INTELLIGENCE AND TESTING Unit 11

Intelligence ■Capacity to acquire knowledge, reason effectively, and adapt to one’s surroundings by using inherited abilities and learned experiences ■Big question –Collection of separate abilities or as one significant factor

■Psychometrics –Scientific study of using mathematical or numerical methods to measure psychological variables by creating reliable and valid tests ■Factor Analysis –Utilizes stats to reduce the # of variables by placing them in clusters of related items

Intelligence Theories Spearman’s Two Factor Theory ■Charles Spearman ■General Factor (g-factor) –Individual’s overall ability –Most important in predicting one’s intelligence ■Specific Abilities (s-factors) –Abilities that are needed to perform certain cognitive tasks ■Criticism –Score focuses on mainly on cognitive abilities – does not measure other important type of abilities

Intelligence Theories Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities ■L.L. Thurstone ■Idea of single general intelligence too narrow of a concept ■Primary Mental Abilities ■Multifactor theory –Useful in education –Discover areas students need help

Intelligence Theories Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory ■Robert Sternberg ■Multifactor theorist ■Three Sets of Mental Abilities –Practical ■Realistic and useful thinking abilities that enable to cope and thrive –Analytical ■Logical reasoning – IQ tests –Creative ■Inventive problem-solving used to generate new ideas ■Book smarts vs Street Smarts

Intelligence Theories Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences ■Howard Gardner ■Multifactor theory ■Originally 7 now 8 multiple intelligences ■Independent but often used in combination to solve problems ■Studies prodigies and savants ■Advantage – includes other types of intelligences not measured on IQ tests ■Disadvantage – difficulty to identify, how to measure them, or is it just talent

Savant Syndrome ■ RARE condition ■ Intellectually disabled but an island of brilliance – exceptional skill in a limited domain such as music, art, math, or calculating dates. ■ Obsessive fixations on particular topics & memorization of trivia can also be present ■ More often in males ■Not all savants are autistic, and not all autistic persons are savants

■ By age 2 Nadia had autism diagnosis ■ Age 3 ½ she began to draw… draw not scribble without training from memory with skill of a talented adult ■ Draws differently by putting in random details first & then outline last.

Nadia – Age 4 vs. Da Vinci

Nadia – Age 4 vs. Typical 9 year old

Nadia Age 4 vs. Typical 4 year old

■ Brittany Maier ■ 16 year old blind, autistic,& mentally disabled musical savant pianist ■ Memorized over 10,000 pieces including hundreds of originals

Savant Video Clip Stephen Wiltshire

SAVANT ■Kim Peek ■Basis for Rain Man ■Not Autistic ■videovideo

Emotional Intelligence ■Peter Salovey and John Mayer ■Daniel Goleman ■ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate ones emotions. ■Criticism – assessments do little more than measure personality traits

Two Types of Intelligence Raymond Cattell ■Fluid Intelligence ■Rapid processing of information and memory ■Needed to solve new types of problems and make new associations and analogies with existing knowledge ■With age decreases ■Crystallized Intelligence ■Knowledge acquired over a lifetime –Vocab, verbal skills, cultural knowledge, facts ■With age increases