Post on 31-Mar-2015
transcript
“Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other men, (b) like some other men, (c) like no other man.”
Henry Murray and Clyde Kluckhohn (1948) in Personality in Nature, Society, and Culture
“Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other men, (b) like some other men, (c) like no other man.”
Small group discussion— Find something that your whole group has is
common, something some of you have in common, something that makes each of you unique.
What kind of differences have you observed (or would you expect) in a typical classroom?
Individual Differences
Intelligence
Personality
Interests
Importance of physics class
Unimportant Slightly Neutral Slightly Important unimportant important
Entire physics class
Group differences in importance
Unimportant Slightly Neutral Slightly Important unimportant important
Other non-majors
Engineering majors
Physics majors
Personalized system of instruction
Group differences in PSI
Aptitude theory Aptitude-Treatment Interactions (ATI)
Adapting instruction to meet students’ individual characteristics improves outcomes
Intelligence
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Mental age/chronological age x 100 Mean is 100, 68% of population between 85
and 115, only 16% above 115
Correlates with academic achievement r=.50
Spearman’s theory
g
S S S S S
Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities Verbal comprehension Word fluency Number facility Spatial visualization Associative memory Perceptual speed Reasoning
General Intelligence
Gc(Crystallized)
Gf(Fluid)
Verbal Comprehension
NumericalAbility
Word fluency
SpatialRotations
PerceptualSpeed
Reasoning
Crystallized intelligence• Volume, depth and
breadth of knowledge in various domains
• Content knowledge specific to domains
• May be product of Gf• Efficiency in well-
practiced domains• Stable or increases with
age
Fluid Intelligence• Analytic problem-solving
abilities
• General ability applicable to new situations
• Efficiency in new domains
• Decreases with age
Gc and Gf tests
What month comes right before December?
What is the capital of France?
Who was Mark Twain? What's the difference
between a civil and criminal court trial?
When is Gf or Gc more important?
What does intelligence predict? School achievement (r=.50) Verbal intelligence scores predict reading
achievement (r=.83) General intelligence predicts career success (r=.41) Work evaluations (r=.50)
Occupational status, changes in occupational status, acquisition of knowledge in occupational settings, and income
Aptitude-Treatment Interactionswith Intelligence Speed of learning and amount of practice required Amount of structure needed, scaffolding
Personality traits Enduring tendencies to behave in a certain way
across situations Big Five personality traits
Example personality questions
Rate each of the adjectives below as they apply to you on a scale 1 to 9, extremely inaccurate to accurate
TalkativeSympatheticOrderlyEnviousDeep
Openness to Experience
Conservatism
Big Five Personality Traits
Imaginative, intellectual, variety-seeking
Down-to-earth, prefers routines
Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness
Conservatism
Spontaneity
Big Five Personality Traits
Organized, planful, dependable
Pleasure-seeking, undependable
Extroversion
Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness
Introversion
Conservatism
Spontaneity
Big Five Personality Traits
Talkative, sociable, assertive
Quiet, solitary, reserved
Extraversion
Openness to Experience
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Introversion
Conservatism
Individualism
Spontaneity
Big Five Personality Traits
Warmhearted, trusting,compassionate
Skeptical, self-serving
Emotional Stability Neuroticism
Extraversion
Openness to Experience
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Introversion
Conservatism
Individualism
Spontaneity
Big Five Personality Traits
Calm, even-tempered Emotional, anxious, irritable
Work performance interaction
Adapting instruction to personality Grouping extroverts and introverts What personality dimension would relate to
having high test anxiety? Encouraging students to explore other cultures
or perspectives Social skills training Homework and project reminders
Interests Enduring preferences for certain activities, hobbies,
or occupations. Holland’s vocational “personality” or interest types Individuals may have many or few interests
Example interest questions Check Yes/No Are you...
Mechanical? Persuasive? Friendly?
Can you... Start projects? Play a musical
instrument? Lead a group?
Do you like to... Perform experiments? Do volunteer service? Work in groups?
Realistic
Conventional
Enterprising
Social
Artistic
Investigative
Occupational interests and environments
Architect, Firefighter
Accountant, Librarian
Journalist, Stockbroker
Nurse, Teacher
Musician, Writer
Scientist, Engineer
Anyone preparing to teach: How might individual differences affect your instruction? Pick a specific example of how you might have to adapt to differences in intelligence, personality, interests, or cultural backgrounds.
Anyone interested in measurement: Do individual differences ever act as construct-irrelevant sources of error on tests? Consider personality and interest traits.
Anyone interested in health care: how do individual differences in patients affect how you interact with them?
Anyone interested in counseling: What kind of assessments have you given clients to better assess their counseling needs? How could you use the traits we talked about today for career counseling? Marriage counseling? Occupational counseling?
Areas of controversy Heritability of traits All traits are influenced by experience
Take away messages
General intelligence is an important predictor of learning and life outcomes.
Intelligence is a hierarchy of general and specific abilities that help us to adapt to a variety of situations.
Personality is an important contributor to success in life beyond intelligence.
Interest help us understand why individuals with the same level of intelligence choose different paths in life.
Individual differences are important to adapting instruction in the classroom to optimize learning.