PPT Presentation-Overview

Intelligence

Give a definition of intelligence that you could defend, explaining why you believe you could defend it. Give examples of ways your definition of intelligence might be measured and skills people might have who would do well on those measures. Describe how you would differentiate measures of intelligence from measures of achievement.

Intelligence

Suppose you were asked to give a talk to parents and educators on the topic “Can IQ scores be raised?” You are asked to discuss both the hereditarian and environmental aspects of the issue. What would your arguments be for both a strong hereditarian position AND a strong environmentalist position? Be certain to give specific suggestions from an environmental perspective on how IQ could be raised.

Developed by W. Huitt, 1999

E. G. Boring

Definitions of Intelligence

Whatever intelligence tests measure

D. Wechsler

The global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his/her environment

Psychology textbooks

The general ability to perform cognitive tasks

Weschler, D. (1939). The measurement of adult intelligence. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.

Behaviorally-oriented definition


The capacity to learn from experience or the capacity to adapt to one's environment

R. Sternberg

The cognitive ability to learn from experience, to reason well, to remember important information, and to cope with the demands of daily living

Sternberg, R. (1988). The triarchic mind: A new theory of human intelligence. New York: Viking.


APA Task Force

Ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought

APA Task Force. (1996, February). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. American Psychologist.

Psychometric

Approaches to Intelligence

Focus on the measurement of intelligence

Assumes normal distribution

Multiple Forms Gardner

Sternberg

Developmental

Approaches to Intelligence

Piaget

Vygotsky

Brain/ neurophysiology

Brain metabolism

Brain imaging

Psychometric Approach

Based on an assumption of normal distribution


Focus is on developing measures that predict academic performance

Some researchers are critical of this approach while others believe it has proven its correctness

Major issue: What is it we want to know?

• Predict school success as presently structured

• Predict life success

• Develop human potential

Stability (Reliability) of IQ Scores

IQ measures fairly stable, especially after adolescence

• r (age 6, age 18) = .77

• r (age 12, age 18) = .89

• r (averages 5, 6, 7; averages 17, 18) = .86

• r (averages 11, 12, 13; averages 17, 18) = .96

Predicting With IQ Measures (Validity)

IQ measures correlate with academic achievement about r = .5

Successful school learning also depends on:

• Persistence

• Interest in school

• Learning disabilities

• Encouragement from family, peers, teachers

• Other factors

IQ measures correlate about the same or lower with life success (Social status, Income)

• r (IQ, social status) = .5

• r (IQ, income) = .4

• Complex relationship because of impact of education


Factors other than IQ account for more variance when predicting life success (Goleman, 1995; Jencks, 1979)

Jencks, C. (1979). Who gets ahead? The determinants of economic success in America. New York: BasicBooks.


• Affective/Emotional Factors

• Conative/Volitional Factors

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ for character, health and lifelong achievement. New York: Bantam.

What is the source of intelligence (as measured by IQ)

• Nature (Biology, genetics)

• Nuture (Environment, family, schooling, changing economic conditions)

Correlations among various group members used to test hypotheses

Issue of Nature vs. Nuture

Plomin et al. (1990) make the following estimates:

• Nature

• Within family


.50

• Between families

• Error

.25

.15

.10

Plomin, R., DeFries, J., & McClearn, S. (1990). Behavioral genetics: A primer (2nd ed.). New York: Freeman.

Nuture’s Influence

Stability of IQ measures true only if there are no radical changes in the environment

• Gains in Appalachia in 1930s

• Venezuelan Intelligence Project (Herrnstein and others, 1986)

• Feuerstein’s (1980) Instrumental Enrichment

Herrnstein, R., Nickerson, R., de Sanchez, M., Swets, J. (1986). Teaching thinking skills. American Psychologist, 41, 1279-1289.

Feuerstein, R. (1980). Instrumental enrichment: An intervention program for cognitive modifiability. Baltimore: University Park Press.

Norms must be constantly revised because of continuously rising test scores (Flynn, 1987)

Flynn, J. (1987). Massive IQ gains in 14 nations. What IQ tests really measure. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 171-191.

• Average gain about 3 points per decade


Norms must be constantly revised because of continuously rising test scores (Flynn, 1987)

Flynn, J. (1987). Massive IQ gains in 14 nations. What IQ tests really measure. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 171-191.

• Average gain about 3 points per decade

• 19-year-olds in Netherlands went up more than 8 points from 1972-1982


Hypotheses for rising IQ scores

• Daily life and occupational experiences more “complex”

• Better nutrition

• Measuring “abstract problem solving ability,” not really intelligence


Issue of nature vs. nuture is especially critical for educators:


• If nature, our role is to sort and select

• If nuture, our role is to develop

Of course, the reality is that both are important



Because IQ is a reliable and valid predictor of academic performance and academic performance is related to SES, educators should look at methods that have demonstrated an ability to impact IQ

Educators can also look to other theories of intelligence for some ideas about human potential

• Sternberg• Gardner• Piaget

The End

PPT Presentation-Overview

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