Intelligence

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Intelligence Human Development

• Doneisha Burke M.Sc.

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Contrasting views of Intelligence

• Intelligence
• Individuals ability to understand complex ideas,
  to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn
  from experience, to engage in various forms of
  reasoning and to overcome obstacles by careful
  thought

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Contrasting views of Intelligence

• Why do we place such importance on evaluating
  others intelligence?
• What can it tell us about a person?
• Is intelligence a single characteristic or does
  it involve several different components?
• Spearman believed in a primary general factor
  which he termed g. Because scores on different
  aspects of intelligence correlate highly with one
  another it suggested that no matter how
  intelligence was measured it was related to
  single primary factor

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Contrasting views of Intelligence

• Other researchers (e.g. Thurstone) believed in
  separate abilities that operate independently,
  which point to a multifactor view.
• Modern theories support a middle ground in the
  debate.

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Three Influential views of Intelligence

• Gardeners Theory of Multiple Intelligences
• His theory suggest that there are several
  different kinds of intelligence such as verbal,
  mathematical, musical and bodily-kinesthetic and
  each must be understand to get the big picture.
• Instead of studying normal children he looked
  at the extremes i.e. geniuses and those with
  impaired cognitive functioning

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Three Influential views of Intelligence

• Sternberg's Triarchic Theory
• His theory suggest that there are 3 basic kinds
  of intelligence
• Componential/ Analytic- involves the ability to
  think critically and analytically
• Experiential/Creative- emphasizes insight and the
  ability to formulate new ideas
• Contextual/ Practical- Persons high on this
  dimension are intelligent in a practical,
  adaptive sense (street smarts)

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Three Influential views of Intelligence

• Cattells Theory of Fluid and Crystallized
  Intelligence
• He concluded that 2 major clusters of mental
  abilities exist
• Fluid Intelligence- pertains to our inherited
  abilities to think and reason (tends to decrease
  slowly with age)
• Crystallized Intelligence- refers to accumulated
  knowledge (information stored over a lifetime of
  experience and the application of skills and
  knowledge to solving specific problems). Tends to
  remain the same/ increase

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Measuring Intelligence

• Binet Simon are names credited with developing
  the 1st measurement of intelligence published in
  1905 containing 30 items.
• Terman developed the Stanford-Binet test which
  gave rise to the IQ
• IQ
• Then- number derived from MA/CA x 100
• Now-Indicates a persons performance on an IQ
  test relative to those of other persons

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Measuring Intelligence

• Tests developed by Binet and adapted by Terman
  were mainly verbal.
• David Wechsler developed tests for both children
  (WISC) adults (WAIS) which included
  nonverbal/performance items in addition to verbal
  ones.
• Both yielded separate scores for these 2
  components of intelligence.
• Aptitude vs. Achievement Tests

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Measuring Intelligence

• Intelligence tests help to identify children at
  extremes with respect to intelligence.
• What about the mentally retarded who are gifted?
  Williams Syndrome
• Does being intelligent involve processing of
  information quickly?
• Speed on cognitive and perceptual tasks is often
  correlated to scores on intelligence tests.
• Inspection time- the amount of time individuals
  need to take in new visual information which
  meets a pre-established criterion of accuracy

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Basic Requirements of Psychological tests

• Standardization
• Testing a large group representative of the
  population for whom the test was designed. If the
  test is well constructed the distribution of
  scores will near the normal curve ( helps to
  determine where an individual stands relative to
  others who took the test.
• Reliability
• Extent to which a test yields consistent scores
  over time
• Validity
• Extent to which a test measures what it claims to
  measure

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Neural Basis of Intelligence

• Brain Structure and Intelligence
• Score son standard measures e.g. WAIS are related
  to the size of left right temporal lobes.
• Metabolic activity in the brain during cognitive
  tasks
• The more intelligent people are the less energy
  their brains should expend while working on tasks
  (proven)
• Nerve Conduction Velocity
• Speed at which nerve impulses are conducted in
  the visual system correlates significantly with
  intelligence

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Physical Growth Development The Childhood
Years

• The Prenatal Period (ovum, embryo, foetus)
• Prenatal influences on development
• teratogens)
• Prescription OTC drugs
• Rubella, genital herpes AIDS
• Cocaine, alcohol smoking
• Physical growth is rapid during infancy
• body weight triples within the 1st year alone
• Babies cant maintain normal body temp until 8/9
  weeks old.
• Reflexes- inherited response to stimulation in
  certain areas of the body (pg 292 Table 8.1)

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Physical Growth Development

• Locomotor development (sitting, crawling walking,
  it proceeds from the head toward the limbs Figure
  8.5 pg 293)
• After the spurt in the 1st year the rate of
  physical growth slows down considerably (both
  boys girls gain about 2-3 inches and 4-7
  lbs/yr)
• Brain expands rapidly through the 1st 18mths of
  life reaching more than ½ the adult brain weight
  (by age 5 the brain is almost full sized, there
  is also rapid dendrite and axon growth in the
  brain and glial cells increase rapidly in number)
• It can be speeded/slowed by various
  cross-cultural child rearing practices

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Cognitive Development

• According to Jean Piaget children do not think
  and reason like adults.
• Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development
• Sensorimotor
• Preoperational
• Concrete Operations
• Formal Operations

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Social/Emotional Development

• Infants show discrete facial expressions as young
  as 2 mths of age (social smiling, laughter, anger
  sadness and surprise appear quite early)
• Temperament- stable individual differences in the
  quality and intensity of emotional reactions
• Easy, difficult, slow to warm up children
• Attachment- strong emotional bond btw infants and
  caregivers.
• Strange situation test (pg 314)
• Attachment patterns (pg 314)
• Long term effects of attachment patterns

