Intelligence Lecture Note

Intelligence I.What is intelligent? 1. Classic definition. ● Intelligence is defined as a set of mental abilities that an organism can use to overcome challenges and achieve goals. ● It is difficult to define intelligence in purely stand-alone terms. ● Intelligence is usually defined in terms of functional adaptive application. ● Intelligence varies from individual to individual and correlates with academic achievement, vocational success, criminality, effectiveness in leadership, and life expectancy. - Academic Achievement: Intelligence positively correlates with academic success, and individuals with higher intelligence tend to perform better in academic settings. - Vocational Success and Wealth: Intelligence is a big predictor of vocational success and wealth. It is worth keeping an eye on, although other factors also contribute to success. - Effectiveness in Leadership: Intelligence is a valuable trait for leadership roles, and individuals with higher intelligence tend to be more effective in leadership positions. - Life Expectancy: Intelligence positively correlates with life expectancy. Individuals with higher intelligence tend to manage their lives better, pursue long-term goals in less risky ways, and live longer. - Criminality: Intelligence negatively correlates with criminality. More intelligent individuals tend to make better decisions and are less likely to engage in criminal activities. However, research suggests that to a large extent, this correlation is independent of the moral value of intelligence. More intelligent criminals are just harder to catch. “Criminality negatively correlates with intelligence because more intelligent criminals are harder to catch.” 2. Domains & correlates. ● Individuals vary in their intellectual capacity in different specific mental faculties. ● Mental abilities associated with intelligence include problem-solving, recalling information from memory, language comprehension, pattern detection, reaction time, and lateral thinking. ● Despite being different, these mental abilities tend to correlate with each other. ● The shared nexus of statistical correlation between different types of cognitive abilities is referred to as general intelligence (G). ● G can be used to rank and organise people’s individual differences as having more or less mental talent. 3. Motives & Value judgement. ● Intelligence can globally sort individuals on some kind of dimension of doing better or worse mentally. ● Intelligence has the ability to predict important life outcomes. ● Intelligence research is important because people care about outcomes that can predict intelligence. ● Intelligence can be used to make value judgments about individuals. ● Intelligence is a controversial topic due to social and political elements. ● Some people use intelligence to justify harmful hierarchical worldviews. ● This can lead to an understandable impulse to dismiss the study of intelligence. “Not to put too fine a point on this, but some of the worst people in the world really love the concept of intelligence.” 4. Conclusion. Intelligence: A Multifaceted Phenomenon ●Intelligence correlates with mental faculties, allowing general intelligence discussion. - Intelligence research is important for responsive education and remedial intervention. - It is useful for identifying environmental toxins and predicting unpredictable levels of low intelligence. - Intelligence research helps resist social policies that shift the onus for taking care of a person to individuals. - Intelligence research should not be conflated with positive attributes such as worthiness. ●Understanding differences in intelligence can be used for harm or good. - People with intellectual disabilities need to be taken care of to prevent exploitation and harm. - People with less education should not be left vulnerable to exploitation or bad outcomes in life. - Cognitive decline in older people should not be ignored. - Neurodivergent people and neurodiversity in general face systematic disadvantages relative to social expectations. ● Vulnerability of certain individuals due to lower intelligence needs protection. - Predatory loans and payday loans are permitted by the government and can harm people. II. Intelligence testing uses & limits. 1. Origins & Development ● Many cultures throughout history have attempted to measure and quantify human intelligence, especially with the rise of literacy. ● The Western tradition of psychological investigations of intelligence started in the mid-1800s for military recruitment and was influenced by Francis Galton’s eugenics. ● Alfred Binet developed the concept of an IQ test to diagnose children who needed remedial education or could benefit from gifted programs. 2. Standardisation & Ranking ● Intelligence testing generates individual differences scores that are calibrated relative to an average and expressed as a ranking or relative position to the mean. ● IQ scores are standardised scores with an average of 100 and standard deviation of 15. ● Intelligence testing follows a normal distribution, with 68% of people falling within one standard deviation above and below the mean. 3. Limitations, Assumptions & Harms ● Intelligence testing has a dark history and assumes that intelligence is a standalone measurement of mental power. ● Intelligence testing can be harmful if not attentive to its assumptions, such as the cultural bias of certain testing methods or the overemphasis on IQ scores as predictors of life outcomes. “Do not think of an IQ score or any kind of indication of general intelligence as measuring an amount of mental power, like you’ve cracked someone’s skull open and stuck a dipstick inside to measure some kind of quantity.” Intelligence testing is a useful predictor for important life outcomes, but it does not determine destiny and overlooks other factors that contribute to success. ● Assumptions that go into intelligence testing - Native familiarity with the language the test is communicated in. - A big literacy component. ● Harms of intelligence testing - Misinterpretations of intergroup differences - Resulting in social and policy problems ● Limitations of intelligence testing - Assumptions that can lead to systematic lower scores - Intelligence testing is only valid if it primarily measures intelligence and not something else related to the way the test is administered - Intelligence testing is not destiny. ● Experiment: Understanding the Factors that Affect IQ Test Scores Introduction: In this transcript, the speaker discusses the factors that influence IQ test scores. The speaker notes that cultural references, test-taking experience, motivation, and proper testing conditions can all have a significant impact on the results of IQ tests. Factors Affecting IQ Test Scores ● Familiarity with cultural references and practices can affect how test-takers interpret general knowledge questions and assumptions about test questions. ● Test-taking experience, particularly in a school setting, can train individuals to perform better under test-taking conditions. ● Motivation to achieve higher scores can also impact test performance. ● Proper testing conditions, including a distraction-free environment and freedom from hunger and fatigue, can also influence test scores. ● Familiarity with expected forms of answers, such as multiple-choice questions, can also affect test performance. “IQ tests comparisons again, really do come down to what a lot of people rely on. Two points to the justification of, you know, unjust social hierarchies.” ● IQ tests are often used to justify social hierarchies based on race or other factors. ● Standardisation of IQ tests can lead to discrepancies in scores for different groups of people. 