Week 7 - Intelligence and Personality_2024 Student.pdf
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Lecture 7: Intelligence 3012PSY and Personality Learning Objectives Describe the meaning of intelligence and how it changes over the life-span Describe the dual-component model of intellectual functioning Name the 2 mental abilities and the 2 types of intelligence Understan...
Lecture 7: Intelligence 3012PSY and Personality Learning Objectives Describe the meaning of intelligence and how it changes over the life-span Describe the dual-component model of intellectual functioning Name the 2 mental abilities and the 2 types of intelligence Understand theories of thought and processing over the life- span Describe core components of Piaget’s theory and how it applies to adulthood and understand theories of thought beyond Piaget Identify levels of personality analysis Name the three major levels and key researchers/theories in each level What is Intelligence? Different types Different Measures General versus specific Ability to incorporate new information and draw upon this information Intelligence seen as IQ – but there are some pitfalls in this What does intelligence mean in everyday life? – what does it mean to be intelligent? Behavioural elements of intelligence – aptitude versus Defining Intelligence Intelligence involves more than just a particular fixed set of characteristics Three clusters of intelligence: Problem-solving ability Verbal ability Social competence Life-span intelligence: Multidimensional Multidirectionality Plasticity Interindividual variability Measuring Intelligence Measuring intelligence, we take a psychometric approach Binet (1906) Intelligence Quota General Intelligence Spearman (1927) g – General Capacity Secondary mental abilities: related groups of primary mental abilities (IQ) Primary mental abilities: hypothetical constructs into which related skills are organized Number , Word fluency, Verbal meaning, Inductive reasoning, Spatial orientation Mini Lecture 7.2: Dual Component Model 3012PSY Measuring Intelligence Fluid Intelligence: Make you a flexible and adaptive thinker Allow you to make inferences Enable you to understand the relations among concepts Crystallised Intelligence: The knowledge you have gained through life experiences and education Fluid intelligence declines through adulthood Crystallised intelligence improves through adulthood Dual component model of intellectual functioning Mechanics of intelligence (neurophysiological architecture) Pragmatics of intelligence (acquired bodies of knowledge embedded in culture) What is Intelligence associated with? Academic ability à Higher wages (Murnane et al., 2001) Low IQ à More antisocial behavior (Koenan et al., 2006) Low IQ à Higher risk of mental disorder (Zammit et al, 2004) But not… Related to life satisfaction Related to marital happiness Moderators of Intellectual Change Cohort differences Information processing Socialcultural and lifestyle variables Personality Health Mini Lecture 7.3: Differences in Thinking 3012PSY Differences in Thinking Piaget – Adaption through activity Assimilation Use of currently available information to make sense out of incoming information Accommodation Changing one’s thought to make a better approximation of the world of experience Beyond Piaget Postformal thought: Truth may vary from situation to situation Solutions must be realistic to be reasonable Ambiguity and contradiction are the rule Emotion and subjective factors usually play a role in thinking Dilemma: Peer Mentor Beyond Piaget Reflective judgment: A way adults reason through dilemmas Prereflective Reasoning Quasi-reflective reasoning Reflective reasoning Everyday Reasoning Decision Making Older adults Search for less information to arrive at a decision Require less information to arrive at a decision Tend to avoid risk Reliance on accessible information When decision marking relies on their knowledge and experience (i.e., crystallised intelligence) = fewer age differences (when compared to decision making relying on fluid intelligence). Everyday Reasoning Problem Solving Practical Problem Solving – Observed Activities of Daily Living Older adults: More likely to vary problem solving approach based on the problem E.g., use more emotion-regulation strategies during interpersonal conflict Wisdom Integrated and distilled understanding associated with the accumulation of life experience Expertise in the fundamental pragmatics of life Deals with important matters of life Is truly “superior” knowledge, judgment and advice Has extraordinary scope, depth and balance Is well intended and combines mind and virtue Wisdom tends to be Pragmatic Epistemic Better rated/recognised in peers than oneself Wisdom Consensus/Common Wisdom Model (Grossman et al., 2020): Metacognition: 1) “intellectual humility” 2) Recognition of multiple perspectives and contexts 3) Uncertainty and Change 4) Integration of opinions and compromise à Grounded in Moral Aspirations & Cultural Contexts “You are the best man at your brother’s wedding. You are bringing the wedding rings. The wedding is taking place in another city and your only chance to get to the wedding on time is to board the next train. Upon arriving at the train station, you notice that your wallet and your cell phone are missing. There is no time to talk to the police and other people at the station refuse your requests to use their phone or lend you money to call your brother. Desperate, you sit down on a bench in the main hall. You notice that the well-off person sitting next to you takes a phone call, stands up and walks around the corner to talk in private. Left on the bench is the man’s expensive jacket. You suddenly notice a ticket for your train half sticking out of this jacket. You could easily take this ticket without anybody noticing. It also appears this man could buy a replacement without any problems, as the train is half empty. What should you do? (Adapted from