Lecture 3 - Intelligence 1

Question 1

definitions of intelligence

Answer 1

• Definition 1: “Intelligence is a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience. It is not merely book-learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings, ‘catching on’, ‘making sense of things, or ‘figuring out’ what to do.” (Gottfredson, 1997)
  • Definition 2: “Intelligence is what is measured in an intelligence test”
  • Implicit theories of intelligence: large cross-cultural differences (cf. Figure
    10.1 in Maltby et al., (2017), p. 257)

Question 2

what did Francis Galton say about intelligence?

Answer 2

• Higher intelligence is caused by superior qualities passed down by heredity (1869)
  
  • Central hypothesis: there are individual differences in intelligence, and it is possible to measure intelligence directly
  • Galton measured intelligence
    ○ reaction time
    ○ keenness of sight and hearing
    ○ the ability to distinguish between colours

Question 3

what did Alfred Binet say about intelligence?

Answer 3

• Binet-Simon scale (1905): first intelligence test aiming to identify children who might require special education
  
  • 30 tasks related to everyday life, e.g.,
    ○ following light with eyes, naming parts of the
    body, counting coins, recalling a number of digits, filling in missing words in a sentence
  • Test results determined the child’s “mental age”

Question 4

what did William Stern say about intelligence?

Answer 4

• In 1912, Stern developed the idea of an Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
  
  • Mental age varied among children proportionally to their real age
  • The ratio mental age : chronological age was fairly constant, e.g., 5:6= 0.83, 8:10= 0.8
  • He calculated the IQ as (mental age/chronological age)x100

Question 5

what did Lewis Terman say about intelligence?

Answer 5

• Revision of the Binet-Simon scale:
  
  • Tested>1,000children(Binethadonly tested 50): far more accurate information on how children typically scored on intelligence tasks
    ○ Representative samples, standardized testing, age norms

Question 6

what did Spearman say about intelligence?

Answer 6

• First to use factor analysis techniques in differential psychology
  
  • 1904 – 1921: He found positive correlations between intelligence tests
    ○ a person who does well on one intelligence test will perform well on a variety of cognitive ability tests
  • He called this positive correlation between tests the ‘positive manifold’
    Based on his idea of positive manifold, he proposed general intelligence, or ‘g’, which he thought was underlying all the positive correlations

Question 7

Spearman’s two-factor theory

Answer 7

• General intelligence factor ‘g’: mental energy that is required to perform well on intelligence tests of all types; deeper fundamental mechanism
  
  • Specific abilities factor‘s’: specific types of intelligence needed to perform well on each different task
    ○ Vocabulary intelligence, mathematical intelligence, and spatial intelligence are all specific abilities

Question 8

what is ‘g’?

Answer 8

• General intelligence factor ‘g’: mental energy that is required to perform well on intelligence tests of all types; deeper fundamental mechanism

Question 9

what is ‘s’?

Answer 9

• Specific abilities factor‘s’: specific types of intelligence needed to perform well on each different task
  ○ Vocabulary intelligence, mathematical intelligence, and spatial intelligence are all specific abilities

Question 10

relationship between ‘g’ and ‘s’

Answer 10

‘g’ leads to ‘s’
‘g’ leads to performance on an intelligence test
‘s’ leads to performance on an intelligence test

Question 11

development of standardised tests

Answer 11

• Spearman’s theory of Intelligence led to the development of more rigorous intelligence tests that could be used across the population
  • E.g., Wechsler Tests by David Wechsler:
    ○ Wechsler-Bellevue Scale (1939) – standardised
    among a sample of 1,500 adults
    ○ Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS; 1955)
    standardised among 2,000 adults aged 16-75
    ○ Wechsler Scale for Children (WISC; 1955) for children aged 5-16

Question 12

deviation IQ

Answer 12

• Wechsler tested large groups of people to identify norms across different age groups
  
  • The focus was on comparing scores with others of a similar age
  • In1939: Deviation IQ = (actual test score/expected score for that age)x100
  • The IQ scores were then transformed and standardised such that the mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15

Question 13

Wechsler tests today

Answer 13

• The Wechsler tests are still widely used in clinical settings today
  
  • In addition to deviation IQ, they departed from previous intelligence tests in that all people of all ages could take them

Question 14

culture-fair tests

Answer 14

• Measurements developed in a certain culture may not be applicable to a different culture
  * Is it possible to achieve an intelligence test that is truly culture-free?
  * Can IQ tests be universally valid?
  * Does intelligence mean different things in different contexts and cultures?

Question 15

Raven’s progressive matrices

Answer 15

• Measure the abstract ability to see relationships between objects, events and information and draw inferences from those relationships
  
  • As in the Wechsler tests, the overall IQ score is based on an individual’s deviation from standardised norms
  • It is (supposed to be) free of cultural influences and language and is often favoured as a good measure of ‘g’; culture-fair test

Question 16

multi-factor theories (beyond ‘g’)

Answer 16

• Theory of primary mental abilities
  
  • Fluid vs. crystallised intelligence
  • Three-stratum theory
  • CHC theory

Question 17

first multi-factor theory

Answer 17

theory of primary mental abilities

Question 18

theory of primary mental abilities

Answer 18

Thurstone (1938)

mental abilities (perceptual speed, associative memory, spatial visualisation, number, verbal comprehension, reasoning and word fluency) all influenced general intelligence ‘g’

Question 19

fluid vs crystallised intelligence

Answer 19

Cattell (1963)

fluid and crystallised intelligence are components of ‘g’

crystallised intelligence ‘Gc’: acquired knowledge and skills
fluid intelligence ‘Gf’: ability of abstract reasoning

Question 20

crystallised intelligence

Answer 20

crystallised intelligence ‘Gc’: acquired knowledge and skills

Question 21

fluid intelligence

Answer 21

fluid intelligence ‘Gf’: ability of abstract reasoning

Question 22

what test measure both fluid and crystallised intelligence?

