ch10.pdf

Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Chapter Ten: Intelligence Overview  What Is Intelligence?  Assessing Intelligence  The Dynamics of Intelligence  Genetics and Environmental Influences on Intelligence Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images What Is Intelligence?  Spearman’s G...

Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Chapter Ten: Intelligence Overview  What Is Intelligence?  Assessing Intelligence  The Dynamics of Intelligence  Genetics and Environmental Influences on Intelligence Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images What Is Intelligence?  Spearman’s General Intelligence (g)  Humans have one general intelligence that is at the heart of everything a person does.  Mental abilities are like physical abilities.  Intelligence involves distinct abilities, which correlate enough to define a small general intelligence factor.  Gardner and Sternberg discount this theory and propose several different kinds of intelligence. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Theories of Multiple Intelligences  Sternberg’s three intelligences  Analytical intelligence (School smarts: Traditional academic problem solving)  Creative intelligence (Trailblazing smarts: Ability to generate novel ideas)  Practical intelligence (Street smarts: Skill at handling everyday tasks) Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Gardner and Sternberg  Differences  Gardner identified eight relatively independent intelligences and views these intelligence domains as differentiated multiple abilities  Sternberg agrees with the concept of multiple intelligences, but proposes three intelligences  Agreement  Multiple abilities contribute to life successes  Different varieties of giftedness provide educational challenges for education Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Gardner and Sternberg Criticisms  Factor analysis confirms existence of g that predicts performance on a variety of complex tasks.  Success is more than high intelligence; highly successful people are also conscientious, wellconnected, and energetic.  Researchers report a 10-year rule: Expert performers spend about a decade in intense, daily practice. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Comparing Theories of Intelligence Theory Summary Strengths Other Considerations Spearman’s general intelligence (g) A basic intelligence predicts our abilities in varied academic areas. Different abilities, such as verbal and spatial, do have some tendency to correlate. Human abilities are too diverse to be encapsulated by a single general intelligence factor. A single g score is not as informative as scores for seven primary mental abilities. Even Thurstone’s seven mental abilities show a tendency to cluster, suggesting an underlying g factor. Our intelligence may be broken down into seven factors: word fluency, verbal comprehension, Thurstone’s primary mental abilities spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and memory. Our abilities are best classified into eight or nine independent Gardner’s multiple intelligences intelligences, which include a broad range of skills beyond traditional school smarts. Intelligence is more than just verbal Should all of our abilities be and mathematical skills. Other considered intelligences? Shouldn’t abilities are equally important to some be called less vital talents? our human adaptability. Sternberg’s triarchic theory Our intelligence is best classified into three areas that predict real world success: analytical, creative, and practical. These three domains can be reliably measured. 1. These three domains may be less independent than Sternberg thought and may actually share an underlying g factor. 2. Additional testing is needed to determine whether these domains can reliably predict success. Emotional intelligence Social intelligence is an important indicator of life success. Emotional intelligence is a key aspect, consisting of perceiving, understanding, managing, and using emotions. The four components that predict social success. Does this stretch the concept of intelligence too far? Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Assessing Intelligence First…A Few Definitions of Tests  Intelligence test  Method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others using numerical scores.  Aptitude test  Test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.  Achievement test  Test designed to assess what a person has learned Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Early and Modern Tests of Mental Abilities  Alfred Binet  Tended toward environmental explanation of intelligence differences  Assumed all children follow same course, but not the same rate, of intellectual development  Measured each child’s mental age  Tested variety of reasoning and problem-solving questions that predicted how well French children would succeed in school Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Early and Modern Tests of Mental Abilities  Lewis Terman  Revised Binet’s test for wider use in U.S.  Extended upper end of test’s range  Named revision the Stanford-Binet  Theorized intelligence tests reveal intelligence with which person is born Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Early and Modern Tests of Mental Abilities David Wechsler: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and Wechsler’s tests for children  Created most widely used intelligence test today  Yields overall intelligence score and separate scores for verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, working memory, and processing speed  Contains preschool and school-age child versions  Provides clues to strengths or weaknesses Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Scores on aptitude tests tend to form a normal, or bellshaped, curve around an average score. For the Wechsler scale, for example, the average score is 100. THE NORMAL CURVE Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Stability or Change? Phases of Research Development  Crystallized intelligence: Accumulated knowledge, as reflected in vocabulary and wordpower tests  Increases as we age, into middle age  Fluid intelligence: Ability to reason speedily and abstractly, as when solving unfamiliar logic problems  Decreases with age; declines gradually until age 75 and then more rapidly after age 85 Ann Baldwin/Shutterstock Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images WITH AGE, WE LOSE AND WE WIN.  