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C H A P T E R 4

Individual Variations

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Individual Variations

Intelligence

Controversies and Issues in

Intelligence

Individual TestsVersus

Group Tests

Theories of Multiple

Intelligence

IndividualIntelligence Tests

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What is “Smart”?

When someone is described as “smart,” what does that mean? What behaviors, skills, or competencies make someone smart? Come up with a list of words that describe smart.

Come up with a way to assess your definition of “smart”

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Binet Intelligence Tests

Mental Age

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Normal Distribution

An individual’s level of mental development relative to others

A symmetrical distribution Majority of the scores fall in the

middle Few scores in the extremes

MentalAgeIQ = 100

Chronological Age

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The Normal Curve

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The Wechsler Intelligence Scales

WPPSI-III Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised. Ages 4 to 6 ½.

WISC-IV Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Version IV. Ages 6 to 16.

WAIS-IV Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Version IV

Age-related versions provide an overall IQ and verbal and performance IQs.

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Group Intelligence Tests

Advantage More convenient and economical

Disadvantages Examiner cannot:

establish rapport determine student’s level of anxiety

Student: might not understand instructions might be distracted by other students

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Early Theories of Multiple Intelligence

Spearman (1927): People have both general intelligence (g) and specific types of intelligence (s).

Thurston (1938): People have seven specific intellectual abilities: verbal comprehension, associative memory, word fluency, reasoning, number ability, spatial visualization, and perceptual speed.

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Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Analytical: analyze, judge, evaluate, compare/contrast

Creative: create, design, invent, originate, and imagine

Practical: use, apply, implement, put into practice

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Cindy always does very well on both standardized and classroom tests and gets good grades in school. However, she does not write original stories well, nor would anyone say that she has much common sense.

Sternberg’s Triarchic TheoryTheory into Practice

Q: In what form of intelligence is Cindy high? Explain.

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Trent does not do well on standardized tests. His grades are not very high. However, Trent is very imaginative and a wonderful storyteller. Trent’s classmates beg him to read his stories to the class. Trent hopes to be a novelist one day. However, he often turns in work that does not conform to teacher expectations or directions.

Q: In what form of intelligence is Trent high? Explain.

Sternberg’s Triarchic TheoryTheory into Practice

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Ken doesn’t do very well in school. However, he is very popular with his peers and has excellent leadership skills.

Q: In what form of intelligence is Ken high? Explain.

Sternberg’s Triarchic TheoryTheory into Practice

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Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind

Verbal Mathematical Spatial Bodily-

kinesthetic

Musical Intrapersonal Interpersonal Naturalist

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Carrie loves to read and to write stories.

Gardner’s Eight Frames of MindTheory into Practice

Q: Which of Gardner's eight frames of mind is she displaying when she engages in these activities? Explain.

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Jane is an excellent athlete, excelling at soccer, basketball, and baseball.

Q: Which of Gardner's eight frames of mind is Jane displaying when she engages in these activities? Explain.

Gardner’s Eight Frames of MindTheory into Practice

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Steve loves to play the piano, trumpet, and drums and is quite good at all of them.

Q: Which of Gardner's eight frames of mind is Steve displaying when he engages in these activities? Explain.

Gardner’s Eight Frames of MindTheory into Practice

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Tanesha is a good friend. People often open up to her and tell her things they would not share with other people. She never betrays a trust.

Q: Which of Gardner's eight frames of mind is Tanesha displaying when she engages in these activities? Explain.

Gardner’s Eight Frames of MindTheory into Practice

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Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind

Do you agree that there are eight different “intelligences”? Why/why not?

Should Gardner’s theory be applied in schools? Project Spectrum Key School

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According to Salovey and Mayer (1990) emotional intelligence is the ability to:

• perceive and express emotion accurately and adaptively,

• understand emotion and emotional knowledge,

• use emotion to facilitate thought, and

• manage emotions in oneself and others.

Emotional Intelligence

SaloveyMayer

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Emotional Skills

Developing emotional awareness Managing emotions Reading emotions Handling relationships

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Enter the DebateShould schools use intelligence tests for

placement purposes? YES NO

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The various theories have stimulated us to think more broadly about what makes up people’s intelligence and competence.

Contribution of Multiple Intelligence Approaches

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Nature vs. Nurture in Intelligence

Genetic components provide a propensity for a particular developmental trajectory.

Enriching environments can improve school achievement and the acquisition of skills.

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Ethnicity and IQ Testing

The consensus is that due to environmental factors, on average in the United States, children from African American and Latino families score lower than white children on IQ tests.

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Culture and IQ Tests

Culturally biased tests favor: Urban over rural children Middle-income over low-income children White children over minority children

Culture-fair tests, free of cultural bias: Type 1: Include items familiar to all

socioeconomic (SES) and ethnic backgrounds Type 2: Remove verbal items from tests

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Between-Class Ability Grouping and Tracking

Advantages Narrows class skill

range Prevents “less

able” students from holding back more- talented students

Disadvantages Stigmatizes

students in lower track

Segregates students by SES and ethnicity

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Within-Class Ability Grouping

Within-class ability grouping involves placing students in two or three groups within a class according to their ability or achievement.

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Learning and Thinking Styles

Learning andThinking Styles

Impulsive/Reflective Styles

Deep/Surface Styles

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Reflective vs. Impulsive Thinking Styles

Reflective students surpass impulsivestudents at

Reading comprehension Remembering structured information Problem solving and decision making Goal setting Setting high standards for performance

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Deep vs. Surface Learning Styles

Actively construct knowledge

Give meaning to material

Focus on internal rewards

Are self-motivated

Are passive learners

Fail to tie information to a larger framework

Focus on external rewards

Deep Learners Surface Learners

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Extraversion/Introversion (EI) Sensing/Intuiting (SN) Thinking/Feeling (TF) Judging/Perceiving (JP)

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Creativity

Can anyone be creative or does it exist in a select few?

Convergent vs. divergent thinking

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CreativityTorrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)

Fluency Flexibility Elaboration Originality