LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT

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LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT
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A Topical Approach to
Intelligence
John W. Santrock
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Intelligence

• The Concept of Intelligence
• Controversies and Group Comparisons
• The Development of Intelligence
• The Extremes of Intelligence

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What Is Intelligence?
The Concept of Intelligence

• Similar to thinking and memory skills
• Cannot be directly measured
• Ability to solve problems adapt to and learn
  from everyday experiences
• Individual differences are stable, consistent

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Intelligence Tests
The Concept of Intelligence

• The Binet Tests
• Mental age (MA) individuals level of mental
  development relative to others
• Intelligence quotient (IQ) individuals mental
  age divided by chronological age, multiplied by
  100
• Normal distribution symmetrical distribution of
  scores around a mean

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The Normal Curve and Stanford-Binet IQ
Scores
The Concept of Intelligence
Fig. 8.1
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The Wechsler Scales
The Concept of Intelligence

• Overall IQ
• Verbal IQ
• Six verbal subscales
• Performance IQ
• Five performance subscales

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Wechsler Subtests
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Performance Subtests
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Group Tests
The Concept of Intelligence

• Stanford-Binet and Wechsler tests are
  individually administered
• Requires extensive information outside testing
  situation
• More convenient and economical than individual
  tests, but examiner cannot
• Establish rapport
• Determine level of anxiety

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The Use and Misuse of Intelligence Tests
The Concept of Intelligence

• Intelligence tests
• substantially correlated with school performance
• moderately correlated with work performance
  correlation decreases as experience increases
• IQ tests can easily lead to false expectations
  and generalizations about individuals
• Other factors also affect success

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Theories of Multiple Intelligences
The Concept of Intelligence

• Controversy over breaking intelligence down into
  multiple abilities
• Spearmans two-factor theory factor analysis
  correlates test scores into clusters or factors
• Thurstones multiple-factor theory seven
  abilities
• Gardners theory of multiple intelligences
  certain cognitive abilities can survive brain
  damage

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Theories of Multiple Intelligences
The Concept of Intelligence
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Gardners Intelligences
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Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom
The Concept of Intelligence

• Allow students to discover and explore domains in
  which they have natural curiosity and talent
• Attention given to understanding oneself and
  others

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Sternbergs Triarchic Theory
The Concept of Intelligence

• Three main types of intelligence
• Analytic
• Creative
• Practical
• Assessing Sternberg Triarchic Ability Theory
  (STAT)
• Effective in predicting college GPA
• More research needed

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Triarchic Theory in the Classroom
The Concept of Intelligence

• Analytic ability favored in conventional schools
• Creative students may be reprimanded or marked
  down for nonconformist answers
• Practical students may do better outside school

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Emotional Intelligence
The Concept of Intelligence

• Perceive and express emotions accurately and
  adaptively
• Four aspects
• Perceiving emotions
• Understanding emotions
• Facilitating thought
• Managing emotions

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Comparing the Intelligences
The Concept of Intelligence
Fig. 8.3
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Do People Have One or Many Intelligences?
The Concept of Intelligence

• Many argue research base to support theories not
  yet developed
• Some say Gardners classification seems arbitrary
• Some experts who argue for general intelligence
  believe individuals also have specific
  intellectual abilities

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The Influence of Heredity and Environment
The Concept of Intelligence

• Genetic Influences
• Jensen argued heredity studies of twins
• Adoption studies educational levels of
  biological parents better predictor of IQ
• Heritability fraction of variance in IQ in a
  population that is attributed to genetics

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Figure 8.10 Findings of Studies of the
Relationship between IQ Scores and Heredity The
data are a composite of studies summarized in
Science. By and large, correlations are greater
between pairs of people who are more closely
related. Yet people who are reared together also
have more similar IQ scores than people who are
reared apart. Such findings suggest that both
genetic and environmental factors contribute to
IQ scores.
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The Influence of Heredity and Environment
The Concept of Intelligence

• Environmental Influences
• Modifications in environment can change IQ scores
  considerably
• Parent communication
• Schooling
• Intelligence test scores increase each year
  around the world
• Flynn effect

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The Flynn Effect Increase in IQ Scores from 1932
to 1997
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Group Comparisons and Issues
The Concept of Intelligence

• Cross-cultural comparisons problematic
• Different cultures define intelligence
  differently
• Practical and academic intelligence can develop
  independently
• Cultural bias in testing
• Culture-fair tests intelligence tests intended
  not to be culturally biased

