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Cognitive Psychology, 2 nd Ed. Chapter 15 Intelligence. General Intelligence. Intelligence Quotient (IQ): MA/CA x 100 General intelligence (g) Biological measures -perceptual-motor RT -ERP complexity. General Intelligence. Fluid vs. Crystallized intelligence
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Cognitive Psychology, 2nd Ed. Chapter 15 Intelligence
General Intelligence • Intelligence Quotient (IQ): MA/CA x 100 • General intelligence (g) • Biological measures -perceptual-motor RT -ERP complexity
General Intelligence • Fluid vs. Crystallized intelligence • General fluid intelligence correlated with central executive functions of working memory. • PET activation in left lateral prefrontal cortex for both spatial and verbal problem solving—indicative of central executive involvement.
Criticisms of g • Verbal IQ and Performance IQ are dissociated in aging. • IQ tests measure linguistic, logical-mathematical, and spatial intelligence. • Musical, bodily-kinesthetic, and intra- and inter-personal intelligence are ignored by IQ tests.
Nature vs. Nurture in IQ • Heritability (h2): Proportion of variance caused by genetic differences. • Heritability: correlation between identical twins reared apart (r = h2). • Heritability increases with age from .4 in childhood to .75 in late adolescence. • Multiple genes, probabilistic effects
Nature vs. Nurture in IQ • Extent of parents talking with young children predicts verbal IQ. • Deprivation, neglect, and abuse harm IQ but is there a threshold for normal development?
Nature vs. Nurture in IQ • Preschool programs (e.g., HeadStart) increases chances of finishing school. • Deprivation, neglect, and abuse harm IQ, but is there a threshold for normal development? • Flynn Effect: Increase in IQ in industrialized nations of 3 points per decade since 1940.
Sex Differences • Understanding effect size (d = mean difference divided by standard deviation) d = .20 = small d = .50 = medium d = .80 = large
Sex Differences • Verbal ability: small advantage for females on some tests. • Visuo-spatial ability: small to large advantage for males, depending on the specific test (e.g., mental rotation vs. spatial perception).
Sex Differences • Mathematical ability: small to medium advantage for males, because of larger male variability. • Navigation: no sex advantage, but males use dead reckoning and females use landmarks. • Motor Skills: male advantage in throwing and female advantage in manual control movements.
Reasons for Sex Differences • Social-cultural: males and females are socialized differently and conform to different cultural expectations. The degree of difference varies by culture. • Biological: Natural selection in Upper Paleolithic era (40,000 to 60,000 years ago) may have favored verbal and fine motor control in females; navigation and throwing in males. Note brain lateralization in males.