Intelligence and Creativity

Chapter 8

Who is the smartest person that you know?

What makes this person “smart”?

What qualities do smart/intelligent people possess?

What is intelligence?

• Ability to understand complex ideas

• To adapt effectively to the environment

• To learn from experience

• To reason

• To problem solve– American Psychological Association

What factors underlie intelligence?Spearman’s Two Factor Theory

• Charles Spearman (1863-1945)

• English psychologist

• Believed that people have general abilities which underlie all intellectual functions :

• g factors (score tells how generally intelligent that you are)

• s factors (represents a person’s ability within a particular area- put all together to get g factor)

Primary Mental AbilitiesThurstone (1938)

• 1. verbal comprehension

• 2. numerical ability

• 3.spatial relations

• 4. perceptual speed

• 5. word fluency

• 6. memory

• 7. reasoning• Involved in all mental abilities

Is there more than one type of intelligence?

Howard Gardner (Harvard University)

Multiple Intelligences

• Studies included brain damaged patients and reports of savant syndrome (mental retardation and unusual talent)

• Considers all forms of intelligence of equal importance, despite cultures assigning different value to the varying types

• Widely accepted by educators as differing orientations to learning

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence

• Ability to use language both as an aid to thinking and in communication

• These students demonstrate strength in the language arts: speaking, writing, reading, listening

• Successful in traditional classrooms-traditional teaching styles

• Storytellers, teachers, orators, journalists, authors, gifted speakers, poets

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

• The ability to think logically and to solve mathematical problems

• Aptitude for numbers, reasoning• These children do well in traditional classrooms

where teaching is logically sequenced and students are asked to conform

• Architects, physicists, mathematicians, scientists

Visual/Spatial Intelligence

• The ability to use images that represent spatial relations, to navigate and move around in space, can picture 3D scenes in their minds

• These people learn best visually and organize things spatially

• They like to see what you are talking about in order to understand- enjoy charts, maps, tables, illustrations, puzzles, costumes

• Interior designers, architects, blind people with white canes who independently navigate their space

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence

• The ability to learn and execute physical movements, superior eye-hand coordination, great sense of balance, keen understanding of and control over their bodies while engaged in physical activities

• These children learn best through activity: games, movement, hands-on tasks, building

• Often told to sit still and seen as overly active in traditional classrooms

• Dancers, athletes, Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence

• Sensitivity to and understanding of pitch, rhythm, and other aspects of music, natural ability to play, read, write music exceptionally well

• Children who learn best through songs, rhythms, instruments and musical expressions

• Musicians, vocalists, lyricists, Mozart

Interpersonal Intelligence

• The ability to communicate and engage in effective social relationships with others

• These children are noticeably people oriented and outgoing, enjoy cooperative groups or working with a partner

• Often talkative and thought to be too social• Known as “people person”

• Psychologists, Social Workers, car salesmen, Dr. Phil, Oprah

Intrapersonal Intelligence

• The ability to understand oneself

• These children are especially in touch with own feelings, values and ideas

• May be more reserved, actually quite intuitive about what they learn and how it relates to them

Naturalistic Intelligence

• The ability to identify patterns in nature and to determine how individual objects or beings fit into them

• These children love the outdoors, animals, field trips

• Pick up on subtle meanings

• Environmentalists, forest rangers

Existentialists

• These children learn in the context of the “big picture” of existence

• They ask “Why are we here?” and “What is our role of the world?”

• Philosophers, clergy, spiritualists, people who are devoted to their religious beliefs

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

• Proposes that there are three types of intelligence;– 1. componential– 2. experiential– 3. contextual

– Yale, 1985

Componential Intelligence

• Analytical intelligence- as found on conventional IQ and achievement tests

• “book smarts”

• Type of intelligence often disconnected from ordinary life, issues, and problems

• Einstein

Experiential Intelligence

• Creative thinking

• Problem solving

• Finding creative ways to do everyday tasks more efficiently- ability to recognize new problems, as apposed to everyday problems; search for and generate solutions; and implement the solutions

Contextual Intelligence

• Common sense• Street smart• People who are survivors- they capitalize on

their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses

• Practical intelligence that allows people to go on with their everyday lives without walking in front of a moving car, mouthing off to a police officer, letting trash pile up to the ceiling

• Psychologists see many people in their practices who are deficient in this type of intelligence

Two different types of knowledge

• 1. formal academic knowledge- measurable on IQ tests

• 2. tacit knowledge- action oriented, and acquired without help from others: according to Sternberg more important to real-world performance

• Educators like Sternberg’s theory- especially for low achievers

First Intelligence Test

• Paris, 20th century• sort out children who would not benefit

from regular classroom instruction• French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-

