Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Fluid And Crystallized Intelligence, Mental Age, Lewis Terman

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Dr.Mike

Document Summary

Intelligence the ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively, and to deal adaptively with the environment. Looked at family trees and seemed to find a link between eminence and genius in families. Was convinced eminent people had inherited mental constitutions that made them more successful than those who did not inherit them. Made up his own biological tests to determine efficiency of the nervous system : reaction speed, hand strength, sensory acuity. Methods were later proven to not correlate with socially relevant measures of mental ability: e. g. academic and occupational success. Was commissioned by france"s ministry of public education to develop a standard intelligence test for school children. Focused on solving practical problem instead of supporting a theory like galton. Made 2 assumptions about intelligence: mental abilities develop with age, rate at which people gain mental competence is a characteristic of person and is fairly constant over time.