Lecture 23
Intelligence
- Defining Intelligence
- Mental Tests
- Forms of Intelligence
- Measuring Intelligence
- Binet
- Weschler
- What do IQ scores predict?
- Nature vs. Nurture
- Understanding the Question
- Assessment Techniques
- Conclusions
- Controversies
Overview
The nature of intelligence is one of psychology's oldest topics, and many of psychology's most important historical figures have contributed to its conceptualization and measurement. Considering how much attention it has received, you might be surprised to know that intelligence is not well-understood. Most everyone agrees that it involves the ability to acquire and use knowledge to effectively solve problems, but there is little agreement about whether this ability is a general one or whether there are many specific abilities, each relevant to different types of problems. There is also disagreement about how to measure intelligence, and how genetics and upbringing influence its development.
Specifics
- Identify three types of mental tests, and give an example of each.
- Distinguish crystallized intelligence from fluid intelligence, and be familiar with each type's developmental course.
- Describe Galton's approach, including the statistical technique he developed to assess intelligence and the social movement he spearheaded.
- Describe Spearman's approach, including the statistical technique he developed to assess intelligence.
- Describe Thurstone's approach, and the evidence he cited to support his claim.
- Describe Binet's approach to measuring intelligence, his intelligence quotient (IQ), and the way IQ scores are computed today.
- Be familiar with Weschler's scale, the two subscale scores it generates, and know what IQ scores do and do not, predict.
- Be familiar with research on the heritability of intelligence, including the techniques used to assess the relative contribution of heredity and the environment and relevant findings.