General Intelligence (g) WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? General Intelligence (g) The idea of (g) assumes that the intelligence is one basic trait, underlying all cognitive abilities. According to this concept, people have varying levels of this general ability.   Charles Spearman, a leading theoretician contended that although (g) cannot be measured directly, it can be inferred from various abilities, such as vocabulary, memory, and reasoning. Many developmentalists seek one common factor that underline IQ (genetic inheritance, prenatal brain development, experiences in fancy or physical health).

RESEARCH ON AGE AND INTELLIGENCE Cross-Sectional Research A research design that compares groups of people who differ in age but are similar in other important characteristics. US Army tested aptitude of all literates in World War I. Intellectual ability reached its peak at about 18, stayed at that level until mid-20’s and then declined. Similar results came from a classic study of 1,191 individuals aged 10 to 60 from 19 New England Villages. The IQ scores of New England rose from ages 10 to 18 peaked between ages 18 to 21 and then slowly went down with the average 55 year old, scoring the same average as a 14 year old.

RESEARCH ON AGE AND INTELLIGENCE Longitudinal Research A research design in which the same individuals are followed over time and their development is repeatedly assessed. It is more accurate than Cross-Sectional Research when it comes to measuring development over the decades, but is not perfect.

PROBLEMS THEY COME ACROSS Participants are tested repeatedly, they become practiced at test taking and practice leads to IQ rise and intelligence. People refusing to retest because they are not healthy and believe that their intelligence is failing. They lose participants over time due to people moving and not being found and some people even dying.

RESEARCH ON AGE AND INTELLIGENCE Cross-Sequential Research Combines Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal designs. Seattle Longitudinal Study. The first Cross-Sequential study of adult intelligence began in 1956. Tested Men and Women aging 20 to 50. Tested in 5 standard mental abilities. (Verbal Meaning, Spatial Orientation, Number ability, Inductive reasoning, Word Fluency). Results- many people abilities improve in adulthood and decline later in older age.

Two Clusters of Intelligence Fluid Intelligence Crystallized Intelligence Quick and Flexible, enabling people to learn anything. Accumulation of facts, information, and knowledge as a result of educations and experience.

3 Forms of Intelligence Robert Sternberg proposed three fundamental forms of intelligence: Analytic Intelligence: mental processes that foster academic proficiency by making efficient learning, remembering, and thinking possible. Strength in this area is valuable in emerging adulthood, college, grad school, and job training. Creative Intelligence: involves the capacity to be intellectually flexible and innovative. Creative thinking is divergent rather than convergent, it’s very unexpected, imaginative, and unusual. Practical Intelligence: involves the capacity to adapt one’s behavior to the demands of a given situation. Practical intelligence is sometimes called tactics intelligence b/c it is not obvious on test. It comes from the school of hard knocks and is sometimes called street smarts and not book smarts.

Age and Culture

Analytic intelligence is usually valued in high school and college

Creative: prized in changed life circumstances and new challenges

Practical: valued in adult life

Which intelligence is valued?

Cognitive Development: Adulthood Chapter 21 Cognitive Development: Adulthood

Selective Gains and losses

Selective Losses More deliberate with age Effected by motivation Directly affects cognition

Selective Gains Deliberate with age Increases with higher motivation Want for more skill in an area, rather than another

Optimization with Compensation

The Definition Optimization with compensation: The theory that people try to maintain a balance in their lives by looking for the best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses and become more proficient in activities they can already do well.

Example Preference to work harder in basketball because of past physical skill Less desire to train other skills because of lacking past skills; such as singing, dance, etc Already good at sports? Keep playing them. Not a great artist; who cares, play sports instead.

Who's an expert? An expert is not simply someone who knows more about something. At a certain point, accumulated knowledge, practice, and experience become transformative, putting an expert in a different league. The quality as well as the quantity of cognition is advanced. Expert thought is: intuitive, automatic, strategic, and flexible

Expertise Novices follow formal procedures and rules. Experts rely more on their past experiences and on immediate contexts. Consider a doctor. Ordinary resident doctor vs experienced surgeon

I've done this a million times... Most important question to ask: how many times have you done this? A million? How many people survived..?

A league of their own Experts can look at things and find issues more quickly and accurately than regulars. Greater experience allows for faster action.

Key intuition One of the most intriguing recent discoveries in cognition is the role of intuition, thought to work unconsciously by sorting and weight alternatives. Intuition provides much faster thought processes. Greater balance of pro's and con's As adults develop, so too does cognition, and intuition as a result.