Chapter 7: Cognitive Development II - Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities PDF

Chapter 7: Cognitive Development II Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities Learning Objectives ► Measuring Intellectual Power ► Explaining Individual Differences in IQ Scores ► Explaining Group Differences in IQ or Achievement Test Scores ► Alternative Views of Intelligence Mea...

Chapter 7: Cognitive Development II Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities Learning Objectives ► Measuring Intellectual Power ► Explaining Individual Differences in IQ Scores ► Explaining Group Differences in IQ or Achievement Test Scores ► Alternative Views of Intelligence Measuring Intellectual Power ► Intelligence includes the ability to reason abstractly, the ability to profit from experience, and the ability to adapt to varying environmental contexts ❖ The First IQ Tests -Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon (1905), identify children who might have difficulty in school -Tasks on test include school tasks, including measures of vocabulary, comprehension of facts and relationships, and mathematical and verbal reasoning -Lewis Terman and his associates at Stanford University translated and revised the test for use in the United States, named Stanford-Binet, consist of six sets of tests, one set for children of each of six consecutive ages -Terman, intelligence quotient, later shortened to IQ, comparing the child’s chronological age (in years and months) with his mental age -IQ score calculations are now based on a direct comparison of a child’s performance with the average performance of a large group of other children of the same age, with a score of 100 still typically defined as average -Children who are gifted” or “children with mental retardation” clearly represent only very small fractions of the distribution -Secular trend or Flynn effect, the average child today can solve problems that only an above-average child could solve 60 years ago ❖ Modern IQ Tests -Stanford-Binet V, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (the WPPSI-III), Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children (the WISC-IV) -Verbal comprehension index, verbal skills, vocabulary, describing similarities between objects, general information -Nonverbal types of thinking, arranging pictures to tell a story and repeating digits back to the examiner ► INFANT TESTS -Bayley Scales of Infant Development, include sets of items of increasing difficulty -The items measure primarily sensory and motor skills, such as reaching for a dangling ring (an item for a typical baby at 3 months), putting cubes in a cup on request (9 months), or building a tower of three cubes (17 months) -Cognitive items such as uncovering a toy hidden by a cloth, an item used with 8-month-old infants to measure an aspect of object permanence -Helpful in identifying infants and toddlers with serious developmental delays ► ACHIEVEMENT TESTS -Designed to test specific information learned in school, performance is compared to that of other children in the same grade across the country -An IQ test is intended to reveal something about how well a child can think and learn, while an achievement test tells something about what a child has already learned -Upper limit of ability—what we could do under ideal conditions if we were maximally motivated, healthy, and rested -IQ tests include items that are designed to tap fairly fundamental intellectual processes such as comparison and analysis; achievement tests call for specific information the child has learned in school or elsewhere -Tests measure aspects of a child or young person’s performance and not his or her competence ❖ Stability of Test Scores -Reliability to refer to the stability of a test score, yields scores that are stable over time -IQ scores are, in fact, very stable, however, many children show quite wide fluctuations in their scores -The general rule of thumb is that the older the child, the more stable the IQ score becomes ❖ What IQ Scores Predict -Validity has to do with whether a test is measuring what it is intended to measure -One way to assess a test’s validity is to see whether scores on that test predict real behavior in a way that makes sense -Children with high IQ scores are more likely than their peers with average and low scores to be among the high achievers in school, and those who score low are likely to be among the low achievers -Low intelligence is associated with a number of negative long-term outcomes, including adult illiteracy, delinquency in adolescence, and criminal behavior in adulthood Explaining Individual Differences in IQ Scores ❖ Twin and Adoption Studies -Strong hereditary influences on IQ scores -Heredity explains, at best, 80% of individual variation in IQ scores -Both heredity and environment contribute to IQ score differences ❖ Family Characteristics and IQ Scores Shared environment, families make important contributions to children’s intellectual development, affect all of the children in a household ⮚ RISK FACTORS -Low socioeconomic status -Mother’s level of education -Cumulative deficit, the longer a child lives in poverty, the more negative the effect on IQ test scores and other measures of cognitive functioning ► PROTECTIVE FACTORS -Parents provide an interesting and complex physical environment for their children -Emotionally responsive, respond warmly -Talk to their children often, using language that is diverse, descriptive, and accurate -Zone of proximal development, aiming their conversation, their questions, and their assistance at a level that is just above the level the children could manage on their own, thus helping the children to master new skills -Expect their children to do well and to develop rapidly ► DIFFERENCES WITHIN FAMILIES -Nonshared environment, factors that affect