CHAPTER 9 INTELLIGENCE AND CREATIVITY

Learning Objectives

• What is the

psychometric

approach to intelligence, and how have different psychometric theorists defined intelligence?

• What are the traditional measures of intelligence, and what are some of the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches?

• What are some alternatives to these traditional measures of intelligence?

Defining Intelligence and Creativity

• • • Our understanding of intelligence has changed since the first intelligence tests were created in the late 19 th century There is still no single, universally accepted definition of intelligence In the psychometric approach, intelligence is a trait or set of traits that characterize some people to a greater extent than others – Goal is to identify the traits precisely and to measure them so that differences among individuals can be described

Defining Intelligence and Creativity

• • In 1927, Spearman proposed a two-factor theory of intelligence – General mental ability (

g

) that contributes to performance on a variety of tasks – Special abilities (

s

) that are specific to particular tasks Catell and Horn proposed two broad dimensions of intellect – Fluid intelligence, the ability to use the mind actively to solve novel problems – Crystallized intelligence, the use of knowledge acquired through school and life experiences

Caption: An item assessing fluid intelligence (similar to those in a test called the Raven Matrices Test). Which of the numbered pieces completes the design?

Defining Intelligence and Creativity

• Current consensus emerging from research is that intelligence is a hierarchy that includes – At the top, a general ability factor that influences how well people do on a range of cognitive tasks – In the middle, a few broad dimensions, such as fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, memory capacity, and processing speed – At the bottom, specific abilities such as numerical reasoning, spatial discrimination, and word comprehension that also influence how well a person performs cognitive tasks that tap these specific abilities

Defining Intelligence and Creativity

• • Early version of IQ test was developed by Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon – Permitted testers to describe a child’s mental age, the level of age-graded problems a child could solve Binet’s test became the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale – Allowed the calculation of intelligence quotient: a child’s mental age (MA) ÷ a child’s chronological age (CA) = IQ – An IQ of 100 indicates average intelligence

Defining Intelligence and Creativity

• The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale is still used – Its test norms are based on the performance of a large representative sample of people, children 2 years of age through adults • Test norms: standards of normal performance expressed as average scores and the range of scores around the average

Defining Intelligence and Creativity

• Wechsler’s intelligence tests – Wechsler Scales – are also in wide use – Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) – for children 3 to 8 – Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) – for children 6 to 16 – Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) – for adults • Wechsler tests yield a verbal IQ score and a performance IQ score

Defining Intelligence and Creativity

• Scores on the Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler Scales form a normal distribution – Symmetrical bell-shaped spread around the average score of 100 – About 2/3 of people taking one of these tests score between 85 and 115 – Corresponds to the spread of scores within one standard deviation above and below the average score – Fewer than 3% have scores of 130 or above, which is used as one criterion of giftedness – Fewer than 3% have scores below 70, a cutoff used to define intellectual disability

•

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Gardner argues that there are at least 8 distinct intellectual abilities – Linguistic – language skills – Logical-mathematical – abstract thinking and problem-solving – Musical – acute sensitivity to sound patterns – Spatial – accurate perception

•

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

8 distinct intellectual abilities (continued) – Bodily-kinesthetic – skillful use of the body to create, perform, etc.

– Interpersonal – social intelligence and skill, sensitivity to the motivations and moods of others – Intrapersonal – understanding of one’s own feelings and inner life – Naturalist – expertise in the natural world of plants and animals

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

• According to Gardner, each of the abilities is distinct – Savant syndrome is a circumstance in which an individual has exceptional ability in one area but otherwise is mentally retarded • Abilities may be musical, mathematical

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

• Sternberg proposed a triarchic theory of intelligence – three components that jointly contribute to intelligent behavior 1) Practical or contextual component • Varies according to the sociocultural context in which it is displayed • Ability to adapt to the environment

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

2) Creative component includes • Response to novelty, which requires active and conscious information processing • Automization, or increased efficiency of information processing with practice 3) Analytic component • Information-processing skills that are assessed by traditional IQ tests

