1

Intelligence
Chapter 11
What is Intelligence?
2

Intelligence (in all cultures) is the ability to learn

from experience, solve problems, and use our
knowledge to adapt to new situations.

In research studies, intelligence is whatever the

intelligence test measures. This tends to be
school smarts.
Theories
3 of Intelligence

Many psychologist differentiate between

fluid and crystallized intelligence
Fluid (f): our ability to solve abstract
problems and pick up new information and
skills
Crystallized (c): using knowledge
accumulated over time
(f) decreases with age
(c) holds steady with age or even increases
Controversies About Intelligence
4

1. Is intelligence a single overall ability or is it

several specific abilities?
2. Is intelligence stable or changeable over
time?
3. Is intelligence more nature or nurture?
 Intelligence: Ability or Abilities?
5
General Intelligence
6

The idea that general intelligence (g) exists

comes from the work of Charles Spearman
(1863-1945) who helped develop the factor
analysis approach in statistics.

Athleticism, like intelligence, is many things

General Intelligence
According to Spearman (1904), all
intelligent abilities have an area of overlap,
which he called g (for general). Each
ability also depends partly on an s (for
One fundamental
7 issue of debate is specific) factor.

whether intelligence refers to a single

ability, a small group of abilities, or a
wide variety of abilities. Spearman
proposed that general intelligence could
be expressed by a single factor (g). He
used factor analysis to conclude that
underlying the many different specific
abilities (s) that people regard as types of
intelligence is a single factor that he
named (g)
 Charles Spearman was the spearhead in the
development of intelligence theories with factor
analysis and his g general intelligence theory.
 9

Measurements of sprinting, high jumping, and long jumping correlate with one
another because they all depend on the same leg muscles. Similarly, the g
factor that emerges in IQ testing could reflect a single ability that all tests tap.
 Contemporary Intelligence Theories
Howard Gardner (1983, 1999)
10

Gardner proposes eight types of intelligences and

speculates about a ninth one existential
intelligence. Existential intelligence is the ability to
think about the question of life, death and existence.
Support for Gardners idea is that brain damage
may diminish one type of ability but not others.
Gardners Multiple Intelligences
Exemplars:
11

linguistic: T.S. Eliot

logical-mathematical:
Albert Einstein
naturalist: Charles Darwin
spatial: Pablo Picasso
bodily-kinesthetic: Martha
Graham
musical: Igor Stravinsky
interpersonal: Mahatma
Gandhi
intrapersonal: Sigmund
Freud
not one isolated brain region for
existential thought (yet)
 Robert Sternberg
Triarc Theory
12

Sternberg (1985, 1999, 2003) also agrees

with Gardner, but suggests three
intelligences rather than eight.
1. Analytical Intelligence: Intelligence that is
assessed by intelligence tests. (school)
2. Creative Intelligence: Intelligence that makes us
adapt to novel situations, generating novel ideas.
3. Practical Intelligence: Intelligence that is required
for everyday tasks (e.g. street smarts).
 Sternberg's
13

Triarchic Theory
14
How do we assess intelligence?
15

Psychologists define intelligence testing as a

method for assessing an individuals mental
aptitudes and comparing them with others using
numerical scores.
Intelligence - difficult to assess .
16
 What is Intelligence?
17
a social construct, a concept
not a concrete thing that you can have
IQ, standardized exam results, etc. = performance
on an intelligence test, not intelligence itself
 Alfred Binet
18

Alfred Binet and his colleague

Thodore Simon were the first to
develop a practical form of intelligence
testing by creating questions that
would predict childrens future
progress in the Paris school system.
Built on the concept of mental age.

