PSYC 2310 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Fluid And Crystallized Intelligence, Neuroplasticity, Twin Study

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2310
• Professor: Anneke Olthof

Document Summary

Intelligence is the ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively, and to deal adaptively with the environment. Because cultural environments differ in the skills most important for adaptation, cultural conceptions of intelligence may differ markedly. Galton"s studies of hereditary genius and binet"s methods for measuring differences in children"s mental skills were important historical milestones in the study of intelligence. The psychometric approach to intelligence attempts to map the structure of intellect and establish how many different classes of mental ability underlie test performance. A newer approach, the cognitive processes approach, focuses on the specific thought processes that underlie mental competencies. Factor analysis can be applied to correlations among test scores to identify clusters of measures that correlate highly with one another and therefore are assumed to have a common underlying factor. Spearman believed that intelligence is determined both by specific cognitive abilities and by a general intelligence (g) factor that constitutes the core of intelligence.