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Intelligence

Psych 125 Human Development Christopher Gade Office: 1031-G Office hours: Tu 12-1:30 and by apt. Email: gadecj@gmail.com Class: T 1:30-4:20 Room 2210. Intelligence. The Intelligence Challenge. In today’s class, we’re going to discuss the topic of intelligence.

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Intelligence

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  1. Psych 125Human DevelopmentChristopher GadeOffice: 1031-GOffice hours: Tu 12-1:30 and by apt.Email: gadecj@gmail.comClass: T 1:30-4:20 Room 2210

  2. Intelligence

  3. The Intelligence Challenge • In today’s class, we’re going to discuss the topic of intelligence. • However, when looking at intelligence, we run into a problem that we haven’t run into during previous topics; Namely, what does it mean to be “intelligent”? • Group activity: • In groups of 3 to 4, please list 5 different situations where people can display actions that are “intelligent” AND “dull” and detail what an “intelligent” and “dull” action would be in these situations.

  4. Defining Intelligence • As our examples revealed, intelligence is multifaceted. • When studying the topic, we often consider multiple aspects of intelligence and try to incorporate as many of them into the definition of the term as we can. • Intelligence – the ability to solve problems and adapt and learn from the environment • There is debate about the other theoretical aspects of intelligence that exist • Creativity? • Interpersonal skills? • Memory capacity? • Vocabulary?

  5. So How Can We Test This? • If we’re going to measure how intelligence grows and changes with development, we need to find a way to objectively measure intelligence. • Intelligence tests – established techniques that allows researchers to compare an individual to their age and culture equivalent peers in order to determine how much more or less “intelligent” he/she is.

  6. The First Intelligence Test – Alfred Binet • One of the first psychologists to scientifically explore intelligence • In 1904, he was tasked by the French Ministry of Education to find a way to detect children that would never “profit” from traditional schools • To do this, he designed a series of tests • These tests began by looking at basic skills in children (“point to your toes”) and moved on to more complex skills when comparing adolescents (“define justice”) • Mental age (MA)– the age that the child’s responses were most indicative of • Chronological age (CA)– the actual age of the child • Intelligence Quotient (IQ) = MA/CA x 100

  7. The New IQ Tests • Since Piaget, researchers have attempted to expand his tests and measure both adults and “regular” individuals • Stanford-Binet IQ test – a new IQ tests that measure multiple facets of intelligence across a large range of ages • Normally distributed with different calculations (average = 100) • Measures fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial reasoning, and working memory • Note: This revised test was created by Lewis Termanat Stanford. Hence the name. They were originally said to measure a person’s inborn ability to learn. Terman’s initial goal was to use the tests to promote his push for eugenics.

  8. The Wechsler Scales • David Wechsler developed a series of questions and tasks that allowed researchers to look at intelligence in: • Different subscales (verbal skills and performance/ non-verbal skills, working memory, and processing speed) • Different age groups (WAIS – Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and WISC – Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children(up to 16))

  9. Processing Speed Example X X O X X O O X O X X O OO X X O O X X O OOOO X XX O X O X O X O OO X O X O OO X XX O X O X X O X O O X XX O X O X O X X O X O X O X O X O X O X O O X XXXX O X O O X O O X XXX O X X O O X O X X O OO X X O O X X O OOOO X XX O X O X O X O OO X O X O OO X XX O OOO X XX O X O X O X O OO X O X O OO X X O O X XX O OOO X XX O X O X O X O OO X O X O O X O X X O X O X O X O OO X XX O OOO X XX O X O X O X O OO X O X O OO X X O O X XX O OOO X XX

  10. Other Ideas About Intelligence • Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (16:54) • verbal, mathematical, spatial, movement, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, existential • Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence • Analytical, creative, practical • Salvoy & Mayer’s emotional intelligence (EQ) • Spearman’s general intelligence (g) • Could be the result of an outside factor (health) • Fluid and crystallized intelligence • Fluid – intelligence based on the ability to learn across all areas of interest (peaks at 20) • Crystallized – intelligence that is obtained through experience over the lifespan (peaks near end of life) • Note: this doesn’t address multiple intelligences