(I) increases with age

 Lewis Terman
19

In the US, Lewis Terman

adapted Binets test for
American school children
and named the test the
Stanford-Binet Test. The
following is the formula of
Intelligence Quotient (IQ),
introduced by William Stern:
 Extremes
20 of Intelligence

95% of people
within +/- 2 SD of
the IQ mean
below -2 SD:
mental retardation
above +2 SD:
gifted
 21
Mental Retardation

3 main criteria:

IQ score of 70 or below
significant limitations in everyday life (2
or more domains)
present since childhood
prevalence rate estimates vary widely

4-7 million Americans?

more common in males than females
Degrees of Mental Retardation
22
Level Approx. IQ % of People with Adaptation to Life
Scores Retardation Demands
Mild 50-70 85% academic skills up to 6th grade
level; may achieve social &
vocational skills with help
Moderate 35-50 10% academic skills up to 2nd
grade level; mild contributions
to own support?
Severe 20-35 3-4% talking possible; generally
unable to profit from
vocational training
Profound below 20 1-2% require constant aid,
supervision
 23
if a 10-year-old child had a mental age of 12 (that is,
performed on the test at the level of anaverage12-
year-old), the child was assigned an IQ of12/10 100,
works ok for kids, butor 120.
not so much for adults...
e.g. If a 40 year old scores as well as average 20 year old, is his/her IQ really 50?

turn 50 with same intelligence: IQ now 40?

todays IQ score: specify how test-taker
performs compared to performance of other
people at same age
average still set at 100
IQ a bit of a misnomer, but still used...
 24 Modern Intelligence Testing:
The WAIS
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
(WAIS): most commonly used
intelligence test today
also the Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children (WISC)
14 subtests: verbal and
performance
noticeable differences between
scores may indicate learning
disabilities, brain disorders
 David Wechsler
25

Wechsler developed the Wechsler

Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and
later the Wechsler Intelligence Scale
for Children (WISC),ages 6 to 16 and
the Wechsler preschool and primary
scale of intelligence (WPPSI) an
intelligence test for preschoolers or
children as young as four.
WAIS
26
WAIS measures overall intelligence and 11 other
aspects related to intelligence that are designed to
assess clinical and educational problems.
27
28
 Raven's Culture-Fair Test
Series of visual complete the
29
series problems
Increasing difficulty, i.e.,
progressive
Designed to be free of cultural
bias
It is less influenced by
sociocultural factors than
other IQ tests
It is not culturefree

Sample Item
 Aptitude and Achievement Tests
30

Aptitude tests are intended to predict your ability to

learn a new skill and achievement tests are intended
to reflect what you have already learned.
Principles of Test Construction
31

For a psychological test to be acceptable it must

fulfill the following three criteria:

1. Standardization
2. Reliability
3. Validity
 Standardization
32

Standardizing a test involves administering the test to a representative sample of

future test takers in order to establish a basis for meaningful comparison. This
means the test (test questions) have been piloted.

Questions that everyone gets right or everyone gets wrong are not used. The test
needs to show individual differences.
Normal Curve
33

Standardized tests establish a normal distribution

of scores on a tested population in a bell-shaped
pattern called the normal curve.
 Reliability
34
A test is reliable when it yields consistent results. To
establish reliability researchers establish different
procedures:
1. Split-half Reliability: Dividing the test into two equal
halves and assessing how consistent the scores are.
2. Reliability using different tests: Using different
forms of the test to measure consistency between
them.
3. Test-Retest Reliability: Using the same test on two
occasions to measure consistency.
 Validity
35
Reliability of a test does not ensure validity. Validity of a test
refers to what the test is supposed to measure or predict.

1. Content Validity: Refers to the extent a test measures a

particular behavior or trait.
2. Predictive Validity: Refers to the function of a test in
predicting a particular behavior or trait.
3. Face validity: Refers to a quick look of the assessment. Does it
seem to fit the purpose?
4. Construct validity: Refers to the operational definition of
what you are trying to measure. (How do you construct a
definition of hyperactivity?)
5. Criterion validity: Do the results from the assessment
correlate with the results from other measures designed to
assess similar or related things?
 36

A good test measures what it claims to measure. Shown here are two sample
items from an aptitude test, the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test.
Because scores on this test are correlated with job performance in
occupations requiring mechanical ability, the test is considered valid.
 The Dynamics of Intelligence
37

Does intelligence remain stable over a lifetime or does it

change?
Are individuals on the two extremes of the intelligence scale
really that different?
 Stability or Change?
38

