Intelligence, Cognition, Language Mods 28-32

1. Intelligence, Cognition, LanguageMods 28-32 HOW DO YOU DETERMINE HOW “INTELLIGENT” A PERSON IS?

2. A few quotes on Intelligence… • “the capacity for knowledge, and knowledge possessed” – Henmon 1921 • “the capacity to learn or to profit by experience” – Dearborn 1921 • “ a global concept that involves an individual’s ability to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment” – Wechsler 1958 • “ Intelligence is what you do when you don’t know what to do” – Unknown Thursday, July 15, 1942 – 5:36 PM

3. Essential Questions: • Is intelligence one, general ability or several, specific abilities? • Is intelligence inherited or learned? • Are intelligence tests valid measures of mental ability?

4. What makes a good athlete? Is it….? Strength – Power – Speed --

5. Quickness – • Aggressiveness Agility Endurance – The Epitome of Athleticism? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RubpESZgosM

6. Multiple Intelligences Theory – Howard Gardner • Gardner has identified 8 (9) Intelligences: • Verbal/Linguistic – Reading, writing, storytelling etc. • Logical/Mathematical – Numbers, reasoning, problem solving. • Visual/Spatial – Drawing, creating, imagining, visualizing. • Ex. Alonzo Clemmons • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w13NNU6oNQ • Musical/Rhythmic – Singing, playing instruments, producing music. • Bodily/Kinesthetic – Physical activities, body language, movement, athleticism.

7. Multiple Intel. Cont’d Naturalistic – Loves and understands the outdoors, animals, nature. Interpersonal – Understanding people, communicating with groups or individuals. Intrapersonal – Self-understanding, follows instincts, originality. Existential – Philosophical, meaning of life

8. Any MENSA candidates in the house? • http://www.mensa.org/index0.php?page=12

9. Definition of Intelligence • INTELLIGENCE IS DEFINED AS THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND AND ADAPT TO THE ENVIRONMENT BY USING A COMBINATION OF INHERITED ABILITIES AND LEARNING EXPERIENCES

10. Testing Intelligence • If you were the head of the CIA and needed to recruit the “best and brightest” in the country, how would you measure intelligence? What would your test include? • Alfred Binet – French psychologist who was a pioneer of intelligence testing • Measured a child’s Mental Age – the chronological age that typically corresponds to a given level of performance

11. Flexible Thinking The words in each group have a single word in common associated with them. The object is to find that word. For example, if the words were “shake, cow, and carton,” the common element is “milk” (milkshake, cow milk and milk carton. BALL HOME NAVAL STREAM GOOSE TOWN DANCE LADDER DOOR DOG PEPPER ROD SAND MOUSE DOOR BALL SHAKE LOTION PUFF WHIPPED ICE BOWLING CUSHION HAIR SUN BULB SKY WRENCH STOVE LINE

12. WILLIAM STERN – A GERMAN PSYCHOLOGIST – DERIVED THE FAMOUS MEASURE OF IQ – INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT. • FORMULA FOR IQ – • IQ IS A PERSON’S MENTAL AGE DIVIDED BY THEIR CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, AND MULTIPLIED BY 100 (TO GET RID OF THE DECIMAL POINT) • EX. A CHILD WITH THE SAME MENTAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE HAS AN IQ OF 100 • EX. AN 8-YEAR-OLD WHO ANSWERS QUESTIONS LIKE A 10-YEAR-OLD, HAS AN IQ OF 125 • IQ IS NOT USED VERY OFTEN ANYMORE – ONE OF THE MOST COMMON REASONS IS THAT IS DOESN’T WORK VERY WELL FOR ADULTS – THE INTELLIGENCE TESTS USED TODAY PRODUCE A MENTAL ABILITY SCORE BASED ON THE TEST–TAKER’S PERFORMANCE RELATIVE TO THE AVERAGE PERFORMANCE OF OTHERS THE SAME AGE – DEVIATION IQ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saqskTrAQ3Q&feature=related

13. Modern Tests of Mental Abilities • APTITUDE TESTS – DESIGNED TO MEASURE OR PREDICT YOUR ABILITY OR POTENTIAL TO LEARN NEW SKILLS OR INFORMATION • ACHIEVEMENT TESTS – INTENDED TO REFLECT WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED • EX. SAT’s vs. FINAL EXAMS • ***DIFFICULT TO DISTINGUISH BECAUSE ONE’S POTENTIAL IS OFTEN INFLUENCED BY THEIR EXPERIENCES

14. Wechsler Adult Intelligence ScaleWechsler Intelligence Scale for ChildrenWechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence • WECHSLER ADULT INTELLIGENCE SCALE (WAIS) – THE MOST WIDELY USED INTELLIGENCE TEST TODAY – CONSISTS OF 15 SUB-TESTS. CONTAINS SEPARATE VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL (PERFORMANCE) SECTIONS • A DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO SCORES MAY ALERT THE EXAMINER TO POSSIBLE LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

15. PRINCIPLES OF TEST CONSTRUCTION – • IN ORDER TO BE ACCEPTED, PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS MUST MEET THREE CRITERIA. TESTS MUST BE: • STANDARDIZED • RELIABLE • VALID

16. STANDARDIZATION – • SIMPLY KNOWING HOW MANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU GOT CORRECT ON AN INTELLIGENCE TEST WOULD TELL YOU ALMOST NOTHING. IN ORDER TO EVALUATE YOUR PERFORMANCE, YOU WOULD NEED A BASIS FOR COMPARING IT TO THE PERFORMANCE OF OTHER INDIVIDUALS. • THE TEST MUST BE ADMINISTERED TO A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF PEOPLE AND THEN THE SCORES SHOULD BE COMPARED. • ***A RANDOM GROUP OF TEST RESULTS TYPICALLY FORMS A NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

17. RELIABILITY – • A GOOD TEST MUST YIELD DEPENDABLY CONSISTENT SCORES. IN ORDER TO CHECK FOR RELIABILITY, RESEARCHERS RETEST PEOPLE USING THE SAME TEST (OR A DIFFERENT FORM OF IT). • IF THE TWO SCORES GENERALLY AGREE, OR CORRELATE, THE TEST IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE RELIABLE.

