Intelligence

Nature, Measurement and Theories

• How do we define a construct like intelligence which is so multifaceted?
• People differ in terms of their abilities
• Differences among people due to intellectual ability are important in the human
context
• Psychologists study such differences and have postulated various theories

Definition of Intelligence
• Intelligence is one of the most difficult constructs to define.
• No single definition captures the nature of intelligence completely.
• There are differences among psychologists.

Some Definitions
• According to Binet Intelligence is the capacity
- to judge well
- to reason well
- to comprehend well
• According to Wechsler intelligence involves
- Acting in a purposeful manner
- Thinking rationally
- Effective dealing with environment

Measurement of Intelligence
Contribution of Sir Francis Galton
• Book - Hereditary Genius (1869)
• He believed that mental excellence was inherited.
• He measured reaction time, visual acuity, skull size and other physical and sensory
characteristics.
• Galton’s ideas fell into disrepute because nervous-system efficiency not found
related to be related to measures of mental ability
Contribution of Alfred Binet
• The first formal test of intelligence by developed by Alfred Binet, a French
psychologist.
• He believed that intelligence could be measured by thinking, reasoning and problem
- solving tasks.
• Along with Theodore Simon, he devised the first test of intelligence in 1905.
•
Mental Age
• Binet’s major contribution was the idea of mental age.
• According to him intelligence was related to age.
• He developed a test to measure mental age.
• Mental age (MA) of a child could be different from chronological age (CA) or
biological age.
 • Stanford Binet test (1916)

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

• The ratio of MA to CA is known as IQ or Intelligence Quotient.
• IQ = MA/CA x 100
• When MA is equal to CA the IQ is 100
• The IQ scores are distributed as a bell – shaped curve
• IQ is a numerical value that shows the extent to which an individual’s score
deviates from the average score of others of same age.
• Other contributions
• Revision of Binet’s test
• Stanford-Binet test – verbal items, single IO score
• Otis – Group administered tests
• Weschler Tests – measurement of intelligence should rely on both verbal and non-
verbal items

Wechsler Scales
• The Wechsler test has verbal and performance scales.
• This division is based on the type or content of items.
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler intelligence scale for
children (WISC)
• Several revisions of tests

Individual vs. Group Tests of Intelligence

• The tests developed by Binet and Wechsler are individual tests as far as
administration is concerned.
• Group Tests: Arthur Otis developed two tests - Army Alpha and Army Beta
• After Army Alpha and Army Beta many group tests were developed

Technical Requirements
• All psychological tests need to fulfil some technical psychometric criteria such as
validity, reliability and standardization.
• Intelligence tests also have these criteria.
• Reliability - consistency of test scores
Test-retest reliability, internal consistency,
split-half reliability
• Validity – a test is valid if it measures what it aims to measure
Construct validity, content validity, criterion
related validity (outcome measures)
• Standardization of a test refers to a set of norms for interpretation of test scores and
standard procedure of administration

Ability tests: Aptitude vs. Achievement Tests

• Aptitude tests - measure of innate ability in a domain
• Achievement tests – measure of learning or training in a domain
• Most intelligence tests are combination of achievement and aptitude – prior
learning and ability get combined.

Testing Conditions
• Two conditions - Static and dynamic
• Static Condition - Standardized procedure for administering the test and giving
instructions to the test takers in a controlled and pre- defined manner.
• Dynamic Condition - Standard testing session is followed by an interactive session
with the expert that who provides feedback about the individual’s performance.
• Culture Fairness of Tests
• Are tests culturally fair?
• Cognitive skills and intellectual competence in Western Culture
• Validity of testing
• Sternberg (2004) – Theory of successful intelligence
• Same problem may be perceived differently in different cultures

Importance of Theories
• To understand the nature of intelligence, it is important to understand the theoretical
perspectives of intelligence
• Structure of Intelligence
• Statistical method called Factor Analysis
• A large number of measures of mental abilities can be reduced a smaller number of
categories or factors based on correlations
• A factor permits the interpretation of the relationship among the measures and
accounts for the links or correlations

Spearman’s g factor approach

• The g factor approach is one of the early approaches outlined by British
Psychologist Charles Spearman
• General ability is a common ability necessary for all types of mental abilities
• Example: School grades
• Different cognitive tasks – Correlation
• General intelligence + specific factor
• In addition to the general intelligence factors, people also have several specific
factors called s factors
• Different types of Stanford Binet test items – vocabulary, arithmetic, solving
puzzles – positive correlation but not perfect
• A more general capacity that is common to all abilities
• g factor is the core ability and a very important dimension according to scholars.

