intelligence psychology

g factor (general intelligence)

the existence of a broad mental capacity that influences performance on cognitive ability measures.

Uses of IQ scores

educational placement, assessment of intellectual disability, and evaluating job applicants

IQ

A measure of intelligence that is adjusted for age

Learning Disabilities: How are learning disabilities defined and treated?

People with learning disabilities get average or higher scores on IQ tests but have problems acquiring skills in a specific academic area, usually reading. The cause of learning disabilities is unknown. Response to-intervention (RTI) programs attempt to prevent school-aged children from developing them through early intervention. Intensive instruction in letter-sound connections helps some children overcome reading disabilities, but flexibility is important

Criticisms of IQ tests

- No test can measure potential without also measuring achievement. - Every test score reflects the culture of the people who wrote, administer & take it. - Intellectual potential changes over the life span. - Humans may have multiple intelligences.

IQ Scale

160 and above Genius 140-159 Very Superior (Gifted) 120-139 Superior 110-119 High Average/Bright Normal 90-109 Average 80-89 Below or Low Average 70-79 Borderline (Detective) 50-69 Mild Retardation 30-49 Moderate Retardation 20-29 Severe Retardation 0-20 Profound Retardation

Lewis Terman

1877-1956; Field: testing; Contributions: revised Binet's IQ test and established norms for American children

Measuring Intelligence: What did Binet, Terman, and Wechsler contribute to the study of intelligence?

Alfred Binet and his colleague Theophile Simon developed the first modern intelligence test (Binet-Simon Test). Norms are age-based averages for a given intelligence test. Early intelligence tests assigned mental ages to children on the basis of their scores. A child's mental age was the average age that corresponded to the number of items she passed on the given test. Thus, a child whose score was the same as the average score for 10-year-olds was assigned a mental age of 10, regardless of her chronological age. An individual's intelligence quotient (IQ) on early tests was derived from intelligence tests. It is the ratio of an examinees chronological and mental age. Lewis Terman of Stanford University adapted the Binet-Simon test for use in the United States (Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale). David Wechsler pioneered the use of IQ test scores that are based on the degree to which an individual deviates from the average score of others of the same age. Wechsler developed the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. These tests yield separate scores for verbal and performance intelligence as well as a full-scale IQ score. Group tests such as the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test and the Cognitive Abilities Test are used in many schools.

Alfred Binet

Alfred Binet was a French psychologist best-remembered for developing the first widely used intelligence test. The test originated after the French government commissioned Binet to develop an instrument that could identify school kids that needed remedial studies.

Giftedness

An extreme of intelligence defined as having an IQ score of 130 or above.

B.I.T.C.H Test

Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity

Intelligence: Fixed or Changeable?: What kinds of evidence suggest that IQ is changeable?

Children from poor families who are adopted into middle-class families show IQ score gains. Most studies show that children's IQ scores can be raised through preschool enrichment programs. Some studies show that these gains are temporary. The work of Craig Ramey suggests that intellectual enhancement programs for disadvantaged children are more likely to be successful if they are continued into the elementary school years. Studies illustrating the Flynn effect also suggest that changes in living conditions affect IQ scores.

Creativity: How does creativity differ from other forms of cognition, and how has it been measured?

Creativity is the ability to produce original, appropriate, and valuable ideas and/or solutions to problems. Divergent thinking is the ability to produce multiple ideas, answers, or solutions to a problem. Some psychologists maintain that divergent thinking is an important component of creativity. Convergent thinking is the opposite of divergent thinking; it focuses on finding a single, "correct" solution to a problem. Creativity is often measured by asking examinees to imagine novel uses for objects. Studies of creative individuals show that most are curious, open to new experience, have expertise in a specific area, are independent thinkers, and are self-motivated.

Culture, IQ, and Achievement: How do cultures vary in their views about the importance of intelligence, and how do those differences influence achievement?

