Intelligence

1. Intelligence Carolyn R. Fallahi, Ph. D.

2. Intelligence • Why do we want to measure intelligence? • What are some of the reasons we measure intelligence? • If you had to construct an IQ test, what kinds of questions would it contain? • What kinds of abilities do you think you’d want to test?

3. Alfred Binet

4. Theodore Simon

5. Jean Piaget

6. What is Intelligence?Binet & Simon • Binet and Simon were commissioned by the French government to ID kids who would benefit from receiving remedial education. • Assessment: attention, perception, memory, numerical reasoning, verbal comprehension.

7. Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development

8. David Wechsler • Wechsler’s definition of intelligence: the global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment. • Vocabulary scores – the subtest that correlates best with overall IQ tests scores.

9. David Wechsler • “Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment.” 1944

10. The Wechsler Tests • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV). • Greatly improved the normative process. • Wechsler viewed intelligence as an effect rather than a cause; for example, non-intellective factors, such as personality, contribute to the development of each person’s intelligence.

11. Intelligence – Some important topics. • Mental Age versus Chronological Age. • The issue of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) • IQ = (mental age / chronological age) x 100 • If a 10 year old can answer questions of the same difficulty level as most 13 year olds, then IQ = (13/10) x100 = 130. • Now using normative standards.

12. Intelligence Testing 1. “One Score Tests” • Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale IV– Ages 2 through adult. • Modern version – scores no longer reflect mental age. You’re now compared to others – representative sample used to obtain the distribution. • Links to Cattell-Horn’s theory. • Greater differentiation of abilities.

13. Wechsler Tests • 4-6.5 years – Wechsler Preschool and primary scale of Intelligence – IV. • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – IV (16 and older). • Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-IV).

14. Wechsler Tests – WAIS-IV • Updated in 2008. Why? Flynn Effect • WAIS-IV: 11 subtests, 3 supplementary scales. • Full scale IQ (FSIQ) or g. • GAI = General Ability Index = 6 subtests that comprise Verbal Comprehension Index & Perceptual Reasoning Scale.

15. Intelligence TestingImportant Issue: Standardization • Standardization: What does this mean? • Lots of people take the test to make sure it’s reliable and valid. • Cultural Bias of tests – many have argued that tests were written for white middle class children and they were standardized in that population. • Now – Stanford – Binet & WAIS tests have been standardized via diverse populations but still….

16. The Normal Curve

17. The normal curve • Describe • Show IQ scores for the WAIS-IV. • 130 and above very superior • 120-129 Superior • 110-119 High average • 90-109 Average • 80-89 Low Average • 70-79 Borderline • 69 and below – Extremely low

18. WAIS-IV test now measures: • Verbal comprehension Index • Perceptual Organization Index • Working Memory Index • Processing Speed

19. Verbal comprehension Index • Verbally acquired knowledge and verbal reasoning • Stored knowledge • Oral expression • General verbal skills • Requires understanding of words, similarities, knowledge of social situations, etc.

20. Perceptual Organization Index • Visual perception • Organization and reasoning • Visual-motor coordination • Nonverbal reasoning • Fluid reasoning • Comfort with new and unexpected situations • Ability to understand a problem

21. Working Memory Index • Measures the ability to temporarily retain information in memory and manipulate • Attention, concentration, mental control, reasoning • Arithmetic skills, reading ability, verbal fluency • Problem-solving • Higher-order thinking

22. Processing speed • Visual perception and organization • Processing visual information quickly • Attention and sustained effort • Motor coordination • Persistence and planning

23. Interpretation • Full-scale IQ • 4 indices • Individual subtests • Pattern analysis • Strengths and weaknesses

24. Extreme scores • Diagnosis of GT • Diagnosis of MR • Do we do a good job with extreme scores? • Difference between intelligence (ability to learn) and mastery tests like Wood-cock Johnson (what you have learned).

25. Factor Analytic Approach • Factor analysis – a statistical procedure for identifying clusters of tests or test items (called factors) that are highly correlated with each other and unrelated to other items. • Some thinkers believed that IQ score might reflect some particular ability, rather than overarching intelligence. • Ask people to perform lots of different mental tasks. • Each factor is a specific mental ability.

26. Cultural Bias Issues • Verbal ability is a problem – requires specific knowledge of the meaning of words. What if you come from a home where English isn’t spoken?