Studies reveal that word power grows with age, while fluid intelligence dimensions decline (Salthouse, 2010b). Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images The Dynamics of Intelligence: Stability Over the Life Span  Before age 3: Casual observation and intelligence tests only modestly predict future aptitudes  By age 4: Intelligence test performance begins to predict adolescent and adult scores  Late adolescence: Remarkable stability of aptitude scores; +.86 correlation Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Why Do Intelligent People Live Longer?  Deary (2008)  Intelligence provides better access to resources.  Intelligence encourages healthy lifestyles.  Prenatal events or early childhood illnesses could influence both intelligence and health.  A “well-wired body” as evidenced by fast reaction speeds, may foster both intelligence and longer life. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images The Low Extreme of Intelligence  To be diagnosed with an intellectual disability  Low intelligence test score (70 or below; 2 standard deviations below average)  Difficulty in adapting to normal demands of independent living  Conceptual skills  Social skills  Practical skills Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images The Low Extreme of Intelligence  Down syndrome  Condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21  U.S. Supreme Court (2014)  Recognized imprecision and arbitrariness of fixed cutoff scores of 70  Required states with death row inmates who scored just above 70 to consider other evidence Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Genetics and Environmental Influences on Intelligence  People who share the same genes also share mental abilities?  Intelligence test scores of identical twins raised together are nearly as similar as those of the same person taking the same test twice.  Estimates of the heritability of intelligence (extent to which intelligence test score variation can be attributed to genetic variation) range from 50 to 80 percent. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Genetics and Environmental Influences on Intelligence  Environment effects evidence  Where environments vary widely, environmental differences are more predictive of intelligence scores  Adoption enhances the intelligence scores of mistreated or neglected children  Intelligence scores of “virtual twins” (same-age, unrelated siblings adopted as infants and raised together) correlate +.28 Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Early Environmental Influence  Slowing normal development  McVicker Hunt (1982): Iranian orphanage study found dire, negative effects of extreme deprivation.  Mani and colleagues (2013): Poverty can impede cognitive performance and deplete cognition capacity.  Malnutrition, sensory deprivation, and social isolation slowed normal brain development. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Environmental Influences  Schooling and intelligence interact.  Head Start increases school readiness and contributes to later health and high school completion rates; aptitude benefits fade over time  Intensive, high quality preschool programs boost early intelligence scores. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Environmental Influences  Growth mind set (Dweck, 2006)  Fostered with belief that intelligence is changeable  Increased when effort rather than ability encouraged  Made teens more resilient when frustrated by others Ability+opportunity+motivation=success Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Gender Differences in Intelligence Test Scores Girls • Outpace boys in spelling, verbal fluency, and locating objects • Are better emotion detectors and are more sensitive to touch, taste, and color Gender similarities and differences • Compared to similarities, gender differences are fairly minor • Effects of culture • Social expectations and opportunities matter. • Little gender gap found in genderequal cultures. Boys • Outperform girls in tests of spatial ability and complex math problems • Vary in their mental ability scores more than girls do Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Racial and Ethnic Similarities and Differences  Agreed-upon facts  Racial and ethnic groups differ in their average intelligence test scores.  High-scoring people and groups are more likely to achieve high levels of education and income.  Group differences provide poor basis for judging individuals. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images The Question of Bias  Three hypotheses about racial differences in intelligence:  There are genetically disposed racial differences in intelligence.  There are socially influenced racial differences in intelligence.  There are racial differences in test scores, but the tests are inappropriate or biased. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Two Meanings of Bias  Scientific meaning of bias is based on test predictive validity. If test does not accurately predict future behavior for all groups of testtakers, it is biased.  A test can also be biased if it detects not only innate differences in intelligence but also performance differences caused by cultural experiences. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Test-Takers’ Expectations  Self-fulfilling stereotype threat is a self- confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.  Stereotype threat may impair attention, performance, and learning.  Women do not perform on difficult math test as well as men unless told women usually do as well on the test (Spencer and colleagues, 1997).  Black students performed worse when reminded of their race before the test (Steele and colleagues, 2002). Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Test-Takers’ Expectations  Stereotype threat does not fully account for Black- White aptitude score differences or the gender gap in high-level math achievements.  It does address why Blacks score higher when tested by Blacks, why women score higher on math tests when no male test-takers are present, and the “Obama effect.”  Conclusion: Aptitude tests are not biased in the scientific sense but they are biased related to insensitivity to differences caused by culture experiences.