Chapter 10 Intelligence and Mental Abilities

1. Chapter 10Intelligence and Mental Abilities

2. Intelligence Intelligence • Is Intelligence One General Ability or Several Specific Abilities? • Intelligence and Creativity • Emotional Intelligence • Is Intelligence Neurologically Measurable?

3. Assessing Intelligence • The Origins of Intelligence Testing • Modern Tests of Mental Abilities • Principles of Test Construction The Dynamics of Intelligence • Stability or Change? • Extremes of Intelligence

4. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence • Twin and Adoption Studies • Heritability • Environmental Influences • Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores • The Question of Bias

5. Think-Ink-Share • Find a partner in ANOTHER GROUP and COMPLETE and DISCUSS the following prompt: • Intelligence is _______________. Smart people are ___________________.

6. Discussion: • Tests are a part of your everyday life. Some of them even help decide your future choices (ACT) • Questions: • What makes a good test? • How do we make sure the test in reliable? • How do we make sure the test is valid? • Why is this important?

7. Discussion • Have you ever met anyone who is not very street smart, but does very well in school? • Would your regard this person as intelligent?

8. Big Bang Theory • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpRkj6SwhvI

9. 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. In research studies, intelligence is whatever the intelligence test measures. This tends to be “school smarts.”

10. 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. Athleticism, like intelligence, is many things

11. General Intelligence Spearman proposed that general intelligence (g) is linked to many clusters that can be analyzed by factor analysis. For example, people who do well on vocabulary examinations do well on paragraph comprehension examinations, a cluster that helps define verbal intelligence. Other factors include a spatial ability factor, or a reasoning ability factor.

12. Contemporary Intelligence Theories Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) supports the 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.

13. Howard Gardner Gardner proposes eight types of intelligences and speculates about a ninth one — existential intelligence. Existential intelligence isthe ability to think about the question of life, death and existence.

14. Take a MI Test

15. 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).

16. Intelligence and Creativity Creativity is the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable. It correlates somewhat with intelligence. Expertise: A well-developed knowledge base. Imaginative Thinking: The ability to see things in novel ways. A Venturesome 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.

17. Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand, and use emotions (Salovey and others, 2005). The test of emotional intelligence measures overall emotional intelligence and its four components.

18. Emotional Intelligence: Components

19. PSYCH GIGGLES

20. Emotional Intelligence: Criticism 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.

21. Assessing Intelligence Psychologists define intelligence testing as a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with others using numerical scores.

22. History of Intelligence Tests: • Francis Galton – Measurement of Psychosocial Performance (Darwin’s cousin) • He believed that people with excellent physical abilities are better adapted for survival  highly intelligent

23. Francis Galton: cont. • How did he measure this? • 1. Strength • 2. Reaction time • 3. Sensitivity to pain • 4. Weight discrimination • Problem: How does this correlate with reasoning ability?

24. Alfred Binet Alfred Binet and his colleague Théodore Simon practiced a more modern form of intelligence testing by developing questions that would predict children’s future progress in the Paris school system.

25. Lewis Terman In the US, Lewis Terman adapted Binet’s test for American school children and named the test the Stanford-Binet Test. The following is the formula of Intelligence Quotient (IQ), introduced by William Stern:

26. David Wechsler Wechsler developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and later the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), an intelligence test for school-aged children.

27. WAIS WAIS measures overall intelligence and 11 other aspects related to intelligence that are designed to assess clinical and educational problems.

28. Online IQ tests • http://www.queendom.com/

29. Mensa Test

30. Think-Ink-Share • Number students off 1-4 • Create Intelligence test questions with a Partner. • Write 5-10 questions • Focus on your age group • You have 5 minutes • Group Discussion

31. T-I-S Debrief • Do questions seem reliable and valid? • Can most students answer the questions? • Are the questions culturally biased? • What kind of abilities do the do the questions measure? (i.e. Academic, performance etc)

32. Principles of Test Construction For a psychological test to be acceptable it must fulfill the following three criteria: Standardization Reliability Validity

33. Standardization Standardizing a test involves administering the test to a representative sample of future test takers in order to establish a basis for meaningful comparison.

34. Normal Curve Standardized tests establish a normal distribution of scores on a tested population in a bell-shaped pattern called the normal curve.

35. Reliability A test is reliable when it yields consistent results. To establish reliability researchers establish different procedures: Split-half Reliability: Dividing the test into two equal halves and assessing how consistent the scores are. Test-Retest Reliability: Using the same test on two occasions to measure consistency.

36. What Makes A Good Test - Reliability • If a test in reliable, we should obtain the same score no matter where, when, or how many times we take it • Types of Reliability: • 1. test-retest – take the test 2X (familiarity) • 2. Split half- compare evens and odds • 3. Alternative form – different versions are compared • Note – if the same people took both exams and got the same score = high interrater reliability

37. Validity Reliability of a test does not ensure validity. Validity of a test refers to what the test is supposed to measure or predict. Content Validity: Refers to the extent a test measures a particular behavior or trait. Predictive Validity: Refers to the function of a test in predicting a particular behavior or trait.

38. What Makes A Good Test: Validity • Validity – is the test measuring or predicting what it’s supposed to? • Example: Class test that doesn’t test what you’ve talked about in class • Five types of validity: • 1. Face • 2. Content • 3. Criterion • 4. Predictive • 5. Construct

39. Face Validity: • Face validity – a measure of the extent to which the content of the test measures all of the knowledge or skills that are supposed to be included on the test- According to the test takers • Example: You expect that 8-10% of the Cognition material should be on the AP Test

40. Content Validity: • Content Validity – same as face validity except “according to the experts. • Example: Tests are completed by experts and sample populations to make sure that they are measuring what they are supposed to

41. Criterion Related Validity: • Criterion Related Validity – How does the test correlate with other tests being given? • Example: Do Mrs. Stewart’s tests compare to the AP Psych test given in May?

42. Predictive Validity: • Predictive Validity – Does the test predict future success? • Example: High ACT = success in college • Push for “College Readiness” in secondary school and reform

43. Construct Validity: • Construct Validity – Does the test measure the specific construct / behavior it is supposed to? • This is arguably the most important type of validity

44. Extremes of Intelligence A valid intelligence test divides two groups of people into two extremes: the mentally retarded (IQ 70) and individuals with high intelligence (IQ 135). These two groups are significantly different.

45. High Intelligence Contrary to popular belief, people with high intelligence test scores tend to be healthy, well adjusted, and unusually successful academically.

46. Mental Retardation Mentally retarded individuals required constant supervision a few decades ago, but with a supportive family environment and special education they can now care for themselves.

47. Mental Retardation (cont.) • Savant Performance- a person with mental retardation display exceptional skills in areas other than general intelligence • Skills could include: calculating large numbers, determining day of the week over centuries, musical instruments

48. Savant Clip

49. Flynn Effect In the past 60 years, intelligence scores have risen steadily by an average of 27 points. This phenomenon is known as the Flynn effect.

50. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence No other topic in psychology is so passionately followed as the one that asks the question, “Is intelligence due to genetics or environment?”