Intelligence

1. Intelligence

2. Intelligence is a commonly used term, but an extremely difficult concept to define. • Typically defined as the ability to gather and use information in productive ways.

3. Controversial questions/debates surrounding intelligence….. • What is intelligence? Is it a single overall ability, or several specific abilities? • How do we assess intelligence? • What makes a good test? • How much weight should we give to one’s intellect? Should we use it to rank people, to track kids in school, to admit college, to give people a job? • Are there cultural biases inherent in intelligence tests? • Is intelligence nature or nurture?

4. IQ Testing….when and how does it begin?

5. Intelligence Tests • Assess a person’s mental abilities and compare them with the abilities of other by means of a numerical score. • There is hot debate over what intelligence is, which makes constructing an intelligence assessment particularly difficult.

6. Stanford-Binet • A. Alfred Binet: In the early 1900s he was commissioned by the French government to come up with a test to identify kids with special needs (i.e. slow learners, France had just made education mandatory and teachers faced a wide range of abilities).

7. Binet decided France should group kids into classes based on their mental ability, not their chronological age. Binet’s purpose was not to track or rank kids, but to improve their education by tailoring it to their specific needs. • Binet creates the term “mental age” • Who is in step with peers, ahead of peers or behind peers? • Kids of a common mental ability of 7 are grouped together regardless of chronological age

8. Binet’s Ideas come to America…… • Lewis Terman, a professor at Stanford University, takes Binet’s concept of testing for mental age and turns it into the first IQ test – the Stanford Binet.

9. The Stanford Binet • Terman computes an Intelligence Quotient: • IQ = mental age/chronological age X 100 • Average IQ = 100 • Terman promotes wide scale use of IQ testing • US gov uses it to assess newly arriving immigrants and for World War I army recruits • Binet never intended for his test to be used to create a fixed quantity

10. IQ

12. Weschler • David Weschler created a more modern IQ test called the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) • Today it is the most widely used IQ test • It yields one overall IQ score (like the Stanford – Binet) as well as aggregated sub scores

13. Bias in testing….? • Are IQ tests and other aptitude tests biased against certain groups (gender, race, SES)? If so, how do we know? • Do tests favor white, upper/middle class? • A red flag for bias is if an entire group scores higher or lower on a test. i.e. group differences, not individual differences

15. Theories of Intelligence Is IQ one single overall ability, or is it composed of several specific abilities that are mutually exclusive?

16. 1.) Charles Spearman – G factor • Spearman argues that IQ could be expressed by a single factor (used factor analysis) • He acknowledges that people do have special abilities, but still says G is apparent. i.e. Johnny has an above average IQ. He may do better in math than he does in verbal tasks but he is still above average in both • Champions traditional smarts – reasoning, problem solving, ability to learn quickly, think abstractly – predicts school success and job performance

17. Spearman’s G Factor….

18. 2.) Howard Gardner – Multiple Intelligences

19. 2.) Gardner’s MI • Gardner disagrees with G factor and instead believes in multiple intelligences that are mutually exclusive from each other (i.e. I may be high in bodily kinesthetic and low in musical) • Also uses factor analysis to show statistical clustering • Cites Savants as evidence – low g-factor with islands of brilliance – Derek: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak2jxmhCH1M • Edutopia – MI self-assessment • http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-assessment

20. 3.) Robert Sternberg’s – Triarchic Theory of IQ • Analytical IQ – traditional, academic – ability to analyze, solve, etc. • Practical IQ – common sense/street smarts • Creative IQ – ability to use knowledge in new and creative ways

21. 4.) Goleman’s EQ • Daniel Goleman argued that people with high IQs not always the most successful in life. He champions EQ • High aptitude people are not always most effective in achieving better marriages, in successfully raising their children, and in achieving better mental and physical well being. • Many extremely intelligent people often have difficulty processing and managing social info. • EQ = being more socially and self aware • Perceiving emotions (recognizing them in faces, music, stories) • Understanding emotions (ability to predict them) • Managing emotions (know how to express them in varied situations • Using emotions to enable adaptive or creative thinking

