THEME 4
I. DEFINING INTELLIGENCE
It is hard to define intelligence, because it is not observable directly, but people measure it based
on a person's behavior.
• implicit theories of intelligence = judgements based on non-expert or a layperson's
beliefs
↳ the alternative → explicit theories of intelligence = formally derived, based on
export opinion (proposed by researchers and can be tested empirically)
The top 6 elements of intelligence according to experts:
o abstract reasoning
o problem-solving ability
o capacity to acquire knowledge
o memory
o adaptation to one's environment
o mental speed
II. IMPLICIT THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE
• incremental theory = belief that intelligence in malleable
• entity theory = belief that intelligence is fixed
↳ the former is found to be associated with positive emotions and self-regulation and the
latter with negative emotions and self-handicapping
!!! The definitions of intelligence vary from one culture to another.
** study with Finnish and Russian school pupils (11-12 y.o.) drawing an intelligent pupil and an
ordinary one (elicited a concept of intelligence?)
** study that elicited an implicit theory → ask people to estimate their IQ and the IQ of others
around them → showed implicit theories of heritability, gender differences and even specific
intelligence differences
** study that asked what people count as intelligent behaviors showed intelligence is viewed
differently and the final results were put in 3 categories:
o solving practical problems
o verbal ability
o social intelligence (noticing social cues)
III. APPROACHES TO AND HISTORY OF INTELLIGENCE
Francis Galton observations in the late 1800's are thought as the start of individual
differences/differential psychology.
Approaches to classifying intelligence:
, o psychometric approach (most well- established, high predictive validity, useful
and practical tools)
o biological approach (genetics, brain imaging)
o cognitive-experiential approach
1. Psychometric Approaches to Intelligence.
• psychometrics = measurement of psychological functions and processes, tries to quantify
them
→ Galton was interested in individual differences and sensory thresholds (ex.: detecting subtle
changes in weight)
→ James Cattell (at the same time) was interested in measuring psychological functions of
people quantitatively measuring
↳ first to use the words "mental test"
→ Alfred Binet is credited as the founder of intelligence testing and with Theodore Simon
created the Binet-Simon Scale of Intelligence (30 tasks, increasingly harder which indicated the
mental age and the child's performance could be compared to others of his age)
→ Dirk Herderschee, in The Netherlands, adopted the Binet-Simon to identify children who
needed special education (were retarded)
↳ BUT the test favored scholastic and verbal knowledge
→ Lewis Terman, in California, adapted the Binet Scale which became the Stanford-Binet Scale
and compared performance of kids from the same age group → standardized testing
→ Wilhelm Stern, in Germany, introduced the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) in 1912
↳ IQ = Mental Age / Chronological Age * 100
↳ BUT it wasn't as efficient in adults due to them no longer increasing
exponentially in their mental capabilities like children
→ WW1 → intelligence tests in batches are wanted (Army Alpha and Beta)
↳ Army Alpha was for English speaking literate recruits Army Beta was for non-English
speakers and illiterate people
1.1) General Intelligence Theories
→ Charles Spearman (from UK) proposed the theory of general intelligence (g) in 1927. He
used factor analysis to analyze the link between intellectual task performances.
• factor analysis = statistical method that reduces the complexity of groups of variables
(highly intercorrelated tasks are grouped together → aims to find the smallest nr. of
factors that can account for the task scare correlations)
↳ largest task score = g (Spearman - mental energy possessed by all). He noted
somebody's scores on intellectual tasks were intercorrelated - positive manifold.
↳ many specific abilities (s) can account for the scores
→ David Wechsler developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test and started the use of
'deviation IQ', to replace the mental age IQ concept
↳ IQ deviation = Actual Test Score / Expected Score for Age * 100
↳ expected IQ scores from groups are norms obtained from scores from a large
nr. of individuals groups within bands of age groups (bell curve distribution)
I. DEFINING INTELLIGENCE
It is hard to define intelligence, because it is not observable directly, but people measure it based
on a person's behavior.
• implicit theories of intelligence = judgements based on non-expert or a layperson's
beliefs
↳ the alternative → explicit theories of intelligence = formally derived, based on
export opinion (proposed by researchers and can be tested empirically)
The top 6 elements of intelligence according to experts:
o abstract reasoning
o problem-solving ability
o capacity to acquire knowledge
o memory
o adaptation to one's environment
o mental speed
II. IMPLICIT THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE
• incremental theory = belief that intelligence in malleable
• entity theory = belief that intelligence is fixed
↳ the former is found to be associated with positive emotions and self-regulation and the
latter with negative emotions and self-handicapping
!!! The definitions of intelligence vary from one culture to another.
** study with Finnish and Russian school pupils (11-12 y.o.) drawing an intelligent pupil and an
ordinary one (elicited a concept of intelligence?)
** study that elicited an implicit theory → ask people to estimate their IQ and the IQ of others
around them → showed implicit theories of heritability, gender differences and even specific
intelligence differences
** study that asked what people count as intelligent behaviors showed intelligence is viewed
differently and the final results were put in 3 categories:
o solving practical problems
o verbal ability
o social intelligence (noticing social cues)
III. APPROACHES TO AND HISTORY OF INTELLIGENCE
Francis Galton observations in the late 1800's are thought as the start of individual
differences/differential psychology.
Approaches to classifying intelligence:
, o psychometric approach (most well- established, high predictive validity, useful
and practical tools)
o biological approach (genetics, brain imaging)
o cognitive-experiential approach
1. Psychometric Approaches to Intelligence.
• psychometrics = measurement of psychological functions and processes, tries to quantify
them
→ Galton was interested in individual differences and sensory thresholds (ex.: detecting subtle
changes in weight)
→ James Cattell (at the same time) was interested in measuring psychological functions of
people quantitatively measuring
↳ first to use the words "mental test"
→ Alfred Binet is credited as the founder of intelligence testing and with Theodore Simon
created the Binet-Simon Scale of Intelligence (30 tasks, increasingly harder which indicated the
mental age and the child's performance could be compared to others of his age)
→ Dirk Herderschee, in The Netherlands, adopted the Binet-Simon to identify children who
needed special education (were retarded)
↳ BUT the test favored scholastic and verbal knowledge
→ Lewis Terman, in California, adapted the Binet Scale which became the Stanford-Binet Scale
and compared performance of kids from the same age group → standardized testing
→ Wilhelm Stern, in Germany, introduced the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) in 1912
↳ IQ = Mental Age / Chronological Age * 100
↳ BUT it wasn't as efficient in adults due to them no longer increasing
exponentially in their mental capabilities like children
→ WW1 → intelligence tests in batches are wanted (Army Alpha and Beta)
↳ Army Alpha was for English speaking literate recruits Army Beta was for non-English
speakers and illiterate people
1.1) General Intelligence Theories
→ Charles Spearman (from UK) proposed the theory of general intelligence (g) in 1927. He
used factor analysis to analyze the link between intellectual task performances.
• factor analysis = statistical method that reduces the complexity of groups of variables
(highly intercorrelated tasks are grouped together → aims to find the smallest nr. of
factors that can account for the task scare correlations)
↳ largest task score = g (Spearman - mental energy possessed by all). He noted
somebody's scores on intellectual tasks were intercorrelated - positive manifold.
↳ many specific abilities (s) can account for the scores
→ David Wechsler developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test and started the use of
'deviation IQ', to replace the mental age IQ concept
↳ IQ deviation = Actual Test Score / Expected Score for Age * 100
↳ expected IQ scores from groups are norms obtained from scores from a large
nr. of individuals groups within bands of age groups (bell curve distribution)
