Psychology: Individual Differences

• Psychology explores the variations in how people perceive, learn, think, and perform tasks
• Individual differences are apparent in every aspect of life

Key Objectives

• Understand psychological attributes
• Learn assessment methods
• Explain intelligent behavior
• Understand how to assess intelligence for individuals with mental challenges and giftedness
• Understand cultural variations in intelligence
• Understand the distinction between intelligence and aptitude

Individual Differences in Human Functioning

• Variability is a natural occurrence in all species which adds beauty to nature
• Individuals differ in physical traits like height and also psychological dimensions, such as intelligence
• Each person is unique as they exemplify a particular combination of traits
• Individual differences are the distinctiveness and variations in characteristics and behavior patterns
• Psychological attributes have gained popularity for psychologists, including intelligence
• Situationism: behaviors are also influenced by external situations
• The situationist view considers human behavior to be a result of external factors

Assessment of Psychological Attributes

• Psychological attributes are involved in phenomena such as reaction time and happiness
• Assessment measures and evaluates psychological attributes of individuals
• Attributes must be measurable through scientific procedures to be considered valid
• Assessments can be formal which are objective, standardized, and organized
• Assessments can also be informal which varies case to case
• Psychologists use formal assessment to use information and anticipate future behavior
• Psychological assessment systematically tests abilities, behaviors, and personal qualities

Domains of Psychological Attributes

• Psychological attributes are multi-dimensional, requiring assessment across cognitive, emotional, and social domains
• Intelligence: a global capacity to understand, think rationally, and use resources effectively when faced with challenges
• Intelligence tests assess cognitive competence and the ability to learn from schooling
• Aptitude examines a person's underlying potential for acquiring skills
• Aptitude tests aim to predict future performance with training
• Interest indicates an individual's preference for engagement in specific activities
• Assessing interests helps students choose subjects aligned with their preferences
• Personality describes enduring characteristics that make individuals distinct
• Personality assessments aim to explain behavior and predict future actions
• Values involve enduring beliefs that set standards for behavior and judgment
• Value assessment identifies a person's dominant values (e.g., political, religious, social, economic)

Methods of Psychological Assessment

• Psychological tests are objective, standardized measures of mental and behavioral characteristics that evaluate the dimensions of psychological attributes
• Interviews seek one-on-one information and are used in counseling, surveying, hiring, and journalism
• Case studies provide in-depth study of an individual's psychological attributes and history using combined methods
• Observation systematically records behaviors in real-time environments
• Self-reports gather information about oneself/opinions using interview schedules, questionnaires, tests, or personal diaries

Intelligence

• Intelligence is a key factor in understanding individual differences and adaptive behaviors
• Intelligence includes attributes like mental alertness, quickness in learning, and understanding relationships
• Alfred Binet defined intelligence as the ability to judge, understand, and reason well
• Wechsler defined it as the global capacity to think rationally, act purposefully, and deal effectively with the environment
• Intelligent individuals adapt to and shape the environment

Theories of Intelligence

• Psychometric approach views intelligence as an aggregate of abilities, expressed in a single index
• Information-processing approach focuses on how people solve problems, emphasizing cognitive processes

Uni/One Factor Theory of Intelligence

• Binet conceptualized intelligence as a similar set of abilities
• These abilities can be used for solving problems in an individual's environment

Two-Factor Theory of Intelligence

• Charles Spearman's theory explains that intelligence consists of the 'g-factor' (general) and 's-factors' (specific) using statistical method called factor analysis
• G-factor is common to all performances
• S-factors accounts for individuals excelling in certain fields in addition to g-factor

Theory of Primary Mental Abilities

• Louis Thurstone’s theory says that intelligence consists of seven primary abilities that are relatively independent which include: verbal comprehension, numerical abilities, spatial relations, perceptual speed, word fluency, memory, and inductive reasoning

Hierarchical Model of Intelligence

• Arthur Jenson's model says that there are two levels of abilities which include: Level 1 which is associate learning and Level II which is cognitive competence involving higher-order skills

Structure-of-Intellect Model

• J.P. Guilford's model says that intellectual traits are classified by operations, contents and products
• Operations describe what the respondent does
• Contents refer to the information on which the intellectual operations are performed, which includes visual, auditory, symbolic, semantic and behavioral
• Products relate to how the information is processed

Theory of Multiple Intelligences

• Howard Gardner's theory states there are distinct, independent types of intelligence
• They work together to solve problems
• Those identified are:
• Linguistic intelligence is the ability to produce the usage of languages
• Logical-mathematical intelligence is the ability to solve problems logically
• Spatial intelligence is the ability to form visual images and patterns
• Musical intelligence is the ability to produce and manipulate music
• Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is the ability to use the body creatively
• Interpersonal which refers to the subtle aspects of others' behaviour
• Intrapersonal is the knowledge of one's own feelings and motives
• Naturalistic intelligence means you can identify the beauty of the natural world

