Chapter 10 – Intelligence
Intelligence has different meanings across cultures; for some, it is dictated by the quality of
education, whilst for others, it is influenced by experience and general wisdom. In the east, the
ability to survive and adapt to the environment are valued over education.
Intelligence: ability to acquire knowledge, think effectively, reason and adapt to the environment.
Intelligence in historical perspective
Sir Francis Galton: Charles Darwin’s cousin. He speculated that genetics played a role in intelligence,
with people who come from more privileged and intellectual families producing children with higher
IQs.
He did an experiment where more occupationally successful people also performed better of
nervous system efficiency tests, so testing reaction time, hand strength and sensory acuity (alertness
of all pour senses to the stimuli around us). He also believed that bigger skulls = higher intelligence.
Biology has nothing to do with social environment, so his tests were not entirely accurate.
Alfred Binet’s mental tests: wanted to solve practical problems. He developed tests to help
understand which children would require special education in schools. He assumed that mental
abilities develop with age and individual people have different competencies when it comes to
developing intelligence. If someone aged 5 is lacking intellectual integrity, then when they age
further, they have a higher chance of having a lower mental age.
He helped develop mental ages by dictating what sorts of reasoning skills, problem soling abilities
and memory they had at a certain age, then compared these skills to see if they are comparable to
older mental ages or younger mental ages.
Age 3, the child should… Point out what certain functions objects serve
(shoes go on feet), name nouns and they
should be able to list items
Age 4, the child should… Understand shapes, define simple words,
repeat 10-word sentences and solve practical,
simple problems, like what time does the clock
show
Age 6, the child should… State the difference between similar objects,
count to ten and solve basic riddles
Age 9, the child should… Understand rhyming and basic maths
Age 12, the child should… Define more odd words, count backwards and
solve verbal absurdities, so questioning why
some questions or sentences do not make
sense
IQ: (mental age/ chronological age) * 100. Determined by William Stern. So a child aged 10, who has
a mental age of 8, has an IQ of 125 (10/8*100).
, Stern’s quotient is less useful for adults because they do not follow any real-life experiences. The
number also would be way too high if people performed at the age of 70 years.
Binet’s legacy: an intelligence testing industry emerges.
Army alpha test is a test for verbal skills and army beta tests for more spatial, non-verbal skills, like
understanding mazes and digit symbols. Both were developed after the first world war. These
inspired the Lorge-Thorndike and Otis-Lennon ability tests.
L-T is the understanding of abstract ideas and how different ideas link together. Abstract ideas are
something that cannot be directly measured, but are important in creating social relationships, like
freedom, vulnerability and all ideas link to critical thinking. Any ‘ism’ is an abstract idea, like
chauvinism, racism and communism.
O-L is a multiple-choice test where reasoning skills for verbal and non-verbal skills are measured.
They help to test students who may be gifted and talented.
The nature of intelligence
Psychometric approach helps to map the structure of intellect. Psychometrics are the statistical
studies of psychological tests.
Factor analysis Simplifies data and helps to make predictions.
So scoring good verbal scores means you could
score good non-verbal scores. Helps to describe
interpersonal relationships between different
intelligence variables. Looks at correlations
more than causation to help determine how
two different factors can be interlinked.
Mathematical skills and verbal skills are closely
linked
The G factor General intelligence, where spatial abilities help
to carry out tasks involving mathematical,
verbal and non-verbal participation. Being good
at maths depends on core knowledge and
ability to understand mathematics
Intelligence as specific mental abilities Reasoning about spatial scenes, verbal
comprehension, word fluency, recognising
visual patterns and memory contribute to
intelligence and act as primary intelligence
abilities
Crystallised and fluid intelligence Crystallised intelligence is the ability to apply
acquired knowledge to current problems.
Vocab tests help with this. Fluid intelligence is
when someone solves a problem that does not
require personal experience. Creative problem
solving and inductive reasoning help to solve
these issues, abstract thinking and logical
thinking. Fluid intelligence worsens in old age,
Intelligence has different meanings across cultures; for some, it is dictated by the quality of
education, whilst for others, it is influenced by experience and general wisdom. In the east, the
ability to survive and adapt to the environment are valued over education.