one child but not others in a family -The absolute differences in IQ scores are not huge -The oldest child initially interacts only with adults (parents) and thus has the most complex and enriching environment possible in that family at that time. Second or later children, in contrast, experience a lower average intellectual level simply because they interact with both other children and adults ❖ Early Interventions and IQ Scores -Children with quality preschool experience are less likely to be placed in special education classes, somewhat less likely to repeat a grade, and somewhat more likely to graduate from high school, show better school adjustment than their peers -Young adults who had attended a particularly good experimental preschool program, had higher rates of high school gradua- tion, lower rates of criminal behavior, lower rates of unemployment ❖ Interactions of Heredity and Environment -Reaction range—a range within upper and lower boundaries of possible functioning established by one’s genes -Where a child’s IQ score falls within those boundaries is determined by environment -When a child’s environment is improved, the child moves closer to the upper end of his reaction range -When the environment becomes worse, the child’s effective intellectual performance falls toward the lower end of his reaction range Explaining Group Differences in IQ or Achievement Test Scores ❖ Cross-Cultural Differences -Lack of tests that are reliable and valid both within and across cultures -Comparisons of students in school systems that are very similar, at least with regard to educational objectives, predominate among international cross- cultural studies -Cultures differ with respect to beliefs about achievement, in some parents and teachers emphasize innate ability more than effort while the opposite is applicable for other cultures ❖ Sex Differences -Do not reveal consistent differences -More boys than girls test as gifted in mathematical reasoning -Biological influences have been most often suggested as the cause of sex differences in spatial abilities -Boys show greater coherence in brain function in areas of the brain devoted to spatial tasks, while girls display more organized functioning in parts of the brain where language and social information are processed -Hormonal differences between boys and girls or hormonal variations in the prenatal environment may affect spatial abilities -Parents’ beliefs about their children’s talents at age 6 predict those children’s beliefs about their own abilities at age 17 Alternative Views of Intelligence ❖ Information-Processing Theory ► SPEED OF INFORMATION PROCESSING -Differences in processing speed may underlie individual differences in IQ scores -Participants with faster reaction times or speed of performance on a variety of simple tasks also have higher average IQ scores on standard tests -Indications that such speed-of-processing differences may be built in at birth ► OTHER LINKS BETWEEN IQ AND INFORMATION PROCESSING -Comparing the information-processing strategies used by typically developing children with those used by children with mental retardation -Flexibility of strategy use, may be another key dimension of individual differences in intelligence ► EVALUATING THE INFORMATION-PROCESSING APPROACH -Children are born with some basic, inborn cognitive strategies (such as noting differences or similarities) -These strategies or rules change during the early years of life, with more complex ones emerging and old ones being used more flexibly -Experience is a key part of the process of change -Individual differences in what is normally thought of as intelligence can then be conceived of as resulting both from inborn differences in the speed or efficiency of the basic processes and from differences in expertise or experience ❖ Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence -Three aspects, or types, of intelligence: 1. Analytical intelligence (originally called componential intelligence), includes what is normally measured by IQ and achievement tests. Planning, organizing, and remembering facts and applying them to new situations 2. Creative intelligence (originally labeled experiential intelligence). A person with well-developed creative intelligence can see new connections between things, is insightful about experiences, and questions what is sometimes called the “conventional wisdom” about various kinds of problems 3. Practical intelligence (originally labeled contextual intel- ligence), sometimes called “street smarts.” People who have a high degree of practical intelligence are good at seeing how some bit of information may be applied to the real world or at finding some practical solution to a real- life problem ❖ Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences 1. Linguistic: People who are good writers or speakers 2. Logical/mathematical intelligence: Enables individuals to learn math and to generate logical solutions 3. Spatial intelligence: Used in the production and appreciation of works of art 4. Bodily kinesthetic: Professional athletes 5. Musical 6. Interpersonal 7. Intrapersonal: People who are good at identifying their own strengths and choosing goals accordingly 8. Naturalistic: ability to recognize patterns in nature ► Creativity -Conventional intelligence tests do not measure creativity, the ability to produce original, appropriate, and valuable ideas and/or solutions to problems -Divergent thinking, can provide multiple solutions to problems that have no clear answer -Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking tests four dimensions of creativity: 1. Fluency: The total number of ideas generated 2. Flexibility: Number of different categories represented in ideas 3. Originality: The degree to which ideas are unusual, statistically speaking 4. Elaboration: The amount of detail in ideas