PSYC 100B Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Lewis Terman, Autism Spectrum

• School: University of Victoria
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100B
• Professor: Chim Louise

Document Summary

In many studies, intelligence has been defined as whatever intelligence tests measure. People assign the term intelligence to the qualities that enable success in their own time and culture. Intelligence: the mental potential to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. General intelligence (g): a general intelligence factor that, according to. Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test. Spearman supported his theory by the fact that those who excel in one particular area, often excel in others. His belief stemmed from his work with factor analysis, a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items. Thurstone, spearman"s opponent, identified seven clusters of primary mental abilities (word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and memory). Still, with thurstone"s tests, those who excelled in one aspect generally excelled in others.