Intelligence scores become stable after about seven years of

age. In numerous studies, stability of intelligence scores
have been determined (Angoff, 1988; Deary et al., 2004).
Genetic and Environmental
Influences on Intelligence
39

No other topic in psychology is so passionately

followed as the one that asks the question, Is
intelligence due to genetics or environment?
Flynn Effect
40

In the past 60 years, intelligence scores have risen

steadily by an average of 27 points. This
phenomenon is known as the Flynn effect.
Rising IQ Scores: The Flynn Effect
41 The red line shows the
mean full-scale IQ
scores that Americans
would have obtained
on Stanford-Binet and
Wechsler IQ tests each
year if the standard
that was used in 1932
had remained
unchanged. The blue
line shows the mean
IQ that 18-year-old
Dutch males would
have obtained each
year on Ravens
Progressive Matrices
a test of fluid
intelligenceif the
standard that was
used in 1952 had
remained unchanged.
 So why is the Flynn Effect happening
42

short answer (so far): Who knows?

better education?
But why only modest gains in school topics?
familiarity with intelligence tests?
trend started before widespread testing
more stimulating environments, less childhood
disease, smaller families (parental investment),
modernization?
better nutrition?
Genetic Influences
43

Studies of twins, family members, and adopted

children together support the idea that there is a
significant genetic contribution to intelligence.
Adoption Studies
44

Adopted children show a marginal correlation in verbal

ability to their adopted parents.
45
 Nature's Influence on IQ Scores
46

The greater the

genetic similarity
between two
individuals, the
more similar are
their IQ scores.
This suggests a
genetic
component to
intelligence
Nurture's
47
Influence on IQ Scores
All other things being
equal, two individuals
raised together will
have more similar IQ
scores than those raised
apart.
This is evidence that
the environment
shapes intelligence in
important ways.
Genetic Influences
Heritability
the proportion of variation
among individuals that we
can attribute to genes
variability depends on range
of populations and
environments studied
 Early Intervention Effects
49
Early neglect from caregivers leads children to develop a
lack of personal control over the environment, and it
impoverishes their intelligence.

Romanian orphans with minimal human

interaction are delayed in their development.
 Environmental Influences:
Early
50
Interventions
So malnutrition, sensory
deprivation, little sense of control,
& social isolation can slow
development...
...Can we create superbabies
by providing enriched
environments?
Probably not: difference
between disadvantage & normal
more important than difference
between normal & enriched
Schooling Effects
51

Increased schooling correlates with higher intelligence

scores.
Group Differences in Intelligence
Test Scores
52

Why do groups differ in intelligence? How can we

make sense of these differences?
Ethnic Similarities and Differences
53

To discuss this issue we begin with two disturbing

but agreed upon facts:

1. Racial groups differ in their average

intelligence scores.
2. High-scoring people (and groups) are more
likely to attain high levels of education and
income.
Racial (Group) Differences
54

If we look at racial differences, white Americans score

higher in average intelligence than black Americans
(Avery and others, 1994). European New Zealanders
score higher than native New Zealanders (Braden, 1994).

White-Americans Black-Americans
Average IQ = 100 Average IQ = 85

Hispanic Americans
Group
55 Differences

Within group
differences are
much larger
than between
group
differences.
 Explaining
56 Group Differences
Within a group with
all treated exactly
the same, differences
may reflect genetics.
When one group
differs from another,
the differences may
reflect environmental
differences.
57
How American and Asian
Students Spend Their Time
 The Question of Bias
58
Aptitude tests are intended to predict your ability to learn a new
skill and achievement tests are intended to reflect what you have
already learned.