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

• Robert Sternberg views it as the ability to adapt and accomplish one's goals within their society and culture
• Three types of intelligences include:
  • Componential: analytical intelligence
  • Experiential: creative intelligence
  • Contextual: practical intelligence

PASS Model of Intelligence

• Developed by J.P Das, Jack Naglieri, and Kirby, it involves interdependent functioning of neurological systems for:
• Arousal/attention
• Coding or processing
• Planning
• The Cognitive Assessment System(CAS) measures basic cognitive functions for ages 5-18

Intelligence: Interplay of Nature and Nurture

• Identical twins' intelligence correlate almost 0.90 when raised together
• Identical twins correlate to 0.72 when raised separately
• Fraternal twins correlate to 0.60 when raised together
• Biological siblings correlate to 0.50 when raised together and 0.25 when raised apart
• Intelligence correlates more to biological rather than adoptive parents
• Intelligence becomes closer to adoptive parents over time
• Enriched environments raise intelligence scores
• Environmental deprivation lowers intelligence
• Intelligence is a product of heredity and environment
• Heredity sets the range and shape of person

Assessment of Intelligence

• Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon made the first attempt to measure intelligence in 1905
• Mental Age (MA) gauges intellectual development relative to age group
• Chronological Age (CA) is biological age from birth
• Sub-average intelligence includes MA below CA
• William Stern created the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) which is mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100
• Average IQ stands for 100, irrespective of age

Variations in Intelligence

• Scores from IQ has established that people are distributed among normal population

Intellectual Deficiency

• Individuals possess an IQ below 70
• Intellectually disabled has deficiencies in adaptive behaviour
• There is a variation among group
• The features include:
  • Sub-average intellectual functioning (IQs below 70)
  • Deficits in adaptive behavior (difficulties with their environment) that occur before age 18
  • Mild (IQs 55 to ~70)
  • Moderate (IQs 35-40 to ~50-55)
  • Severe (IQs 20-25 to ~35-40)
  • Profound (IQs below ~20-25)
• Mild can function independently
• Moderate can care for themselves
• Severe has difficulty managing their lives and need constant care

Intellectual Giftedness

• Individuals can show a higher performance due to outstanding potentailities
• Talent is is a narrower term

Identifying gifted children

• Children show superior intellignece at a young age
• They have an attention span and recognition memory
• To reach their full potential they require special attention
• Some important characteristics of gifted children:
  • Thinking and problem-solving
  • Speed in processing of information
  • Generalization skills
  • Thinking skills
  • Motivation
  • Academic activities

Types of Intelligence Tests

• Can be grouped individually or as a test group
• Can either measure performance or consist only of verbal tests
• Depending on circumstances they can be either culture-fair or display a culture bias
• Performance tests can be verbal, non-verbal, etc
• Verbal test responses can be oral or written
• Non-verbal test items use photos

Culture-Fair/Culture Biased Tests

• Some tests display culture biases in favor of the developed environment in America and Europe
• They do not respect any perspectives towards Asian and African culture
• Norms of tests draw from western groups of people

Some Misuses of Intelligence Tests

• Tests are used for selection, testing and guidance
• When used by someone who is trained:
  • They may attach a stigma to children
  • May invite discrimination
  • Administer a biased measure

Culture and Intelligence

• Culture has a connection to its environment

Intelligence Indian View

• Promotes integral thinking
• Involves connectitivity to social systems

Culture And Intelligence.

• Intelligence helps individuals adapt to the environment
• Culture provides a social context
• Vygostky argued that culture has a social context in which people live, grow and understand the world
• Less developed socities value emotional intelligence

Intelligence In The Indian Culture.

• It is referred to as ''Integral intelligence''.
• Cognitive capacitiy, social and emtional intelligence are factors that make up an individual on the spectrum

Emotinal Intelligence

• Considers that it includes emotions and expands beyond the idea of just thinking, but also feeling
• Some psychologists believe that they may lack the proper emotinal intelligence if they have problems
• It is also said that to monitor everyone's emotins there must be harmony and peace

Special Abilities

• Tests general mental ability
• Indicates an individuals capacity to acquire some specific knowledge of skill
• It is also used to assess peoples future performance

Aptitude Tests

• They measure potentiality from an activity
• A person can have a capacity for an avitiviy, but not be too interested in it
• Can test specialized situations that are independent or generalized in all forms

Creativity

• There are variations in thinking
• There may be differences between creative people
• Creative people are new, not just a select few
• There is production of something unique

Forms of Tests In Creativity

• They must be open ended
• Permit a person to try and engage in answering and problem solving
• There is free expression through the right imagination
• A person must understand what the desired effect should be and have space for originaliy and so pontaint
• They can be developed by figures,actions, etc
• The tests range from literacy, scietific, math, etc and are all open for further development