Psychology Topic 2: Intelligence

What did Raymond Cattell contribute to psychology's understanding of intelligence?

Raymond Cattel (1987) drew a distinction between fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. (book, 291)

What sort of evidence supports the notion of g in intelligence?

Virtually all kinds of cognitive tests correlate positively with one another within almost any population. The simplest interpretation is that all tasks measure a single underlying ability. (book, 290). This could be incorrect.

As related to IQ tests (or other tests as well) what does it mean for the test to be standardized?

When a test is standardized it means that the process of evaluating the questions, establishing rules for administering a test, and interpreting the scores (book, 299) A standardized test has clear rules for administering the test, and previous studies have established the norms to which a new score can be compared. In most cases, the authors of the test have taken care to remove or revise any unclear, poorly worded items. (book, 301)

What is g (and why was "g" selected to represent it)?

g is the letter for "general" ability (book, 289). Spearman called his theory a "monarchic" theory of intelligence because it included a dominant ability, or monarch (g), that ruled over the lesser abilities

What is stereotype threat?

- A stereotype threat is people's perceived risk of performing poorly and thereby supporting an unfavorable stereotype about their group. (book, 306) - What we think others believe about us (lec., intelligence)

27. What is stereotype threat? a. Under what circumstances can it occur? b. On whom does it usually have greatest effect? c. On whom can it have an effect?

- A stereotype threat is people's perceived risk of performing poorly and thereby supporting an unfavorable stereotype about their group. (book, 306) - What we think others believe about us (lec., intelligence) a. Members of a group that are distinguished by some set of shared characteristics (often negative) (lec., intelligence) b. African Americans??? c. Can affect almost anyone, depending on situation and the skill involved (lec., intelligence)

What are adoption studies, and what do they find about intelligence?

- Adoption studies are when people find out if you get you r IQ scores from your biological parents or adoptive parents. They find out that the IQs of younger children correlate moderately with those of their adoptive parents, but as they grow older there IQ scores gradually correlate with more of their biological parents. The studies of adopted children imply a genetic influence from the biological parents, but another interpretation is possible; could be not providing good care for children. (book, 295) - Adoption studies compare the IQ similarity of genetically related sibling pairs and genectically unrelated (adopted) sibling pairs (lec., intelligence)

What determines intelligence: Is it nature or nurture? What evidence indicates a role for genes, and what evidence indicates a role for the environment?

- Both nature and nurture - Studies of twins and adopted children lend support to a role for genes o Children that are adopted in two different families have about the same IQ score and twins have almost the exact same IQ score. (genes) o Siblings related only by adoption is .30 not zero; Correlation among dizygotic (fraternal) twins is higher than among pairs of non-twin sibling, despite both sets of pairs having equal genetic similarity

What type of evidence supports the claim that IQ tests are valid?

- Content (The content of a test should match its purposes), Response processes (If a test claims to measure a certain skill, then the test-takers should need to use that skill instead of using shortcuts), internal structure (If a test claims to measure a single skill, such as working memory, then all the items should correlate with one another), relation the other variables (If a test is valid, the scores predict important kinds of performance), and consequences of testing (tests produce benefits, but also some unintended consequences). (book, 303) - The test doesn't accurately tell you what you think it should be able to predict. (lec., intelligence)

What has Dweck proposed as one influence on whether children develop entity or incremental self-theories?

- Dweck found that young children with entity theories receive more parental praise that is focused on characteristics over which the children have no control (for example, "You're so brilliant!") - Incremental: Young children getting praise to what they can control or choose (for example, "You were really persistent on that puzzle!") (lec., intelligence)

With which characteristic are entity and incremental theories primarily concerned?

- Entity: Intelligence can't be changed - Incremental: Intelligence can increase, an individual can grow

What is the difference between holding an incremental theory and holding an entity theory?

- Entity: The belief that intelligence is fixed and cannot change (lec., intelligence) - Incremental: The belief that intelligence is malleable and can improve, particularly through effort

What is the difference between believing that intelligence in fixed versus believing that it is malleable?

- Fixed means that you can't change who you are no matter what you do - Malleable means that you can always improve and grow if you try

What is fluid intelligence and crystalized intelligence? How do they differ?