Thurstone – Primary Abilities

• Thurstone did not agree with Spearman’s conceptualization of g factor
• Spearman – scores of different tasks were correlated
• Thurstone – correlation was far from perfect
• Not a general factor but distinct abilities
 • Importance for education
• Overall IQ scores vs. specific abilities measures
• The test of Primary mental abilities
• Seven primary abilities
1. Verbal Comprehension
2. Word Fluency
3. Number
4. Space
5. Memory
6. Perceptual Speed
7. Reasoning

Structure of Intellect Model – Guilford

• A complex theory; analysis of large number of tests
• According to Guilford content alone is not enough
• The operations performed with the content and the resulting products are very
important
• Guilford’s model - 4 contents, 5 operations and 6 products.
• Guilford’s model has many factors as the conceptualization of intelligence has been
broadened

Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence – Cattell (1971) and Horn (1985)

• Two factors: Crystallized Intelligence and Fluid Intelligence
• Crystallized Intelligence - ability to use the knowledge that has been learnt earlier;
it depends on memory processes – retrieval of information from LTM.
• Fluid intelligence - abstract reasoning, logical thinking, problem solving,
information processing speed and efficiency of short-term memory

Three – Stratum Model – Carroll

• Carroll’s three stratum model provides an integrated model
• Three levels of mental skills: Narrow (stratum I), Broad (stratum II) and General
(stratum III)
• Provides a comprehensive view of the psychometric approach to intelligence
• A-modified-version-of-Carrolls-three-stratum-theory-Source-Carroll-1993-p-626

Cognitive Process Orientation

• Theories with cognitive process orientation focus on cognitive processes and
information processing related to mental abilities.
• Developmental theories of intellectual development and componential approach

Piaget – Cognitive Development Theory

• Stages of cognitive development: Sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete
operations and formal operations.
 • Learning relationships between action and external world, forming mental
representations, logical thought and hypothetico – deductive reasoning among other
processes
• The processes of adaptation, assimilation and accommodation are important for
cognitive development

Bruner’s Theory
• Cognitive development takes place as processes develop from action orientation to
symbolic representation.
• Three stages of development: Enactive, Iconic and symbolic.
• Enactive stage - dominated by action
• Iconic stage – imagery, mental pictures, visual perception
• Symbolic stage – symbolic activities become prominent

Sternberg’s Triarchic theory

• Components outlined in terms of cognitive processes involved in intelligence and
types of competencies
• Metacomponents – Higher level cognitive processes
• Performance components - Important for actual task performance
• Knowledge- acquisition Components - Involved in acquiring knowledge and
learning from experience
• Sternberg distinguishes among three types of intelligence:
- Practical Intelligence – coping with everyday demands
- Creative Intelligence – novel situations
- Analytical Intelligence - academic

Multiple Intelligences – Howard Gardner

• Proposed by Howard Gardner - Frames of Mind (1983)
• Broadened the view of intelligence
• Proposed eight types of intelligences: Logical-mathematical intelligence,
Linguistic intelligence, Spatial Intelligence, Musical Intelligence, Bodily-
kinesthetic Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence,
Naturalistic intelligence

Personal and Emotional Intelligence – Peter Salovey and John Mayer

• Emotional intelligence involves the ability to perceive, facilitate, understand and
regulate emotions in oneself and others
• Personal intelligence involves ability to introspect and understand self relevant
information, creating knowledge about self and others, using this knowledge for
decisions and choices and selecting goals
• The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) measures four
aspects: Perceiving emotions, using emotions for facilitating thought, understanding
emotions and managing emotions
 • The Flynn Effect: The rising IQ scores
• Genetic and Environmental factors:
- Studies have shown that there is influence of genetics on IQ – genetic similarity relates to
IQ similarity
- Studies have also taken environmental factors into consideration
- Both genetics and environment are important