22. EQ EQ less a matter of conscious effort than of one’s unconscious processing of emotional information Those scoring high in EQ - exhibit better job performance - can delay gratification in pursuing long-range rewards - are emotionally in tune with others - are often more successful in career, parenting, and marriage

23. Stanford Marshmallow Experiment • 1960s Longitudinal study with 400 - 4 year olds. Followed up for 18 years. Can you resist the marshmallow for a greater reward later? • 1/3 waited – years later he found them more socially competent, self-assertive, dependable, self-reliant, and had higher SAT and GPAs than those who did not wait. • http://venturebeat.com/2007/08/23/the-marshmellow-test/ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amsqeYOk--w

24. Is IQ neurologically measurable? • In general the answer is NO – you cannot look at someone’s head or brain size and deduce intelligence. i.e. having a big head just means you have a big head; not that you are smart! • Correlations between head or brain size and IQ are in the no relationship range • However, Einstein’s brain was 15% larger in the parietal lobe’s lower region – place for processing math/spatial info • PET scans do illustrate brain efficiency and IQ

26. Assessing Intelligence

27. Standardization and Norms • Tests are standardized by piloting test questions on a similar population and establishing norms of comparison (defining meaningful scores by comparison with a pretested group) • Standardized tests produce scores that fall around a normal bell curve • Standard deviation: average distance of scores from the mean • SD = square root of variance

28. Average IQ = 100SD = 1568% of scores are within 1 SD (between 85-115)95% of scores are within 2 SD (between 70-130)70 = cutoff for MR

29. Extremes of Intelligence • 70 cutoff for MR • Mental Retardation: Child exhibits • Low IQ test score AND • Difficulty adapting to normal demands of independent living • About 1% of the population meet both these criteria • Males outnumber females by 50%

30. Extremes - MR • Sometimes the cause of MR is known • Down’s Syndrome: caused by an extra chromosome at the 21st pair • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome • Many other syndromes

31. Degrees of MR

32. Reliability – all good tests are reliable • Consistency – does the test yield consistent results • Split half • Equivalent Form • Test-retest • IQ tests have a reliability of +.9 (very high) – i.e. when you take an IQ test again your score generally matches your first score

33. Validity – All good tests are valid • Validity – accuracy of the test – does it measure or predict what it truly claims • Content validity – does the test reflect an entire range of content • Predictive validity – the success with which the test predicts the behavior it is designed to (does SAT correlate with college GPA? YES) • A test that is not reliable cannot be valid. A test that is reliable, may still be invalid.

34. Types of Tests Aptitude Tests Achievement Tests Looks backwards at mastery of material (AP Psych test). Correlated with crystallized intel Power Tests – no time limit. Items get increasingly more difficult. How far can you get? • Looks forward to predict future ability (SAT, IQ). Correlated with fluid intel. • Speed Tests – large # of questions asked in short amount of time. Time matters – how quickly can you get answers?

35. Types of Tests Group Tests Individual Tests Given one on one. Significant interaction between test taker and administrator. More expensive and more subjective. • Given to many people at once under standard conditions (proctor reading set instructions). Efficient and more objective – less interaction between test taker and administrator

37. Intel Debates…..

38. Stability V. Change?Do IQ scores improve over life? • The winner…..STABILITY! • As young as age 4 kids performance on IQ tests begins to predict their adolescence and adult scores • By Age 7 scores are highly stable • SAT and GRE scores (taken 4-5 years apart) have a +.86 correlation – highly stable

39. Nature V. Nurture??? Nature Nurture Identical twins reared apart have less correlation than those reared together (environment) Fraternal twins have a higher correlation (+.60) than normal siblings (+.45) Flynn Effect – generational increases of IQ suggest an environmental impact • Identical twins’ IQs correlate higher (+.88) than fraternal twins (+.60) and normal siblings (+.45) • Even identical twins reared apart have a high correlation (+.70) • Adopted children’s IQ is more similarly correlated to their biological parents than to their adopted parents

41. Heritability • Measure of how much of a trait’s variation can be explained by genetic factors • Can range from 0 to 1.0 • 0 environment is completely responsible for variation • 1.0 genes are completely responsible for variation • Heritability of IQ is estimated to be .50-.70 This means we credit heredity with 50-70% of the variation in IQs among a population