CHAPTER 5 COGNITIVE ABILITY: Linguistic — Sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms,

INTELIGENCE, TALENT, AND and meanings of words; sensitivity to the different

ACHIEVEMENT functions of language.
Intelligence is a very general mental capability that, Musical— Abilities to produce and appreciate
among other things, involves the ability to reason, rhythm, pitch, and timbre; appreciation of the forms
plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend of musical expressiveness.
complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from
experience. Spatial— Capacities to perceive the visual-spatial
world accurately and to perform transfor- mations
Adaptive view of intelligence views it as organism’s on one's initial perceptions.
ability to adapt, or to solve the problem that it faces;
focusing on adaptation recognizes different Bodily- kinesthetic —Abilities to control one's
organisms (and people) must solve different body move- ments and to handle objects skillfully.
survival problems. Interpersonal— Capacities to discern and respond
(psychometric = “measuring the appropriately to the moods, tempera- ments,
motivations, and desires of other people.
mind”)
Intrapersonal—Access to one's own feelings and
Galton believed differences in adaptive ability were the ability to dis- criminate among them and draw
hereditary and that intelligence could be measured upon them to guide behavior; knowledge of one's
with battery of tests. own strengths, weaknesses, desires, and
intelligences.
2 COMPONENTS OF INTELLIGENCE
Naturalist—Abilities to recognize and categorize
FLUID INTELLIGENCE- application of objects and processes in nature.
reasoning skills to novel situations that includes
reasoning and problem solving Sternberg’s and Gardner’s theory of intelligence are
helpful because they emphasize that there are many
> linked to working memory kinds of abilities, not just general intelligence.
CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE- > linked However, g remains important because it is
with long-term memory or knowledge associated with academic success, which is valued
Intelligence as “g” general intelligence. by society and linked to socioeconomic
advancement.
- g can be thought of as a cognitive capability that
cannot be directly observed, but that accounts for all History of intelligence tests
sorts of intelligent behavior and learning. • Modern intelligence testing was launched in 1905
Robert Sternberg’s 3 Components of Successful by Binet, who devised a scale to measure a child’s
Intelligence mental age.

Analytic > ability to recognize and define a • Terman revised the Binet scale to produce the
problem, generate a solution, and evaluate progress Stanford-Binet in 1916, which introduced the
toward a solution. > measured on typical intelligence quotient (IQ).
intelligence tests. • In 1939, Wechsler published an improved measure
Practical includes putting ideas into practice in the of intelligence for adults, which introduced the
real world, being street smart, selecting activities deviation IQ score based on the normal distribution.
and settings that match one’s abilities, and changing Measurement of Intelligence
settings as much as possible to match one’s abilities.
Individual Intelligence Tests
Creative- involves generating new or different
ideas—creating, inventing, discovering, or  administered by a trained psychologist to
hypothesizing. one child at a time.
 are expensive to administer because they
Gardner’s theory of intelligence that proposes that require several hours of a trained
there are various independent intelligences rather professional’s time.
than just a dominant g factor.  Wechsler Scales (WPPSI, WISC, WAIS)
Gardner’s theory has influenced educators at all  Stanford-Binet
levels to expand their curriculum focus from  Woodcock-Johnson
reading, writing, and arithmetic to emphasize art,  Kaufman
music, athletics, and social skills as well.  Das-Naglieri
Group Intelligence Tests

TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE  are paper-and-pencil tests that can be

administered to large groups.
Logical- mathematical — Sensitivity to, and  referred to school ability tests or academic
capacity to discern, logical or numerical patterns; aptitude tests.
ability to handle long chains of reasoning.  Lorge-Thorndike
 Otis-Lennon
  Cognitive Abilities Tests (CogAT) > boys score nearly a full standard deviation higher
than girls on tests of spatial ability, particularly
Stability refers to whether a child’s rank on a trait mental rotation.
remains the same over time.
> there is much more variation in ability among
Intelligence is the most stable psychological boys and among girls than between boys and girls.
attributes across the lifespan.
COHORT EFFECT – RISING
• Habituation is a reduction in attention to a INTELLIGENCE
repeatedly presented or continuously available
stimulus (the familiar stimulus), which could be a > Researcher James Flynn documented the
picture of a face or a checkerboard pattern. worldwide pattern of rising intelligence scores,
which is now termed the Flynn effect.
• Dishabituation attention that has become
habituated is renewed after a change in the stimulus. > if real intelligence had increased so substantially,
the current generation should be massively
• Core knowledge refers to innate ideas, or outperforming the previous generation.
concepts and principles that are genetically
preprogrammed in the human brain. •Expertise refers to having a high level of skill or
knowledge.
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
•Talent also refers to having a high level of skill,
 is measured by achievement tests and but it is often used to refer to natural or innate
classroom grades. ability.
 children who score higher on intelligence
tests learn more in school and tend to attain Cultures vary in how much they value specific
more years of schooling. talents, such as skill in mathematics or art. This is
reflected in which talents are developed, how
LIFE OUTCOMES expertise is taught, and at what age children begin
 Children with high intelligence are more practicing.
likely to become adults with higher income Underachievement refers to receiving grades that
and better job success. are substantially below those of other students with
 Low intelligence is linked to lower similar cognitive ability.
resiliency, poorer physical health, increased
probability of injury and death, and
increased risk of mental illness.
What Predicts Individual Differences in
Intelligence?
GENES
- Higher g could be due to differences in
information processing, such as working memory
and processing speed, which could be due to brain
differences, such as dendrite branching and
myelination.
- g, is substantially heritable estimated at 0.20 to
0.80.
HOME ENVIRONMENT
- quality of a child’s home environment predicts
later intelligence
-Home attributes linked to intelligence include
learning materials in the home (e.g., books,
magazines, computers), parent child conversations,
and trips, such as to museums.
SCHOOLING
- School attendance also affects intelligence.
Students who drop out of school early, are
chronically absent, and delay starting kindergarten
have lower intelligence than comparable peers.
- Children who are judged as not ready to begin
school most need to be in school.
Group Diversity in Intelligence
GENDER