Transcript Memory & Intelligence/Problem

Intelligence/Problem-Solving
Lecture 6
October 17, 2007
Outline
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Talking about midterm
What is intelligence?
What factors influence intelligence?
How does problem-solving change with
age?
• What is wisdom?
• Start with mental health
Midterm Exam
• 40 multiple choice questions, 5 short
answers, and 1 longer answer
• Exam will only cover through
intelligence/problem-solving lecture
• Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 covered and
articles associated.
• Office hours: Thursday, 1-2pm, room 504
Defining Intelligence
• Intelligence involves more than just a
particular fixed set of characteristics
• Laypersons and experts agree on three
clusters of intelligence
– Problem-solving ability
– Verbal ability
– Social competence
The Big Picture: A Life-Span
View
• Theories of intelligence have four
concepts
– Multidimensional
– Multidirectionality
– Plasticity
– Interindividual variability
• The dual component model of intellectual
functioning
– Mechanics of intelligence
– Pragmatics of intelligence
Research Approaches to
Intelligence
• The psychometric approach
– Measuring intelligence as a score on a
standardized test
• Focus is on getting correct answers
• Example: Wechlser Adult Intelligence Scale
• The cognitive-structural approach
– Ways in which people conceptualize and
solve problems emphasizing developmental
changes in modes and styles of thinking
Measuring Intelligence
• Primary Mental Abilities (Thurstone, 1938;
Ekstrom et al.,1979; Schaie, 1994, 1996)
– Numerical facility
– Word fluency
– Verbal meaning
– Inductive reasoning
– Spatial orientation
– Perceptual speed
– Verbal memory
Age-Related Changes in
Primary Abilities
• Data from K. Warner Schaie’s Seattle
Longitudinal Study of more than 5000 individuals
from 1956 to 1998 in six testing cycles
– People tend to improve on primary abilities until late
30s early 40s
– Scores stabilize until mid-50s early 60s
– By late 60s consistent declines are seen
– Nearly everyone shows a decline in one ability, but
few show decline on four or five abilities
Secondary Mental Abilities
• At least six secondary mental abilities
have been found (Table 8.1)
– Fluid Intelligence (Gf)
• Abilities that make you a flexible and adaptive
thinker, to draw inferences, and relationships
between concepts independent of knowledge and
experience
– Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)
• The knowledge acquired through life experience
and education in a particular culture
Moderators of Intellectual Change
• Cohort differences
– Comparing longitudinal studies with crosssectional show little or no decline in
intellectual performance with age
• Information processing
– Perceptual speed may account for agerelated decline
– Working memory decline may account for
poor performance of older adults if
coordination between old and new information
is required
Moderators of Intellectual Change
• Social and lifestyle variables
– Differences in cognitive skills needed in
different occupations makes a difference in
intellectual development
– Higher education and socioeconomic status
also related to slower rates of intellectual
decline
– Does a cognitively engaging lifestyle predict
greater intellectual functioning?
• Personality
– High levels of fluid abilities and a high sense of
internal control lead to positive changes in
people’s perception of their abilities
Moderators of Intellectual Change
• Health
– A connection between disease and intelligence
has been established in general and in
cardiovascular disease in particular
– The participants in the Seattle Longitudinal
Study who declined in inductive reasoning had
significantly more illness diagnoses and visits
to physicians for cardiovascular disease
– Hypertension is not as clear. Severe HT may
indicate decline whereas mild HT may have
positive effects on intellectual functioning
Moderators of Intellectual Change
• Relevancy and appropriateness of tasks
– Traditional tests have high correlation with tests that
have been updated to measure actual tasks faced by
older persons
• Modifying primary abilities
– Training seems to slow declines in some primary
abilities
• Project ADEPT and Project ACTIVE
– Ability-specific training does improve in primary
abilities
– Effects varies in ability to maintain and transfer gains
Moderators of Intellectual Change
• Other attempts to train fluid abilities
– Schaie and Willis’ cognitive training
• Long-term effects of training
– Seven year follow-up to the original ADEPT
showed significant training effects
– 64% of trained group’s performance was
above the pre-training level compared to 33%
of the control group
Piaget’s Theory
• Basic concepts
– Assimilation
• Use of currently available information to make
sense out of incoming information
– Accommodation
• Changing one’s thought to make a better
approximation of the world of experience
Piaget’s Theory
• Sensorimotor Period
– Object permanence
• Preoperational Period
– Egocentrism
• Concrete Operations Period
– Classification, conservation, mental reversing
• Formal Operations Period
– Abstract thought
Going Beyond Piaget: Postformal
Thought
• Cognitive maturity beyond formal operations
– Tolerance for ambiguity
• Developmental progressions in adult thought
– Reflective judgment (Table 8.3)
– Optimal level of development
– Skill acquisition
• Absolutist, relativistic, and dialectical thinking
• Integrating emotion and logic
• Gender issues and postformal thought
Do Changes in Executive Function
Affect Functioning?
• Article by Royall et al. (2004)
• What is executive control function and why
might it affect instrumental activities of
daily living?
• Why was it beneficial to use a longitudinal
design in this study?
• What were the conclusions of the authors?
Mini-Mental State Examination
• Cognitive screening tool scored out of 30.
• Score <24 is indicative of impairment.
• Domains tested
– Orientation: What day of the week is it? Which year is
it? Which city are we in?