Caption: Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

• Sternberg expanded his triarchic theory of intelligence to include the theory of successful intelligence – People are intelligent “to the extent that they have the abilities needed to succeed in life, according to their own definition of success within their sociocultural context” (Sternberg, 2003, p. xvi) – These individuals are strong in all three areas – practical, creative, and analytical – Smart people optimize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses so that they can succeed

Creativity

• • • Creativity is the ability to produce novel responses appropriate in context and valued by others IQ scores measure convergent thinking, “converging” on the best answer Creativity involves divergent thinking, or generating a variety of ideas or solutions when there is no single correct answer – Originality or uniqueness of the generated ideas – Number of different categories expressed by the ideas – Fluency of ideas • Ideational fluency – the sheer number of different ideas – is easy to score and most often used to assess creativity

Creativity

• Sternberg’s confluence approach includes the following constituent components in creativity – Intellectual skills that constitute intelligence – Knowledge of the field – A thinking style that is open to new thinking – Personality characteristics such as calculated risk-taking and willingness to pursue and overcome obstacles – Motivation – An environment that is supportive of creative ideas

Learning Objectives

• • • • What methods have been used to assess infant intelligence, and how successful is each method?

To what extent is infant intelligence related to later intelligence?

Are IQ scores stable during childhood? What factors contribute to gains and losses in IQ scores?

What are the typical characteristics of creative children?

• •

The Infant – Developmental Quotients

Bayley Scales of Infant Development

widely used infant test – the most – Used for infants from 1 to 42 months – Motor scale – measures the infant’s ability to do such things as grasp a cube and throw a ball – Mental scale – measures adaptive behaviors such as reaching for an object – Behavior rating scale – measures behaviors such as goal-directedness, emotional regulation, social responsivity The infant’s developmental quotient (DQ) summarizes how the infant performs in comparison with a large norm group of age-peer infants

Infant Intelligence and Later Intelligence

• • • Scales such as the

Bayley

are useful in charting developmental progress, and in diagnosing neurological conditions and mental retardation However, researchers find low or no correlations between infant DQ and child IQ Researchers have found that later IQ can be predicted by – Measures of infant attention, such as speed of habituation and preference for novelty – Fast reaction time

How Stable Are IQ Scores During Childhood?

• • • • DQs

do not

predict later IQs Beginning at age 4, there is a fairly strong relationship between early and later IQ Many children show sizeable ups and downs in their IQ scores during childhood – Patterns of change differ considerably from child to child Nevertheless, researchers conclude that within a group, children’s standings (high or low) in comparison with peers stay stable from one point to another during the childhood years

The Child – Causes of Gain and Loss

• • • Children whose IQ scores fluctuate the most tend to live in unstable home environments Noticeable drops in IQ with age often occur among children who live in poverty – Klineberg (1963) proposed a cumulative-deficit hypothesis explanation: impoverished environments inhibit intellectual growth, and these negative effects accumulate over time Children whose IQ scores increase seem to have parents who foster achievement and whose parenting is neither too strict nor too lax

The Child – The Emergence of Creativity

• • • The course of creativity during childhood – Preschoolers display fairly high levels of divergent thought – Creativity begins to decline at entry to kindergarten and first grade – Creativity declines even further by fourth grade (the “fourth-grade slump”) – Levels of divergent thinking rise again after age 12 Variations are not as large as once believed May reflect the demands of school and peers to conform to the group

The Child – The Emergence of Creativity

• Researchers compared creative children of normal-range IQ with children who scored high in IQ but not in creativity – The creative children showed more freedom, originality, humor, aggression, and playfulness – Engage in more fantasy or pretend play, active imaginations, often invent new uses for objects or new roles for themselves, are open to new experiences and ideas, and have parents who tolerate their unconventional ideas – Unconventional responses are not always appreciated in the conventional classroom

The Child – The Emergence of Creativity

• Research suggests that certain qualities of the home environment may influence children’s and adolescents’ creativity – Parents who tend to value nonconformity and independence, accept their children as they are, encourage their curiosity and playfulness, and grant them a good deal of freedom to explore new possibilities on their own – Early studies suggested that for some creative individuals, childhood adversity was a driving force behind their creativity

Learning Objectives

• • How well do IQ scores predict school achievement? To what extent is IQ related to occupational success?

