Intelligence

Unit 2
 What is Intelligence?

SO, what was your percentage in

Class 12?

ABC says she has got above

90%…that means she’s really
smart, right?
Does it?
• Is it the ability to use reason and logic?
• Is it the ability to write and speak clearly?
• Is it limited to one’s performance in school?
• Is it behavior in social situations?
• How about knowing when you’re wrong?

• Not that simple, right?

• There are many psychological theories about intelligence that we will

examine in this unit and try to understand what intelligence is all about
 What is Intelligence?

• The word intelligence comes from a Latin word meaning ‘to

understand’

• In general, intelligence refers to our cognitive or mental ability

• Even Psychologists agree that there is no precise and acceptable

definition for intelligence

• Any discussion on intelligence must begin with Alfred Binet, ‘the father
of intelligence testing’, who developed the first intelligence test
 Definitions of Intelligence
• Binet : Intelligence is a judgement of common sense, initiative, the
ability to adjust to oneself, to judge well, to understand well and to
reason out well.

• David Wechsler : It is the aggregate global capacity of an individual to

act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his
environment.

• Terman : Intelligence is the ability to think abstractly.

• William Sterm : It is the general adaptability of new problems and
conditions of life.
 Characteristics of Intelligence

• Many of the definitions stress the following characteristics:

1. The ability to adjust to new situations

2. The ability to solve new problems

3. The ability to understand new ideas

 Test your
Divergent
Thinking
How many uses for a paper clip
can you think of?
 Nature of Intelligence
• No on knows what intelligence is.

• Even there is no precise and acceptable definition.

• Intelligence is a construct.

• We can only observe how it works in terms of behaviour, the assumption

is that behaviour reflects intelligence.

• It is like energy in physics. Physicists do not know what energy is and

we cannot see it. However we can study its nature and effects.
 Theories of Intelligence

1. Two Factor Theory

2. Multifactor Theory
3. Group Factor Theory
4. Guilford’s Model of Intelligence
5. Triarchic Theory
6. Theory of Multiple Intelligence
 1. Two Factor Theory
• The English psychologist ‘Charles Spearman’ presented this theory in
1904

• According to him the intellectual abilities are made up of two factors :

• A general factor (g)
• Specific factor (s)

• The ‘g’ factor is the universal innate ability

• The ‘s’ factors are the abilities to do particular things

 2. Multifactor Theory
• E.L. Thorndike put forward this theory
• He opposed the concept of general intelligence
• He considered intelligence as an infinite number of connections in the brain
• Depending on the number of connections in the brain people differ in their
level of intelligence.

• 4 Attributes of Intelligence:
• Level : Level of difficulty of the problem
• Range : Number of tasks at a particular difficulty level
• Area : Total number of situations
• Speed : Quickness of answering the test items
 3. Group Factor Theory
• L.L. Thurstone put forth the theory that intelligence is composed of a number
of group of closely related abilities

• He called them as primary mental abilities and he developed the ‘Primary

Mental Abilities (PMA) Test

• The test measures the following 7 primary mental abilities:

1. Verbal Comprehension (V) – Understanding and use of words
2. Word Fluency (W) – Producing words rapidly to meet specified requirements
3. Number (N) – Using numbers in routine arithmetic problems
4. Space (S) – Ability to deal with visual relationships in two and three dimensions
5. Memory (M) – Efficiency in recall
6. Perceptual Speed (P) – Ability to grasp visual details in objects
7. Reasoning (R) - Finding a principle to solve a problem
 4. Guilford’s Model of Intelligence
• J.P. Guilford rejects the idea of general intelligence and also broad
factor groups like Thurston’s primary abilities

• According to Guilford, human intelligence has three dimensions:

1. Operations : it represents the act of thinking
2. Contents : the terms in which we think such as words, symbols etc.
3. Products : the ideas
 5. Triarchic Theory
• Sternberg (1994) has developed a triarchic theory of Intelligence,
which claims that intelligence comprises three kinds of abilities

