PPT 2 Flashcards
(40 cards)
Four Major Traditions
- Psychometric approaches (based on a model that portrays intelligence as a composite of abilities measured by mental tests)
- Information Processing approaches (an approach to cognitive development studies that aims to explain how information is encoded into memory)
- Neurobiological approaches (focus more on internal vs. external)
- Developmental approaches (study how people grow, develop and adapt at different life stages)
Science is the search for truth, whether we like it or not.
- David Bohm
With assessment, we can back information with evidence and get closer to the truth
General Domains of Psychological Assessment
- Personality assessment (traits and states) ex: emotional, inter-relational
- Intellectual assessment (ex: IQ)
- Neuropsychological assessment (brain behavior) ex: brain injuries, ADHD
- Vocational assessment (career)
Factors that can influence scores (mainly in Cognitive Assessments)
True ability or characteristic can be obscured by:
- Test anxiety
- Willingness to cooperate
- Level of distress (depression or psychosis, hunger, bathroom needs, sleep deprivation)
- Tendency to agree or disagree
- Prior experience with the test or coaching
- Luck
- Examiner skill
- Personal characteristics of examiner in interaction with the test-taker
Be observant for these
Make every effort to minimize these factors and maximize the influence of the intended construct
HOWEVER - research shows that most of these influences usually account for only a small part of the score variance
What is Intelligence?
A construct
- A general label for a group of processes that are inferred from observable behaviors
- Ambiguity has allowed it to become framed in different philosophical assumptions, political agendas, social issues, and legal restrictions
- Numerous attempts to define it (hard to define)
Common Definitional Aspects of Intelligence
General areas of most definitions:
1. Abstract thinking
2. Learning from experience
3. Solving problems through insight
4. Adjusting to new situations
5. Focusing and sustaining one’s abilities to achieve a desired goal
MA - CA = Intelligence
Mental age - chronological age = intelligence
Alfred Binet brought this test to the U.S. and developed it further (Stanford Binet)
Intelligence is MUCH more complicated than previous understandings
There is little question that intelligence is a viable construct
- Intellectually disabled and genius are realities
But it is much more complicated than previous understandings
Important for a psychologist to know the state of knowledge so as not to misuse cognitive testing
Four Major Traditions in Approaching Intelligence
- Psychometric Approaches
- Information Processing Approaches
- Neuro-biological Approaches
- Developmental Approaches
Value of Theories
Allow us to discuss aspects of a construct not previously accessible
Increase depth and breath of understanding
Useful in certain predictions
Motivate effort to operationalize theory
These 4 traditions represent different aspects of investigation, different parts of the elephant (7 Blind Men and the Elephant - everyone is right in a way but no one sees the whole elephant)
Goal of this is to see the state of understanding and direction of each tradition
Psychometric Approaches
Assumes intelligence is a trait in which there are individual differences (normally distributed - curve)
Started with Binet
Spearman (1904) - Proposed a 2 factor model that “g” (general intelligence) or a general factor common to all types of intellectual activity and “s” specific factors to each task
Positive Manifold
Intelligence tests are positively correlated
- Some portion of the variance of scores on each test attributed to “g”
Some regard “g” as the most basic measure of intelligence
Structure of the WAIS-IV
Full scale IQ (aka “g”) - FSIQ
4 Components - VCI, WMI, PRI, PSI
Verbal Comprehension (VCI) - VC-SI-IN-CO
Working Memory (WMI) - DS-PS-AR
Perceptual Reasoning (PRI) - BD-VP-MR
Processing Speed (PSI) - CD-SS-CA
Different Psychometric Models
Horn & Cattel (1963) - Three Stratum Model
Cattell, Horn, & Carroll (CHC Model) (1993 to ~2013)
Horn & Cattel (1963) - Three Stratum Model
3 factor model
1. g
2. Fluid intelligence (Gf) - processing ability, problem solving
3. Crystalized intelligence (Gc) - stored information
Fluid Intelligence (Gf)
Dependent n brains efficiency and intactness
Enables problem solving, perceiving relationships
Primarily non-verbal, culture free
Increases until age 14 then levels off until 20 then gradually declines
Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)
Largely environmentally determined (cultural restraints)
Content oriented (Vocabulary, Information)
Relatively permanent and not as susceptible to brain damage
Develops from interaction of Gf and environment
Grows until age 40 then gradually declines
Cattell, Horn, & Carroll (CHC Model) (1993 to ~2013)
Merging of two systems (Wechsler and C & H) incorporated several more specialized functions
Five Factor Model
Johnson & Bouchard’s work is an example of evidence that moved us toward a 5-factor model
Keith factors
- Verbal Comprehension Index
- Working Memory Index
- Visual Spatial Index
- Fluid Reasoning Index
- Processing Speed Index
(VSI and FRI were broken into two from PR)
WISC-V
Information Processing Approaches
Focuses on processes rather than content
How information is received, stored, retrieved, manipulated, transformed:
- Structural (sensory reception, short and long term memory)
- Functional (manipulations and transformations)
Processing Speed and IQ
IQ correlates with speed of certain information processing functions:
- Speed of apprehension, scanning, retrieving, and responding to stimuli
- Correlations increase as tasks become more complex
Choice Reaction Time
Moving finger from home to the button that lights up among 8 target buttons (Jensen, 1987)
- Correlations as high as -0.40 with IQ
More complex tasks (3 of the 8 buttons light each time»_space; choose the most isolated) (Fearson & Eysenck, 1986)
- Even higher correlations with IQ
Inspection Time
The Inspection Time task requires participants to judge which of two lines is the shortest after only seeing them for a very short amount of time.
Information Processing Model - Sternberg
Triarchic Theory
Intelligence involves:
1. Metacomponents - planning, monitoring, evaluating
- Performance components - administering instructions of metacomponents
- Knowledge- acquisition components - learning how to do something in the first place