The Adolescent

• Brain development in early adolescence enables formal operations, improved memory and information-processing skills, and better performance on IQ tests • • IQ scores become more stable and predict IQ in middle age In childhood and adolescence, IQ scores are a good predictor of school achievement – Better predictor of high school grades than of college grades

The Adolescent – Fostering Creativity

• • • Adolescents often regain creativeness they had as preschoolers and can produce highly creative work The developmental course of creativity is not as predictable or steady as measures of IQ – Seems to change in response to developmental needs and task demands Adolescents report increased creative feelings – Curiosity, imagination, willingness to take calculated risks

The Adolescent – Fostering Creativity

• Studies suggest that creative children and adolescents have – Talent – Motivation to develop their talents – Willingness to take risks – Ability to deal with ambiguity without becoming frustrated – Environments that recognize, value, and nurture creativity

Learning Objectives

• How do IQ and mental abilities change with age?

• What factors predict declines in intellectual abilities in older adults?

• • To what extent does wisdom exist in older adults?

How does creativity change throughout adulthood?

The Adult – IQ and Occupational Success

• Research reveals strong relationships between IQ and factors that represent occupational success such as – Income – Occupational prestige – Complexity of work – Job performance ratings

The Adult – IQ and Health

• Those with higher IQ scores tend to be healthier and live longer than those with lower scores – Common explanation is socioeconomic status • Better jobs provide resources for better healthcare – However, effective management of personal health requires abilities such as learning and problem-solving – a certain amount of intelligence

The Adult – Changes in IQ with Age

• • • In Kaufman’s study (2001), – Cross-sectional data showed that IQs rise slightly until the mid-40s and then decline • Steepest declines begin around age 80 – Longitudinal data suggested that intellectual abilities decline with age In both the cross-sectional and the longitudinal studies, verbal IQ changed little with age, at least until people reached their 80s However, performance IQ peaked by ages 20-24 and then steadily declined

Caption: IQ scores by age, showing a slow decline starting about age 55

The Adult – Changes in IQ with Age

• K. Warner Schaie (1996, 2005) tested adults aged 22-70 on five mental abilities – Verbal meaning – Spatial ability – Reasoning – Numerical ability – Word fluency • Sequential design used longitudinal and cross-sectional data

The Adult – Changes in IQ with Age

• Findings from Schaie’s study – Cohort or generational effects on performance exist • Affected by amount and quality of education – Patterns of aging differ for different abilities • Fluid intelligence usually declines earlier and more steeply than crystallized intelligence – Starting in middle age, problem-solving may be impaired, but general knowledge and vocabulary are retained

Caption: Schematic rendering of fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence over the lifespan

The Adult – Changes in IQ with Age

• Findings from Schaie’s study (continued) – Declines in intellectual abilities are not universal • Among the 81-year-olds, only 30-40% had experienced significant decline in the previous 7 years • Few 81-year-olds maintained all five mental abilities, but almost all retained at least one ability and almost half retained four of five abilities – Summary: the range of differences in intellectual functioning among older adults is extremely large

The Adult – Predictors of Decline

• Declines in intellectual performance in old age are related to the following factors – Poor health • Diseases and possibly the drugs used to treat them contribute to the terminal drop (a rapid decline in intellectual abilities within a few years of death) – Unstimulating lifestyle • Schaie found that the greatest intellectual declines were shown by elderly widows who had low social status, few activities, and dissatisfaction with their lives – live alone and seemed disengaged • Those who maintained or gained tended to have above-average SES, advanced education, intact marriages, intellectually capable spouses, and physically and mentally active lifestyles

The Adult – Potential for Wisdom

• Definitions of wisdom – Baltes and colleagues: a constellation of rich factual knowledge about life combined with procedural knowledge such as strategies for giving advice and handling conflicts that permit someone to offer exceptional insight, judgment, and advice about complex and uncertain matters – Sternberg: a wise person is someone who can combine successful intelligence with creativity to solve problems that require balancing multiple interests or perspectives

