CHAPTER 8: Intelligence

 WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE THINK INTELLIGENCE IS?

     WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? Everyone has varying ideas as to what intelligence consists of.

     For example, take a few of the following quizzes:

     QUIZ 1
     QUIZ 2

     QUIZ 3

     HOW DID YOU SCORE? Well, regardless of the outcome, intelligence is not solely based upon the results of a one dimensional test

     (which in this case, focuses on random semantic knowledge).

INTELLIGENCE is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the 
      capacities to reason, to plan, to problem solve, to think abstractly, to comprehend ideas, to use language, and learn.

Think of some famous individuals that were / are considered smart...

Albert Einstein

  

Stephen Hawking

 

The public mass, for the most part, infer someone's knowledge in terms of their book smarts. People do not take other factors into consideration:

MULTIDIMESIONALITY, MULTI-DIRECTIONALITY, PLASTICITY, INTER-INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY (which encompasses differences like creativity, book knowledge, and all the other things that make us diverse).

HOW WELL DO THESE VIEWS MAP ONTO THE FORMAL RESEARCH APPROACHES?

There are 2 main research approaches to intelligence: PSYCHOMETRIC APPROACH and COGNITIVE STRUCTURAL APPROACH.

The psychometric approach focuses on what the general public typical responds best to: THE RIGHT ANSWER. As long as you got the answer

to hell with how you arrived at it. This consensus, although not as polarizing as the previous statement makes it sound, is what psychometric tests emphasize.

The cognitive structural approach places on emphasis on how one arrives to an answer, regardless of it's correctness. This approach studies

an individuals thought process and creativity. This approach is underutilized due to the strong emphasis most people have toward obtaining a correct answer without consideration to the means of procuring one.

Another approach focuses on information-processing mechanisms. This approach aims at a detailed analysis of aging-associated

changes in components of cognitive mechanisms and their interactions.

WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF EMPHASIZING THE 'CORRECTNESS' OF ANSWERS AND DISREGARDING THE

WAY IN WHICH THE PROBLEM WAS APPROACHED VERSUS EMPHASIZING THE APPROACH AND DOWNPLAYING 'CORRECTNESS'?

TRY THIS THE NEXT TIME YOU TAKE A TEST - remember all the standardized tests that you had to take. The COGAT, IOWA, SAT, ACT, etc.

What didn't you like about them? Did you feel stupid after taking them? What would you do to change them?

PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING is used in a wide variety of outlets from employment proceedings, personality testing, as well as intelligence assessments.

This type of testing is widely uses due to several factors. Administering said test are easy. The test themselves are easy to monitor and do not require

a superfluous amount of instruction (get the right answer the best way you know how). The test can be easily graded and measured. HOWEVER, these tests are not perfect.

Take the SAT's for example, you take the test in an unfamiliar setting with people you don't know. Psychometric tests also gloss over the fact that some answers can be
obtained through a mere guess. In addition, some people are just bad test takers; great students can get not so great a score. Some psychometric tests do not take

cultural differences into account - SOUTHERN IQ TEST - while this may seem stereotypical, one would be surprised as to how this actually affects answers.

In contrast, COGNITIVE STRUCTURAL approaches down play answer accuracy and emphasize one's problem solving method. This approach is good for measuring factors

such creativity. Allows for 'thinking outside the box' conceptualization. This type of testing is used by employers, counselors, etc. While these tests are valuable in procuring

an individual's abstract / creative intelligence, it does have its downsides.Measuring these tests can be somewhat tricky as there are multiple ways to solve problems.

The focus on deduction is admirably, but a correct answer is far more valued in today's society. There is also a lack of utilization to the masses. People vary incredibly, and just as psychometric testing excluded certain people, the cognitive structural approach would make those non-creative individuals fill inadequate.

QUESTION: What role should these types of approaches have on college admissions? Which one would be better for you and why?

Should tests like the SAT's be changed in favor of something that test an individual's total intelligence?

   
IS PRIMARY MENTAL ABILITIES LEARNED OR UNLEARN?     1ST WE NEED A DEF OF PRIMARY ABILITIES:

PRIMARY MENTAL ABILITIES:  intelligence is composed several independent abilities labeled primary mental abilities

     EXAMPLES INCLUDE: NUMERICAL FACILITY, WORD FLUENCY,VERBAL MEANING AND INDUCTIVE REASONING.

     WHETHER THEY ARE LEARNED OR UNLEARNED GO TO THIS LINK TO FIND OUT!!

     http://www.newhorizons.org

     IF YOUR ANSWER WAS LEARNED YOU ARE CORRECT! EVEN INTO OLD AGE, PEOPLE CAN LEARN UNTIL LATE 60S WHERE THEIR ARE DECLINE IN ALL PRIMARY MENTAL ABILITIES

HOW CAN ONE IMPROVE THEIR INTELLIGENCE? It has been showed in study in chapter 8 that with training and practice one can improve their primary abilities. Basically...PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!

INTERESTED IN TAKING A PSYCHOMETRIC INTELLIGENCE TEST? GO TO THE NEXT LINK

     click me to find out your intelligent score

 **Think about older persons you see as being "intelligent." Is their intelligence more a result of expertise or wisdom?**

Older people seem to not have the same intelligence as younger people because they may not know the new "lingo" or be up to par on the newest way to do things. This does not mean that they are not intelligent. Their intelligence comes from a different time is all. Now, does their intelligence come from expertise or wisdom? It most likely comes from a combination of the two. Expertise is when older adults compensate for declines in some of their abilities by relying on their experience. With the idea of expertise comes the process of encapsulation with is the idea that the processes of thinking become connected to the products of thinking. Expertise and encapsulation working together give an explanation of older adults' ability to compensate for a decline in their ability to perform a task. Wisdom is based on practical knowledge, insights, and life experience. Because both expertise and wisdom are based on life experience it would make sense that older adults' intelligence is derived from a balance between the two.

The Wisdom of the Elderly

Or

Wisdom or Expertise???

** Denney speculated on the importance of "optimally exercised abilities." Think about your plans after college (career and leisure) and speculate about the types of optimally exercised abilities that you may possess.**

I have to agree that optimally exercised abilities are very important in one's life. I consider myself to be independent for the most part and that is largely in part to having many different abilities. I have been one of the lucky few to have a dad that insists on teaching me everything he knows (whether to just show off or not I am not sure). Knowing how to do remodeling around the house and lawn maintenance and simple things like that has saved me money already and I don't own my own place yet. My dad is a self-employed in construction: needless to say I worked for him for a LONG time. Going with him on business meetings and what not helped teach me early on about levels of professionalism and how to conduct myself in those kinds of settings. I say all of this to further prove Denney's speculation that these abilities that I have learned and been using will help me in my career and in leisure.

** Something to think about- How have the things you have learned and use helped you thus far and how will they help you in the future?**