PSY 2012 General Psychology Chapter 8: Thinking and Intelligence

1. PSY 2012 General PsychologyChapter 8: Thinking and Intelligence Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D. Associate Professor The Department of Psychology The University of West Florida

2. Intelligence: Early work • Galton • Saw intelligence as genetically based; • Viewed intelligence as a single construct that encompassed all mental processes (memory, perception, language production, etc.,) • Suggested that culture would be greatly improved if “…talented men were mated with talented women…generation after generation we might produce a highly bred human race, with no more tendency to revert to our meaner ancestral types than is shown by our long established breeds of race horses and fox hounds.” From: Galton (1865). Hereditary Talent and Character, Macmillan's Magazine, 12, 157-166, 318-327.

3. Intelligence: Early work • Binet • Saw intelligence as driven by experience • Viewed intelligence as being made up of discrete constructs; he suggested that memory, perception, and other mental constructs were relatively independent and could be impacted by experience • Constructed a test to assess intelligence • Developed the early version of our own intelligence quotient (“IQ”) • The difference between Mental Age and Chronological age • Both perceived intelligence as a “general intellectual ability— the “g factor” (Spearman, 1927) reflects this point of view

4. Intelligence: Contemporary Views • Psychometric view is reflected in traditional IQ tests • Stanford-Binet IQ test: • Yields an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) IQ = (Mental Age/Chronological Age) X 100 • Includes verbal and performance (non-verbal) subtests • Individually administered • Wechsler Intelligence tests: • Yields and Intelligence Quotient (same formula) • Includes verbal, quantitative, and performance subtests • Individually administered

5. Intelligence: Contemporary Views • Crystallized Intelligence: • One’s knowledge base (e.g. schema, scripts) and the ability to access that knowledge • Fluid Intelligence • Mental processes (identify relationships; solve problems, etc.,) • Cattell (1963) suggests both are necessary

6. Intelligence: Contemporary Views • Problems with traditional measures: • Cultural biases (Sternberg, 2004) • Intelligence as defined by success within one’s cultural milieu using resources, making decisions, solving problems, with cultural tools at hand • Alternative to traditional IQ tests: • Dynamic testing: • Initial assessment provides a baseline of performance • Intervention is provide in which skills and knowledge are taught • Second testing indicates what the individual has learned; • Gains are considered more accurate indication of intellectual power.

7. Intelligence: Contemporary Views • Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory: • Contextual Intelligence (Practical Intelligence): • “Street smarts” • Adaptation to one’s environment • Componential Intelligence (Analytical Intelligence): • Executive Control • Basic mental processes • Elements of Componential Intelligence measured by traditional IQ tests • Experiential Intelligence (Creative Intelligence) • Performance varies based on the novelty of a task • One’s experiences within a culture lead to differential performance • Reflects the ability to cope flexibly and creatively with problems

8. Intelligence: Contemporary Views • Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences: • The traditional models of intelligence lend little information on many important areas of knowledge and performance that relate to success in life • Gardner suggested multiple areas of intelligence: • Domains range from linguistic and logical-mathematical to emotional intelligence (see pg. 332, Zimbardo, et al. for complete list) • Some domains can be linked to specific brain functions • Assessment is based on a broad spectrum from paper and pencil tests to observations in so-called real life situations.

9. Intelligence: Contemporary Views • Intelligence, Race, Class, & Culture • Galton, Jenson & Heritability of IQ & Racial Differences: • Initial claims that IQ is largely a product of genetics with environmental factors minimized has been refuted with the Scarr & Weinberg study (initial differences were minimized as children reached adolescence) • Social/Economic Class: • Differences IQ attained by members of different socio-economic classes most likely attributed to multiple factors: • Health care • Nutrition • Access to equal educational opportunities (in and out of school) • At the core is the definition of intelligence • Differences are most obvious with traditional views and less obvious with more contemporary views (e.g. Sternberg, Gardner)