The Adult – Potential for Wisdom

• A study to assess the relative contributions of age and specialized experience to wisdom revealed that – Wisdom was rare and not predicted by age – Expertise – life experiences – contributed to the development of wisdom – Wisdom seems to reflect a combination of intelligence, personality, and cognitive style – A supportive social environment in early adulthood was positively associated with wisdom 40 years later

The Adult – Creative Endeavors

• Research reveals a typical pattern for creative careers to develop – Creative production typically increases steeply from the 20s to the late 30s or early 40s – Creative production gradually declines thereafter – Peak times of creative achievement vary from field to field • Productivity by scholars in the humanities peaks in the 60s and continues into old age • • Scientists peak in their 40s and decline in their 70s Productivity in the arts peaks in the 30s and 40s and declines steeply thereafter

The Adult – Creative Endeavors

• Theories to explain changes in creative production over the adult years – People in their 30s and 40s have both the enthusiasm and the experience needed for creative achievement – Simonton (1999) suggested that creative activity involves two processes, but the two processes might not be manifested at the same time • • Ideation – generating creative ideas Elaboration – executing ideas to produce poems, paintings, or scientific publications – Simonton suggested that creative production tapers off because older creators have fewer potential ideas

Learning Objectives

• What evidence shows genetic influence on IQ scores?

• What other factors influence IQ scores?

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Flynn Effect

• Genetic and environmental factors interact to influence IQ – Flynn effect – during the 20 th century, in all countries studied, average IQ scores increased by 3 to 4 points per decade • Full-scale IQ scores increased by 18 points over 50 years • Due to improved nutrition and living conditions, more focused attention from parents, and better education

Caption: Flynn effect

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Genes and Environment

• • Researchers find that about half of the variation in IQ scores within a group of individuals is associated with genetic differences among them • But a genetic influence upon intelligence does not mean that IQ is unresponsive to the environment Sameroff and colleagues (1993) identified risk factors that affect IQ, and the greater the number of these risk factors affecting a child, the lower the IQ

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Genes and Environment

• Researchers use the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory to assess the intellectual stimulation of children’s home environment – Most important factors are • • Parental involvement with the child Opportunities for stimulation – Stimulation should be responsive to the child’s behavior and matched to the child’s competencies

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Genes and Environment

• • Parents with greater intelligence are more likely than less intelligent parents to provide intellectually stimulating home environments for their children and to pass on to their children genes that contribute to high intelligence Genes and environments are combined in ways that allow children with particular genetic make ups to display high intelligence under some environmental conditions – Intellectual development is best when a motivated, intellectually capable child gets intellectual nourishment from involved and responsive parents

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Poverty

• • Poverty is defined by low family income Child poverty includes low levels of meeting children’s basic needs – Inadequate health and dental care and nutrition – Live in overcrowded, unsafe neighborhoods – Families experience chronic stress – Relationships with parents may not be as affectionate or supportive as they could be – Lack opportunities for cognitive stimulation

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Poverty

• Children who live in poverty average 10-20 points below middle-class age-peers on IQ tests • • – In all racial and ethnic groups Research finds that improving the economic conditions of children’s homes can improve their IQs The brain has neuroplasticity – is responsive to environmental change

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Race and Ethnicity

• A controversial finding using samples from numerous countries – racial and ethnic differences in IQ scores – In the US, Asian-American and European American children tend to score higher, on average, on IQ tests than African American, Native-American, and Hispanic American children.

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Race and Ethnicity

• Hypotheses for these differences – Culture bias in testing • IQ tests may be more appropriate for children from middle-class backgrounds than for children from other subcultural groups – Minority-group children often do not have as much exposure to the culture reflected in the tests as nonminority children do » Using IQ tests designed to be fair to all ethnic groups and introducing procedures to help minority children feel more comfortable and motivated can cut the usual IQ gap between African-American and European-American children in half

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Race and Ethnicity

• Hypotheses for these differences (continued) – Motivational differences • Possibly minority individuals are not motivated to do their best in testing situations because they are anxious or resist being judged by an examiner who is often of a different racial/ethnic background

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Race and Ethnicity

• Hypotheses for motivational differences (continued) – African Americans may be likely to suffer whenever negative stereotypes of their group come into play • Steele concluded that African Americans perform poorly on IQ tests partly because of

stereotype threat

– fear that they will be judged to have the qualities associated with negative stereotypes of African Americans

