Intelligence and Language PSY103 PDF

Intelligence and Language PSY 103 Lejla Mustoo Başer, M.A., PhD Candidate, Clinical Psychologist, Integrative Psychotherapist under supervision Agenda 01 Introduction 02 Defining and Measuring Intelligence 03 The Social, Cultural, and Pol...

Intelligence and Language PSY 103 Lejla Mustoo Başer, M.A., PhD Candidate, Clinical Psychologist, Integrative Psychotherapist under supervision Agenda 01 Introduction 02 Defining and Measuring Intelligence 03 The Social, Cultural, and Political Aspects of Intelligence 04 Communicating With Others: The Development and Use of Language 05 Closing 2 01Introduction intelligence—the ability to think, to learn from experience, to solve problems, and to adapt to new situations. 3  Our vast intelligence also allows us to have language, a system of communication that uses symbols in a regular way to create meaning. Language gives us the ability communicate our intelligence to others by talking, reading, and writing. “the jewel in the crown of cognition” (Pinker, 1994). 4 02 Defining and Measuring Intelligence Learning Objectives 2. Summarize the characteristics of a scientifically valid intelligence test. 6  General (g) Versus Specific (s) Intelligences Alfred Binet (1857–1914) & Henri Simon (1872–1961) ability to name objects, define words, draw pictures, complete sentences, compare items, and construct sentences. Charles Spearman (1863–1945) general intelligence factor (g) relates to abstract thinking and that includes the abilities to acquire knowledge, to reason abstractly, to adapt to novel situations, and to benefit from instruction and experience (Gottfredson, 1997; Sternberg, 2003). 7  Lewis Terman (1877–1956) Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test a measure of general intelligence made up of a wide variety of tasks including vocabulary, memory for pictures, naming of familiar objects, repeating sentences, and following commands. specific intelligence (s) a measure of specific skills in narrow domains 8  Fluid vs Crystallized F Intelligence C Intelligence refers to the capacity refers to the to learn new ways of accumulated solving problems and knowledge of the world performing activities we have acquired throughout our lives 9  seven clusters of primary mental abilities, made up of: 1 word fluency, L. L. 2 verbal comprehension, Thurstone 3 spatial ability, 4 perceptual speed, (1938) 5 numerical ability, 6 inductive reasoning, and 7 memory 10  multiple intelligences Robert Sternberg triarchic theory of intelligence the ability to answer analytical intelligence problems with a single right answer the ability to adapt to new situations and create new creative intelligence ideas e.g., the ability to write good memos or to effectively practical intelligence delegate responsibility 11  Analytical intelligence convergent thinking, thinking that is directed toward finding the correct answer to a given problem, are different from those associated with divergent thinking, the ability to generate many different ideas for or solutions to a single problem (Tarasova, Volf, & Razoumnikova, 2010). Test your divergent thinking. How many uses for a paper clip can you think of? 12  At least five components that are likely to be important for creativity: 1. Expertise. Creative people have carefully studied and know a lot about the topic that they are working in. Creativity comes with a lot of hard work (Ericsson, 1998; Weisberg, 2006). 2. Imaginative thinking. Creative people often view a problem in a visual way, allowing them to see it from a new and different point of view. 3. Risk taking. Creative people are willing to take on new but potentially risky approaches. 4. Intrinsic interest. Creative people tend to work on projects because they love doing them, not because they are paid for them. In fact, research has found that people who are paid to be creative are often less creative than those who are not (Hennessey & Amabile, 2010). 5. Working in a creative environment. Creativity is in part a social phenomenon. Simonton (1992) found that the most creative people were supported, aided, and challenged by other people working on similar projects. 13  Practical intelligence “street smarts” or “common sense” Practical intelligence may include, at least in part, certain abilities that help people perform well at specific jobs, and these abilities may not always be highly correlated with general intelligence (Sternberg, Wagner, & Okagaki, 1993). 14  multiple intelligences Howard Gardner Source: Adapted from Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st century. New York, NY: Basic Books. 15 Although intelligence is often conceptualized in a general way (as the g factor), there is a variety of specific skills that can be useful for particular tasks. 16  Measuring Intelligence: Standardization and the Intelligence Quotient The standardization of a test involves giving it to a large number of people at different ages and computing the average score on the test at each age level. The Flynn effect observation that scores on intelligence tests worldwide have increased substantially over the past decades. 17  IQ = mental age ÷ chronological age × 100 Wechsler Adult lntelligence Scale (WAIS) Sample Items From the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS); Source: Adapted from Thorndike, R. L., & Hagen, E. P. (1997). 18  fMRI studies have found that the areas of the brain most related to The Biology intelligence are in the outer parts of the cortex. of Intelligence brain size, sensory ability, speed and efficiency of neural transmission, and working memory capacity Although intelligence is not located in a specific part of the brain, it is more prevalent in some brain areas than others. Duncan et al. (2000) administered a variety of intelligence tasks and observed the places in the cortex that were most active. Source: Adapted from Duncan, J., Seitz, R. J., Kolodny, J., Bor, D., Herzog, H., Ahmed, A.,…Emslie, H. (2000). A neural basis for general intelligence. Science, 289(5478), 457–460. 19 Is Intelligence twin and adoption studies Nature or Social and economic deprivation Nurture? impoverished environments vs enriched environments It is important to remember that the relative roles of nature and nurture can never be completely separated! 20 Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to accurately identify, assess, and understand emotions, as well as to effectively control one’s own emotions. 