Cross-cultural differences in IQ scores are much larger than those that are found among ethnic groups in the United States. Psychologist Richard Lynn estimates the average IQ difference between developing nations and those of the industrialized world to be 30 to 40 points. An important question concerns the reason for large differences in achievement, especially in math and science, among industrialized nations in light of the similarities of average IQs that exist among them. Stevenson proposed that Asian students excel in math and science because they believe that intelligence can be improved through effort, while students in the West, especially in the United States, believe that intelligence is fixed and that it limits what individuals can achieve. Differences in teaching methods also help explain differences in achievement test scores among industrialized nations. For instance, computational fluency, the ability to quickly do simple math problems in one's head, is emphasized in Asian classrooms far more than in American classrooms. By contrast, American math students are taught to rely on calculators

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Defines intelligence as "the capacity to solve problems or fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural settings." 8 intelligences, everyone has all 8, but in different proportions. You can strengthen your weaker areas. linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Possible ninth is existential.

Emotional Intelligence: What are the components of emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to apply knowledge about emotions to everyday life. It appears to be just as important to success as the kind of intelligence that is measured by IQ tests. The personal aspects of emotional intelligence includes our ability to identify and manage our own emotions. The interpersonal aspects of emotional intelligence have to do with our ability to relate to others' emotions. One component of the interpersonal dimension is empathy, the ability be sensitive to others by adopting their perspective

Determinants of IQ

Even though the genetic susceptibility plays a crucial role on the IQ of the individual, various modifiable environmental factors like education, premature birth, nutrition, pollution, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illnesses, and diseases can have an influence on an individual's IQ

Race and IQ: What arguments have been advanced to explain racial differences in IQ scores?

Historically, African Americans have scored about 15 points lower on average than White Americans on IQ tests. Some psychologists, notably Arthur Jensen, have claimed that this score difference is due to physiological (i.e., genetic) differences between the races. Others hold that the difference is due to long-standing differences in health, access to education, and poverty that distinguish the two groups. A strategy called dynamic assessment, in which examinees are familiarized with the kinds of questions that they will be asked while taking a test, enables minority examinees to get higher scores. Recent research indicates that stereotype threat, the fear that one's score will confirm a common stereotype, causes minority examinees to get lower scores than Whites do. However, this hypothesis is controversial.

Giftedness: How do the gifted differ from the general population?

In the 1920s, Lewis Terman, the developer of the Stanford-Binet test, began a longitudinal study of 1,528 children who had IQs above 135. Terman's study participants disproved the myth that intellectually superior people are inferior in other ways. They tended to excel in all domains. Historically, the term gifted has been applied to the upper 2%-3% of the IQ score distribution. Today it also includes people who excel in creativity and in the performing and visual arts. It also sometimes used to describe elite-level athletic abilities. One approach to the education of high-IQ children is acceleration in which they are placed with chronologically older children whose mental age is similar to their own. Another approach is enrichment in which gifted children are given access to special programs but remain with their age mates in most academic subjects.

The Nature of Intelligence: How do the views of Spearman, Thurstone, Gardner, and Sternberg differ with regard to the definition of intelligence?

Intelligence is defined as a person's ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to reason, and to overcome obstacles through mental effort. Spearman believed that intelligence is composed of a general ability (g factor), which underlies all intellectual functions, and a number of specific abilities (s factors). Thurstone points to seven primary mental abilities, which singly or in combination are involved in all intellectual activities. Gardner claims that there are eight independent types of intelligence or frames of mind. Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence identifies three types: componential (conventional intelligence), experiential (creative intelligence), and contextual (practical intelligence).

Stanford-Binet

Lewis Terman's widely used revision of Binet's original intelligence test

Mental Retardation: What two criteria must a person meet to be classified as having mental retardation?

Mental retardation is defined as IQ below 70 combined with a lack of age-appropriate adaptive skills (e.g., a 5-year-old who isn't toilet-trained; an adult who still has difficulty counting money). Inclusion is an educational strategy in which children with disabilities attend classes with children their own age who do not have disabilities.