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Race and Ethnicity

• Hypotheses for motivational differences (continued) – Walton and Spencer’s (2009) meta-analyses found that stereotype thread seems to account for 40 points on the score gap between majority (European-American) and minority (African-American and Hispanic American) students on the SAT, the standardized test taken by many college bound high school students

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Race and Ethnicity

• Hypotheses for differences (continued) – The question of whether genetic differences

between

racial/ethnic groups accounts for different levels of performance is extremely controversial – The average differences between racial groups likely reflects differences in the environments they typically experience – There is no direct evidence that differences in genetic makeup between the races account for average group differences in IQ scores

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Race and Ethnicity

• Hypotheses for differences (continued) – It is likely that many of the intellectual and academic differences attributed to race or ethnicity probably reflect racial and ethnic differences in socioeconomic status • Research has shown that placement in more advantaged homes has allowed lower-income African-American children to equal or exceed the average IQ in the general population and to exceed the IQs of comparable African American children raised in more disadvantaged environments

•

Factors that Influence IQ Scores – Race and Ethnicity

Summary – Children in all racial/ethnic groups perform better on IQ tests when they grow up in intellectually stimulating environments with involved, responsive parents and are exposed to the culture of the tests and the schools – Racial differences in IQ scores are best explained by the fact that more African-American than European American children live in poverty and have limited learning opportunities at home – Reducing poverty and offering more early developmental programs to offset the costs of impoverished home environments would go a long way toward eliminating racial differences in intellectual performance

Learning Objectives

• • How are mental retardation and giftedness defined?

What are the outcomes for individuals who are mentally retarded or gifted?

The Extremes of Intelligence – Intellectual Disability

• • Intellectual disability is defined as significantly below-level average intellectual functioning with limitations in areas of adaptive behavior such as self-care and social skills, originating before age 18 – Intellectual disability is indicated by an IQ score of 70-75 and difficulties in meeting age appropriate expectations in important areas of everyday functioning Intellectual disability is the product of the interaction between person and environment and is influenced by the type and level of support the individual receives

The Extremes of Intelligence – Intellectual Disability

• Causes of intellectual disability – “Organic” conditions • Biological causes associated with hereditary factors, diseases, or injuries • Prenatal risk factors such as maternal alcohol use – No identifiable organic cause • Combination of genetic and environmental factors

The Extremes of Intelligence – Intellectual Disability

• Historically about 3% of children have been classified with intellectual disability – Often have associated impairments such as cerebral palsy, behavioral problems, physical problems, or sensory disorders • Milder cases of intellectual disability may be diagnosed when toddlers fail to meet developmental milestones at a typical age

The Extremes of Intelligence – Intellectual Disability

• • Generally those determined to have a level of intellectual disability proceed along the same paths and through the same sequences of developmental milestones as other children do, although often at a slower rate Results of the Camberwell Cohort revealed that combination of intellectual disability and social impairment led to a poor or fair overall outcomes – Those who were less intellectually disabled and did not have associated impairments had more favorable outcomes.

– Results revealed that overall quality of life was lower for the adults diagnosed with intellectual disability early in life

• •

The Extremes of Intelligence – Giftedness

The current definition of giftedness involves having a high IQ or showing special abilities in areas valued by society, such as mathematics, leadership, or the performing or visual arts Giftedness is usually apparent by toddlerhood – Characterized by advanced language skills, curiosity and motivation to learn, rapid learning, good memory, long attention span, perfectionism, preference for older companions, maturity, perseverance on tasks

The Extremes of Intelligence – Giftedness

• • Early emergence of giftedness is consistent with research that connect high intellect with a strong genetic component Terman (1954) followed the development of gifted, high IQ children in a longitudinal study and found that the participants – Learned to walk and talk sooner than other toddlers – Reached puberty somewhat earlier than average and had better-than-average health – Were rated by their teachers as better adjusted and more morally mature – Were quick to assume leadership responsibilities – As adults, had low rates of problems that indicate maladjustment – As adult men, achieved significant occupational success – Aged well, working longer, and were active and engaged