PSYC 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Zygote, Eugenics, Asian Americans
27 Jun 2018
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Intelligence is the application of cognitive skills and knowledge to learn, solve problems and obtain ends
that are valued by an individual or a culture.
Simon Binet and Théodore Simon developed the first intelligence test, a diagnostic tool designed to
measure overall thinking ability. They recognized that it correlated with higher mental processes.
Abstract thinking is the capacity to understand hypothetical concepts, rather than concepts in the here
and now.
Intelligence consists of the abilities to:
Reason abstractly
Learn to adapt to novel environmental circumstances
Acquire knowledge
Benefit from experience
Theories of Intelligence:
G Factor: G (general intelligence) explains the overall differences in intellect among people.
S Factor: S (specific cognitive abilities) that are unique to each item such as art, math.
They work in coherence together.
Fluid intelligence: It refers to the capacity to learn new ways of solving problems.
Crystallized intelligence: It refers to the accumulated knowledge of the world we acquire over
time. Knowledge from newly learned tasks "flows" into our long-term memories "crystallizing"
into lasting knowledge.
Fluid abilities decline with age. They are highly related to G than are crystallized abilities.
Multiple Intelligences Theory: There are entirely different domains of intellectual skill. There are
a whole bunch of intelligences and our intelligence cannot be dictated by one. It was proposed by
Howard Gardener. He proposed eight different intelligences - linguistic, logico-mathematical,
spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic and he proposed a
new ninth one called existential. However, there are certain difficulties with the theory:
oVague criteria
oDifficult to falsify
oAd hoc immunizing hypothesis
oMight not be independent, some of them are correlated
Triarchic Model: By Robert Sternberg
Analytical Intelligence - book smarts, the kind of intelligence we need to do well in traditional IQ
tests and college admissions exams. Closely related to 'g'
Practical Intelligence - tacit intelligence, the ability to solve real world problems, especially those
involving other people. Street smarts. Also called social intelligence
Creative Intelligence - creativity, our ability to come up with novel and effective answers to
questions.
Criteria for an Intelligence:
Presence of a neurological module
Existence of savants and prodigies
Distinct developmental time course
Information Processing Model:
Focused on how information is processed, not what is processed.
Processing speed: "mental speed" how fast information is processed
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Working Memory: how efficiently one can manage multiple mental processes at once. "mental
workspace"
Executive goal: how well a person can manage multiple goals at once
Cattell-Horn-Cattell (CHC) model
Intelligence Quotient (IQ):
Metacognition refers to knowledge of our own knowledge.
Stanford-Binet IQ test developed to help children but later was extended to adults.
Wilhelm Stern devised the formula for IQ - divide mental age by chronological age and multiple the
resulting number by 100.
Mental age is the age corresponding to the average person's performance on the intelligence
test
Chronological age is the actual age in years
However, mental age increases progressively in childhood but starts to plateau towards age 16.
That’s why most modern intelligence researchers rely on a statistic called deviation IQ. It expresses each
person's IQ relative to the norms for his or her age group.
Properties of IQ test:
Reliability: A reliable IQ test gives you the same IQ whenever you take it. There is a high
correlation of about 0.95. However, IQ can change over time. It becomes more stable with age.
Validity: It should really measure what its aiming to measure. It predicts grades in high school
and college. It predicts occupational performance. However, it has a low correlation of about 0.5.
Neural Correlates of Intelligence:
We cannot tell how intelligent a person is just by looking at their brain.
Overall brain size: There is a weak to moderate correlation. More related to verbal and spatial
ability.
Size of specific brain region: Moderately strong correlation, especially for frontal and parietal
area.
Functional connectivity: Especially between frontal and parietal areas. How different areas of
brain talk and connect to each other.
Eugenics was an effort to improve a generations "genetic stock" by encouraging people with "good
genes" to reproduce, by discouraging people with "bad genes" from reproducing, or both.
Behavioral Genetics:
Scientists use behavioral genetics to examine the influence of nature and nurture on psychological traits,
such as intelligence.
Heritability:
The extent to which genes contribute to differences in a trait among individuals. Expressed in
percentages. Heritability is studied using three genetic designs:
Family Studies: Researchers examine the extent to which a characteristic "runs" or goes
together in intact families, ie, those in which all members are raised in the same home. However,
since they share the same environment too, we cannot differentiate between the genetic and
environmental influence.
Twin Studies:
oWhen a sperm fertilizes an egg, it produces a zygote. If the zygote splits into two
identical, genetic copies, it is known as a monozygotic and produces identical twins because
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Document Summary
Intelligence is the application of cognitive skills and knowledge to learn, solve problems and obtain ends that are valued by an individual or a culture. Simon binet and th odore simon developed the first intelligence test, a diagnostic tool designed to measure overall thinking ability. They recognized that it correlated with higher mental processes. Abstract thinking is the capacity to understand hypothetical concepts, rather than concepts in the here and now. Learn to adapt to novel environmental circumstances. G factor: g (general intelligence) explains the overall differences in intellect among people. S factor: s (specific cognitive abilities) that are unique to each item such as art, math. Fluid intelligence: it refers to the capacity to learn new ways of solving problems. Crystallized intelligence: it refers to the accumulated knowledge of the world we acquire over time. Knowledge from newly learned tasks flows into our long-term memories crystallizing into lasting knowledge. They are highly related to g than are crystallized abilities.