The Heritability of Intelligence: What is the nature-nurture debate regarding intelligence, and why are twin studies important to it?

Nature-nurture debate regarding IQ is the discussion about the relative contributions of heredity and environment to intelligence test scores. Heritability is a numerical index that estimates the proportion of a given trait that is attributable to genetic influences. Twin studies suggest that IQ scores have a relatively high heritability index. The adoption study method compares the IQs of adopted children to those of their biological and adoptive parents. Generally, IQs of adopted children correlate more strongly with those of their biological parents, but they also correlate to some degree with those of their adoptive parents. These findings suggest that both heredity and environment contribute to intelligence test score differences.

Requirements of Good Tests: Why are reliability, validity, standardization, and cultural bias important in intelligence testing

Reliability is the ability of a test to yield consistent scores. Validity is the degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure. Aptitude tests are given to predict a person's performance in the future on a specific tasks or in a particular setting. For example, college entrance exams are aptitude tests as are many pre-employment tests. Standardization is the process of establishing norms for a test and a uniform testing procedure for all examinees. Culture-fair intelligence tests seek to tap examinees' abilities in ways that are not influenced by culture. Thus, most culture-fair tests are nonverbal. They do not predict academic outcomes as well as conventional test do.

Savant Syndrome: How do people with savant syndrome differ from others?

Savant syndrome is the phenomenon in which individuals with severe cognitive disabilities display unusual talents such as musical or mathematical ability. Its cause is unknown. Some experts have argued that savants display talents that are repressed by higher cognitive functions in individuals who do not have cognitive disabilities.

Heritability

The proportion of difference that is due to genetics.

spatial intelligence

The ability to think and reason about objects in three dimensions

mental age

The age at which a person is performing intellectually

Ethnicity and IQ

The bell curves for some groups, including those who are Jewish and East Asian, are centered somewhat higher than for Whites in general . Other groups, including Blacks and Hispanics, have averages somewhat lower than those of Whites

Intelligence

The combination of abilities inclusive of problem solving, social competence, verbal knowledge, creativity and logic enabling an individual to engage in learning and adaptive behavior.

general intelligence

The construct that the different abilities and skills measured on intelligence tests have in common

psychometry

The field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits. The field is primarily concerned with the study of differences between individuals.

Chronological Age

The number of years a person has lived, used especially in psychometrics as a standard against which certain variables, such as behavior and intelligence, are measured.

The Bell Curve: What does the term bell curve mean when applied to IQ test scores?

The term bell curve refers to a theoretical distribution known as the normal curve. It is a special type of frequency distribution in which the frequencies of scores above the mean mirror those below the mean. That is, exactly half the scores are above the mean and half are below. IQ scores and many physiological variables (e.g., height, blood pressure) are normally distributed.

WAIS-R

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised

WISC-R

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised

Bias

a test predicts outcomes, such as grades or occupational success, better for one group than it does for another.

Binet-Simon Scale

constructed in 1904, considered the first modern intelligence test

IQ formula

mental age/chronological age x 100

Gender and IQ

more men than women have very high, as well as very low, intelligence. There are also observed sex differences on some types of tasks. Women tend to do better than men on some verbal tasks, including spelling, writing, and pronouncing words , and they have better emotional intelligence in the sense that they are better at detecting and recognizing the emotions of others

Robert Sternberg triarchic

people may display more or less analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence. Sternberg (1985, 2003) defined the three intelligences as: • Analytical intelligence or the ability to perform academic problem solving • Creative intelligence or the ability to adapt to new situations and create new ideas • Practical intelligence or the ability to demonstrate street smart and common sense

Emotional Intelligence

the ability to accurately identify, assess, and understand emotions, as well as to effectively control one's own emotion

creative intelligence

the ability to deal with new and different concepts and to come up with new ways of solving problems

Charles Spearman General Intelligence

used factor analysis, a statistical technique that takes multiple items and meshes them into one number, to show that intelligence can be a single number he simply called g (generalized intelligence)