21  What mood(s) might be helpful to feel when meeting in-laws for the very first time? Tom felt anxious and became a bit stressed when he thought about all the work he needed to do. When his supervisor brought him an additional project, he felt ____ (fill in the blank). Contempt most closely combines which two emotions? 1. anger and fear 2. fear and surprise 3. disgust and anger 4. surprise and disgust Debbie just came back from vacation. She was feeling peaceful and content. How well would each of the following actions help her preserve her good mood? Action 1: She started to make a list of things at home that she needed to do. Action 2: She began thinking about where and when she would go on her next vacation. Action 3: She decided it was best to ignore the feeling since it wouldn’t last anyway. 22 23 Exercises and Critical Thinking Consider your own IQ. Are you smarter than the average person? What specific intelligences do you think you excel in? Did your parents try to improve your intelligence? Do you think their efforts were successful? Consider the meaning of the Flynn effect. Do you think people are really getting smarter? Give some examples of how emotional intelligence (or the lack of it) influences your everyday life and the lives of other people you know. 24 03 The Social, Cultural, and Political Aspects of Intelligence 25 Learning Objectives Explain how very high and very low intelligence is defined and what it means to have them. 26 Western cultures vs Eastern cultures 27  Extremes of Intelligence: Disability and Giftedness Distribution of IQ Scores in the General Population The normal distribution of IQ scores in the general population shows that most people have about average intelligence, while very few have extremely high or extremely low intelligence. 28  Extremely Low Intelligence Mental disability is a generalized disorder ascribed to people who have an IQ below 70, who have experienced deficits since childhood, and who have trouble with basic life skills, such as dressing and feeding oneself and communicating with others (Switzky & Greenspan, 2006). Mental disability is divided into four categories: mild, moderate, severe, and profound. 29  Extremely Low Intelligence One cause of mental disability is Down syndrome, a chromosomal disorder leading to mental disability caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. Laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of mental and physical disability, and there has been a trend to bring the mentally retarded out of institutions and into our About one in every 800 to 1,000 children has Down syndrome. workplaces and schools. 30 Extremely High Intelligence schoolchildren who are labeled as “gifted” may have adjustment problems that make it more difficult for them to create social relationships. have higher scores on general intelligence (g) 31  Exercises & Critical thinking Do you think that we should give intelligence tests? Why or why not? Does it matter to you whether or not the tests have been standardized and shown to be reliable and valid? Give your ideas about the practice of providing accelerated classes to children listed as “gifted” in high school. What are the potential positive and negative outcomes of doing so? What research evidence has helped you form your opinion? 32 Communicating With 04 Others: The Development and Use of Language Learning Objectives Explain the biological underpinnings of language. 34 Communicating with others Human languages Other languages Purposes involves both the sign languages, in fundamental to our ability ability to comprehend which the to think, and without it we spoken and written communication is would be nowhere near as intelligent as we are. words and to create expressed by communication in real movements of the time when we speak hands. or write. 35  A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that makes a meaningful difference in a language. In spoken languages, phonemes are produced by the positions and movements of the vocal tract, including our lips, teeth, tongue, vocal cords, and throat, whereas in The sign languages phonemes are defined by the shapes and movement of the hands. Components of Language 36 The Components of Language a morpheme is a string Some morphemes are of one or more prefixes and suffixes phonemes that makes used to modify other up the smallest units of words. For example, the meaning in a language. syllable “re-” as in “rewrite” or “repay” 37  Syntax is the set of rules of a language by which we construct sentences. Each language has a different syntax. Example: The syntax of the English The language requires that each sentence have a noun and a verb, each of which may Components be modified by adjectives and adverbs. Some syntaxes make use of the order in of Language which words appear, while others do not. In English, “The man bites the dog” is different from “The dog bites the man.” In German, however, only the article endings before the noun matter. “Der Hund beisst den Mann” means “The dog bites the man” but so does “Den Mann beisst der Hund.” 38 The Biology and Development of Language For most people the left hemisphere is specialized for language. Broca’s area, near the motor cortex, is involved in language production, whereas Wernicke’s area, near the auditory cortex, is specialized for language comprehension. aphasia, a condition in which language functions are severely impaired. 39 Theories of How children learn language? Language Perhaps the most straightforward explanation Acquisition of language development is that it occurs through principles of learning, including association, reinforcement, and the observation of others (Skinner, 1965). Language is more generative than it is imitative. Generativity refers to the fact that speakers of a language can compose sentences to represent new ideas that they have never before been exposed to. 40 Bilingualism and Cognitive Development Andrea Mechelli and her colleagues (2004) found that children who were bilingual had increased gray matter density (i.e., more neurons) in cortical areas related to language in comparison to monolinguals. 41 Exercises and Critical Thinking What languages do you speak? Did you ever try to learn a new one? What problems did you have when you did this? Would you consider trying to learn a new language? 42  Questions? 4 3