1911)• Believed mental superiority and

retardation were the difference between chronological age (actual age in years) and mental age

Intelligence Quotient

• William Stern, German psychologist

• Child’s mental age divided by chronological age

Stanford-Binet Intelligence test

• Revised by Lewis Terman (Stanford)1916

• Individually administered to children aged 2-23

• Based on norms: standards based on the test scores of a large number of individuals and used as a bases of comparison for other tests

• Normal was considered a score of 100

Terman’s IQ Formula

• (mental age divided by chronological age) X 100 = IQ

• A 10 year-old with a mental age of 12: (12 divided by 10) X 100 = 120 IQ

• A 6 year-old with a mental age of 3: (3 divided by 6 X 100 = 50 IQ

– 4 subscales: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, abstract visual reasoning, short-term memory

Intelligence testing for adults

• Based on comparisons among same age peers

• (WAIS) Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-

• (WAIS-R) current revision- contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests

Requirements for good tests

• Must be standardized, so that any person’s performance can be meaningfully compared to others’, reliable, so it yields dependably consistent scores; and valid, so it measures what it is supposed to measure

Reliability

• The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting

• Ex. Aptitude tests tend to be highly reliable, but they are weak predictors of success in life- take same test 3 times and get about the same scores (SATs)

Validity

• The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

• Ex. Test validity is weak for predicting success in college and even more so for graduate school, as the range of student abilities becomes more restricted

Standardization

• Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pre-tested “standardization group”

• Uniform procedure for administering and scoring it

Good test scores

• Usually fall into a bell-shaped distribution called the normal curve

• See example of normal curve

The Range of Intelligence

• Terman’s Study of Genius (1921)• Believed intelligence was inherited and that IQ

was fixed at birth- how do gifted differ form general population?

• Study involved 1,528 students with genius IQ of 151

• Excelled in all areas- intellectual, physical, emotional, moral, and social abilities

• Believed Stanford-Binet test could help guide people toward appropriate opportunities

Gifted

• 1920’s- term described intellectually superior in upper 2-3 % of US population

• Today term includes exceptionally creative• Programs- acceleration: students able to

progress at a rate that is consistent with their ability

• Enrichment: aims to broaden student’s knowledge by giving them special courses and experiences to foster advanced skills

Mental retardation

• 2% of US population

• Characteristics-– IQ score below 70– Severe deficiency in everyday adaptive

functioning- ability to care for self and relate to others

– Degrees: mild to profound

continued

• Causes- brain injuries, chromosomal abnormalities (Down syndrome), chemical deficiencies

• Educational movement towards inclusion- mainstreaming

Intelligence and Neural Processing

• PET scan reveals that highly intelligent have more efficient mental processing

• Tend to process information faster

What do IQ tests predict?

• Academic performance

• Related to a wide range of social outcomes- job performance, income, social status, years of education completed

Abuses of IQ Tests

• Abuse if only or major criterion for admitting people to various educational programs

• Does not measure attitude or motivation (keys to success)

• May doom poor, minority, ESL, hearing-impaired children in special ed classes- cultural bias

Culture-fair intelligence test

• Uses questions that will not penalize those whose cultural background and/or language differs from that of the White middle and upper classes

IQ Controversy

• How important is a person’s IQ score?

• The IQ test is reliable and enables one to make predictions about intellectual capacity, ability, or potential, but they have limitations as well

Nature-nurture controversy

• Do we inherit our intelligence?

• Twin studies- adoption study method: children adopted shortly after birth have IQ scores more closely related to biological parents- family environment important early in life but diminishes with age

• Generally, both play a factor in IQ

Emotional Intelligence

• To ability to manage one’s feelings

• To apply knowledge about emotions to everyday life

• Awareness of one’s emotions

• Ability to manage self-motivation, express empathy

• Ability to handle relationships

Creativity

• Ability to produce original, appropriate, and valuable ideas and/or solutions to problems

The Creative Process

• 1. preparation- searching for information that may help solve the problem

• 2. incubation- letting the problem “sit” while relevant information is digested

• 3. illumination- being suddenly struck by the right solution

• 4. translation- transforming insight into useful action

Divergent thinking

• ability to produce multiple ideas, answers, or solutions to a problem for which there is no agreed to solution

• Highly creative thinking is associated with activity in both sides of the brain- significantly higher levels in the right hemisphere

Characteristics of Creative People

• Expertise: disciplined practice, high-quality training

• Openness to Experience: brainstorming, journey of discovery

• Independence of Mind: cherish independence, may take unpopular stand and often called non-conformist

• Intrinsic Motivation: internally motivated• Perseverance: hard work

Savant Syndrome

• Unusual combination of mental retardation and genius