Area of Study 2 - Intelligence and Personality

1. Area of Study 2 - Intelligence and Personality Chapter 11 and 12

2. What is intelligence? • Widely accepted definition: • Involves the ability to learn from experience, to acquire knowledge, to reason and to solve problems.

3. Intelligence Theories

4. Alfred Binet - Intelligence as an age-related set of abilities • Developed the first intelligence test • Binet was appointed by the French government to identify children who experienced difficulties in the classroom in the early 1900’s • Binet viewed intelligence as a general ability with specific, but related mental functions • Binet proposed that intelligence is age-related, that is, EVERY 5 year old should be more intelligent than 4 years olds and less intelligent than 6 year olds.

5. David Wechsler - Intelligence as verbal versus performance abilities • Wechsler proposed that intelligence involves greater abilities that are not only relevant to school. • He categorised verbal abilities as those entirely language-dependent such as vocabulary and comprehension • He categorised performance abilities as those that are less dependent on language such as arranging pictures to tell a story and arranging blocks to form a pattern.

6. Wechsler identified 4 conditions which should be present for any behaviour to be described intelligent: • 1/ Awareness: Intelligent behaviour is conscious and controlled • 2/ Goal directed: Intelligent behaviour has a purpose. • 3/ Rational: Intelligent behaviour is consistent and appropriate • 4/ Worthwhile: Intelligent behaviour is valued by others.

7. Howard Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence • Linguistic intelligence— use of language and words (written and spoken) • Musical intelligence— musical competence, such as understanding pitch, rhythm and timbre • Logical–mathematical intelligence— ordering and reordering numbers of objects to measure their quantity, using a sequence of logical steps in solving a problem • Spatial intelligence— mentally forming and using accurate visual images of real objects and events, mentally rotating objects in 3D-space • Bodily–kinesthetic intelligence— using one's body in highly specialised and skilled ways, as seen in athletes, dancers, gymnasts and other physical performers • Intrapersonal intelligence— ability to understand one's own feelings and to draw on them to guide one's behaviour in an appropriate way • Interpersonal intelligence— ability to read other people's moods, motivations, intentions and other internal states and effectively act upon this knowledge. • Naturalistic intelligence- involves the ability to recognise and categorise natural objects (In 1995, Gardner added this 8th intelligence)

8. Two key claims of Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences are that • (1) All people possess all these intelligences and • (2) All individuals have a unique combination of the different intelligences

9. Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence • Analytical intelligence: refers to the ability to complete academic, problem-solving tasks, such as those used in traditional intelligence tests • Creative intelligence: refers to the ability to successfully deal with new and unusual situations by drawing on existing knowledge and skills. • Practical intelligence: refers to the ability to adapt to everyday life by drawing on existing knowledge and skills. Practical intelligence is involved when dealing with everyday personal or practical problems.

10. Sternberg, proposes that the three parts of intelligence involve abilities that are different, separate and are not ‘fixed’; that is, they can change (become stronger or weaker) through experience in everyday life. • If a person is sufficiently strong in each of the three parts, then the three parts will be ‘in balance’. When this occurs, the person has what Sternberg calls successful intelligence.

11. Cattell-Horn-Carroll model of psychometric abilities • Psychometrics is a specialist area of psychology that focuses on the measurement of psychological abilities • Cattell and Horn worked together and developed a theory of intelligence called the Gf-Gc theory. The Gf-Gc theory describes intelligence as consisting of 10 separate and different broad cognitive abilities in an upper stratum and 69 narrow cognitive abilities in a lower stratum • John Carroll (1993) developed a theory of intelligence called the three-stratum model of human cognitive abilities, which is more commonly known as the three-stratum theory.

12. The Cattell-Horn-Carroll model of psychometric abilities is a combination of Cattell and Horn's Gf-Gc theory and Carroll's three-stratum theory, as indicated by its name .

13. Salovey and Mayer's ability-based model of emotional intelligence • Salovey and Mayer define emotional intelligence as the ability to recognise the meanings of emotions and their relationships, and to reason and problem solve on the basis of emotions • Salovey and Mayer believe that emotional intelligence involves four ‘branches’, or areas, of abilities. The four branches are described in their four branch model of emotional intelligence.

14. -The ability to accurately perceiveemotions in oneself and others -The ability to use emotions to facilitate (assist) thinking -The ability to understand emotions; -The ability to manage emotions

15. Measuring Intelligence • Binet's test of intelligence • Wechsler's tests of intelligence • IQ and its calculation • Mental Age: A score indicating the level of mental functioning in years, as measured by an intelligence test. • Chronological Age: The actual age since birth (In years, months, weeks or days)

16. Does IQ = Intelligence? Strengths and Limitations

17. Standardised Tests and Culture Fair Testing

18. Reliability and Validity • To be useful, an intelligence (and personality) test must be valid; that is, it must actually measure what it is supposed to measure. • An intelligence (and personality) test must also be reliable. In relation to tests, reliability refers to the ability of a test to consistently measure what it is supposed to measure each time it is given.

