Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Individual Differences .................................................................................................................................... 1
Intelligence ........................................................................................................................................................ 1
Measuring Intelligence.................................................................................................................................. 1
The Nature & Origins of Intelligence............................................................................................................. 2
Cognitive Bases ............................................................................................................................................. 3
The Future of Intelligence ............................................................................................................................. 3
Personality ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Trait Approach .............................................................................................................................................. 4
Psychodynamic Approach ............................................................................................................................. 7
Humanistic-Existential Approach .................................................................................................................. 9
Sociocultural Approach ............................................................................................................................... 10
The Self ....................................................................................................................................................... 10
Individual Differences
Intelligence
Francis Galton was interested in heritability and intelligence
• Intelligence as a general mental ability
• Believed intelligence to be a genetic heritable trait
• Believed that it fell within a normal distribution
Measuring Intelligence
Explain the two-factor theory
• Charles Spearman argued that every task requires a combination of a general cognitive
factor/ability ('g') and tasks that are specific to the task ('s') and shared with no other
What were Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon focused on?
They set out to develop an objective test that would provide an unbiased measure of a child's
natural intelligence
• Measure a child's aptitude for learning independent of the child's prior educational
achievement
• They included tasks involving problem solving, memory tasks etc
Explain the difference between ratio IQ and deviation IQ
• Ratio IQ: (Mental age/Physical issue) x 100
o Does not logically make sense
• Deviation IQ: (Test score/Average test score) x 100
o Allows comparisons between
• Ratio IQ for adults and a separate one for children
What do intelligence tests find?
• Have been used to rationalize prejudice and legitimate discrimination against race, religion,
and nationality
o They predict school performance and the number of years of education, occupation,
and income
Bea Lume Nunes | PSYU911/01 ‘20-‘21 1