Answer 22

WAIS

Question 23

what test measures only fluid intelligence?

Answer 23

Raven’s

Question 24

three-stratum theory

Answer 24

Carroll (1993)
hierarchical theory
systematic organisation and integration of over 50 years of research on the structure of human cognitive abilities.

stratum III at top - general level ‘g’
stratum II - broad factors including fluid and crystallised intelligence (amongst others)
stratum I - specific abilities (from each of the broad factors)

Question 25

CHC: Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory

Answer 25

• Cattell, Horn, and Carroll met Richard W. Woodcock
  * US psychologist who has a wide background in education and psychology and developed and used psychometric tests
  
  • Further integration of existing theories with practicalities of psychometric testing in mind (~1999; first reference to CHC in Flanagan, 2000)
  • Woodcock–Johnson Psychoeducational Battery (US)

Question 26

further research goes into what areas surrounding multiple intelligences?

Answer 26

• Theory of multiple intelligences
  * Emotional intelligence
  * Creativity
  * Rational thinking

Question 27

theory of multiple intelligences

Answer 27

• Howard Gardner (1983, 1996)
  
  • Challenges the theory of ‘general intelligence’
  • Postulated that intelligences
    
    • Reside in separate sections of the brain
    • Are independent of each other, and
    • Are not controlled by any central function of the brain

Question 28

what are the types of multiple intelligences proposed?

Answer 28

linguistic intelligence
naturalistic intelligence
logical-mathematical intelligence
interpersonal intelligence
visual-spatial intelligence
musical intelligence
bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
intrapersonal intelligence
existential intelligence

Question 29

critique of the theory of multiple intelligences

Answer 29

• Some of Gardner’s intelligences (e.g., intrapersonal) are hard to define; whether they are measurable is questionable
  * Empirical research is limited; evidence does not support the existence of separate neural mechanisms (e.g., Waterhouse, 2006)
  * Intelligences are intercorrelated with each other highly and with personality traits (e.g. Furnham, 2009)
  * Ability tests designed to measure intelligences are highly positively correlated with each other and with general intelligence (e.g., Visser et al., 2006)

Question 30

5 components of emotional intelligence

Answer 30

• 5 components (Goleman, 1995)
  1. Identify one’s own emotions (self-awareness)
  2. Managing and controlling one’s emotions (self-regulation)
  3. Emotional states related to a drive for achievement (motivation)
  4. Assess and influence other’s emotions (empathy)
  5. Ability to sustain good interpersonal relationships (social skills)

Question 31

what has emotional intelligence been linked to?

Answer 31

• EI linked to variety of psychiatric conditions (e.g. anxiety, bipolar disorder) academic and job performance, health.

Question 32

why is emotional intelligence being studied?

Answer 32

• Discrepancies in definitions and measurement of EI; the distinction between personality and intelligence is blurred
  
  • Personality traits or intelligence (e.g. Mayer and Salovey, 1993)
    ○ Intelligence involves a series of mental abilities
    ○ Traits: behavioural preferences, as opposed to abilities
    ○ Knowing what a person feels was identified as mental ability as opposed to a behavioural tendency
    ○ Enhanced processing of emotion-related information

Question 33

creativity

Answer 33

• Ability to generate ideas or products with novelty and usefulness; inventiveness and innovation

Question 34

what is the core of creativity?

Answer 34

• Core of creativity is divergent thinking (DT) - ability to
  ○ Think outside the box
  ○ Reconceptualise old problems in new ways
  ○ Come up with multiple potential solutions

Question 35

What do tests of divergent thinking typically involve?

Answer 35

• Tests of DT typically involve assessing the quantity and quality (originality) of ideas produced

Question 36

Torrance test of creative thinking

Answer 36

subjects given simple shapes and are asked to use them or combine them in a picture or to complete a partial picture.

evaluators judge whether the results are more or less creative.

Question 37

threshold hypothesis in the link between creativity and intelligence

Answer 37

○ Creativity and IQ are correlated only when IQ is below, but not above, a threshold or breakpoint (Guildford, 1967)
○ Mixed findings, the hypothesis is/was highly debated (e.g. Weiss et al., 2020)

• Moderate correlation between creativity and intelligence (0.35; e.g. Gerwig et al., 2021)

Question 38

rational thinking and IQ tests

Answer 38

• Suggested that rational thinking is a cognitive ability that IQ tests miss (e.g. Stanovich et al., 2020)
  
  • Performance measures of rational thinking correlate only modestly with IQ (e.g. Toplak et al., 2011)