19. Environmental versus Genetic factors influencing Intelligence • Psychologists believe that variations in intelligence can be attributed to both hereditary and environmental factors, but which has the greater influence is very difficult to judge. • Flynn effect provides very strong evidence for the impact of environment on intelligence. The Flynn effect is a research finding that IQ scores have risen over time.

20. What is Personality? • Psychologists have defined personality in many ways over time. Most current definitions refer to personality as an individual's unique pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviour that are relatively stable over time and across situations.

21. Personality Theories

22. Psychodynamic Theories of Personality • Basic understanding of a psychodynamic theory of personality is that personality is a result of unconscious psychological conflicts. • The origin of these conflicts are seen to be in childhood experiences, due to the fact that an individual’s instinctive urges often do not match up to what is viewed as ‘acceptable’ in society • Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) • It attempts to explain how personality develops throughout the lifespan

23. Freud’s Structure of Personality • The Iceberg Metaphor • Freud believed that the human mind is like an iceberg, where most of it is beneath the surface • 3 different levels within the mind: -- conscious -- pre-conscious -- unconscious

24. Freud’s Structure of Personality • The id is impulsive and represents our biological needs. Works on the pleasure principle • The ego is realistic and considers the ‘real life’ consequences of the id’s demands. Works on the reality principle • Superego is our judgemental conscience. Works on the moral principle • Freud suggested that these 3 forces are constantly in conflict and that our behaviour is produced as a result of this interaction

25. Freud’s Structure of Personality • Defence Mechanisms • The ego is constantly playing the role of trying to mediate between the id and the superego • There are many instances when this conflict is not effectively resolved and according to Freud, this results in individuals feeling anxiety • However, it is the ego’s role to protect us from such anxiety. • The unconscious processes by which the ego attempts to protect us from the anxiety arising out of unresolved internal conflict are called defencemechanisms • By denying, falsifying or distorting reality at an unconscious level, our ego leads us to believe that there is no need to feel anxious

26. Defence Mechanisms • Rationalization: creating false but credible justifications. • Reaction Formation: overacting in the opposite way to your true feelings. • Regression: going back to acting as a child. • Repression: pushing uncomfortable thoughts into the subconscious. • Sublimation: redirecting 'wrong' urges into socially acceptable actions. • Fantasy: Fulfilling unconscious wishes by imagining them in activities • Denial: claiming/believing that what is true to be actually false. • Displacement: redirecting emotions to a substitute target. • Projection: attributing uncomfortable feelings to other people around. • Compensation: covering up weaknesses by emphasizing perceived strengths • Intellectualisation:Ignoring emotions and feelings by talking about painful events in a ‘cold’ way

27. Psychosexual Stages of Development • Freud developed a theory of how our sexuality starts from a very young age and develops through various stages. • Freud used the word ‘sex’ broadly to describe anything ‘physically pleasurable’ within these stages. • If these stages are not psychologically completed and released, we can be trapped by them and they may lead to various fixations to avoid the anxiety produced from the conflict in leaving of the stage. • He suggested that we progress sequentially through 5 stages: -- Oral Stage -- Anal Stage -- Phallic Stage -- Latency Stage -- Genital Stage

28. Psychosexual Stages of Development • Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months) • During the oral stage, the child if focused on oral pleasures (sucking). • Too much or too little gratification can result in an Oral Fixation is evidenced by a preoccupation with oral activities. • This type of personality may have a stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or bite his or her nails.

29. Psychosexual Stages of Development • Anal Stage (18 months to three years) • The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage is on eliminating and retaining faeces. • The child has to learn to control anal stimulation. • In terms of personality, after effects of an anal fixation during this stage can result in an obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control (anal retentive). On the opposite end of the spectrum, they may become messy and disorganized (anal expulsive).

30. Psychosexual Stages of Development • Phallic Stage (ages three to six) • The pleasure zone switches to the genitals. Freud believed that during this stage boy develops unconscious sexual desires for their mother. Because of this, he becomes a rival with his father and sees him as competition for the mother’s affection. This is known as the Oedipus Complex • Later it was added that girls go through a similar situation, developing unconscious sexual attraction to their father. This is known as the Electra Complex. • According to Freud, out of fear and due to the strong competition of his father, boys eventually decide to identify with him rather than fight him. By identifying with his father, the boy develops masculine characteristics, and represses his sexual feelings toward his mother. A fixation at this stage could result in sexual deviancies.

31. Psychosexual Stages of Development Latency Stage (age six to puberty) The stage begins around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer relationships, hobbies, and other interests. It is during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed and children interact and play mostly with same sex peers. • Genital Stage (puberty onwards) • The final stage begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once again awakened. • Through the lessons learned during the previous stages, adolescents direct their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers, with the primary focus of pleasure is the genitals. • If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual should now be well-balanced and caring.

32. Psychodynamic Theories

33. Trait Theories of Personality • A personality trait is a personality characteristic that lasts over time and across situations • Trait theoriesof personality focus on measuring, identifying and describing individual differences in personality in terms of traits or characteristics • The trait approach emphasises traits running on a continuum • Most personality tests are based on the trait approach to personality

34. Allport’s hierarchy of Traits • Gordon Allport (1897 – 1967) • Widely recognisedas the first trait approach to studying personality • Compiled a list of all the words that could be used to describe personality and then minimised the list by reducing synonyms and words rarely used in the English language. This process is known as the lexical approach.

