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Testing and Individual DifferencesIntelligenceAP Psychology

+What is Intelligence? Some Key Terms

Intelligence is our ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Intelligence test – a method for assessing a person’s mental abilities through the comparison of others.

Psychometric approach is a method of studying intelligence that emphasizes the score of an IQ test.

+Early Theories of IntelligenceSpearman, Thurstone, Cattell

+Charles Spearman—2 Factor Theory

Charles Spearman postulated two types of intelligence that account for test scores: general intelligence or g special intelligences, or s,

which are the specific skills and knowledge needed to answer the questions on a particular test.

+Charles Spearman: G Factor

Developed the g factor, which stood for general intelligence, He believed that

this single g factor was responsible for each type of mental ability.

+Charles Spearman

Spearman did not believe in separate intelligences like musical or analytical, but just one overall general intelligence.

If you received a score of 120 on an IQ test then this would be your indicative of your g factor.

Since your g factor is high, then no matter what profession or career you chose you would be successful.

+Discounting Spearman’s Theory

Most people know a person who may be intelligent in math, but struggle with verbal abilities. In other words, even people that are intelligent in

one area may struggle in another area, which proved Spearman’s theory wrong

+Discounting Spearman’s Theory People who are

diagnosed with Savant Syndrome, which are individuals who are mentally challenged, but have one unique ability like good memory, also disproved Spearman’s theory according to Spearman

since their g factor (intelligence test score) was low they should struggle with everything they mentally perform).

+L.L. Thurstone: Factor Analysis

L.L. Thurstone used a factor analysis, A statistical procedure

that identifies relationships or clusters of mental abilities he called factors.

Through this process he found 7 primary independent mental abilities that are interrelated

+L.L. Thurstone: Factor Analysis

Spatial abilityperceptual speednumerical abilityverbal meaningMemoryword fluencyand reasoning

Thurstone believed that the average taken from

these 7 types of mental abilities would equal a number similar to Spearman’s

g factor

G

+R.B. Cattell—Fluid and CrystallizedIdentified two clusters of mental abilities

Crystallized intelligence includes abilities such as reasoning and verbal skills

Fluid intelligence includes skills such as spatial and visual imagery, rote memory, and the ability to notice visual details

While education can increase crystallized intelligence, it was not thought to have any effect on fluid intelligence

+Contemporary Intelligence TheoriesGardner, Sternberg

+Howard Gardner: Multiple Intelligences

He believed that a person’s intelligence included separate abilities. A person may excel in math, but struggle in verbal/ reading

Brain damage may diminish one type of ability but not others.

+Howard Gardner: Multiple Intelligences

Gardner proposes eight types of intelligences and speculates about a ninth one Existential

intelligence: The ability to think about the question of life, death and existence.

+Robert Sternberg—Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Robert Sternberg developed the Triarchic theory of intelligence- identifying 3 types of intelligenceTo remember that Sternberg

identified 3 types of intelligence; creative,

analytical, and practical- think of Sternberg wearing a

thinking CAP- creative, analytical, practical

+Triarchic Theory of IntelligenceCreative intelligence-

using previous information in new situationsEx: Application of

material- what job employers are looking for employees to do when they get hired

+Triarchic Theory of IntelligenceAnalytic intelligence-

analyzing, comparing, evaluating Ex: School work, ACT

and SAT score

+Triarchic Theory of IntelligencePractical

intelligence- applying, adapting to the environmentEx: Street smarts/

common sense

+The Triarchic Model

Robert Sternberg must have a fetish

for triangles because he is also

famous for his triangular theory of love (in social

psychology chapter).

+John Mayer: Emotional Intelligence (Not the singer…although that’s a great way to remember him!)

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions.

Some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, while others claim it is an inborn characteristic.

Salovey and Mayer proposed a model that identified four different factors of emotional intelligence

+The Four Branches of Emotional Intelligence

Perceiving Emotions: The first step in understanding emotions is to accurately perceive them. In many cases, this might

involve understanding nonverbal signals such as body language and facial expressions.

+The Four Branches of Emotional Intelligence

Reasoning With Emotions: The next step involves using emotions to promote thinking and cognitive activity. Emotions help

prioritize what we pay attention and react to; we respond emotionally to things that garner our attention.

+The Four Branches of Emotional Intelligence

Understanding Emotions: The emotions that we perceive can carry a wide variety of meanings. If someone is expressing

angry emotions, the observer must interpret the cause of their anger and what it might mean. For example, if your boss is acting

angry, it might mean that he is dissatisfied with your work; or it could be because he got a speeding ticket on his way to work that morning or that he's been fighting with his wife.

+The Four Branches of Emotional Intelligence Managing Emotions:

The ability to manage emotions effectively is a key part of emotional intelligence. Regulating emotions,

responding appropriately and responding to the emotions of others are all important aspect of emotional management.

+Theories: Comparison

+Diversity in Cognitive Abilities

+Creativity Creativity is often assessed by tests of divergent

thinking, which measure the ability to generate many different but plausible responses to a problem.

The correlation between IQ scores and creativity is not very high. IQ tests measure convergent thinking, whereas creativity is characterized by divergent thinking.

+Unusual Cognitive Abilities: Mental Retardation

This label is applied to people whose IQs are 70 or below and who fail at daily living skills. Mental retardation

sometimes has very specific causes, such as Down syndrome. retardation and associated

physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup

+Unusual Cognitive Abilities: Mental Retardation

Children with mild retardation differ from other children in three ways: they perform certain mental

operations more slowly, they know fewer facts about the

world, and they are not very good at

using particular mental strategies in learning and problem solving.

In general, children with mental retardation are deficient in metacognition.

+Unusual Cognitive Abilities: Giftedness

Those with extremely high IQs do not necessarily

become creative geniuses.

They do, however, usually become very successful in this society or culture.

+Unusual Cognitive Abilities: Learning Disabilities

People with learning disabilities have academic performance that doesn’t measure up to their measured intelligence. People with dyslexia see letters

as distorted or jumbled. Dysphasia is difficulty in

understanding spoken words. In dysgraphia a person has

trouble writing, In dyscalculia a person has

trouble with arithmetic.

+Tracking

From early age students are often tracked into “gifted” programs and “remedial” programs… what’s a potential problem with this? Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

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