- Fluid Intelligence is the power of reasoning and using information. It includes the ability to perceive relationships, solve unfamiliar problems, and gain new knowledge. Crystallized Intelligence consists of acquired skills and knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge in specific situations. (book, page 291) - Fluid Intelligence enables you to learn new skills in a new job, whereas crystallized intelligence includes the job skills you have already acquired. (book, page 291)

25. How can the beliefs that Person A has about Person B influence B's actions? What is self-fulfilling prophecy? a. When that "prophecy" applies to the behavior of another person what are the steps that cause it to be self-fulfilling?

- If the people feel like they are not going to do well because of the stereotype on them, they will always worry that their own performance may reflect poorly on theit group. (book 306) - What others believe about us (lec., intelligence) - If Person A was being a mean person the first time Person B met him/her, then the next time Person B is going to act rude also because Person B is going to believe that Person A is rude because Person A was the first time Person B met Person A. (lec., intelligence) a. If we expect someone to behave in a particular manner, our behavior can change to make it more likely that our expectations will come true. (lec., intelligence)

What type of evidence indicates that IQ tests are reliable?

- It produces the same result nearly every time, psychologists calculate a correlation coefficient (measures how accurately we can use one measurement to predict another) (book, 302) - Measurements are not merely random values; Consistent results when you keep measuring it. (lec., intelligence)

Two classic studies conducted by Robert Rosenthal in the 1960s were described in class in connection with self-fulfilling prophecies. What were the procedures in each study, and what were the results? a. What point does each study make?

- Students were given an IQ test, true test results were not revealed after test, 20% of students randomly selected from each of 18 classes were labeled as being about to have a "spurt" of growth in intelligence, teacher (but not students or parents) were told the names of the "spurt" students, and most teachers then treated those "special" students different than everyone else o The result was that those "spurt" students showed significant increase in IQ (especially in early grade). - Then the second study, undergraduates were given task of training rats, for each rat, students were told it was either bred to be "smart" or "dumb" on learning tasks (this was not actually true), but students believed that the "bright" rats learned faster than "dull" rats, than the students (unconsciously/unintentionally) handled rats differently, depending on label o Result: Those about whom the beliefs are held need not be aware of those beliefs in order to be affected a. - People treat things differently depending on how "smart" they are (lec., intelligence)

Are IQ test scores good predictors of anything of any importance?

- The better one does on an IQ test, the better the score one does the more like someone will get good grades in school, get a good job, won't get into trouble (criminal record), etc. (book, 303) - IQ scores predict school grades and academic test scores and years a person will stay in school. (lec., intelligence)

What are twin studies, and what do they find about intelligence?

- Twin studies are seeing if twins have the same mindset or IQ scores. As said before, Monozygotic twins closely resemble each other in brain volume and in specific skills such as memory, attention, reading, and mathematics; they strongly resemble each other on IQ even if adopted by separate sets of parents. They continue to resemble each other throughout life, even beyond age of 80. (book, 295) - Twin studies compare the IQ similarity among pairs of identical (monozygotic) twins to the similarity among pairs of fraternal (dizygotic) twins (lec., intelligence)

What does it mean for a test or other measurement instrument to be valid (or have good validity)?

- Validity is defined as the degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of test scores for the intended purposes; it indicates how well the test measures what it claims to measure. (book, 303) - Validity is the degree to which an instrument or test measures what you want it to measure (rather than measuring something else). (lec., intelligence)

One of Carol Dweck's intervention studies with junior high school students was described in class. What was the study's procedure, what were the results, and do the results seem to imply?

7th grader received 8 short psychology lessons, Group 1 had two lessons introduced the idea that intelligence can increase and Group 2 had two about memory were substituted, both groups had declining grades before the intervention, and the grades stayed about the same and didn't get worse for Group 1, but continued to fall for Groul 2. (lec., intelligence)

Who developed the first IQ test, and what was the reason for developing it?

Alfred Binet (1905), devised the first the first IQ tests. The reason for developing it was that The French Ministry of Public Instruction wanted a fair way to identify children who had such serious intellectual deficiencies that they needed to be placed in special classes. Schools did not just want it based off of people's opinions, so they made this IQ test to measure the skills that children need for success in school, such as counting, remembering, following instructions, and understanding language. (book, 292)

Has research generally supported the idea that some people are "visual learners" and others are "verbal learners," with each needing to be educated through different methods?

Almost no evidence supports this prediction, and lots of evidence opposes of it, but with the fact that blind people don't learn from visual presentations and deaf people don't learn from spoken presentations. (book, 292)

Who coined the term g?

Charles Spearman (book, page 289).

What did Charles Spearman contribute to psychology's understanding of intelligence?