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Physical Growth Development Adolescence

• Stability vs. Change
• Adolescence- a period beginning with onset of
  puberty and ending when individuals assume adult
  roles and responsibilities.
• Puberty- a period of rapid growth and change
  during which individuals reach sexual maturity.
• Start of adolescence is signaled by a sudden
  increase in the rate of physical growth

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Physical Growth Development Adolescence

• The growth spurt starts earlier for girls (10/11)
  than for boys (12/13)
• Gonads (primary sex gland) produce increased
  levels of sex hormones and external sex organs
  assume adult form
• Girls menstruate and boys produce sperm
• Other physical changes- facial hair, deepening
  voice, breast development, hips widen, facial
  shape changes etc.
• Timing of puberty can play a role in the d-ment
  of self identities and later social development

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Social/Emotional Development

• Identity vs. Role Confusion- trying to establish
  a self identity (Eriksons 8 Stages of
  Psychosocial Development)

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Physical Growth Development Adulthood

• Physical Changes during Early Adulthood
• Muscle strength, reaction time, sensory acuity,
  heart action and output are all at/near their
  peaks n the mid 20s and then decline slowly
  through the mid 30s. Weight gain and hair loss
  esp. for men
• Physical Changes during Midlife (40s)
• Cardiac output decreases noticeably , difficulty
  with digestion, thinning and graying hair, bulges
  and wrinkles
• Climacteric- a period during which functioning of
  the reproductive system and various aspects of
  sexual activity change greatly

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Physical Growth Development Adulthood

• Physical Changes during Midlife (40s) contd
• Both sexes experience the climacteric however its
  more obvious for females- menopause (cessation of
  menstrual cycle) (pg 349)
• After menopause women are more susceptible to
  osteoporosis, to avoid such effects women undergo
  hormone replacement therapy (benefits vs. cost)
• For men the climacteric involves reduced
  secretion of testosterone and reduced functioning
  of the prostate gland. It can become enlarged and
  affect urination and sexual functioning.
• Role of lifestyle (Successful Aging pg 349)

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Physical Growth Development Adulthood

• Physical Changes in Later life (60s onwards)
• Primary Aging (bodily changes due to the passage
  of time and perhaps genetic factors) vs.
  Secondary aging (bodily changes due to disease,
  disuse or abuse)
• Decline in vision, hearing (by age 50 many ppl
  report a reduced ability to hear high frequency
  sounds), smell, taste and other senses, slowing
  of reflexes (reaction time increases)

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Social/Emotional Development

• Eriksons Theory of Psychosocial Development (pg
  336 Table 9.1). According to his theory
  individuals move through eight stages of
  psychosocial development (from infancy to old
  age) during their lives, with each stage
  possessing its own specific crisis or conflict
• Trust vs. mistrust
• Autonomy vs. shame doubt
• Initiative vs. guilt
• Industry vs. inferiority
• Identity vs. role confusion
• Intimacy vs. isolation
• Generativity vs. stagnation
• Ego integrity vs. despair

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Cognitive Change during Adulthood Aging Memory

• Research on STM indicates that older people
  retain about as much information in this limited
  capacity system as young people
• Evidence exists that the ability to transfer
  information from STM to LTM may decrease with age
• The ability to deal with effects of proactive
  interference declines. As age increases there is
  a decline in Episodic memory, while semantic
  memory remains largely intact, with procedural
  memory being the most stable
• Evidence shows that unless serious illness is
  experienced many cognitive abilities remain
  intact
• Mental exercise
• As we age total brain weight decreases-5 by age
  70 10 by age 80 20 by age 90, frontal lobe,
  hippocampus

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Aging and Intelligence

• Previous research showed intelligence increasing
  into early adulthood, remaining stable through
  the 30s and declining as early as the 40s,
  (cross-sectional research using standard tests of
  intelligence)
• Limitation- didnt account for differences due to
  health and education . Longitudinal approach
  employed.
• Results from this show that many intellectual
  abilities seem to remain quite stable across the
  lifespan. Some abilities even seem to increase
• Fluid (increases into early 20s and then
  gradually declines) vs. Crystallized Intelligence
  (increases across the entire lifespan)
• Little or no decline in practical intelligence

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Aging Creativity

• Creativity- the ability to produce work that is
  both novel and appropriate
• It seems to somewhat in later life, but the age
  at which it peaks is highly variable.
• Easier to define this concept than to measure it

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The Aging Process

• Theories of Aging
• Stochastic Theories (Wear-and-Tear Theories)
• Theories suggesting that we grow old because of
  cumulative damage to our bodies from both
  external and internal sources (alcohol, various
  drugs and harsh environments)
• Programmed Theories
• Theories that attribute physical aging primarily
  to genetic programming (almost like a built in
  biological clock is regulating the aging process)
• Other theories look at how the immune system
  wind down over time and systems which regulate
  basic processes such as metabolism decline.
• Evidence for both

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End of Life

• What is death? Physiological, social , brain,
  cerebral
• Ethical issues and death
• Should individuals have the right to die when
  they choose? Should doctors help such people die
  (Dr. Jack Kevorkian)?
• Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and the Stages of Dying (pg
  362)
• Denialgtangergtbargaininggtdepressiongt acceptance
• Bereavement- grieving for the loss of persons
  dear to us
• Shockgtprotest and yearninggtdespairgtdetachment and
  recovery
• High grief, Low Grief Shadow Grief