4. Conclusion IQ tests are not measures of an underlying quantity, but rather ranking tools used to compare individuals to a standardised population. Proper standardisation and testing conditions are necessary for IQ tests to be valid and useful. The implications of the misuse of IQ tests will be discussed in the next two videos. III. General & specific intelligence. 1. Components of 'g'. ●Spearman’s two-factor theory suggests that intelligence can be broken down into specific domains, but they all share a statistical nexus, G. ●G is a latent variable that looks behind the scenes of much more demonstrable cognitive abilities. ●There is significant debate as to what candidates for G are, but it likely includes neurodevelopmental factors, brain connectivity, and familiarity with test-taking. “Intelligence research is mostly concerned with G, which is natively concerned with underlying intellectual ability.” 2. Models of Specific Intelligence. ●The Weschler scales distinguish between verbal and nonverbal intelligence, while the Alcatel Horn model breaks intelligence into fluid and crystallised components. ● The Carroll three stratum model is a popular way of breaking apart the different layers of contribution of different abilities. ● Fluid intelligence peaks in your mid-twenties and declines as you get older, while crystallised intelligence stays with you for a lot longer. ● Creativity is a neglected element of many tests, but it has independent predictive value. “The distinctions are not without merit, but they largely fall into elements of what we would otherwise call the Carroll three stratum model.” 3. Textbook Issues. ● Gardner’s multiple intelligences model and Sternberg’s Triassic model reject the value of a centralised general intelligence estimate, but they still correlate with G. ● The conceptual distinctions in these models are valuable, but they are poorly empirically supported in their claim that G is not important. “There is a statistically robust general factor of intelligence that shows up, even unintentionally, in models that aren’t looking for it.” 4. Conclusion. ● There is a cohesive view that suggests G is an important factor in intelligence testing, while specific domains contribute in different ways. ● Motivation, familiarity with test-taking, and processing speed also play a role in intelligence testing. ● Creativity is an important factor that is often neglected in testing. ● Gardner’s multiple intelligences model and Sternberg’s Triassic model are not well-supported in their claim that G is not important. “The lecture provides a comprehensive overview of the science of intelligence and highlights the importance of G in intelligence testing.” IV. Heritability and Environmental Factors of Intelligence. 1. Heritability ● General intelligence correlates more highly with those who have a closer genetic relationship to them. ● Intelligence runs in families, with some estimates suggesting up to 73% heritability. ● Heritability isn’t stable over time and increases with age. ● Techniques such as adoption and twin studies are used to disentangle genetic and environmental influences. ● Monozygotic twins show a very high correlation in their intelligence scores, indicating a large genetic component. “Heritability estimates the proportion of the variability in that trait that can be attributed to differences in genetics.” 2. Environmental Effects ● Exposure to toxic chemicals and stressful environments can have a negative impact on cognitive ability. ● Access to education and proper nutrition can enhance cognitive ability. ● Early intervention services can close the gap in developmental delays. ● The stimulating nature of the social environment can also impact cognitive ability. “There’s a lot more you can do to harm somebody’s intelligence than there is to improve it.” 3. Comparing Groups ● The Flynn effect shows that later generations outperform their ancestors due to environmental factors such as education and media exposure. ● Inter-group differences are inflated by measurement invariance and are mostly driven by environmental factors. ● Real differences between groups exist, but they are largely due to environmental factors rather than genetics. “The practical IQ numbers haven’t gone up at all, because IQ tests always have to be standardised to the existing population.” 4. Conclusion In conclusion, intelligence is highly heritable, but environmental factors also play a crucial role. The Flynn effect shows that environmental factors can enhance cognitive ability. Inter-group differences are mostly driven by environmental factors rather than genetics. It’s important to understand the nuances of intelligence research and not jump to conclusions about group differences. ● Genetic Differences and Intelligence - Genetic differences are not the main cause of differences in intelligence between individuals. - Existing evidence suggests that genetic differences should not be at the top of the list of factors influencing intelligence. “It is an underlying empirical question as to what is causing those differences.” Heritability and Intelligence - Individual variation in intelligence in a particular standardized population is highly heritable. - This means that a significant portion of the variation in intelligence within a population can be attributed to genetic differences. ● Environmental Factors and Intelligence - Environmental factors can have a huge influence on someone’s intelligence. - Therefore, it is crucial to consider both genetic and environmental factors when studying intelligence. ● Norming and Standardization - Intergroup comparisons on individual different scores are largely meaningless if they haven’t been adequately normed and explained by the same underlying standardisation processes.