Intelligence/Problem-Solving

1. Intelligence/Problem-Solving Lecture 6 October 17, 2007

2. Outline • Talking about midterm • What is intelligence? • What factors influence intelligence? • How does problem-solving change with age? • What is wisdom? • Start with mental health

3. Midterm Exam • 40 multiple choice questions, 5 short answers, and 1 longer answer • Exam will only cover through intelligence/problem-solving lecture • Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 covered and articles associated. • Office hours: Thursday, 1-2pm, room 504

4. Defining Intelligence • Intelligence involves more than just a particular fixed set of characteristics • Laypersons and experts agree on three clusters of intelligence • Problem-solving ability • Verbal ability • Social competence

5. The Big Picture: A Life-Span View • Theories of intelligence have four concepts • Multidimensional • Multidirectionality • Plasticity • Interindividual variability • The dual component model of intellectual functioning • Mechanics of intelligence • Pragmatics of intelligence

7. Research Approaches to Intelligence • The psychometric approach • Measuring intelligence as a score on a standardized test • Focus is on getting correct answers • Example: Wechlser Adult Intelligence Scale • The cognitive-structural approach • Ways in which people conceptualize and solve problems emphasizing developmental changes in modes and styles of thinking

8. Measuring Intelligence • Primary Mental Abilities (Thurstone, 1938; Ekstrom et al.,1979; Schaie, 1994, 1996) • Numerical facility • Word fluency • Verbal meaning • Inductive reasoning • Spatial orientation • Perceptual speed • Verbal memory

11. Age-Related Changes in Primary Abilities • Data from K. Warner Schaie’s Seattle Longitudinal Study of more than 5000 individuals from 1956 to 1998 in six testing cycles • People tend to improve on primary abilities until late 30s early 40s • Scores stabilize until mid-50s early 60s • By late 60s consistent declines are seen • Nearly everyone shows a decline in one ability, but few show decline on four or five abilities

12. Secondary Mental Abilities • At least six secondary mental abilities have been found (Table 8.1) • Fluid Intelligence (Gf) • Abilities that make you a flexible and adaptive thinker, to draw inferences, and relationships between concepts independent of knowledge and experience • Crystallized Intelligence (Gc) • The knowledge acquired through life experience and education in a particular culture

14. Moderators of Intellectual Change • Cohort differences • Comparing longitudinal studies with cross-sectional show little or no decline in intellectual performance with age • Information processing • Perceptual speed may account for age-related decline • Working memory decline may account for poor performance of older adults if coordination between old and new information is required

16. Moderators of Intellectual Change • Social and lifestyle variables • Differences in cognitive skills needed in different occupations makes a difference in intellectual development • Higher education and socioeconomic status also related to slower rates of intellectual decline • Does a cognitively engaging lifestyle predict greater intellectual functioning? • Personality • High levels of fluid abilities and a high sense of internal control lead to positive changes in people’s perception of their abilities

17. Moderators of Intellectual Change • Health • A connection between disease and intelligence has been established in general and in cardiovascular disease in particular • The participants in the Seattle Longitudinal Study who declined in inductive reasoning had significantly more illness diagnoses and visits to physicians for cardiovascular disease • Hypertension is not as clear. Severe HT may indicate decline whereas mild HT may have positive effects on intellectual functioning

19. Moderators of Intellectual Change • Relevancy and appropriateness of tasks • Traditional tests have high correlation with tests that have been updated to measure actual tasks faced by older persons • Modifying primary abilities • Training seems to slow declines in some primary abilities • Project ADEPT and Project ACTIVE • Ability-specific training does improve in primary abilities • Effects varies in ability to maintain and transfer gains

20. Moderators of Intellectual Change • Other attempts to train fluid abilities • Schaie and Willis’ cognitive training • Long-term effects of training • Seven year follow-up to the original ADEPT showed significant training effects • 64% of trained group’s performance was above the pre-training level compared to 33% of the control group

21. Piaget’s Theory • Basic concepts • Assimilation • Use of currently available information to make sense out of incoming information • Accommodation • Changing one’s thought to make a better approximation of the world of experience

22. Piaget’s Theory • Sensorimotor Period • Object permanence • Preoperational Period • Egocentrism • Concrete Operations Period • Classification, conservation, mental reversing • Formal Operations Period • Abstract thought

23. Going Beyond Piaget: Postformal Thought • Cognitive maturity beyond formal operations • Tolerance for ambiguity • Developmental progressions in adult thought • Reflective judgment (Table 8.3) • Optimal level of development • Skill acquisition • Absolutist, relativistic, and dialectical thinking • Integrating emotion and logic • Gender issues and postformal thought

27. Do Changes in Executive Function Affect Functioning? • Article by Royall et al. (2004) • What is executive control function and why might it affect instrumental activities of daily living? • Why was it beneficial to use a longitudinal design in this study? • What were the conclusions of the authors?

