Chapter 11 pt. 1: Measuring “Intelligence”

Chapter 11 pt. 1: Measuring “Intelligence”

Measuring Intelligence • Intelligence Tests: tests for assessing a person’s mental abilities and comparing them with the abilities of other people, by means of numerical scores.

Origins of Intelligence Tests • Alfred Binet, a french psychologist, is most often considered to be the pioneer of the intelligence testing movement. • What was Binet’s purpose for developing his tests? • Assumed children follow the same course of intellectual development, but some development faster and slower then others

Alfred Binet and Intelligence Tests • Binet’s looked to identify a child’s: • Mental Age: chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. • A child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8. • Binet did not believe his test measured inborn intelligence. • Tests predicted how well the children handle schoolwork • Purpose was to ID children who need help

Lewis Terman and Intelligence Tests • Lewis Terman, an American psychologist at Stanford, adapted Binet’s test in an attempt to measure what he thought was inherited intelligence. • Stanford-Binet: refers to the widely used revision of Binet’s original intelligence test.

IQ Tests • In an attempt to measure inherited intelligence, tests developed the “IQ.” • IQ: (intelligence quotient): defined originally the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 • IQ = ma/ca x 100) • Not used today; not accurate for adults • on contemporary tests it is the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

Eugenics

Number of scores Sixty-eight percent of people score within 15 points above or below 100 Ninety-five percent of all people fall within 30 points of 100 55 70 85 100 115 130 145 Wechsler intelligence score The Normal Curve

“Intelligence” is Hard to Define • Intelligence is often defined as the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. • Intelligence is not a “thing” it is an abstract concept…an IQ is simply a score on an intelligence test. • What types of things are usually NOT measured on an IQ test that might illustrate “intelligence?”

Is Intelligence a Singular Ability? • To measure general ability within specific mental abilities a statistical method is used called: • Factor Analysis: used to identify clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one’s total. • Ex: People who do well on vocabulary items also usually do well on paragraph comprehension…which are both related to the verbal intelligence factor.

Charles Spearman and The G-Factor • General intelligence (g): Spearman’s belief that there was a factor that underlied specific mental abilities and was therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test. • Specific intelligences tended to be positively correlated.

Broadening Theory of Intelligence • Savant Syndrome: a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill. • Many are autistic • 4/5 are male • How does this relate to the g-factor?

Howard Gardner and Multiple Intelligences • From a biological point of view, Gardner has noted that brain damage often may diminish some abilities but not others. • Gardner argues humans do not have an intelligence but instead multiple intelligences which are relatively independent of the others.

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences • Gardner argues there are 8 intelligences: • Verbal Linguistic 5. Auditory-musical 2. Logical-mathematical 6. Interpersonal • Visual Spatial 7. Intrapersonal • Body-kinesthetic 8. Naturalistic What do traditional IQ tests measure?

Robert Sternberg and “Successful Intelligence” • Sternberg looked to overcome the fact that although IQ tests predicted school tests relatively well, they did less well predicting vocational success. • Sternberg’s 3 Aspects of Intelligence: 1. Analytical Intelligence: (academic problem solving) 2. Creative Intelligence: (reacting to new situations and creating new ideas) 3. Practical Intelligence: (often required for everyday tasks, “common sense”)

More “Intelligences?” • Social Intelligence • the know-how involved in comprehending social situations and managing oneself successfully • Emotional Intelligence -ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions -critical part of social intelligence

Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS) Measures how ppl: 1. Perceive emotions 2. Understand emotions 3. Regulate emotions

Intelligence and Creativity • Creativity- ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable 5 Parts • Expertise • Imaginative Thinking Skills • Venturesome Personality • Intrinsic Motivation • A Creative Environment

Remote Associates Test • Call Pay Line ____________ • End Burning Blue ____________ • Man Hot Sure ____________ • Man Wheel High ____________ • Blue Cake Cottage ____________ • Motion Poke Down __________ • Stool Powder Ball ____________

Phone • Book • Fire • Chair • Cheese • Slow • Foot

Is Intelligence Neurologically Measurable? • .15 correlation between head size and intelligence score. • .44 correlation between brain size and intelligence score. • What all effects the size of your brain?

Is Intelligence Neurologically Measurable? • Einstein’s brain was 15% larger in the parietal lobe’s lower region…center for mathematical processing and spatial information. • But smaller in some other regions.

Is Intelligence Neurologically Measurable? • Brain Glucose Consumption: high performers on tasks consume LESS glucose when performing cognitive tasks.

Mask Stimulus Question: Long side on left or right? Is Intelligence Neurologically Measurable? • Perceptual Speed: People who can perceive the stimulus very quickly tend to score somewhat higher on intelligence tests

Chapter 11 pt. 1: Measuring “Intelligence”