Intelligence

What is it? How do we measure it? Are those tests valid?

General Intelligence

Charles Spearman believed in general intelligence (g), a common skill set that underlies all our specific abilities

People who score highly in one area also tend to score higher than average in others

Multiple Intelligence

Howard Gardner noticed that some savants have extraordinary ability in one area with severe handicaps in others

Gardner came up with 8 areas of intelligence (know these for quiz!) mostly based on case studies

Gardner admits this is not hard science and that his intelligences are very difficult to asses

Multiple Intelligence

Robert Sternberg suggested three areas of intelligence: analytical, creative, and practical

Analytical is measured in school and tests like SATHow would you measure the others?

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is tested on the ability to Perceive emotions (recognize them in others and in

the arts)Understand emotions (predict them and how they will

change)Manage emotions (know how to express them

acceptably in various situations)Use emotions (to allow for creative thinking)

Emotional Intelligence

Emotionally intelligent people are well-balanced, can delay gratification, and are generally in tune with others

Brain damage can impair emotional intelligenceIs this really intelligence, or something else?

Does it matter what we call it?

Neurology and Intelligence

There is a correlation of +.33 between brain size and intelligenceSome scientists argue that this because of other

factors that influence both. What might a scientist say those factors are?

More intelligent people have more synapses at deathThere is probably a link between brain plasticity and

intelligence

Neurology and Intelligence

Most processing during intelligence tests takes place in the frontal lobeDo smarter people think faster? How could

this help?The correlation between intelligence scores and

speed in perception is +.3 to +.5Smarter people experience faster and more

complex brain activity in response to simple stimuli

Intelligence Testing

How? Why? Is it fair?

History of Intelligence Tests

Francis Galton wanted to test intelligence in order to identify high achievers so they could mate with each other (1884)

His tests were not valid

History of Intelligence Testing

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon created at test to objectively identify special needs students in Paris, 1904

They used “mental age” as a measure – level of performance typical of a chronological age

Most people have the same chronological and mental ages

Goal: to identify special needs so that they could get more help and be provided with equal opportunities

History of Intelligence Tests

Lewis Terman of Stanford edited Binet’s test and created the Stanford-Binet test

Believed only intelligent people should reproduce (supported the eugenics movement)

US military used Terman’s test on WWI recruits and new immigrants (immigrants tended to score fairly low)Let’s try some of Terman’s military test!

History of Intelligence Testing

William Stern used the Binet and Stanford-Binet tests to devlop IQ, the intelligence quotient

Works well for children, not for adultsToday, IQ scores are normalized (put on a bell

curve) so they give information about your performance relative to others of the same age

Modern IQ Tests

Achievement tests measure what you have learned (test for psychology)

Aptitude tests predict your ability to learn something new (SAT)

Most tests assess both achievement and aptitude to some extent

Modern IQ Tests

David Wechsler created the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), made up of 11 subtests

Gives overall score and subscores for processing speed, verbal comprehension, etc.

Most commonly used today

Test Construction: Standardization

1. Give test to a representative sample of people2. Compare others’ scores to the previously

tested group3. Periodically restandardize to make sure the

average is 100

Test Construction: Normal Curve

Test Construction: Reliability

On a reliable test, people’s scores will be consistent

A. If someone takes the same test twice, their scores should be similar

B. Someone’s scores on one half of the test should correlate to their scores on the other half

Test Construction: Validity

A valid test measures what you intend it to measure

Most course exams have content validity – they ask questions about what is covered in class

Intelligence tests should also have predictive validity - they should predict future performance

If a test asks questions about the content but uses higher-level sentence structure and vocabulary, what might be wrong with it?

If a student’s scores on the odd-numbered questions are 40% higher than their scores on the even-numbered questions, what might be wrong with a test?

What are some qualities of bad tests?What can be done to make bad tests better?

Bias

A test would be scientifically biased if it accurately predicted results only for some types of people(ie whites but not blacks), but major American aptitude tests are not biased

Tests do pick up on differences in past experiences that depend on race/culture

Intelligence and Culture

Different cultures value different skills and include those abilities in their definitions of intelligence

Africans and Asians tend to include social skillsA smart child is a respectful child