27. Vygotsky • Vygotsky’s approach to intelligence testing: “test, train, retest” • Brown & Ferrara (1985) • Not all average IQ kids are alike regarding the speed of learning or ability to transfer to something new. • Low IQ kids – some are slow learners with low transfer, some are slow learners with high transfer, some are fast learners with high transfer.

28. Vygotsky • This pattern holds for high IQ children too. • Thus two kids with IQs of 100 may not be mentally the same! • So we should consider this when developing individualized learning plans for kids.

29. Robert J. Sternberg

30. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence • Successful people = identify & capitalize on their strengths, and identify and correct or compensate for their weaknesses in order to adapt to, shape, & select environments.

31. Sternberg’s theory • Intelligence = forming competencies, and competencies as forms of developing expertise. • Intelligence is modifiable rather than fixed.

32. Raymond B. Cattell

33. John L. Horn

34. Cattell-Horn Theory • Fluid abilities (Gf) drive the individual’s ability to think and act quickly, solve novel problems, and encode short-term memories. • They have been described as the source of intelligence that an individual uses when he/she doesn’t already know what to do.

35. Cattell-Horn Theory • Crystalized abilities (Gc) stems from learning and acculturation and is reflected in tests of knowledge, general information, use of language (vocabulary) and a wide variety of acquired skills.

36. Crystallized Intelligence • Personality factors, motivation and educational and cultural opportunity are central to its development, and is only indirectly dependent on the physiological influences that mainly affect fluid abilities.

37. Horn & Cattell • Fluid Intelligence = ability to perceive relationships, ability to adapt, ability to learn new material. Independent of culture and formal training. Vulnerable to brain damage and aging. • Crystallized intelligence = completely dependent on culture and formal training or learning. Increases with age.

38. “I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place.” Gardner, 1999 Howard Gardner (Harvard)

39. Gardner – Theory of Multiple Intelligences • Surveyed atypical populations, e.g. prodigies, idiot savants, autistic children, LD children. • Found jagged cognitive profile. • These profiles inconsistent with a unitary view of intelligence. • Question: does training in 1 area influence skills in other areas. For example, math training affect musical ability?

40. Gardner - MI • Gardner (1993) defines intelligence as the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings. • Within this definition of intelligence, a variety of skills valued in different cultures and a history setting become objects of study.

41. Gardner – MI – currently 8 intelligences identified • Linguistic intelligence ("word smart“) • Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart") • Spatial intelligence ("picture smart") • Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart") • Musical Intelligence (“music smart”) • Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart") • Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart“) • Naturalistic Intelligence (“nature smart”)

42. Peter Salovey – Yale University • Yale University • Developed the idea of EQ or emotional intelligence. • Goleman expanded upon this theory.

43. Emotional Intelligence • Most intelligences can be grouped into 1 or 3 clusters … abstract, concrete, or social intelligence. • Social intelligence (Thorndike): ability to understand and relate to people. • Emotional intelligence has its roots in social intelligence.

44. Emotional Intelligence includes: • Being aware of one’s own emotions. • Being able to manage one’s own emotions. • Being sensitive to the emotions of others. • Being able to respond to & negotiate with other people emotionally. • Being able to use one’s own emotions to motivate oneself.

45. Emotional Intelligence • Emotionally intelligent individuals are said to be particularly adept at regulating emotions. • Utilized in problem solving. Propose that they have the ability to organize their emotions to solve problems. • Goleman includes: conscientiousness, self-confidence, optimism, communication, leadership and initiative.

46. Infant intelligence & memory • The history of studying infant intelligence has seriously underestimated their abilities. • Why? • High sedatives during childbirth, used adult based IQ tests, separated from mother.

47. How infants learn? • Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior resulting from experience. • We are all born with the ability to learn; but learning does not take place without experience. • Only with experience can a baby use his intellect to distinguish between sensory experiences (like sounds) and to build on their inborn repetoire of behaviors (like sucking).

48. Types of learning • Habituation: repeated exposure to something reduces the response, e.g. nursing baby. • Habituation gives us information about development. Children with lowered apgar scores, brain damage, distress at birth, etc.

49. Types of learning • Classical conditioning • Operant conditioning • Positive reinforcement • Negative reinforcement • punishment

50. Self-righting tendency • Given a favorable environment, infants generally follow normal developmental patterns unless they have suffered severe damage. • Between 18-24 months, this self-righting tendency seems to decrease as children begin to acquire skills (like verbal abilities).