Aptitude tests are necessarily biased in the sense

that they are sensitive to performance differences
caused by cultural differences.
However, aptitude tests are not biased in the sense
that they accurately predict performance of one
group over the other.
Being told "No, we can't do that." or "No, I don't want
that." happens all the time during contract negotiations
in the
59 USA. However, you will probably never hear "No!"
in any of the following countries -- except:
a) Indonesia
b) Japan
c) Australia
d) Malaysia

ANSWER: c) Australians are known for their forthright

behavior - they say what they mean and mean what
they say.
However, there are millions of people in the world who
would consider it horribly offensive to upset an
associate or friend with a blunt, negative message. In
these cultures, they do not intend to deceive you with
the wrong information, they simply try to convey the
message in other, subtle ways. (i.e.: Non-verbally,
through an intermediary, etc.)
Stereotype Threat
60

A stereotype threat is a self-confirming concern

that one will be evaluated based on a negative
stereotype.
This phenomenon appears in some instances in
intelligence testing among African-Americans and
among women of all races.
 61
Bias in Intelligence Testing

Is it possible that IQ tests are biased in their

administration, rather than their construction?
e.g. stereotype threat
What happens when we know that our
group isnt supposed to be good at
something?
 Stereotype Vulnerability and
Test
62
Performance
Expectations may create
self-fulfilling prophecies
Academic testing
situations may make
African American
students feel vulnerable
and anxious
This interferes with
test performance
The Dark Side of the IQ Concept
63

Termanpublished the Stanford Revision of the

Binet-Simon Scale in 1916

Terman himself held extremely racist

interpretations:
High-grade or border-line deficiency ... is very, very
common among Spanish-Indian and Mexican families
of the Southwest and also among negroes. Their
dullness seems to be racial, or at least inherent in the
family stocks from which they come ... Children of
this group should be segregated in separate
classes ... They cannot master abstractions but they
can often be made into efficient workers ... from a
eugenic point of view they constitute a grave
20
Kahoot!

AP Psych Unit 5 Review Intelligence

65
 66
What is Intelligence?

intelligence: ability to learn from experience, solve

problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new
situations
mental speed?
Still waters can run deep, but
a reasonable amount of time

x + 15x + 56 = 0
one general ability,
2 or several specific abilities?
 Intelligence
67 & The Brain:
Does Brain Size Matter?

correlation between
brain volume (fMRI)
and IQ score +.40
correlation only...
potential causes:
genes, nutrition,
environment, etc.
 Intelligence
68 & The Brain:
Does Brain Size Matter?

Haier et al. (2004): correlated IQ

scores with brain scans that
measure volume of gray matter
(neural bodies) and white matter
(axons & dendrites)
higher IQ correlated with more
gray matter in areas involved in
memory, attention, & language
Neural speed and intelligence
69

Neural
transmission in
some parts of
the brain is
faster in
people with
higher IQ
scores
 70
Intelligence & The Brain:
Speed & Brain Functioning
Its a long way from timing neural responses to...
Which number should come next? 144 121 100 81 64
17
19
36
49
50
Even the most ______ rose has thorns.
ugly
weathered
elusive
noxious
tempting
How do we get there? Why do faster response
times predict IQ?
 71
Intelligence & The Brain:
Speed & Brain Functioning
1. core information processing ability?
(Brody, 1992, 2001)
similar to idea of general intelligence (g)

2. faster cognitive processing may allow more

information to be acquired (Vernon, 1983)
greater accumulation of crystallized intelligence?
Fluid (f): our ability to solve abstract problems and pick up new information and skills

Crystallized (c): using knowledge accumulated over time

(f) decreases with age

(c) holds steady with age or even increases

 Intelligence
72 & Creativity

intelligence tests
convergent thinking
(closing in on the single
right answer)
knocked out by damage
to left parietal lobe
creativity tests divergent
thinking (imagining
multiple possible answers)
deficits, damage in
frontal lobe
73
74
Intelligence:
Vygotskys Theory
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
A Russian psychologist.
Saw cognitive development as an
apprenticeship in which children advance
by interaction with others more mature.
Vygotsky died young (37) and did not fully
develop his theory beyond childhood.
 75
Vygotskys Theory
Major Contributions:
Zone of Proximal Development
The difference between what children can do
with and without help from a more experienced
guide.
Teachers should attempt to keep students in this
zone in order to achieve maximum achievement.
Scaffolding
Giving just enough assistance for achievement
of understanding.
Studies show that students do not learn as well
when told everything to do, nor when left alone
to discover on their own.
 76
Vygotskys Theory
Major Contributions (cont.)

