Week 9

Intelligence & Creativity

Intelligence

Intelligence An inferred characteristic of an individual,

usually defined as the ability to profit from experience, acquire knowledge, think abstractly, act purposefully, or adapt to changes in the environment.

Principles of Psychological Tests

Reliability Validity Standardizations and norms

Categories and Characteristics of Exceptional Individuals

Savant syndrome – condition of a mentally retarded individual who displays exceptional ability in a given area. Ex. Rainman

Intelligence: Genes and Individual Differences

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) A measure of intelligences originally computed

by dividing a person’s mental age by his or her chronological age and multiplying the result by 100.

It is now derived from norms provided for standard intelligence tests.

The kind of intelligence that produces high IQ scores is highly heritable.

.50 for children and adolescents .60 -.80 for adults.

The Psychometric Approach

IQ scores are distributed “normally”

Bell-shaped curve Very high and low

scores are rare 68% of people have IQ

between 85-115 99.7% between 55-

145

Question

Can IQ Tests be Culture Free?

Attempts to make IQ tests culture fair and culture free have backfired because different cultures have different problem-solving strategies.

Cultural values and experiences affect a person’s: Attitude toward exams, Comfort in the settings required for testing, Motivation Rapport with test provider, Competitiveness, and Ease of independent problem solving.

Twins and Intelligence Intelligence scores of identical twins are always more

highly correlated than those of fraternal twins. The scores of adopted children are highly correlated with

their biological parents.

The Environment and Intelligence.

Experiences that hinder intellectual performance. Poor prenatal care. Malnutrition. Exposure to toxins. Stressful family circumstances.

Experiences that help intellectual performance. Good health care and nutrition Mental enrichment in home and child care or school.

Intellectual Changes Over the Lifespan

Some intellectual abilities dwindle with age.

Numerical and verbal abilities remain relatively steady over the years.

Domains of Intelligence

Daniel Goleman Social Intelligence

Highly evolved social intelligence and ability to interact in social situations

Emotional intelligence

The ability to: identify your own and other people’s emotions

accurately, express your emotions clearly, and regulate emotions in yourself and others.

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Verbal/linguistic Musical Logical/Mathematical Visual/Spatial Movement or Bodily Kinesthetic Interpersonal Intelligence Intrapersonal Intelligence Existential Naturalist

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

What is creative problem solving?

Some Thoughts The creative person uses information to form new ideas.

The real key to creative problem solving is what you do with the knowledge.

Creative problem solving requires an attitude that allows you to search for new ideas and use your knowledge and experience.

Change perspective and use knowledge to make the ordinary extraordinary and the usual commonplace.

DEFINITION

“Creative problem solving is - looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.”

Adapted from a famous quote from a former Nobel prize winner, Albert Szent-Gyorgi.

Question

How are you creative in your daily life? Give an example using your understanding of the definition of creativity.

Question

What are the barriers that get in the way of our creativity?

BARRIERS THAT GET IN OUR WAY

Time Why change? Usually don’t need to be creative Habit Routine Haven’t been taught to be creative

What are some other barriers that get in our way?

BEING MORE CREATIVE

How can we be more creative?

Jot down at least 3 ideas that come to your mind.

TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

BRAINSTORMING

Purpose:

To generate a large number of ideas in a short period of time.

BRAINSTORMING

Rules for Brainstorming:

The more ideas the better! No discussion No idea is a bad idea Build on one another’s ideas Display all ideas

MIND MAPPING

Definition : A visual picture of a group of ideas, concepts or issues.

Purpose : Unblock our thinking. See an entire idea or several ideas on one

sheet of paper. See how ideas relate to one another. Look at things in a new and different way. Look at an idea in depth.

Mind Mapping Exercise

Over-sized blank sheet of paper. Select word, phrase or problem statement

to serve as a focus for discussion. Print it in the middle of the paper. Enclose

it in a box or oval. Let a word pop out of your mind.

Print it anywhere on the paper. Underline it and connect the line with the

problem statement (or key phrase or word)you are working.

Record the next idea and connect it tooriginal focus point or the prior thought.

Continue printing and connecting words.

1. Initial Tumble of Ideas.

Think freely!!

Motivating

Members

Methods

How

Mind Mapping Exercise

EXAMPLE

Resources

People

Motivating

Members

Hel

ping

Oth

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Purpose

Lea

rnin

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Results Fun

Methods

How

Question

Adults are often less creative than children. Why do you think this is, and what are the ramifications of losing access to our creative abilities?

Question

How can we encourage our clients to develop their creativity?

What would be the benefit to them?

Wrap Up

Are there any questions that I missed or any other questions or comments this evening?

I wish you all the best!