Intelligence

Question 1

what is intelligence?

Answer 1

the ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively and to deal adaptively to the environment

Question 2

Samuel Morton

Answer 2

1820s - 1850s
head size related to intelligence
he ranked races

Question 3

Paul Broca

Answer 3

1824-1880
believed heavier brain = more intelligence
gender/ race biases

Question 4

is bigger actually better?

Answer 4

correlation between brain size and IQ is 3.3

is only a rough guide

Question 5

Building Block of intelligence…

Answer 5

examine correlations between IQ and brain imaging = belief that brains of intelligent people are more efficient (quality of connections etc)

example: cortex of highly able children starts off thinner at 7yrs and reaches a peak thickness later - extended window of opportunity for developing high-level cognitive circuits

Question 6

Francis Galton
measuring intelligence

Answer 6

simple, perceptual sensory motor abilities
- ability to perceive something
- quickness of response
- strength

findings: no relation to social class
also developed ‘r’ correlation coefficient

Question 7

Alred Binet
measuring intelligence

Answer 7

Stanford Binet IQ test
1st to think of IQ as a psychological construct

believed intelligence was a general ability

Question 8

inteligence quotient

Answer 8

early calculations of IQ
(mental age/ chronological age) x100

Question 9

Impact of Intelligence Testing

Answer 9

• measuring intelligence in adults
• military - cultural baises - Alpha test
• immigrants - low IQ not let in
• development of sub-scales

Question 10

Contemporary IQ tests

Answer 10

(problem with mental age when applied to adults)
solution: abandon mental age and calculate IQ relative to other adults’ scores = normal curve

2/3 of people in age group fall between 85-115

Question 11

Subscales of Intelligence

Answer 11

• verbal comprehension
• working memory
• perceptual reasoning
• processing speed

Question 12

The Flynn Effect

Answer 12

increase in IQ scores overtime (compared to SAT scores, which are decreasing)

• we are doing more complex problem solving, having effect on some tasks in iQ tests (NOT NUTRITION)

Question 13

why might our scores on abstract reasoning tasks be increasing?

Answer 13

Raven’s progressive matrices

Question 14

Spearman’s two factor theory

Answer 14

G = general factors/ underlying cognitive ability
S = specific factor/ specific to type of task

Question 15

fluid v crystallised intelligence

Answer 15

fluid intelligence: ability to learn/ deal w new problems

crystallised intelligence: acquired knowledge

fluid intelligence stops increasing and declines after adolescence whereas crystallised continues to increase with age.

Question 16

what do intelligence scores predict?

Answer 16

job performance: r = 0.3-0.3 (9-25% variance)
midterm test r = 0.5 (25% variance)

creativity - little correlation
health/ wellbeing = some correlation but not really

Question 17

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Answer 17

3 types of intelligences (interact w eachother)

1. analytic intelligence (IQ tests)
2. creative intelligence (generating ideas)
3. practical intelligence (common sense lowkey)

purposes of adaption, adaptation to shaping and selecting your environments

Question 18

Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Answer 18

argued that there is no such thing as a single unified intelligence, but there are many types and an individual can be good at some and not so good at others.

involved a modular view of the mind

Question 19

Culture & Intelligence

Answer 19

Different cultures hold different levels of importance of intelligence and different ways to measure it etc

example: Zambia children cannot sue a pencil in the ‘draw a person test’ as they are not sued to this so cannot compare English children in this sense.