29. Mini-Mental State Examination • Cognitive screening tool scored out of 30. • Score <24 is indicative of impairment. • Domains tested • Orientation: What day of the week is it? Which year is it? Which city are we in? • Memory: I’ll give you three words and ask you to remember them. • Attention: Substract 7 from 100 and continue. Spell the word « World » backwards. • Language/Writing/Drawing: Name objects, carry out a 3-step procedure, repeat a sentence, copy a figure, generate and write a sentence.

30. EXIT25 Interview • 10 to 15 minutes, 25 questions. • Screens for frontal release signs, motor or cognitive perseveration, verbal intrusions, disinhibition, loss of spontaneity, environmental dependency, and utilization behaviour.

31. Decision Making • Younger adults make decisions quicker than older adults • Older adults • Search for less information to arrive at a decision • Require less information to arrive at a decision • Rely on easily accessible information Why is this?

32. Problem Solving • Middle-aged adults can offer more solutions to a problem than younger and older adults (Denney, 1989), but do not differ in efficacy of strategies (Berg et al., 1994). • We use our intellectual abilities to solve problems • Some people are better than others as problem solving • Why is that? Could it have to do with the kinds of abilities we use regularly versus the ones we use only occasionally?

33. Everyday Reasoning and Problem Solving • Denny’s Model of Unexercised and Optimally Exercised Abilities • Unexercised ability • The ability a normal, healthy adult would exhibit without practice or training (fluid intelligence) • Exercised ability • The ability a normal, healthy adult would demonstrate under the best conditions of training or practice (crystallized intelligence)

34. Why Is Expertise Important? • Older adults compensate for poorer performance through their expertise • Expertise helps the aging adult compensate for losses in other skills • Encapsulation • The processes of thinking become connected to the products of thinking

35. What Is Wisdom? • Involves practical knowledge • Is given altruistically • Involves psychological insights • Based on life experience • Implicit conceptions of wisdom are widely shared within a culture and include • Exceptional level of functioning • A dynamic balance between intellect, emotion, and motivation • A high degree of personal and interpersonal competence • Good intentions

38. What Characterizes Mental Health? • Positive attitude toward self • Accurate perception of reality • Mastery of the environment • Autonomy • Personality balance • Growth and self-actualization • Pathology: • Behaviors become harmful to oneself or others. • Lower one’s well-being. • Perceived as distressing, disrupting, abnormal, or maladaptive.

39. Are There Differences Pertaining to Mental Health in Older Adults? • Aforementioned characterisitcs may not apply to older adults. • Some behaviors considered abnormal under the preceding criterion may be adaptive for many older people • Isolation • Passivity • Aggressiveness • Such behaviors may help older persons deal with their situation more effectively.

40. How May Biological Forces Influence Mental Health? • Health problems increase with age • Evidence supports a genetic component to Alzheimer’s • Physical problems may present as psychological and vice versa • Irritability  thyroid problem • Memory loss  vitamin deficiencies • Depression  changes in appetite

41. Do Psychological Forces Have An Influence on Mental Health? • Normative age changes can mimic certain mental disorders. • Normative changes can mask true psychopathology. • Look to nature of relationships as key to understanding psychopathology. • Young  expanding relationships • Old  contracting relationships

42. What Are The Sociocultural Forces Influencing Mental Health? • Sociocultural forces • Paranoia or healthy suspicion? • Look at differences according to location • Differences in ethnicity? • Recent immigrants: Lack of mental health services • Differences Canadians of Asian/South Asian/African vs. English vs. Jewish

43. How Do We Assess Mental Health? • Elements of Assessment • Measuring, understanding, and predicting behavior • Gathering medical, psychological, and sociocultural information • How? • Interviews, observation, tests, and clinical examinations

44. All About Assessment • Two central aspects • Reliability • Validity • Psychological areas of examination: • Intelligence tests, neuropsychological and mental status examination • Mini Mental State Exam

45. What Factors Influence Assessment? • Professionals’ preconceived ideas have negative effects • Biases: Negative and positive • Environmental conditions • Sensory or mobility problems • Health of client

46. What Are The Treatments Available? • How to treat the client • Medical Treatment • Psychotropic and other drugs • Psychotherapy • Single or group talk therapy • APA criterion • Well-established • Probably efficacious

47. What is Depression? • Beliefs pertaining to depression vary across cultures. • Lawrence et al. (2006): UK study looked at Black Carabbean, South Asian, and White British older adults. • All 3 groups believed it was a serious condition. • WB used the biomedical model of depression whereas SA participants were more liekly to see it as a normal byproduct of sadness or grief. • WB & BC defined in terms of low mood and hopelessness. BC and SA also put in terms of worry.

48. How Do Psychologists Define Depression? 1) Dysphoria – feeling down or blue • Loss of interest and pleasure • Feelings of worthlessness or guilt • Diminished ability to think • Thoughts of death or suicidal ideation 2) Physical symptoms • Insomnia/hypersomnia • Fatigue • Weight loss/gain • Agitation/psychomotor retardation

49. 3) Symptoms must last for at least 2 weeks. 4) Other causes for observed symptoms must be ruled out. 5) How are the symptoms affecting daily life? • Clinical depression involves significant impairment in normal living.