Private Speech
Children talk to themselves as they go
about difficult tasks.
This speech is not intended for others,
but for self guidance and regulation.
Eventually this private speech becomes
internalized and becomes inner speech
which was Vygotskys term for thought.
77
 Jean Piaget
78

1896-1980

Published his first paper at the age of 10 (or 11)

Doctorate at 21 in Natural Science
Biology to Philosophy to Psychology
Inspired by work in Binets Psychological
Laboratory: -childrens incorrect answers
-non-standardized testing
-developmental levels
Died at the age of 84
79
Piagets Theory
Piaget originally trained in the areas of
biology and philosophy and considered
himself a genetic epistimologist.
He was mainly interested in the
biological influences on how we come
to know.
Piaget believed that what distinguishes
human beings from other animals is our
ability to do abstract symbolic
reasoning.
80
Piagets Theory
Piaget's views are often compared with
those of Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), who
looked more to social interaction as the
primary source of cognition and behavior.

This is somewhat similar to the distinctions

made between Freud and Erikson in terms
of the development of personality.
 81
Piagets Theory
While working in Binets test lab in Paris, Piaget
became interested in how children think.
He noticed that young children's answers were
qualitatively different than older children.
This suggested to him that the younger children
were not less knowledgeable but, instead,
answered the questions differently than their older
peers because they thought differently.
This implies that human development is
qualitative (changes in kind) rather than
quantitative (changes in amount).
82
Piagets Theory

There are two major aspects to his theory:

the process of coming to know and
the stages we move through as we gradually
acquire this ability.

Piagets training as a biologist influenced both

aspects of his theory.
 Process of Cognitive Development
83

As a biologist, Piaget was interested in how

an organism adapts to its environment
(Piaget described this ability as intelligence.)

Behavior is controlled through mental

organizations called schemas that the individual
uses to represent the world and designate
action.
This adaptation is driven by a biological drive
to obtain balance between schemas and the
environment (equilibration).
 Process of Cognitive Development
84

Piaget hypothesized that infants are born

with schemas operating at birth that he
called "reflexes."
In other animals, these reflexes control
behavior throughout life.
However, in human beings as the infant uses
these reflexes to adapt to the environment, these
reflexes are quickly replaced with constructed
schemas.
 Process of Cognitive Development
85

Piaget described two processes used by

the individual in its attempt to adapt:
assimilation and
accomodation.

Both of these processes are used throughout

life as the person increasingly adapts to the
environment in a more complex manner.
Process of Cognitive Development
86

Assimilation The process of using or

transforming the
environment so that it can be
placed in preexisting
cognitive structures.
Example: an infant uses a sucking schema
that was developed by sucking on a small
bottle when attempting to suck on a larger
bottle.
 Process of Cognitive Development
87

Accomodation The process of changing

cognitive structures in
order to accept something
from the environment.

Example: the infant modifies a sucking

schema developed by sucking on a pacifier to
one that would be successful for sucking on a
bottle.
88
 Process of Cognitive Development
89

As schemas become increasingly more complex

(i.e. responsible for more complex behaviors)
they are termed structures.
As one's structures become more complex, they
are organized in a hierarchical manner (i.e. from
general to specific).
Play
90 as Assimilation
and Accommodation

The child at pretend often

imposes a schema on the
world (assimilation)
Children at play also imitate
something theyve observed
or repeat a past activity
(accommodation)
Play contributes to
development because of this
tension between assimilation
and accommodation
 Piagets Stages of Cognitive De
velopment91
Typical Age Description Developmental
Range
(hyperlink) of Stage Phenomena

Birth to nearly 2 years Sensorimotor Object permanence

Experiencing the world through Stranger anxiety
senses and actions (looking,
touching, mouthing)

About 2 to 6 years Preoperational Pretend play

Representing things Egocentrism
with words and images Language development
but lacking logical reasoning

About 7 to 11 years Concrete operational Conservation

Thinking logically about concrete Mathematical
events; grasping concrete analogies transformations
and performing arithmetical operations

About 12 through Formal operational Abstract logic

adulthood Abstract reasoning Potential for
moral reasoning
 Object Permanence
92

I can see
the
monkey

When the monkey is

hidden from view, the
baby does not search
for it.
Piaget says the object
has ceased to exist in
the babys mind.
 Conservation tasks
Conservation
93
of number

If you show a child four marbles in a row, then spread them

out, the preoperational child will focus on the spread, and tend
to believe that there are now more marbles than before.