35. Allport’s hierarchy of Traits • Allportorganised these traits into 3 groups: 1. Cardinal traits: traits which are seen as motivators or a driving force in that person’s personality. Cardinal traits are very dominant, but extremely rare 2. Central traits: traits which are present to some degree in all individuals within a culture or society Allport suggested that central traits are the basis of our personality and influence our behaviour to a large extent ( eg. independence, kindness, trustworthiness) 3. Secondary Traits: like central traits these traits too are present to some degree in all individuals. However, they do not influence behaviour to the same degree (eg. Loves classical music)

36. Cattell’s 16 Personality Factor model (16PF) • Raymond Cattell (1905 – 1995) • Dissatisfied with Allport’s qualitative measure • Used statistical procedure called factor analysis to reduce Allport’s list • Factor analysis is when certain pieces of information are seen to be highly correlated to each other and therefore are seen as a group (or a factor). • For example, words such as happy, talkative, friendly, outgoing correlate high with each other. Thus, those words were grouped together as the factor ‘extraversion’

37. Cattell’s 16 Personality Factor model (16PF) • Through factor analysis, Cattell identified 16 different factors or dimensions • Like all trait theories, an individual’s scores were placed on a continuum for each factor, with opposites such as reserved and outgoing at each extreme • EG: Intelligence: More intelligent Less Intelligent

38. Cattell’s 16 Personality Factor model (16PF) • Cattell identified 2 levels of traits: • 1. Surface trait: lies beneath the ‘surface’ of your personality, can be observed indirectly from your behaviour • 2. Source trait: A group of surface traits that usually occur together are considered together as a source trait. Thus, a source trait is a ‘factor’ or dimension of personality • Cattell’s model used 16 different factors or source traits to describe an individual’s personality

40. Eysenck’s PEN Model • Hans Eysenck (1916 – 1997) • Reduced Cattell’s 16 personality factors to 3 and called them ‘dimensions of personality’ • These dimensions were called: • 1. Introversion – Extraversion • 2. Neuroticism – Emotional stability • 3. Psychoticism (present to some degree in all of individuals, added to the theory after the first two dimensions) • Measured these dimensions using the EPQ (160 items) • Scores indicate ‘how much’ of each dimension the person displays

41. Costa and McCrae Five-Factor Model • Costa and McCrae combined Allport’s lexical approach and Cattell’s factor analysis to determine the 5 factors

42. Trait Theories

43. Humanistic Theory of Personality • Founder: Carl Rogers • Person centred therapy • Humanistic theories of personality emphasize: • uniqueness of the individual • the positive qualities and potential of all human beings to fulfill their lives (reach self actualisation) • These theories are based on the assumptions that: • All people are born good • All people want to strive to reach their full potential

44. Roger’s Person-Centred Humanistic Theory of Personality • The self-image (person you think you are) • The ideal self (person you want to be) • The true self (person you actually are) • Roger’s believed that all 3 need to be fairly similar for a healthy, well-adjusted personality to develop

45. Roger’s Person-Centred Humanistic Theory of Personality • According to Rogers there is a close connection between a person’s mental health and the extent to which their ideal self, true self and self-image match • The Q-sort testis used mainly during therapy to examine the self-concept, and the extent to which the true self and the ideal self match (or are mismatched).

46. Humanistic Theory of Personality

47. What Influences Our Personality? How do we study personality? • Genetic and Environmental factors • Longitudinal Studies • Twin Studies • Adoption Studies

48. Measuring Personality • Personality Tests: A personality test is an assessment device used to evaluate or measure aspects of personality, such as factors (dimensions) and specific traits. The 16PF, EPQ • Personality Inventories: A personality inventory is a self-report, ‘paper and pencil’ or online test which has a list of questions designed to assess various aspects of personality • Projective Tests: projective test attempts to uncover an individual's unconscious wishes, desires, fears, thoughts, needs and other ‘hidden’ aspects of personality by asking them to describe what they see or to make up a story from an ambiguous stimulus

49. PERSONALITY INVENTORY -Myers-Briggs Type Indicator • The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®) is a personality inventory which categorises an individual into one of 16 personality types depending on their preferences for how they perceive the world and make decisions. • Extraversion (E)-Introversion (I):whether your energy is directed outward towards the world of activity, people and other things (E), or whether your energy is directed inward to your own thoughts and ideas (I) • Sensing (S)-Intuition (N):whether you prefer to take in information from the five senses (S), or whether you prefer to receive information from the unconscious (N) • Thinking (T)-Feeling (F):whether you make decisions with your head using logic and impersonal reasoning (T), or whether you decide with your heart using personal feelings and evaluations (F) • Judging(J)-Perceiving(P):whether you prefer to approach your life in a planned, orderly and organised way (J), or whether you approach life more flexibly, being spontaneous and open to options (P).

50. PERSONALITY INVENTORY - Holland’s Self-Directed Search • Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) is a career counselling inventory which enables a person to identify their personality type and match it with career preferences which suit their personality type.