Week 14: Genetics & Intelligence

Question 1

Nativism

Answer 1

Philosophical view that you are born with knowledge and have innate abilities already hard-wired within. Nature.

Question 2

Empiricism

Answer 2

Philosophical view that you are born as a blank slate and all knowledge is gained from experience from the environment. Nurture.

Question 3

Behaviour genetics

Answer 3

Study of the influence of genetics on behaviour. Founded in 1950’s by Thompson who came to queens to teach.

Question 4

Heritability

Answer 4

The amount of variability of a given trait at a given time of a given population based on genetic factors. Represented as h^2

Question 5

How do genes influence our behaviour?

Answer 5

Guide cells to make proteins that are related to behaviour, in the same way it guides cells to make proteins coding for eye pigment and hair colour.

Question 6

Phenotype

Answer 6

The appearance of a physical trait or the behaviour of an organism based on the expression of the genotype.

Phenotype is a result of genes interaction with environment.

Question 7

Polygenic

Answer 7

Involve more than one gene responsible for a trait or behaviour or disorder

Question 8

Polygenic

Answer 8

Involve more than one gene as a causation.

Question 9

Concordance

Answer 9

A percentage. Similarity of expression of traits in twins. Usually used in monozygotic and dizygotic twin studies to see how much of the similarity (or absence of similarity) is due to environment.

Question 10

Epigenetics

Answer 10

The study of heritable changes that occur without a DNA mutation.

Cell has instructions for body > external factor (chemical like eat mcdonalds or social) occurs and changes how cell expresses the instructions > keeps passing on new instructions or pass on new altered cell to next gen.

Question 11

Differentiated Cells

Answer 11

Cells that have become specialized

Question 12

Differential Approach

Answer 12

Devoted to tests and measures of individual differences in various psychological properties (like solving a problem).

Measures the different ways different people go about solving a problem.

Question 13

Deviation IQ

Answer 13

A procedure for computing the intelligence quotient: compares and individuals score with scores of other individuals of the same age.

Question 14

Standardization

Answer 14

Determining the typical performance on a test.
Need so that we can assess that the test is differentiation what we want it to.

THINK: if the test is too easy or too hard we haven’t learned anything from it

Question 15

Norms

Answer 15

Information about the comparison groups so we can compare an individuals performance relative to their peers.

Question 16

Intelligence

Answer 16

Ability to think, understand, reason and cognitively adapt to and overcome obstacles.

Question 17

Achievement testing

Answer 17

Measuring current knowledge & thinking skills that have been acquired

Question 18

How do genes influence behaviour?

Answer 18

Indirectly

Genes-guide the cell- generate proteins- that make neurotransmitters - that influence behaviour

Question 19

‘G’

Answer 19

General intelligence

the common factor of intelligence proposed by Spearman who compared intelligence scores to other intelligence scores and found correlations that could point to a connection and investigate what it is.

Question 20

Sir Francis Galton

Answer 20

Realized that brilliant people had brilliant relatives aka must be biologically based. Tried to compare intelligence scores to the other biological attributes of a person like forehead size, neural quickness etc. no reliability or validity. Also, discriminatory because he didn’t want to spend money educating less intelligent people.

Question 21

Binet - Simon Test 1905

Answer 21

The first measuring of intelligence test. Binet (French) wanted to identify children who were less intelligent that needed special education.

Question 22

Binet-Simon 1908

Answer 22

Mental age = description of score compared to the average score of a child that age

Should correspond with your normal age. If not, you were identified as less intelligent.

Question 23

Stanford-Binet

Answer 23

Lewis Terman translated the Binet-Simon test to english, brought it to Stanford university and made it into a ratio: divided mental age by chronological age and multiplied by 100 for IQ: intelligence quotient. Soon became popular for adults but problem because the denominator increases the IQ value decreases with age.

Question 24

Deviation IQ test

Answer 24

David Wechsler solved the problem of the ratio IQ by creating the deviation IQ test which compares scores to others of that chronological age and uses the mean and standard deviations from the mean.

Question 25

WAIS and WISC (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children)

Answer 25

David Wechsler noticed that patients with inability to speak did poorly on deviation IQ and he realized that these people were still able to think and carry out tasks. So he created a Full Scale IQ test made up of Verbal IQ and Performance (non-verbal) IQ. Currently on the IV version and consists of 4 scales.

Question 26

Test-retest reliability

Answer 26

Take the test on Monday and then on Friday = same result.

Question 27

3 ways we can see intelligence in brain scans (biological correlates)

Answer 27

1) efficiency of neural resources 2) synchronization of cortical centres 3) adaptation to change cortical demands

Question 28

If brain neural activity is efficient will you see a lot of activation or a little bit of activation in the domain of the corresponding area in the brain?

Answer 28

A little bit = more efficient

Question 29

If a person has a high skill level, when solving a problem would you expect to see 1 part of the brain being activated or many different regions?

Answer 29

Many different regions. Synchronization can be measured as the degree to which activation levels in 2 regions in the brain vary together. Synchronization within an individual increases learning.

Question 30

When solving an easy problem followed by a difficult problem how can one adapt?

Answer 30

- use more regions of the brain (more activation in different regions) - use more energy (high glucose metabolism) So individuals with high cognitive abilities show demonstrate these ways of adaptation.

Question 31

Gene-environment co-variation

Answer 31

A person's genetic make-up guides them towards environmental conditions. THINK: A person with inherited extrovert characteristics may seek out a job working with many people.

Question 32

Family/neighbourhood level vs population level

Answer 32

Inheritance factors are strong vs. environment factors are strong - proof from the Flynn Effect of rising IQ each year (thought to be attributed to nutrition or focus of knowledge in youth or even maybe reliability issues)

Question 33

Aptitude Testing

Answer 33

Measuring the potential to perform well on a specific range of tasks

Question 34

Fluid intelligence G(f)

Answer 34

Knowledge that is dynamic and changing. It's used to adapt to new situations and solve new problems without relying on previous knowledge.

Question 35

Crystallized Intelligence G(c)

Answer 35

Knowledge that relies on extensive experience and is like an actual crystal- more permanent, stable and robust. THINK: vocabulary

Question 36

How do G(f) and G(c) change over time?

Answer 36

Both forms of intelligence are examined across lifespan to see how each type change with time. Performance on tasks that use fluid intelligence peaks in early-middle adulthood and then declines later in life. Crystallized intelligence is conserved or accumulates as long as constantly learning new info. The brain regions involved associated with fluid intelligence decline more quickly that the brain regions involved with crystallized intelligence.