Chapter 7: Intelligence and Academic Skills

 

I. What is Intelligence

- Intelligence - is what intelligence tests measure; usually includes such things as ability to think rationally, abstractly, act purposely, and deal effectively with the environment. There is no set list of attributes applicable to everyone.

·  E.g. Stanford-Binet & WAIS do not set guidelines for universal intelligence

 

II. Theories of Intelligence

 

1. Spearman's Two Factor Theory - used factor analysis; see group of abilities as reflective of a certain trait:

·         E.g. color coordination + shape organization + object balance = High Spatial Ability

- He noticed differences in people's abilities and decided that there were two kinds of factors:

a. g-factor - general intelligence; beyond content & facts - Spearman thought "g" was inherited

b. s-factor - specific intellectual abilities; developed skills

2. Thurstone's Seven Primary Mental abilities - No general intelligence; 7 abilities are independent

a. Verbal comprehension - vocabulary, concepts, words

b.  Number - use numbers in problem solving

c. Spatial relations - see & manipulate objects in space

d. Perceptual speed - how fast see similarities/differences

e. Word fluency - use words quickly & fluently

f. Memory - remember lists of digits & characters

g. Inductive reasoning - discover rules & relationships

3. Sternberg's Triarchic Theory - focuses on how adults solve problems; this is indicative of intelligence; it has three subtheories:

a. Contextual - ability to skillfully adapt behavior to environment

b. Experiential -  intelligence is revealed in novel and unfamiliar tasks/events; apply knowledge to new situations

c. Componential - intelligence depends on basic cognitive process units; components; different information-processing skills; ex. Monitoring, attention, or retrieval

·        To Sternberg, intelligence occurs in processes, not in categories of abilities

·        John Carroll, in your text, adopts Thurstone's ideas and research methods

 

III. Assessing Intelligence

A. Psychological test - an objective, standardized measure of behavior

B. Good psychological tests are reliable, valid and normalized:

1. reliability - consistency over time and trials

a. test-retest - give same test to same group or person again.

b. alternate-forms - group is administered two different versions of test to avoid practice effects.

c. split-half - compare an individual's score on half the items with his score on the other half

·         e.g. sort even and odd numbers

2. Validity - it actually measures what it is suppose to measure.

a. construct - compare individual's score with their scores on similar measures.

·         e.g., New Achievement test with TAAS

b. criterion-related - compare scores on measure with scores on measure with known relationship

·         e.g., New Achievement test should be positively related to IQ

** Test can be reliable and not valid, but CANNOT be valid and not reliable!

3. Norms - in psychological testing, scores on a test taken by a large number of individuals over time used for making comparisons

C. Intelligence Tests

-         Alfred Binet wanted to be able to identify students who needed remedial classes based on their
- mental age - everyone regardless of age, who maintain equal test score.
- W. Stern used Binet's idea of mental age to create a formula comparing one's mental and chronological age called an intelligence quotient (IQ) -divide mental age by chronological age and multiply by 100.


- Binet and Stern's work finally made it to the U.S. around 1911 and several IQ intelligence scales have been generated:

1. Stanford-Binet - Terman at Stanford, revised items from the French version that Binet made; still used widely today. Most often used; Strength = impressive predictability of children's abilities.

2. Wechsler Adult - (WAIS); intelligence scale; made of 11 subtests; 2 scales= verbal and performance.

·         e.g. Who is 1st president of U.S; How to put a puzzle together? Strength= WAIS is able to sort people out by their respective strengths.

D. Differences in IQ

1. fluid intelligence - abilities related to speed, adaptation, flexibility, and abstract reasoning; declines with age

§         e.g. Solving abstract problems

2. crystallized intelligence - abilities related to acquired knowledge, accumulated experiences, and general information; remains constant or increases with age

§         e.g. Knowing how to play piano or how to type

3. Gender differences:

·         No general intelligence difference between males and females

·         Males have higher spatial skills (visual); e.g. Embedded shapes task – A&M University

·         Females have higher perceptual speed and reading comprehension and writing skill

·         Differences are narrowing over time (indicate these differences were taught and learned)

4. Age differences:

·         IQ scores remain fairly constant over time

·         However, experience has shown to improve scores slightly

·         Infant and preschool IQ tests are poor indicators

·         Research shows we can increase and peak in 30-50s and then slowly decline in intelligence; depends on lifestyle

5. Ethnic differences:

·         Asians (11 points) above Caucasians (15 points) above African-Americans
Why?

a. test bias (impossible to rid all bias)

b. environmental factors; SES, education obtained

c. genetic factors

d. cultural differences in motivation

 

IV. Special Children, Special Needs

A. Giftedness - have above average intelligence (120 or higher) and/or superior talent for something

·         general intelligence or specific cognitive ability

·         Winner described 3 criteria characteristics of gifted children:

1. precocity - master an area earlier than their peers

2. march to their own drummer - learn qualitatively different than peers; need minimal help

3. exhibit passion to master - intense & obsessive interest in their high functioning domains; self-motivated and focused

 

B. Mental retardation - condition indicated by an IQ score below 70 that begins during development (prior to 18th birthday) and is associated with an impairment in adaptive functioning ; Federal definition; 2-3% of the population:

1. Mild: 50-69; 80% of all cases

2. Moderate: 35-49; 12% of all

3. Severe: 20-34; 8% of all

4. Profound: <20; 1% of all

 

C. Learning Disability - a condition whereby an individual has normal or above average intelligence but struggles with learning in school; struggles with achievement

·         To identify persons with LD, we can administer an achievement test and IQ test simultaneously. A large discrepancy (gap) between IQ scores and achievement scores is indicative of a learning disability.

·         Reading and arithmetic prove to be difficult subjects for most LD students.