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Intelligence. Exploring the Different Ways People Process Information. What is Intelligence?. Theories of Intelligence. Is intelligence one ability or many? Two classical theories of intelligence: Spearman’s “g” or two-factor theory Thurstone’s 9 Primary Mental Abilities.
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Intelligence Exploring the Different Ways People Process Information
Theories of Intelligence Is intelligence one ability or many? Two classical theories of intelligence: • Spearman’s “g” or two-factor theory • Thurstone’s 9 Primary Mental Abilities
Spearman’s “g” or two-factor theory • Intelligence consists of one unitary construct “g” and several underlying cognitive abilities as measured on various tests of mental measurements
Thurstone (1938) maintained that intelligence is comprised of 8 primary abilities, each more or less independent of the other. Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities
Spatial Ability Perceptual speed (visual perception) Numerical (speed & accuracy of computation) Verbal Comprehension Word fluency Inductive reasoning (finding a rule) Rote memory Deductive reasoning (application of rule) Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory • Sternberg (1997) defines intelligence as a group of mental abilities necessary for people to adapt to any environmental context, as well as to select and shape the contexts in which they live.
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory • Sternberg’s theory focuses on aspects of intelligence that may be increasingly valuable in adult life, e.g., practical intelligence – “street smarts” and tacit knowledge, that are not measured by conventional intelligence tests.
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory • Analytic intelligence: How efficiently people process information (i.e.., to acquire, store, and retrieve) and solve abstract problems. • Creative intelligence: How people approach novel tasks; thinking originally by thinking of new ways to put information together. • Practical intelligence: How people deal with their environment; the practical aspect of intelligence (“street smarts”). The ability to size up a situation, adapt to it or change it.
Horn & Cattel Proposed two types of intelligence: Fluid intelligence- capacity to process novel information (problems requiring little or no previous knowledge); largely uninfluenced by prior learning; e.g., verbal and nonverbal abstract reasoning Crystallized intelligence- ability to apply learned information and experience; knowledge acquired over a lifetime; depends on education, culture, and memory. E.g., vocabulary, general information
Theories of Intelligence Is intelligence one ability or many? Answer determines how we measure cognitive abilities. A multidimensional view of intelligence allows for the possibility of simultaneous advances and declines commonly seen in aging. This debate continues, but theorists are siding toward a multidimensional conceptualization.
How Can Children’s Intelligence Be Described? The Binet Tests • Mental age (MA)—measure of an individual’s level of mental development • Intelligence quotient (IQ)—person’s mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100 • Normal distribution
How Can Children’s Intelligence Be Described? The Wechsler Scales • Overall IQ • Verbal IQ • Six verbal subscales • Performance IQ • Five performance subscales.
Measuring Intelligence The Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children includes items that assess both verbal and performance skills.
Differences by Sex • Differences minimal on total scores • Males outperform females on tests of spatial ability • Females outperform males on verbal tests during childhood and much of adolescence • Greater variability in intelligence for males
Differences by Racial/Ethnic Group Compared to whites: • African Americans are about 1SD below • Hispanics and native Americans are .5-1 SD below on verbal and at the mean on performance tests • Asians have a similar verbal mean and are about 1 SD above on non-verbal tests
The Bell Curve Controversy • Hernstein and Murray, in the book The Bell Curve (1994), argued that IQ is primarily inherited & that ethnic differences in intelligence exist. • Most developmentalists disagree with The Bell Curve. • Environmental factors rather than inherited factors. • Discriminatory/biased test questions. • Less important to know the degree of intelligence related to genetic and environmental factors and more important to improve conditions and experiences so that all children can reach their full potential.
Heredity and Environment • Intelligence results from an interaction of heredity and environment • Estimates of heritability range from .4 to .8 (median of about .5 or .6) • “g” has a higher heritability index than specific abilities
Correlation of IQ scores From Bouchard & McGue (1981) • Identical twins reared together :.86 • Identical twins reared apart: .72 • Same sex fraternal twins reared together: .62 • Opposite sex fraternal twins reared together: .57 • Non-twin siblings reared together: .47 • Unrelated (adopted) siblings reared together .30
Gardner’s View of Intelligence • Gardener developed the "Theory of Multiple Intelligences" which says, in effect, that IQ should not be measured as an absolute figure in the way that height, weight or blood pressure are. It's a crucial blunder, he maintains, to assume that IQ is a single fixed entity which can be measured by a pencil and paper test. • It's not how smart you are but how you are smart, says Gardner. As human beings, we all have a repertoire of skills, he says, for solving different kinds of problems.
Multiple Intelligences Exploring the Different Ways That People Process Information
Howard Gardner Founder of Multiple Intelligence Theory
Gardner’s View of Intelligence The ability to solve problems or create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings. Howard Gardner
Gardner’s View of Intelligence “An intelligence is a biological and psychological potential; that potential is capable of being realized to a greater or lesser extent as a consequence of the experiential, cultural, and motivational factors that affect a person.”Howard Gardner
The Eight Multiple Intelligences
Verbal-Linguistic Characteristics The capacity to use words effectively, whether orally or in writing; and to manipulate syntax or structure of language, the semantics or meanings of language, and the pragmatic dimensions or practical uses of language
Verbal-Linguistic Occupations Poet, Journalist, Public Speaker, Translator
Logical-Mathematical Characteristics The capacity to use numbers effectively; the capacity for nonverbal reasoning; Includes sensitivity to logical patterns and relationships
Logical-Mathematical Occupations Accountant, Financial Analyst, Math Teacher, Bank Teller
Musical Characteristics The capacity to perceive, discriminate, transform, and express musical forms. Includes sensitivity to rhythm, pitch or melody, and timbre or tone color of music.
MusicalOccupations Band Director, Disc Jockey, Composer, Musician
Bodily-KinestheticCharacteristics Expertise in using one’s whole body to express ideas and feelings. Involves specific physical skills such as coordination, balance, dexterity, strength, flexibility, and speed, as well as proprioceptive and tactile capacities.
Bodily-KinestheticOccupations Aerobics Instructor, Athlete, Dancer, Actor
Spatial Characteristics The ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately and to perform transformations on those perceptions. Involves sensitivity to color, line, shape, form, space and relationships that exist between these elements.
Spatial Occupations Scientist, Sculptor, Artist, Astronomer, Architect
Interpersonal Characteristics The ability to perceive and make distinctions in the moods, intentions, motivations, and feelings of other people. Includes sensitivity to facial expressions, voice, and gestures; capacity for discriminating among many different kinds of interpersonal cues; and the ability to respond effectively to those cues in some pragmatic way.
Interpersonal Occupations Parent, Teacher, Therapist, Politician
Intrapersonal Characteristics Self-knowledge and the ability to act adaptively on the basis of that knowledge. Includes having an accurate picture of oneself (strengths and limitations) awareness of inner moods, intentions, motivations, temperaments and desires, and the capacity for self-discipline, self-understanding, and self esteem.
Intrapersonal Occupations Novelist, Judge, Theorist, Philosopher