Charles Spearman was the one who did one of the earliest research programs in psychology in 1904. He did the psychometric approach to intelligence, based on the measurement of individual differences in performance. Spearman measured how well many people performed tasks such as following directions, judging musical pitch, matching colors, and doing arithmetic. Spearman inferred that all tasks have something in common.

According to research conducted by Dweck, what are the consequences for students of having teachers who hold either entity or incremental theories?

Consequence with teachers with entity: Decrease in student motivation and in expectations of their own performance. (lec., intelligence)

How does crystallized intelligence change across the lifespan?

Crystallized intelligence, including such skills as vocabulary, remains steady or increases over age. (book, 291)

What are norms?

Norms are descriptions of how frequently various scores occur. (book, 299)

What did he propose as the two major components of intelligence (or the two components of g)?

Fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence (book, 291)

On what question has Carol Dweck's notion of self-theories focused?

Focuses on differences in beliefs and the consequences of those beliefs (lec., intelligence)

What did Alfred Binet contribute to psychology's understanding of intelligence?

He made the IQ test to measure the skills that children need for success in school, such as counting, remembering, following instructions, and understanding language. (book, 292)

How did Howard Gardner contribute to psychology's understanding of intelligence?

Howard Gardner (1985,1995), if we could test intellectual abilities in pure form, we might find multiple intelligences- unrelated form of intelligence, consisting og language, musical abilities, logical and mathematical reasoning, spatial reasoning, ability to recognize and classify objects, body movement skills, self-control and self-understanding, and sensitivity to other people's social signals. (book, 291)

How does fluid intelligence change across the lifespan?

It reaches its peak before the age of 20, remains nearly steady for decades, and declines on average in old age, more in some people than others. (book, 291)

If you took and IQ test that was used 50 years ago and scored the results the same way as would have been done 50 years ago, would your IQ test score be higher or lower than if you took and scored a current IQ test?

It would be higher (book, 301)

What are learning styles?

Learning styles are different for people; like some can be visual learners, others are verbal learners, and others learn in other ways, and teaching should be adjusted to each student's style of learning. (book, 292)

What is the difference between monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins?

Monozygotic twins are identical twins that correlate with each other about 0.85, significantly higher that dizygotic twins or non-twin siblings. (book, 295) Dizygotic twins resemble each other more closely than single-birth siblings do. (book, 295)

Are intelligence and IQ synonyms?

No

Is the effect of stereotype threat limited to testing situations?

No, impairs learning as well and impairs creative problem-solving even when context is not considered a test (lec., intelligence)

What is the Flynn Effect (named after James Flynn who first called attention to it)?

The Flynn Effect is that decade by decade, generation by generation, people's raw scores on IQ tests have gradually increased, and to keep up with this trend, test makers have had to make the tests harder; James Flynn was the one who called attention to it and made people take it seriously. (book, 301)

What is the mean (i.e., average) score on a conventional IQ test?

The average score is 100

Why has it been necessary to revise IQ tests and re-norm them now and then over the past 100 years?

The questions that were asked earlier in time compared to now are easier to answer because we have more research on everything, so we have to make the tests harder to keep the difficulty about the same. (book, 301)

What does it mean for a test or other measurement instrument to be reliable (or have good reliability)?

The reliability of a test is defined as the repeatability of its scores. If it is reliable, it produces nearly the same results every time (book, 302) Reliability is the degree to which an instrument or test measures something rather than nothing. (lec., intelligence)

The Raven's Progressive Matrices test was developed as a measure of intelligence that used a different approach from that of the Stanford-Binet, WISC, or WAIS IQ tests. What need or purpose was it intended to address?

These matrices, which progress gradually from easy to difficult items, attempt to measure abstract reasoning (fluid intelligence) without any use of language or reference to factual information. (book, 294)

13. What type of evidence is used to investigate whether intelligence is heritable (i.e., influenced by genes)? a. What do those investigations find, and how is that evidence usually interpreted?

They use an extensive literature review that shows correlations of IQ scores for people with various degrees of genetic relationship. Data is based mostly on European and American families. (book, 295) They look at research of twins a lot a. Monozygotic twins closely resemble each other in brain volume and in specific skills such as memory, attention, reading, and mathematics; they strongly resemble each other on IQ even if adopted by separate sets of parents. They continue to resemble each other throughout life, even beyond age of 80. (book, 295)

Is awareness necessary for self-fulfilling prophecies to occur?

This can happen even if the other person is not aware of our expectations (lec., intelligence)