  11. Where does this lead us in a developmental class? • Understanding that there are many different types of intelligence forces researchers looking at development study changes in multiple versions of intelligence • Understanding the different goals and findings of intelligence researchers also lets us look closer at development related problems in intelligence that we find • Understanding these theories also helps us better understand the concept of heritability when we examine its relationship with intelligence

  12. Understanding the Extremes of Intelligence: Giftedness • Individuals that measure having IQ’s above 130 are arbitrarily defined as “gifted” • Gifted individuals usually excel only in one or two specific areas of intelligence • Despite the stereotypes, gifted individuals do not generally appear to display social or personality deficits • Savant syndrome exception • Giftedness has been liked to both genetics and environment

  13. Understanding the Extremes of Intelligence: Mental Retardation • Mental retardation is defined as a limited mental ability • Mentally retarded individuals are identified before the age of 18 • There are many classifications of mental retardation, based on IQ scores • To be defined as mentally retarded, individuals must: • Have an IQ below 70 • Have difficulty adapting to everyday life

  14. More on Mental Retardation • IQ’s below 50 are usually the product of genetic deficits (we discussed this in one of the first classes) • Individuals with IQ’s between 50 and 70 are defined as having cultural-familial retardation (based on early experience and low stimulation environments) • Treatment for mental retardation varies based on an individual’s IQ

  15. Returning to Heritability • Heritability – the proportion of a characteristic that can be attributed to the genetic makeup of parents • Nature – the amount of a characteristic (in this case, intelligence) that can be attributed to our genes • Nurture – the amount of a characteristic that can be attributed to our environment • Sibling studies have revealed a very high level of genetic heritability in the area of intelligence • This is particularly true when we look at adult intelligence

  16. Some New Outlooks on Heritability • Recent studies have led us to conclude that environments, especially ones that are significantly different, can also play a big role in intelligence • Schooling lapses and decline in intelligence findings • The Flynn effect – worldwide increases in intelligence over the past few decades • Intervention studies (low IQ, SES, & comm. styles)

  17. Another look at these effects… • The context of culture on how we measure intelligence • video

  18. More Developmental Concerns: Predictability and Stability • Considerable research has shown that intelligence levels of infants are constantly fluctuating • Once reaching childhood, intelligence becomes more stable • We have also found in numerous studies that our intelligence (IQ’s) at these ages is very predictive of our intelligence (IQ’s) throughout our lives • a note on individual differences

  19. A Final Concern: Change • Just like physical change and other cognitive changes that we’ve seen before, we see that intelligence follows a set path with respect to aging as well

  20. Reexamining a past idea to understand a new one • Remember the Flynn effect? • When taking this into account, researchers have come up with some interesting new conclusions about old age and changes in intelligence

  21. Late Increases in Crystallized Intelligence • Late crystallized intelligence has sometimes been called “wisdom” or “pragmatic knowledge” • Wisdom – expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters • Note: “wisdom” has been theoretically linked to age, but we the statistical links that we would expect • Wisdom is rare in the elderly, and everyone for that matter • Early adulthood and late adolescence is when “wisdom” seems to emerge • Experience and personality factors (openness to experience and creativity) seem to be better predictors of “wisdom”

  22. Wrapping Up Intelligence • When looking at development and intelligence, we see that intelligence measures actually came from our early attempts to understand development • We see in our research that our intelligence based abilities grow with age in our early years • We also see that our intelligence levels are usually fairly consistent throughout life • And finally, we see that some intelligence based responses decline in the later years, but others might even improve

  23. Onto Language • In the next class we’ll be looking at how our language skills change throughout our lifetime • Read chapter 9 by the next class • Also, papers are due at the beginning of class next week • Email me if you have any questions about any of this

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