• He based his theory on his observations on how people process

information

1. Componential Intelligence : It primarily reflects our information processing

ability, which helps in academic performance
2. Experiential Intelligence : The ability to combine different experiences in
insightful ways to solve novel problems based on past experience
3. Contextual Intelligence : The ability to function in practical, everyday social
situations
 6. Theory of Multiple Intelligence
• Gardner (1983) bases his theory of multiple intelligence on his belief that the
brain has evolved separate systems for different adaptive abilities

• According to Gardner, there are eight types of intelligence, each of which is

developed to a different extent in each of us

1. Linguistic
2. Logical-mathematical
3. Spatial
4. Musical
5. Bodily-Kinesthetic
6. Intrapersonal
7. Interpersonal
8. Naturalistic
Types of Intelligence Tests
• Individual Tests:
a) Verbal Test – The subject has to read or listen to the questions and answer in
language
b) Non-verbal Test – These tests are free from language barriers and do not
require reading skills
c) Performance Test – In such a test, the subject has to do something rather than
to make a verbal response

• Group Tests:
• Group tests were developed because of the stern necessity of the First World
War to select more number of recruits within a short period of time
• Two types of tests were developed, one for literates and another for illiterates
• The test for the literates was called Army Alpha and one for illiterates Army
Beta
 Criteria for a good Test
1. Reliability : the tendency of a test to produce the same scores again
and again each time it is given to the same people

2. Validity : the degree to which a test actually measures what it’s

supposed to measure

3. Standardization : the primary conduction of the test to a larger group in

order to create standardized norms

4. Norms : Standards of test performance that permit the comparison of

one person’s score on a test with the scores of other individuals who
have taken the test
 The concept of I.Q
• The concept of I.Q was proposed by Alfred Binet and thus is also known as
Binet’s Mental Ability test

• Also known as Stanford-Binet Test

• Many intelligence tests measures the intelligence and it is represented as I.Q.
(Intelligence Quotient)

• I.Q. is calculated by using the formula:

• I.Q = MA/CA * 100,

• Where, MA = Mental Age; CA = Chronological Age

Interpretation of I.Q.
 Wechsler Intelligence Scales
• David Wechsler devised a set of tests for both children (Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children – WISC) and adults (Wechsler’s Adult
Intelligence Scale - WAIS)
• Includes non-verbal, performance and verbal tests, that yields
separate scores for these two components of intelligence:
• Aptitude Tests : Tests designed to measure the ability to acquire new
information; used primarily to predict future performance
• Achievement Tests : Tests designed to measure current knowledge; the result of
the previous knowledge
• Wechsler tests are currently amongst the most frequently used
individual intelligence test
• Scores of WISC are sometimes used to identify children suffering from
various learning disabilities
 Environmental Influences on IQ
• Factors that enhance IQ:
• Stimulating environment
• Good medical care/nutrition
• Parental involvement in learning
• Rich language environment
• Factors that negatively impact IQ:
• Persistent poverty
• Perinatal complications, inadequate stimulation in environment, lead
exposure
• Large family size
• Nutrition during gestation and early childhood
 Heredity and IQ
• “Heredity may limit a child’s potential, but environment permits their
potential to be actualized” (Sattler, 2001, p. 180)

• We inherit genes, not an actual IQ

• Genetics is only 1 factor affecting IQ (familial, educational, nonfamilial

factors)

• IQ can change, but it is difficult

• Does seem to go up on average about 4 points between childhood and

adolescence
 Extremes in Intelligence

• Mental Retardation

• Intellectual Giftedness
 Mental Retardation
• Mental retardation is a kind of disability which manifests before the age
of 18 years

• Characterised with related limitations in adaptive behaviour as well as

subaverage intellectual functioning (IQ is less than 70%)

• The possible causes of mental retardation could be :

• Prenatal (Causes before birth) – E.g., Age, General health, Diabetes, Drugs, Alcohol
and smoking, Exposure to x-rays, Injury, Emotional Trauma, Genetic and
chromosomal causes
• Perinatal (Causes during childbirth) – E.g., Prolonged labour, difficult delivery,
bleeding before delivery, cord around the neck, caesarean, delayed birth cry
• Postnatal (Causes after birth) – Infections, Nutrition, Prematurity, Injury, Metabolic
and endocrinal disorders
Intellectual
Giftedness