Intelligence. Operational Definition. Huh? What s that mean? 1/8/2012. Chapter 10

Transcription

1 Chapter 10 Intelligence Operational Definition Intelligence individuals abilities to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by careful thought Huh? What s that mean? It means that intelligence is very hard to define and categorize Intelligence alone does not predict success or failure in a venture 1

2 Smart vs. smarts Some theories have intelligence as a single dimension, others see it as multifaceted Spearman s gfactor vs. Thurstone s seven factors Psychometric Approach Focuses on how well people do on standardized tests Achievement tests vs. Aptitude tests Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon developed the first intelligence tests to identify mentally retarded children in 1905 The First Tests Tried to find a child s mental age 2

3 Early IQ scores Mental age divided by Chronological Age times 100 Example of an 8-year old who scores like the average 10-year old 10 / 8 x 100 = 125 Not useful for adolescents or adults, not in use today The IQ Today Today, most tests are set at an average of 100, with a standard deviation of 15 This means that the majority of people score between (the normal range) Going to Extremes IQ tests can help determine where an individual falls along the normal curve in regards to their intelligence Tests can also help to identify people who are either mentally retarded or intellectually gifted 3

4 Stanford-Binet test Lewis Terman developed this test and normed it on a U.S. population Very popular, and is still in use today (in revised form) 4

5 Wechsler scales David Wechsler developed an IQ scale that measured both verbal and performance intelligences One of the most widely used scales today, for children, adolescents, and adults Cultural Influence Tests developed for and normed on one group may show a cultural bias against other groups Culture-fair tests try to do away with these problems, but are not hugely successful Why not? 5

6 Cultural Influence Cultural values and experiences, not just how a test is made, impact how we do on tests This includes stereotype threat If I do bad, it will confirm the stereotype! Happens frequently with African-Americans, low SES, women, and the elderly Dissecting Intelligence Many psychologists argue against against the psychometric approach Instead, they emphasize the strategies people use when arriving at a solution Triarchic Theory Robert Sternberg proposes that there are three basic aspects of intelligence Internal External Experiential 6

7 Internal analytical Most related to traditional IQ tests Forms of Intelligence Cont. External creative Experiential practical Help us to adapt to environment Domains of Intelligence Just because someone is intelligent in one situation or environment does not mean they are that way in every situation Anyone give me some examples? Theory of Multiple Intelligences Gardner proposed that we have many different types of intelligence Musical Bodily-kinesthetic Personal Visual / Spatial Verbal Logical / Mathematical 7

8 Emotional Intelligence The ability to identify your own and other people s emotions accurately, express your emotions clearly, and regulate emotions Low EQ can lead to numerous social difficulties such as not being able to read body language Smart genes Heredity plays a very important role in human intelligence The more closely related two people are, the higher the correlation between their IQs 8

9 The Question Why are differences in intelligence seen in certain groups on standardized IQ tests? Certain psychologists have proposed that it is due to genetic differences in intelligence WRONG! BAD SCIENTIST! BAD! Group Genetics There are approximately 3 billion nucleotides in the human genome All humans share 99.9% of them, leaving about 3 million that are different Over 90% of those differences occur among people of the same racial background (e.g., continents) Only 10%, or 300,000 of 3 billion, differ between races Stebbins (2006) 9

10 Group Genetics Individual scores on IQ greatly influenced by genetics, but no evidence for the same among groups Environment appears to account for most of the differences Gender Differences Overall, no differences among IQ scores; but there are subtle differences Women are higher on verbal abilities, tests on literature, spelling, writing Males are higher on visual-spatial tasks 10

11 Reasons? Could be an evolutionary adaptation for different kinds of tasks Men did the hunting Women did the foraging These differences are small, however, and seem to be shrinking A Smarter World Worldwide, intelligence has been increasing at the rate of about 3 points per decade Why? Better nutrition Increased urbanization More and better education More demanding jobs Raising a Genius Environmental enrichment has been found to increase IQ scores, while deprivation can hinder development The environment can also influence biology (not eating lead paint, for example) Cultural differences in beliefs about intelligence, standards, and values impact IQ scores greatly 11