman s psychometric approach to intelligence based on the measurement of individual differences in performance To perform well on any test of mental ability he argued people need a general ability which he called g o To account for the fact that performances on various tasks do not correlate perfectly Spearman suggested that each task also requires a specific ability o Specific abilities s depend more on practice than innate talents on s abilities o There is evidence for genetic influences on g but not o Monarch theory of intelligence it included a dominant ability or monarch g that ruled over lesser abilities Analogy Most people who excel at running a 100 meter race also do well at the high jump and the long jump The reason for this high correlation is that all three events depend on the same leg muscles Analogy Another explanation for g is that we have several types of intelligence that correlate because they grow in the same ways Consider the lengths of three body parts the leg arm and index finger As a rule most people with a long leg also have a long arm and long index finger Although the three lengths correlate strongly they do not measure the same thing Amputating one of them would not affect the others Hierarchical Models of Intelligence Fluid intelligence the power of reasoning and using information o It includes the ability to perceive relationships solve unfamiliar problems and gain new knowledge o Reaches its peak before 20 remains steady for decades and then declines in old age Crystallized intelligence acquired skills and knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge in specific situations o Continues to increase as long as people are active and alert 1 PSY 2012 0004 Katie s Notes Example The ability to learn new words is an example of fluid intelligence and the words already learned are part of your crystallized intelligence Some researchers have described intelligence in terms of a hierarchy of a series of levels According to the view g consists of eight or more subtitles including o Fluid intelligence crystallized intelligence memory visual perception auditory perception retrieval fluency cognitive speed and processing speed Other researchers proposed a simpler hierarchy that consists of three major aspects o Verbal processing language perceptual processing dealing with vision and hearing and image rotation spatial relationships Gardner s Theory of Multiple Intelligences Multiple intelligences unrelated forms of intelligence consisting of language musical abilities logical and mathematical reasoning ability to recognize and classify objects body movement skills self control and self understanding and sensitivity to other people s social signals Garnder argues that people can be outstanding in one type of intelligence but not others Sternberg s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence Robert Sternberg proposed a Triarchic theory that deals with the three aspects of intelligence He tried to develop tests of encoding inferring mapping and so forth he found that all the o Cognitive processes o o Using intelligence in practical ways Identifying situations that require intelligence measures correlated fairly highly with each other o In other words he rediscovered g He argued that we have at least three types of intelligences o Analytical academic o Creative planning approaches to new problems o Practical actually doing something Table 9 1 Four theories of intelligence summary Theory Theorist Psychometric approach Charles Spearman Fluid and crystallized intelligence Raymond Cattell Multiple intelligences Howard Gardner Triarchic theory Robert Sternberg 2 Key ideas and terms g factor general reasoning ability s factor specific ability required for a given task Fluid intelligence solving unfamiliar problems Crystallized intelligence highly practiced skills Music social attentiveness dancing mathematics and all other skills that society values Analytical creative and practical intelligence PSY 2012 0004 Katie s Notes IQ Tests You want to tests aptitude the ability to learn or fluid intelligence rather than achievement what someone has already learned or crystallized intelligence o Aptitude leads to achievement and past achievement increases future ability to learn The original goal of intelligence tests was to identify the least capable children who could not learn from ordinary schooling Intelligence quotient IQ tests attempt to measure an individual s probable performance in school and similar settings o The term quotient dates from when IQ was determined by dividing mental age by chronological age and then multiplying by 100 o Mental age the average age of children who perform as well as this child o Chronological age the actual age or time since birth Example an 8 year old who performs like an average 10 year old has a mental age of 10 a chronological age of 8 and an IQ of 10 8 X 100 125 The Stanford Binet test This test that Binet and Simon designed was later modified for English speakers by Stanford o A child who answers correctly most of the age 8 items but not the age 9 items has a mental psychologists and published as the Stanford Binet IQ test The test s items are designed by age age of 8 Examples of Items more on page 320 of the textbook Age 6 8 10 Sample Test Item Here is a picture of a horse can you tell me what part of the horse is missing What should you do if you find a lost puppy Why should people be quiet in a library The Wechsler Tests Two IQ tests originally devised by David Wechsler and later modified by others o Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Fourth Edition WAIS IV o Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition WISC IV Like the Stanford Binet the tests are given one person at a time WISC is given to children up to age 16 WAIS is for everyone older The Stanford Binet and Wechsler tests are the most widely used IQ tests in the English language The test provides an