Understanding Intelligence and IQ

• Intelligence constitutes using knowledge to reason, make decisions, understand events, and quickly learn to adapt to the environment.
• Measuring intelligence through the psychometric approach assesses performance on standardized mental ability tests.

Mental Age

• Mental age assesses a child's intellectual standing compared to peers by comparing test scores to the average for their age group.
• An 8-year-old excelling in Shakespeare and calculus may score as well as an average 16-year-old, having a mental age of 16.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

• IQ is calculated by dividing a child's mental age by chronological age, then multiplying by 100.
• For an 8-year-old with a mental age of 16, the IQ is 16/8 x 100 = 200.
• The formula breaks down with adults, adult IQ is relative to the average adult, set at IQ 100.
• IQ scores' distribution forms a bell curve, also called normal distribution, with most near average and fewer at the extremes.
• IQ is a good indicator of certain life outcomes like success in school or complex careers, which are correlated with higher scores (Gottfredson, 2004).
• Higher IQ predicts success as a computer programmer, but not necessarily as a truck driver (Schmidt & Hunter, 2004).

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

• It provides a comprehensive assessment.
• It covers verbal comprehension, working memory, perceptual reasoning, and processing speed.

Cognitive Performance

• Individuals with higher intelligence scores respond more quickly and consistently in reaction time tests (Deary, 2000).
• They take less time to answer a question about a stimulus (Deary, 2001).
• Highly intelligent individuals effectively utilize their brains faster than less intelligent individuals.
• General intelligence scores correlate with capability to process stored information in working memory (Conway et al., 2003).
• Working memory supports reasoning, comprehension, and problem-solving.
• Sustained attention helps people disregard distractions to successfully complete tasks (Engle & Kane, 2004).

Savants

• Kim Peek, memorized over 9,000 books but struggled with basic daily tasks, such as buttoning shirts.
• He scored 87 on an intelligence test (Treffert & Christensen, 2006).
• Peek had an enlarged head, brain anomalies, and a missing corpus callosum.

Multiple Intelligences

• Howard Gardner (1983) proposes diverse forms of intelligence, in areas of athletics or musical talent for example.
• Every person has a unique pattern of intelligences that means one should be viewed just as uniquely talented.

Sternberg's Multiple Intelligences

• Robert Sternberg proposed the theory of analytical intelligence.
• Analytical intelligence enables problem-solving and the completion of analogies.
• Creative intelligence involves the ability to gain insight and solve novel problems, promoting innovative thinking.
• Practical intelligence involves dealing with everyday tasks, like assessing parking space size and other real-world tasks.
• Some researchers suggest that the available evidence does not fully support Sternberg's model (Gottfredson, 2003).

General Intelligence

• Charles Spearman (1904) viewed general intelligence (g) as contributing to a factor for intellectual tasks.
• Factor analysis clusters similar test items.
• Individuals scoring highly on one item tend to score highly on other items.
• Fluid intelligence allows to understand abstract relationships and logical thinking to prior knowledge.
• Involves reasoning, drawing analogies, and thinking quickly.
• Crystallized intelligence involves acquired knowledge and culture for problem solving.
• Gray matter volume in the frontal lobes relates to fluid general intelligence (Frangou, Chitins, & Williams, 2004; Haier et al., 2005; Kamara et al., 2011; Wilke, Sohn, Byars, & Holland, 2003).
• Injury to the frontal lobes impairs fluid intelligence and not crystallized intelligence (Duncan, Burgess, & Emslie, 1995; Gong et al., 2005).
• Research has shown that g influences important life outcomes, such as by predicting school and work performance (Conway, Kane, & Engle, 2003; Deary, 2001; Garlick, 2002; Gray & Thompson, 2004; Haier, Jung, Yeo, Head, & Alkire, 2005).
• A low g relates to early death from heart disease, diabetes, stroke, etc (Gottfredson, 2004a; Gottfredson & Deary, 2004).
• IQ scores typically predict only 25% variance in school/work performance; additional factors contribute to success (Neisser et al., 1996).
• A child’s self-control is better than IQ in predicting final grades (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005).

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

• EI emphasizes managing, recognizing, and understanding emotions to guide thoughts/actions.
• Four abilities consist of managing one's own emotions, using them to guide thoughts, recognizing emotions, and understanding emotional language (Salovey & Grewel, 2005; Salovey & Mayer, 1990).
• EI is correlated with relationship quality (Reis et al., 2007).
• Some critics claim that EI stretches the definition of intelligence too far.
• EI relates to more-traditional intelligence measures (Brackett, Rivers, & Salovey, 2011).
• Also, it is a good predictor of high school grades (Hogan et al., 2010).
• Those with high EI cope best with the college challenges (Austin, Saklofske, & Mastoras, 2010).

Genetic and Environmental Factors

• Studies have shown that genes help determine intelligence (Bouchard, 2014).
• Twins raised apart have similar intelligence.
• A study concluded about 40% of the variation in crystallized intelligence/ 51 variation in fluid intelligence comes from genetic influence (Davies et al., 2011).
• Many environmental factors can influence human intelligence in the form of prenatal, such as parents nutrition and postnatal factors, like social class or education.
• A wealthy family can significantly increase IQ, by 12 to 18 points according to Richard Nisbett (2009).
• Socio-economic status (SES) is associated with differences in brain regions.
• Higher-SES families emphasize education, leading greater synaptic connections (Noble, Korgaonkar, Grieve, & Brickman, 2013).
• Living in stimulating environments gives humans and mice gain advantages (May, 2011). [[IQ scores have risen dramatically during the last century, this calls the Flynn effect.