Miller, Bersoff, & Harwood, 1990; Grossman et al., 2020; pg. 109). Igor Grossmann, Nic M. Weststrate, Monika Ardelt, Justin P. Brienza, Mengxi Dong, Michel Ferrari, Marc A. Fournier, Chao S. Hu, Howard C. Nusbaum & John Vervaeke (2020) The Science of Wisdom in a Polarized World: Knowns and Unknowns, Psychological Inquiry, 31:2, 103-133, DOI: 10.1080/1047840X.2020.1750917 Wisdom But are older people wiser? à Wisdom increases through old age Personality: Levels of Analysis Dispositional traits –Consist of aspects of personality that are consistent across different contexts and can be compared across a group along a continuum representing high and low degrees of the characteristic Personal concerns –Consist of things that are important to people, their goals, and their major concerns in life Life narrative –Consists of the aspects of personality that pull everything together, those integrative aspects that give a person an identity or sense of self Dispositional Traits The Five-Factor Model (Costa and McCrae, 1994, 2011) Neuroticism – slight decrease, especially in women Extraversion – slight decrease Openness to experience – slight decrease Agreeableness – slight increase Conscientiousness – increase up to age 70 (Terracciano et al., 2005) Dispositional Traits Other studies have shown increasing evidence for personality changes as we grow older: Personality Adjustment Developmental changes in terms of their adaptive value and functionality Personality Growth Ideal end states such as increased self-transcendence, wisdom, and integrity Mini Lecture 7.5: Concerns & Transitions 3012PSY Personal Concerns §Consist of things important to people, their goals and their major concerns in life. Personal concerns are explicitly contextual in contrast to dispositional traits Are narrative descriptions that rely on life circumstances Change over time Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development Erikson was the first theorist to develop a truly lifespan theory of personality development His eight stages represent the eight great struggles that he believed people must undergo Each struggle has a certain time of ascendancy The epigenetic principle: Each struggle must be resolved to continue development Extensions of Eriksonʼs Theory Logan: Eight stages are really a cycle that repeats Trust à achievement à wholeness Slater: Central crisis of generativity versus stagnation and includes struggles between Pride and embarrassment Responsibility and ambivalence Career productivity and inadequacy Parenthood and self-absorption Extensions of Eriksonʼs Theory Kotre: Adults experience many opportunities to express generativity that are not equivalent and do not lead to a general state of being McAdams’s model – generativity results from: Complex interconnections between societal and inner forces Generative concern: interest in caring for younger generations Generative action: behaviours that promote the wellbeing of the next generation. Life Transitions Based on the idea that adults go through a series of life transitions, or passages Levinson (“Seasons of a Man's Life”) – crises are followed by periods of relative stability A key idea in life transition theories is the midlife crisis The idea that at middle age we take a good look at ourselves in the hopes of achieving a better understanding of who we are Many adults face difficult issues and make behavioral changes This transition may be better characterised as a midlife correction Reevaluating ones’ roles and dreams and making the necessary corrections Mini Lecture 7.6: Life Narratives 3012PSY Problems with Stage Theories Hard to verify through empirical work How do you measure a stage? Also, many do not reach certain stages They focus on crises After which dramatic change is noted In reality, we often struggle (over and over) with certain stages, or conflicts They are culturally bound McAdams’s Life Story Model People create a life story An internalized narrative with a beginning, middle, and an anticipated ending McAdams’s Life-Story Model Adults reformulate their life stories throughout adulthood both at the conscious and unconscious levels The goal is to have a life story that is: Coherent Credible Open to new possibilities Richly differentiated Reconciling of opposite aspects of oneself Integrated within one’s sociocultural context Two most common goal themes tend to be agency and communion Whitbourne's Identity Theory People build conceptions of how their lives should proceed They create a unified sense of their past, present, and future = The life-span construct Peopleʼs identity changes over time via Piagetʼs concepts of assimilation and accommodation The life-span construct has two parts: A scenario A life story Whitbourne's Model of Adult Identity Processes Possible Selves Created by projecting yourself into the future and thinking about what we could become, what you would like to become, and what you are afraid of becoming Age differences have been observed in both hoped-for and feared selves: Emerging adults: family concerns most important Established adults: personal concerns most important Middle-aged adults: family concerns most common (“letting go” of children) Older adults (60 & over): personal concerns resurface (remaining active & healthy) Emerging adults are more optimistic regarding their hoped-for and feared selves than older adults (who think that the “selves” are not under their personal control). Self-Concept and Well-Being § The organized, coherent, integrated pattern of self- perceptions that includes self-esteem and self-image § Older adults compartmentalise their self-concept more than other life stages (Ready et al., 2012) § Self perceptions of ageing remain fairly stable over time § Kegan’s Theory of Self-Concept Self-concepts across adulthood are related to the cognitive- developmental level Proposes six stages of development which correspond to levels of cognitive development – from reflexes to needs and interests