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Ethnic Comparisons

• The Bell Curve
• African Americans students average lower
  intelligence test scores than White students
• Individual scores vary considerably
• SES may have more effect than ethnicity gap
  narrows in college

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Ethnic and Gender Comparisons

• Stereotype threat fear of confirming negative
  stereotypes raises anxiety in testing
• Some studies confirm existence
• Others believe stereotype threat is exaggerated
  to explain gap
• Gender differences in intellectual abilities
• Males more likely to have extremely high or low
  scores

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Tests of Infant Intelligence
The Development of Intelligence

• Gesell
• Distinguishes normal from abnormal infants
• Four categories of behavior
• Motor
• Language
• Adaptive
• Personal-social
• Combined overall score is developmental
• quotient (DQ)

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Tests of Infant Intelligence
The Development of Intelligence

• Bayley Scales of Infant Development
• Three components
• Mental scale
• Motor scale
• Infant behavior profile
• Diagnoses developmental delays
• Overall scores do not correlate highly with
• IQ scores obtained later in childhood

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Tests of Infant Intelligence
The Development of Intelligence

• Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence
• Increasingly being used
• Focuses on infants ability to process
• information
• Obtains similar results cross-culturally
• Correlated with measures of intelligence
• in older children

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Stability and Change in Intelligence through
Adolescence
The Development of Intelligence

• Group scores remain stable
• Strong relation between IQ scores obtained at
  ages 6, 8, and 9 and IQ scores obtained at 10
• Correlation between IQ in preadolescent years and
  18 still statistically significant
• Individual scores vary more
• As much as 40 points in one study

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Intelligence in Adulthood
The Development of Intelligence

• Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence
• Crystallized intelligence
• Accumulated information and verbal skills, which
  increase with age
• Fluid intelligence
• Ability to reason abstractly, which steadily
  declines from middle adulthood on
• Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and cohort testing

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Fluid and Crystallized Intellectual Development
Across the Life Span
The Development of Intelligence
Fig. 8.7
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The Seattle Longitudinal Study
The Development of Intelligence

• Spatial orientation
• Inductive reasoning
• Perceptual speed

• Since 1956, studied
• Vocabulary
• Verbal memory
• Number computations
• Criticism intellectual abilities more likely to
  decline in cross-sectional rather than
  longitudinal assessments

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Longitudinal Changes in Six Intellectual
Abilities
The Development of Intelligence
Fig. 8.8
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Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Comparisons of
Intellectual Change
The Development of Intelligence
Fig. 8.9
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Cognitive Mechanics
The Development of Intelligence

• Hardware of the mind
• Speed and accuracy of processes involved in
  sensory input, attention, memory, organizing, and
  discrimination
• Strong influence of biology and heredity
• Decline with age

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Cognitive Pragmatics
The Development of Intelligence

• Culture-based software of the mind
• Skills include
• Reading and writing
• Language comprehension
• Educational qualifications
• Professional skills
• Knowledge about self and life skills
• Can improve with aging

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Wisdom
The Development of Intelligence

• Expert knowledge on practical aspects of life
  permitting excellent judgment about important
  matters
• High levels of wisdom are rare
• Emerges late adolescence and early adulthood
• Factors other than age are critical
• Personality-related factors better predictors of
  
• wisdom

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Mental Retardation
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity

• Condition of limited mental ability
• Low IQ on traditional test of intelligence
• Difficulty adapting to everyday life
• Onset of characteristics by age 18
• Some causes include
• Organic retardation
• Cultural-familial retardation
• Brain damage due to accident

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Classification of Mental Retardation based on IQ
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
Fig. 8.11
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Giftedness
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity

• Above-average intelligence IQ averaged 150 on
  Stanford-Binet (Terman)
• Precocity
• March to their own drummer
• Passion to master
• Intelligence and creativity not same thing most
  creative people are quite intelligent but reverse
  not necessarily true

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Creative Thinking
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity
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Characteristics of Creative Thinkers
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity

• Flexibility and playful thinking
• Inner motivation
• Willingness to risk
• Objective evaluation of work

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Changes in Adulthood
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity

• Individuals most creative products were
  generated in their thirties
• 80 of most important creative contributions
  completed by age 50
• Researchers found creativity often peaks in
  forties before declining
• Age of decline varies by domain

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Living a More Creative Life
The Extremes of Intelligence and Creativity

• Try to be surprised by something every day
• Try to surprise at least one person every day
• Write down each day what surprised you and how
  you surprised others
• When something sparks your interest, follow it
• Wake up in the morning with a specific goal
• Take charge of your schedule
• Spend time in stimulating settings