Intelligence

INTELLIGENCEWhat is it?

Science and the Measurement of Man

• Phrenology

• Franz Joseph Gall– 1758-1828

• Hereditary Genius: It’s Laws and Consequences (1869)– "quite practicable to

produce a high gifted race of men by judicious marriages during several consecutive generations".

Phrenology

• The brain is the organ of the mind.

• The mind is composed of multiple distinct, innate faculties.

• Because they are distinct, each faculty must have a separate seat or "organ" in the brain.

Phrenology

• The size of an organ, other things being equal, is a measure of its power.

• The shape of the brain is determined by the development of the various organs.

Phrenology• As the skull takes its

shape from the brain, the surface of the skull can be read as an accurate index of psychological aptitudes and tendencies

Phrenology

• Pseudo-Science

– Racial bias

– Cultural bias

Measuring IntelligenceMeasuring Intelligence• Alfred Binet

– Asked by the French Ministry of Education to devise a way to identify children who needed special education

– He devised a series of tasks and a scale to assess those tasks

Louis H. Terman

• He created the Stanford Binet “I.Q.” test

• Intelligence was callibrated into minute units- I. Q. points.

• 100= Average IQ

R. M. Yerkes

• He administered I.Q. tests to American soldiers during World War I

• It provided a giant amount of data

• Unfortunately, the testing was flawed in:– Design– Implementation– Conclusions draws from the

data

I. Q. testing

• There were two forms of the test administered to the soldiers– Form A for those who

were literate– Form B to those who

were illiterate or for whom English was not their first language.

I. Q. testing

• How the data was interpreted– White Officers had

highest IQs

– Northern European had higher IQs than Southern/Eastern Europeans

– Southern American Negros had lowest IQs

Intelligence & SchoolingIntelligence & Schooling• Thorndike claimed to

have proven that school subjects made no difference “gain of ability to think.”

• Native Intelligence was all that mattered

H.H. GoddardH.H. Goddard• H.H. Goddard, said in his book

Human Efficiency (1920) that government schooling was about "the perfect organization of the hive."

• He said standardized testing was a way to make lower classes recognize their own inferiority. – Idiots, Imbeciles, Morons

• Like wearing a dunce cap, it would discourage them from breeding and having ambition.

Problems with Traditional IQ testing

• IQ tests are culturally bias

• IQ is static, fixed for life

• IQ is unitary

• IQ has limited predictability

A New Definition of IntelligenceOld ViewIntelligence was fixedIntelligence was measured by

a numberIntelligence was unitaryIntelligence was measured in

isolationIntelligence was used to sort

students and predict their success

New ViewIntelligence changes over timeIntelligence is not numerically

quantifiableIntelligence is exhibited during a

performance or problem-solving process

Intelligence has a number of dimensions – multiple intelligences

Intelligence is measured in context/real-life situations

Intelligence is used to understand human capacities and the many and varied ways students can achieve

Theories of Multiple Intelligence• Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of

Intelligence – “Intelligence is mental activity directed toward

purposive adaptation to, selection and shaping of, real-world environments relevant to one’s life”

• Analytic Intelligence

• Practical Intelligence

• Creative Intelligence

Theories of Multiple Intelligence

• Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

• This theory is a pluralized way of understanding the intellect. Recent advances in cognitive science, developmental psychology and neuroscience suggest that each person's level of intelligence, as it has been traditionally considered, is actually made up of autonomous faculties that can work individually or in concert with other faculties.”

Theories of Multiple Intelligence

• Gardner originally identified 7 faculties which he labeled as “intelligences”– Musical Intelligence– Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence– Logical-Mathematical Intelligence– Linguistic Intelligence– Spatial Intelligence– Interpersonal Intelligence– Intrapersonal Intelligence

Musical Intelligence

Musical

• Ability to discern meaning in or to communicate with tonal patterns, sounds rhythms, and beats. Able to sing on key, keep tempo, analyze musical forms or create in musical expression.

• Composers, performers, critics, music aficionados

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence

Bodily-Kinesthetic

• Ability to use and understand physical movement. A mastery over body movement or the ability to manipulate objects with finesse. Skills such as balance, dexterity, coordination, flexibility, strength, and speed.

• Athletes, dancers, surgeons, instrumentalists, sculptors, mechanics, actors, mimes, craftspersons

• May learn best in a hands-on context

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

Logical-Mathematical

• Ability to use inductive and deductive thinking, numbers, and abstract patterns. Often referred to as scientific thinking – comparing, contrasting, and synthesizing. Think in terms of concepts and questions.

• Scientists, mathematicians, tax accountants, statisticians, computer programmers, logicians

• May learn best with graphic organizers – tables, charts, sketch pads

Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence

Verbal – Linguistic

• Ability to understand and use language both written and spoken. A sensitivity to the meaning of words and the different functions of language.

• Writers, poets, orators, lawyers, teachers, avid readers, storytellers, debaters, politicians, speech writers, journalists, linguists

• May learn best through reading and writing

Visual-Spatial Intelligence

Visual - Spatial

• Ability to perceive and recreate the visual world accurately, to visualize in one’s head, and to give some kind of order and meaning to objects in space. Sensitivity to color, line, shape, form, space, and the relationship between these elements. Orientation of oneself in spatial matrix.

• Guides, artists, architects, decorators, sculptors, navigators, chess players

Interpersonal Intelligence

Interpersonal

• Ability to make distinctions among other individuals in regard to their moods, motivations, and temperaments; and to communicate with others. Sensitivity to facial expressions, body language, voice.

• Politicians, religious leaders, counselors, coaches, directors, managers

• May learn best in groups, by relating to others

Intrapersonal Intelligence

Intrapersonal• Ability to self-reflect and have an awareness of

one’s own state of being. Ability to define one’s own feelings as a means of understanding and guiding one’s behavior. An accurate picture of one’s strengths and weaknesses.

• Psychologist, motivational speaker, counselor• May prefer to work alone

Other Intelligences?

Naturalistic

• Ability to recognize patterns in nature and to classify according to minute detail.

• Naturalists, botanists, geologists

• May learn best in the field