– Memory: I’ll give you three words and ask you to
remember them.
– Attention: Substract 7 from 100 and continue. Spell
the word « World » backwards.
– Language/Writing/Drawing: Name objects, carry out a
3-step procedure, repeat a sentence, copy a figure,
generate and write a sentence.
EXIT25 Interview
• 10 to 15 minutes, 25 questions.
• Screens for frontal release signs, motor or
cognitive perseveration, verbal intrusions,
disinhibition, loss of spontaneity,
environmental dependency, and utilization
behaviour.
Decision Making
• Younger adults make decisions quicker
than older adults
• Older adults
– Search for less information to arrive at a
decision
– Require less information to arrive at a
decision
– Rely on easily accessible information
Why is this?
Problem Solving
• Middle-aged adults can offer more solutions to a
problem than younger and older adults (Denney,
1989), but do not differ in efficacy of strategies
(Berg et al., 1994).
• We use our intellectual abilities to solve
problems
– Some people are better than others as problem
solving
– Why is that? Could it have to do with the kinds of
abilities we use regularly versus the ones we use only
occasionally?
Everyday Reasoning and Problem
Solving
• Denny’s Model of Unexercised and
Optimally Exercised Abilities
• Unexercised ability
– The ability a normal, healthy adult would exhibit
without practice or training (fluid intelligence)
• Exercised ability
– The ability a normal, healthy adult would demonstrate
under the best conditions of training or practice
(crystallized intelligence)
Why Is Expertise Important?
• Older adults compensate for poorer
performance through their expertise
– Expertise helps the aging adult compensate
for losses in other skills
• Encapsulation
– The processes of thinking become connected
to the products of thinking
What Is Wisdom?
– Involves practical knowledge
– Is given altruistically
– Involves psychological insights
– Based on life experience
• Implicit conceptions of wisdom are widely
shared within a culture and include
– Exceptional level of functioning
– A dynamic balance between intellect, emotion,
and motivation
– A high degree of personal and interpersonal
competence
– Good intentions
What Characterizes Mental Health?
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Positive attitude toward self
Accurate perception of reality
Mastery of the environment
Autonomy
Personality balance
Growth and self-actualization
• Pathology:
– Behaviors become harmful to oneself or others.
– Lower one’s well-being.
– Perceived as distressing, disrupting, abnormal, or
maladaptive.
Are There Differences Pertaining to
Mental Health in Older Adults?
• Aforementioned characterisitcs may not
apply to older adults.
• Some behaviors considered abnormal
under the preceding criterion may be
adaptive for many older people
– Isolation
– Passivity
– Aggressiveness
• Such behaviors may help older persons
deal with their situation more effectively.
How May Biological Forces
Influence Mental Health?
• Health problems increase with age
• Evidence supports a genetic component to
Alzheimer’s
• Physical problems may present as
psychological and vice versa
• Irritability  thyroid problem
• Memory loss  vitamin deficiencies
• Depression  changes in appetite
Do Psychological Forces Have An
Influence on Mental Health?
• Normative age changes can mimic certain
mental disorders.
• Normative changes can mask true
psychopathology.
• Look to nature of relationships as key to
understanding psychopathology.
• Young  expanding relationships
• Old  contracting relationships
What Are The Sociocultural Forces
Influencing Mental Health?
• Sociocultural forces
– Paranoia or healthy suspicion?
– Look at differences according to location
• Differences in ethnicity?
– Recent immigrants: Lack of mental health
services
– Differences Canadians of Asian/South
Asian/African vs. English vs. Jewish
How Do We Assess Mental Health?
• Elements of Assessment
– Measuring, understanding, and predicting
behavior
– Gathering medical, psychological, and
sociocultural information
• How?
– Interviews, observation, tests, and clinical
examinations
All About Assessment
• Two central aspects
–Reliability
–Validity
• Psychological areas of examination:
–Intelligence tests, neuropsychological and
mental status examination
–Mini Mental State Exam
What Factors Influence Assessment?
• Professionals’ preconceived ideas have
negative effects
– Biases: Negative and positive
– Environmental conditions
• Sensory or mobility problems
• Health of client
What Are The Treatments Available?
• How to treat the client
– Medical Treatment
• Psychotropic and other drugs
– Psychotherapy
• Single or group talk therapy
– APA criterion
• Well-established
• Probably efficacious
What is Depression?
• Beliefs pertaining to depression vary across
cultures.
• Lawrence et al. (2006): UK study looked at Black
Carabbean, South Asian, and White British older
adults.
• All 3 groups believed it was a serious condition.
• WB used the biomedical model of depression
whereas SA participants were more liekly to see
it as a normal byproduct of sadness or grief.
• WB & BC defined in terms of low mood and
hopelessness. BC and SA also put in terms of
worry.
How Do Psychologists Define
Depression?
1) Dysphoria – feeling down or blue
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Loss of interest and pleasure
Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
Diminished ability to think
Thoughts of death or suicidal ideation
2) Physical symptoms
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Insomnia/hypersomnia
Fatigue
Weight loss/gain
Agitation/psychomotor retardation
3) Symptoms must last for at least 2 weeks.
4) Other causes for observed symptoms
must be ruled out.
5) How are the symptoms affecting daily
life?
• Clinical depression involves
significant impairment in normal living.