Measuring Intelligence Flashcards
How did Boring define intelligence?
“Intelligence is what intelligence tests measure”
How did Wechsler define intelligence?
“…Aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment”
What was Neisser’s definition of intelligence?
“To understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, and to overcome obstacles by taking thought”
According to Cohen and Swerdlik, how one measures intelligence has largely to do with what?
With what one conceives intelligence to be
How did Spearman attempt to conceptualise intelligence?
He developed the unifactor theory of intelligence, called the “g” factor (general intelligence); he found cognitive ability tests to all be intercorrelated to some degree (focused on the variability that different cognitive tasks have in common)
How did Thurstone’s attempts to conceptualise intelligence differ from Spearman’s?
He also used factor analysis but focused on the variability that these tasks don’t have in common; he proposed a multiple factor theory of intelligence made up of different primary mental abilities; but conceded the factors are not independent of one another
What primary mental abilities made up Thurstone’s multiple factor theory of intelligence?
Spatial, perceptual, numerical, verbal, memory, induction, reasoning, deduction
What influential innovation in intelligence theory was included in the Cattell-Horn model?
That there are 2 major types of cognitive ability: crystallised intelligence (Gc) – vocabulary, general knowledge (maintained through life span); and fluid intelligence (Gf) – non-verbal skills like memory for digits (decline in old age)
What influential innovation in intelligence theory was included in Carroll’s model?
He proposed a hierarchical three-stratum theory of cognitive abilities; incorporating “g” and more specific intelligence factors (top level: Spearman’s g; middle: crystallised and fluid, etc; bottom: middle factors subdivided into specific abilities (e.g. fluid – induction, quantitative reasoning, etc)
What are factor analytic theories of intelligence?
They use factor analysis to examine intercorrelations of different dimensions of intelligence; different factors covary with one another
How do information processing theories of intelligence differ from factor analytic theories?
They focus on intelligence as a computational process rather than a structure of different abilities; they include “planning” as a key element they consider to be overlooked in factor analytical models
What was Gould’s criticism of the factor analytic approach to intelligence?
He argued that the factors are just a descriptive summary of data and not necessarily underlying traits
What was Jensen’s response to Gould’s criticisms of the factor analytic approach?
Just because you can’t measure it directly, doesn’t mean it’s not real; correlations between all tests is always positive so there’s something they have in common; intelligence is a theoretical construct – but so is gravity
What was Howe’s criticism of the factor analytic approach?
Correlation doesn’t equal causality; intelligence is merely a description of someone’s output - just because things are linked, doesn’t make it an explanation
Describe Sternberg’s triarchal model of intelligence
It includes: Metacomponents (planning, monitoring, evaluating); Performance components (administer instructions from metacomponents); and Knowledge acquisition components (learning how to do something in the first place)
