HPS111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Fluid And Crystallized Intelligence, Factor Analysis, Inductive Reasoning
WEEK 10
Intelligence – the ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively and deal adaptively with the
environment.
Galton’s research on intelligence – in his book ‘hereditary genius,’ Galton claimed through his study of family
trees that eminence and genius seemed to occur within certain families. He also claimed that people who were
more socially and occupationally successful would also perform better in tasks designed to measure intelligence.
Binet’s mental tests – Binet made two assumptions about intelligence: first, mental abilities develop with age
and second, the rate at which people gain mental competence is a characteristic of the person and is fairly
constant over time. Binet’s research involved measuring differences in children’s mental skills.
Stern’s intelligence quotient (IQ) – the ratio of mental age to chronological age, times a 100: IQ = (mental
age/chronological age) x 100
Eugenics – the idea that children with lower IQs were genetically inferior.
Psychometric approach:
Psychometrics – the statistical study of psychological tests.
The psychometric approach to intelligence tries to identify and measure the abilities that underlie individual
differences in performance.
Factor analysis – a statistical technique which reduces a large number of measures to smaller number of
clusters, or factors, with each cluster containing variables that correlate highly with one another but less highly
with variables in other clusters. A factor allows us to determine the underlying characteristic that supposedly
accounts for the links among the variables in the cluster.
The g factor – General intelligence - psychologist Spearman claimed that it constitutes the core of intelligence.
Spearman claimed that intelligence performance is determined partly a g factor and party by whatever special
abilities might be required to perform a particular task. The g factor is further divided into two subtypes:
1. Crystallised intelligence (gc) – the ability to apply previously acquired knowledge to current problems. It
is dependent on long-term memory and practice. E.g. completing a test on this chapter.
2. Fluid intelligence (gf) – the ability to deal with new problem solving situations for which personal
experience does not provide a solution. It involves inductive reasoning and creative problem solving skills.
It is dependent on working short- term memory. i.e. thinking on your feet.
LL Thurstone claimed that human mental performance depends on seven distinct abilities which he called
‘primary mental abilities,’ and not the g factor.
Carroll’s three-stratum model – psychologist researcher Carroll used factor analysis to reanalyse more than
460 different sets of data obtained by researchers around the world. His analysis resulted in an integrated model
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
of intelligence.
The three-stratum theory of cognitive abilities establishes three levels of mental skills – general, broad and
narrow – arranged in a hierarchical model. The three-stratum model encompasses virtually all known cognitive
abilities, and provides the most complete and detailed map of human intelligence derived from the psychometric
approach to intelligence.
Cognitive process approaches:
Cognitive process theories – explores the specific information-processing and cognitive processes that underlie
intellectual ability.
Sternberg’s Triarchic theory of intelligence – explores both the psychological processes involved in
intelligent behaviour and the diverse forms that intelligence can take. His theory divides underlying cognitive
processes into three specific components:
1. Metacomponents – the higher order processes used to plan and regulate task performance. E.g. problem-
solving skills
2. Performance components – the actual mental processes used to perform the task. E.g. retrieving appropriate
memories from LTM.
3. Knowledge-acquisition components – allows us to learn from our experiences, store information in memory
and combine new insights with previously acquired information.
Sternberg claimed there are three types of intelligence, suggesting that environmental demands may call for
three different classes of adaptive problem- solving and that individuals differ in these areas, depending on their
intellectual strengths:
4. Analytical intelligence – academically oriented problem-solving skills measured by traditional intelligence
tests.
5. Practical intelligence – skills needed to cope with everyday demands and to manage oneself and other people
effectively.
6. Creative intelligence – the mental skills required to deal with new situations.
Gardner’s multiple intelligences – he proposed eight distinct varieties of adaptive abilities:
Linguistic intelligence – ability to use language well
Logical-mathematical intelligence – ability to reason mathematically and logically
Visuospatial intelligence – ability to solve spatial problems or to succeed in a field like architecture
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Intelligence the ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively and deal adaptively with the environment. Galton"s research on intelligence in his book hereditary genius," galton claimed through his study of family trees that eminence and genius seemed to occur within certain families. He also claimed that people who were more socially and occupationally successful would also perform better in tasks designed to measure intelligence. Binet"s mental tests binet made two assumptions about intelligence: first, mental abilities develop with age and second, the rate at which people gain mental competence is a characteristic of the person and is fairly constant over time. Binet"s research involved measuring differences in children"s mental skills. Stern"s intelligence quotient (iq) the ratio of mental age to chronological age, times a 100: iq = (mental age/chronological age) x 100. Eugenics the idea that children with lower iqs were genetically inferior. Psychometrics the statistical study of psychological tests.
