The Intelligence Debate

Some of the issues related to the Intelligence debate (psychological, social, economic, political)

What is intelligence??! What do intelligence measures really tell us? Success (validity)? How applicable is intelligence to life? (e.g. street smarts)? Does one view of intelligence demean (or underestimate) other types of

intelligence? What about Intelligence tests? Bias/problems in intelligence testing? Nature v. nurture? What are the relative contributions of each? Can intelligence be improved or is it stable? How might we close gaps between groups?

Gifted education and private testing? How did I get here? Ads/disads of segregating on the basis of intelligence? What is the role of intelligence in esteem?

One Definition

Intelligence A mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

What about Achievement? Knowledge?

Early Theories of Intelligence

Spearman’s general intelligence (g) A single factor that Spearman and others believe(d) underlies specific mental abilities

Early Theories of Intelligence

L.L.Thurstone identified seven distinct Primary mental abilities (spatial, perceptual speed, numerical ability, verbal meaning, memory, word fluency and reasoning) taken together = general intelligence

Influences intelligence testing/field of psychometrics. Emphasized Factor analysis

First to suggest multiple intelligence

Cattell’s Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence

Fluid intelligence the ability to find meaning in confusion and solve new problems; to draw inferences and understand the relationships of various concepts; independent of acquired knowledge

Crystallized intelligence the ability to use skills, knowledge, and experience. Not equated with memory or knowledge, but it does rely on accessing information from long-term memory

CI is not the "crystallized" form of Fluid. They are believed to be separate neural and mental systems. Most intelligence tests attempt to measure both (WAIS)

Measuring Intelligence

Origins of Intelligence Testing Binet-Simon. Original purposes The term "IQ” was devised by the

German psychologist William Stern in 1912 as a proposed method of scoring children's intelligence (MA/CA x 100 = I.Q.)

Lewis Terman (Stanford-Binet I.Q. Test) – adapted Binet for American uses – Assessed mental aptitudes and compared them to others. Father of gifted education (and …)

Measuring Intelligence

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) and the WechslerAdult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) Most widely used intelligence test Comprised of 15 multiple subtests

(10 indexes, 5 supplemental) Role of factor analysis (clusters of

aptitudes) Verbal and performance

(nonverbal) scales

Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI)Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) Working Memory Index (WMI) Processing Speed Index (PSI)

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

WISC-IV and WAIS-IV

The most current WISC-IV was produced in 2003. Updated versions are re-normed to compensate for the Flynn effect. Questions are refined and made less biased against minorities and females

Adults (16+) are tested using the WAIS-IV updated in 2008

Psychometrics – Measuring Intelligence

Aptitude Test A test designed to predict a person’s future performance. Aptitude is the capacity to learn

Achievement Test A test designed to assess what a person has learned

Standardization and Norms Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pre-tested“standardization group”. Re-norming

Normal Curve The symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and

psychological attributes

The Normal Curve

The Normal Curve

Psychometrics - Measuring Intelligence

Reliability The extent to which a tests yields consistent results. Test-retest, split half and equivalent form methods

Validity The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to measure.content validitypredictive validity

Bias in testing

Concerns over gender and cultural (language and race) bias in testing persist

Ways to account for bias Performance scales/items Culture-fair tests - Raven's More culture fair items

Stereotype threat or bias (self-fulfilling prophecy)

Resource: Discovering Psychology

The Flynn Effect

Sources of intelligence

Nature v. Nurture

*To what extent is intelligence inherited from parents?

* Evidence from quantitative genetics research (twin and adoption studies) points to a genetic component for intelligence

* Specific criticisms of this research/Counter-research

Genetic Influences (Review)

Heritability The proportion (%) of variation among individuals

that we can attribute to genes We can not say that genes are responsible for such

and such a % of an individual’s intelligence Variability depends on range of populations and

environments studied

Environmental Influences (Review)

Environment What is environment and how can the one in which a person is raised affect intelligence?

• The role of proper nutrition, access to quality education and enriched environment (issues of developmental plasticity)

• Nurture enables nature (gene expression) and epigenetics• Nature v. nurture is a false dichotomy

Environmental Influences

The Schooling Effect (Not stable when young)

Multiple Intelligences

Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence has five components Knowing one’s own emotions Managing one’s own

emotions Using emotions to motivate

oneself Recognizing the emotions of

other people Managing relationships

EI Test

Multiple Intelligences – Other Factors

Related research on emotional intelligence Executive function The set of cognitive abilities that control

and regulate other abilities and behaviors. They include the ability to initiate and stop actions, monitor and change behavior as needed, and to plan future behavior when faced with novel tasks and situations

Executive function

Mischel’s delayed gratification longitudinal study

Multiple Intelligences

Sternberg’s Triarchic theory - Properly defined and measured intelligence MUST translate into real-life success

Analytical intelligence (Componential) ability to learn how to do things, solve problems, and acquire new knowledge

Creative intelligence (Experiental) ability to adjust to new tasks, use new concepts, and respond well in new situations

Practical intelligence (Contextual) ability to select contexts in which you can excel and solve practical problems

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

"I define [intelligence] as your skill in achieving whatever it is you want to attain in your life within your sociocultural context by capitalizing on your strengths and compensating for, or correcting, your weaknesses.” Sternberg Defines Intelligence

According to Sternberg conventional intelligence tests tell us little about performance in everyday life. He suggests a number of reasons why “intelligent” people fail lack of motivation lack of impulse control lack of perseverance fear of failure procrastination inability to delay gratification too little/too much self-confidence

Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences - What are they? Research? Value? Criticisms?

Gardner Powerpoint

An Intelligent Haiku

A spear man has justOne point but a young gardner

Has many sharp tools.

IQ Myth and Reality

- Intelligence is plural, not singular - Breast feeding affects IQ +- Correlations with head size- Despite recent claims IQ unrelated to birth order (genetically)- School attendance correlates with IQ- IQ scores are predictive of success

- Gender differences in IQ- Maccoby studies detect difference. Subsequent research

sees as statistically insignificant, though spatial tasks still slightly favor boys and memory for objects, girls

- Boys are on extremes of curve- Some gender bias is assumed to remain