Intelligence: ability to acquire knowledge, think effectively, reason and adapt to the environment.
Intelligence in historical perspective
Sir Francis Galton: Charles Darwin’s cousin. He speculated that genetics played a role in intelligence,
with people who come from more privileged and intellectual families producing children with higher
IQs.
He did an experiment where more occupationally successful people also performed better of
nervous system efficiency tests, so testing reaction time, hand strength and sensory acuity (alertness
of all pour senses to the stimuli around us). He also believed that bigger skulls = higher intelligence.
Biology has nothing to do with social environment, so his tests were not entirely accurate.
Alfred Binet’s mental tests: wanted to solve practical problems. He developed tests to help
understand which children would require special education in schools. He assumed that mental
abilities develop with age and individual people have different competencies when it comes to
developing intelligence. If someone aged 5 is lacking intellectual integrity, then when they age
further, they have a higher chance of having a lower mental age.
He helped develop mental ages by dictating what sorts of reasoning skills, problem soling abilities
and memory they had at a certain age, then compared these skills to see if they are comparable to
older mental ages or younger mental ages.
Age 3, the child should… Point out what certain functions objects serve
(shoes go on feet), name nouns and they
should be able to list items
Age 4, the child should… Understand shapes, define simple words,
repeat 10-word sentences and solve practical,
simple problems, like what time does the clock
show
Age 6, the child should… State the difference between similar objects,
count to ten and solve basic riddles
Age 9, the child should… Understand rhyming and basic maths
Age 12, the child should… Define more odd words, count backwards and
solve verbal absurdities, so questioning why
some questions or sentences do not make
sense
IQ: (mental age/ chronological age) * 100. Determined by William Stern. So a child aged 10, who has
a mental age of 8, has an IQ of 125 (10/8*100).
, Stern’s quotient is less useful for adults because they do not follow any real-life experiences. The
number also would be way too high if people performed at the age of 70 years.
Binet’s legacy: an intelligence testing industry emerges.
Army alpha test is a test for verbal skills and army beta tests for more spatial, non-verbal skills, like
understanding mazes and digit symbols. Both were developed after the first world war. These
inspired the Lorge-Thorndike and Otis-Lennon ability tests.
L-T is the understanding of abstract ideas and how different ideas link together. Abstract ideas are
something that cannot be directly measured, but are important in creating social relationships, like
freedom, vulnerability and all ideas link to critical thinking. Any ‘ism’ is an abstract idea, like
chauvinism, racism and communism.
O-L is a multiple-choice test where reasoning skills for verbal and non-verbal skills are measured.
They help to test students who may be gifted and talented.
The nature of intelligence
Psychometric approach helps to map the structure of intellect. Psychometrics are the statistical
studies of psychological tests.
Factor analysis Simplifies data and helps to make predictions.
So scoring good verbal scores means you could
score good non-verbal scores. Helps to describe
interpersonal relationships between different
intelligence variables. Looks at correlations
more than causation to help determine how
two different factors can be interlinked.
Mathematical skills and verbal skills are closely
linked
The G factor General intelligence, where spatial abilities help
to carry out tasks involving mathematical,
verbal and non-verbal participation. Being good
at maths depends on core knowledge and
ability to understand mathematics
Intelligence as specific mental abilities Reasoning about spatial scenes, verbal
comprehension, word fluency, recognising
visual patterns and memory contribute to
intelligence and act as primary intelligence
abilities
Crystallised and fluid intelligence Crystallised intelligence is the ability to apply
acquired knowledge to current problems.
Vocab tests help with this. Fluid intelligence is
when someone solves a problem that does not
require personal experience. Creative problem
solving and inductive reasoning help to solve
these issues, abstract thinking and logical
thinking. Fluid intelligence worsens in old age,
