Chapter 11 Intelligence

1. Chapter 11 Intelligence

2. Quiz • An operational definition is the operations (actions or procedures) used to measure a concept • Reliability is the ability of a test to measure what it purports to measure • Validity is the ability of a test to yield to the same score, or very nearly the same score, each time it’s given to the same person. • An average IQ score in the U.S., is 100, with below 70 being mentally retarded and above 130 being highly intelligent. • Culture fair test is a test designed to maximize the importance of culturally specific knowledge.

3. Defining Intelligence • What is the best definition of intelligence? • How can we define it outside of IQ scores? How are people in here intelligent? • Global capacity to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment • Operational Definition: Operations used to measure a concept • For example: How do you and your friends define “good looking?” Or “alcoholic”?

4. Intelligence Recognition • Who is the smartest person you’ve ever known? • How would they score on an IQ test? • How smart is your PSY 202 teacher? • As a class, write an intelligence test I would fail. Each group can contribute two questions

5. More Definitions • Aptitude: Capacity for learning certain abilities • Special Aptitudes Test: Predicts whether you will succeed in a certain area • Multiple Aptitude Test: Test that measures two or more abilities • General Intelligence Test: Test that measures a wide variety of mental abilities • S.A.T.’s, Career Assessment

6. Fig. 11-1, p. 364

7. Sample questions like those found on tests of mechanical aptitude. (The answers are A and the Driver.) Fig. 11-2, p. 364

8. Reliability • Reliability: A reliable test should give the same score (or close to it) each time the same person takes it • Test-Retest: Give test to a large group, then give exactly the same test to same group later • Split-Half: Making sure scores on one-half of a test match the scores on the other half

9. Validity • Validity: Ability of a test to measure what it is purported to measure • Criterion Validity: Comparing test scores to actual performance • Comparing SAT to college grades

10. More Information • Ages: Chronological Age: Person’s age in years • Mental Age: Average intellectual performance • Norms: Average score for a designated group of people • Intelligence Quotient: Intelligence index; mental age divided by chronological age, then multiplied by 100 • Average IQ in the USA is 100

11. More IQ Terms • Deviation IQ: Scores based on a person’s relative standing in his or her age group; how far above or below average a person’s score is, relative to other scores • IQ scores are not very dependable until a child reaches age 6 • Terminal Decline: Abrupt decline in measured IQ about 5 years before death

12. Normal (Bell-Shaped) Curve • Most scores fall close to the average, and very few are found at the extremes

14. IQ Research • Men and women do not appear to differ in overall intelligence • A strong correlation (about .50) exists between IQ and school grades • Having a high IQ (usually above 130) or special talents or abilities (playing Mozart at age 5) • Research shows it’s not important to have a super high IQ to do something amazing, just high enough. IT’S MORE IMPORTANT TO WORK HARD THAN TO BE “SMART”

15. Person Centered Language • Referring to someone as a diagnosis: “retarded” or “schizophrenic” is not respectful and does not imply value to who they are as a person • Example: referring to people by hair color, body type or interest • “Who was that intelligent, charismatic person you were talking to in the last psychology class?” • “Oh, you mean The blonde?”

16. Mental Retardation (or Developmental Disabilities): Some Definitions • Presence of a developmental disability and an IQ score below 70; a significant impairment of adaptive behavior also figures into the definition • Adaptive Behavior: Basic skills such as dressing, eating, working, hygiene; necessary for self-care

17. Mental Retardation Categories • Mild: IQ of 55-70 • Moderate: IQ of 40-55 • Severe: IQ of 25-40 • Profound: IQ less than 25

19. Familial Retardation • Mild mental retardation that occurs in homes that have inadequate nutrition, intellectual stimulation, medical care, and emotional support • Due to environmental causes

20. Organic Causes of Mental Retardation • Related to physical disorders • Birth Injuries: Lack of oxygen during delivery • Fetal Damage: Prenatal damage from disease, infection, or drug use • Metabolic Disorders: Disorder in metabolism; affects energy use and production in the body • Genetic Abnormalities: Abnormality in the genes, such as missing genes, extra genes, or defective genes

21. More Organic Causes of Mental Retardation • Microcephaly: Head and brain are abnormally small; brain is forced to develop in a limited space • Hydrocephaly: Buildup of cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles (brain cavities); pressure can enlarge the head and damage the brain

22. Down Syndrome Data • Down Syndrome: Genetic disorder caused by presence of extra chromosome (usually on the 21st pair; trisomy 21); results in mental retardation and shorter life span • Does not run in the family • Older a woman is, greater the risk to produce a Down’s child • Older fathers may also contribute (about 25% of the time) • No cure, but is detectable before birth

23. Heredity and Environment • Eugenics: Selective Breeding for desirable characteristics • Fraternal Twins: Twins conceived from two separate eggs • Identical twins: Twins who develop from a single egg and have identical genes

24. New Ways of Viewing Intelligence • Speed of Processing: Brain’s speed and efficiency; how fast you and your brain can process information • Inspection Time: Amount of time a person must look at a stimulus to make a correct judgment about it • Neural Intelligence: Speed and efficiency of the brain or nervous system; innate • Experiential Intelligence: Specialized knowledge and skills acquired over time

25. Stimuli like those used in inspection time tasks. Fig. 11-9, p. 379

26. Gardner’s Theory of Eight Multiple Intelligences • Language: Used for thinking by lawyers, writers, comedians • Logic and Math: Used by scientists, accountants, programmers • Visual and Spatial Thinking: Used by engineers, inventors, aviators • Music: Used by composers, musicians, music critics

27. Gardner’s Theory of Eight Multiple Intelligences Continued • Bodily-Kinesthetic Skills: Used by dancers, athletes, surgeons • Intrapersonal Skills (Self-Knowledge): Used by poets, actors, ministers • Interpersonal Skills (Social Abilities): Used by psychologists, teachers, politicians • Naturalistic Skills (Ability to Understand Natural Environment): Used by biologists, organic farmers

28. A Different Type of Intelligence Test • Is it possible to develop a culture free test? What would it look like? • What is the next best thing? • Culture-Fair Test: Test designed to minimize importance of skills and knowledge that may be more common in some cultures than in others

29. Conclusion • Many researchers believe that intelligence is a combination of heredity (genes) and environment (upbringing); contributing percentage of each is not known yet • And that there is no fair way to measure general intelligence in different subject areas in a culturally sensitive manner

30. Answers to Miller Analogy Test • Kitten • Herd • Show • Light • Door • Quart • fruit • Floor • Trees • Dust • Deaf • Sap • finished • 81 • Author • Cuff • Seed • Sparrow 19. Chairperson 20. 48 21. Betray 22. Rim 23. Client 24. Vice 25. L 26. Wednesday 27. Laziness 28. Create 29. Surface 30. run