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Learn about the psychometric approach to measuring intelligence, including IQ tests, theories, and heritability. Explore the impact of culture on IQ testing and the cognitive approach with Gardner's multiple intelligences.
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Intelligence Chapter 8
Measuring Intelligence: The Psychometric Approach • Defining intelligence • The invention of IQ tests • Can IQ tests be culture-free? • Multiple Intelligences?
A key issue is whether there is one intelligence or many Theories of Intelligence: One Ability or Many
Defining Intelligence • Intelligence • The overall capacity of an individual to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment. • g factor • A general intellectual ability assumed by many theorists to underlie specific mental abilities and talents.
Psychometric Approach • How well people perform on standardized mental tests • Achievement tests – measures acquired skills and knowledge • Aptitude tests – measures ability to acquire skills & knowledge
Sir Francis Galton • Intelligence genetically inherited • Advocated eugenic programs • Measured intellect via sensory processes • Invented concept of correlation
Alfred Binet • TEST OF SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE • Identify mentally retarded children in school (1904) • Published first useful test of general mental ability (Binet-Simon Scale, 1905) – measured memory, vocab and perceptual discrimination
Normal Distribution • Symmetric, bell-shaped curve • Represents pattern in which many characteristics distributed in population • Most IQ tests mean is 100 & standard deviation 15
The Psychometric Approach • IQ scores are distributed “normally” • Bell-shaped curve • Very high and low scores are rare • 68% of people have IQ between 85-115 • 99.7% between 55-145
Intelligence Testing Today • Shifting to achievement & aptitude tests • Increasing emphasis on specific abilities
Can IQ Tests be Culture Free? • Traditionally favored middle-class, white, city children • To eliminate bias: • culture - free tests (non-verbal tests) • culture – fair tests (items common to cultures) • Cultural values and experiences affect a person’s: • Attitude toward exams, • Comfort in the settings required for testing, • Motivation • Rapport with test provider, • Competitiveness, and • Ease of independent problem solving.
Expectations, Stereotypes and IQ Scores • Negative stereotypes can worsen performance & motivation • Positive stereotypes can improve performance & motivation • Stereotype threat • A burden of doubt one feels about his or her performance due to negative stereotypes about his or her group’s abilities.
Dissecting Intelligence: The Cognitive Approach • Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Gardner proposed that there are multiple types of intelligence and traditional intelligence tests do not measure them Gardner defines intelligence as an ability to solve a problem or create a product within a specific cultural setting Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Linguistic Musical Naturalistic Logical-mathematical Spatial Body/ Kinesthetic Intrapersonal Interpersonal All are not measured by intelligence tests Developed from evidence on cognitive capabilities from “normal” & special populations Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Why multiple intelligences? • Prodigies and savants (also Idiot-savants) prove that it is possible to be gifted with one form of intelligence and not another. • Brain damaged people show us that it is possible to lose some abilities and retain others, suggesting that different intelligences may depend on different brain systems.
Strengths of Definition • Recognizes cultural context • Recognizes multiple competencies • Includes gifted & special populations • Framework for measuring intelligence (Project Spectrum)