18. VALIDITY – • A TEST IS VALID IF IT MEASURES WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO MEASURE, OR PREDICTS WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO PREDICT • EX. A ROAD TEST – MEASURES TASKS THAT YOU ROUTINELY PERFORM WHILE DRIVING

19. FACTOR ANALYSIS – A STATISTICAL METHOD THAT ALLOWS RESEARCHERS TO IDENTIFY CLUSTERS OF ITEMS ON TESTS THAT MEASURE A COMMON ABILITY • EX. SOMEONE WHO SCORES WELL ON MATH TESTS WILL PROBABLY DO WELL ON SPATIAL TASKS • GENERAL INTELLIGENCE – “G” – Charles Spearman – • INDIVIDUALS THAT SCORE HIGH ON ONE FACTOR SUCH AS VERBAL INTELLIGENCE, OFTEN SCORE HIGHER THAN AVERAGE ON OTHER FACTORS SUCH AS SPATIAL OR REASONING ABILITIES.

20. Food for thought… • Is intelligence just speedy information processing? • Does intelligence remain stable, or does it change during one’s life? • Researchers have tried it all… • Unable to talk with infants, researchers have tried everything from birth weight to head circumference to whether the 3rd toe was longer than the 2nd to the age of sitting up alone • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNvvL9j_SIs&feature=related

21. Extremes of Intelligence - • TO BE LABELED AS MENTALLY RETARDED, A CHILD MUST HAVE BOTH A LOW IQ SCORE (BELOW 70) AND DIFFICULTY ADAPTING TO THE NORMAL DEMANDS OF LIVING INDEPENDENTLY • ONLY ABOUT ONE PERCENT OF THE POPULATION MEETS BOTH CRITERIA, WITH MALES OUTNUMBERING FEMALES BY 50 PERCENT • MOST MENTALLY CHALLENGED INDIVIDUALS CAN LIVE IN MAINSTREAM SOCIETY • SEVERE MENTAL RETARDATION – A CHARACTERISTIC OF ONLY 4 PERCENT OF THE MENTALLY RETARDED POPULATION – USUALLY RESULTS FROM KNOWN PHYSICAL CAUSES SUCH AS DOWN SYNDROME (CAUSED BY AN EXTRA CHROMOSOME)

22. Extremes of Intelligence - • “GIFTED” INDIVIDUALS – INDIVIDUALS WITH IQ SCORES OF HIGHER THAN 135 • CONTRARY TO POPULAR MYTH, INTELLECTUALLY “GIFTED” INDIVIDUALS ARE HEALTHY, WELL-ADJUSTED, AND ACADEMICALLY SUCCESSFUL Smart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhrfhjLd9e4

23. CREATIVITY AND INTELLIGENCE – • CREATIVITY – THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE IDEAS THAT ARE BOTH NOVEL AND VALUABLE – WILL VARY FROM CULTURE TO CULTURE • TYPICALLY, EXCEPTIONALLY CREATIVE ARCHITECTS, SCIENTISTS, MATHEMATICIANS, ETC. DO NOT SCORE HIGHER ON INTELLIGENCE TESTS

24. Creativity… • THERE IS CLEARLY MORE TO CREATIVITY THAN INTELLIGENCE SCORES • STUDIES OF “CREATIVE PEOPLE” SUGGEST FIVE ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS:

25. Creativity continued… • 1.) EXPERTISE – CREATIVE PEOPLE MUST POSSESS A WELL-DEVELOPED BASE OF KNOWLEDGE. THE MORE IDEAS AND IMAGES THAT WE HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO, THE GREATER THE CHANCE THAT WE WILL HAVE TO ASSEMBLE A UNIQUE CONSTRUCT. • 2.) IMAGINATIVE THINKING SKILLS – CREATIVE PEOPLE POSSESS AN ABILITY TO SEE THINGS IN A NEW WAY, RECOGNIZE PATTERNS AND MAKE CONNECTIONS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DPKf7y1F-Q

26. Creativity continued… • 3.) VENTURESOME PERSONALITY – CREATIVE PEOPLE DO NOT SIMPLY FOLLOW THE PACK – INVENTORS, FOR EXAMPLE, HAVE A KNACK FOR PERSISTING AFTER FAILURE. • 4.) INTRINSIC MOTIVATION – PEOPLE SEEM TO BE THE MOST CREATIVE WHEN THEY ARE MOTIVATED PRIMARILY BY THE INTEREST, ENJOYMENT, SATISFACTION AND THE CHALLENGE OF THE WORK ITSELF – NOT EXTERNAL FORCES. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimcdV-8FzY&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1 5.) CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT – CREATIVE PEOPLE OFTEN WORK IN ENVIRONMENTS THAT SUPPORT OR ENCOURAGE NEW IDEAS. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziOG_GHNVq0

50. Genetic and Environmental Determinants of Intelligence – Nature vs. Nurture • ALMOST EVERYONE ACKNOWLEDGES THE FACT THAT INTELLIGENCE IS INFLUENCED BY BOTH GENETICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT – BUT TO WHAT DEGREE? • GENETIC DETERMINANTS – • TWIN STUDIES: DO PEOPLE WHO SHARE THE SAME GENES ALSO SHARE COMPARABLE MENTAL ABILITIES?