Conservation of length

Which is longer?
 Conservation tasks
94 Conservation of Volume

Which glass contains

more liquid?
 95
Problems with Piagets Stages

Humans innately possess the capacity to perform

simple arithmetical calculations......... Infants
possess true numerical concepts: they have
access to the ordering of numerical relationships
between small numbers. They can calculate the
results of simple arithmetical operations of small
numbers of items Wynn (1992).
 Object Permanence
96 If you measure how
long children look at
c and d, you can
understand how
surprised they are by
how long they look.
(longer looking =
more surprise)
Children as young as
18 weeks often look
a long time in
situation d.
Thinking and Intelligence
97

Cognition

Mental processes involved in thinking,

knowing, perceiving, learning, and
remembering, also the contents of these
processes
Intelligence
The mental capacity to acquire
knowledge, reason, and solve problems
effectively
98
What Are the Components
of Thought?

Thinking involves
manipulation of mental
representations, such as
concepts, images, schemas,
and scripts
 99
What Are the Components
of Thought?
Thinking
Cognitive process
involved in forming
a new mental
representation by
manipulating
available
information
Concepts
100

Concepts
Mental representations of
categories of items or
ideas, based on experience
Concepts
101

Mental representations
of items or ideas, based
on experience.
Prototypes - Abstracted representation of a
category containing salient features that are true
of most instances
Characteristic features which describe what
members of that concept are like
 Animal
102

Has skin
Eats
Breathes

Bird Fish
Has wings Has fins
Can fly Can swim
Has feathers Has gills

Canary Ostrich Shark Salmon

Can sing Cant fly Can bite Is pink
Is yellow Is tall Is dangerous Is edible
 Schemas and Scripts Help you
Know What to Expect
103

Schema
Knowledge cluster or general framework
that provides expectations about topics,
events, objects, people, and situations
in ones life

Script
Cluster of knowledge about sequences
of events and actions expected to occur
in particular settings
Problem
104

Solving
Identifying
the problem

Selecting a
strategy
 Selecting a
105

Strategy
Algorithms
Problem-solving procedures or formulas that guarantee a correct
outcome if applied correctly
A recipe for making food is an algorithm, the method you use to solve
addition or long division problems is an algorithm, and the process
of folding a shirt or a pair of pants is an algorithm.
Heuristics
Cognitive strategies used as shortcuts to solve complex mental
tasks; do not guarantee a correct solution
Ex. An educated guess or "Working backward" allows a person to
solve a problem by assuming that they have already solved it, and
working backward in their minds to see how such a solution might
have been reached.
Heuristics
106

Working backward

Searching for analogies

Breaking a big problem into

smaller problems
 Obstacles to
Problem Solving
107

Mental set

Self-imposed limitations

Faulty heuristics
Obstacles to
108

Problem Solving
Mental set

Tendency to respond to a new problem in the

manner used for a previous problem

Functional fixedness
Inability to perceive a new use for an
object associated with a different purpose
Unscramble These
Words
109

nelin
ensce raspe
sdlen klsta
lecam nolem
slfal dlsco
dlchi hsfle
neque naorg
egsta
Unscrambled Words
110

linen
scene pears
lends talks
camel melon
falls colds
child shelf
queen groan
gates

The algorithm you used to solve the first column

probably kept you from seeing the multiple
solutions for the words in the second column
 111
Thoughts About
Intelligence
Its one of the laws of nature that half of the
people have got to be below average.
Its easier to administer tests than to give
everybody a try at being a medical student or a
Supreme Court judge.
Sandra Scarr
Intelligence is purposeful invention of new
procedures, or applications of old procedures, in a
new context to solve a problem.
Jean Piaget
Common sense, isnt.
112 End of section no kahoot for
second part of intelligence