Thinking and Intelligence

I.                    There are two types of solution strategies-algorithms and heuristics.

A.    An algorithm may lead to a correct answer if step-by-step problem-solving procedure is executed accurately even though in some cases, we may not know the algorithm or that the problem may not exist.

B.     Heuristic is another form of problem-solving strategy which seems reasonable given past experiences and does not make a guarantee.  

C.     An anagram, like the letters LOSOGCYHYP, when put together in the correct fashion, produces the word PSYCHOLOGY-a practice that can be solved by use of the heuristic problem-solving strategy.

      II.        There are three types of heuristics-anchoring and adjustment heuristic,                                working backward heuristic, and means-end analysis heuristic.

                 A.   Anchoring and adjustment heuristic are the use of one’s initial estimate as an anchor like our first impression of a person.

                 B.   Working backwards as in solving a math problem or equation, psychologists define it as working backward heuristic. 

                  C.   The process of breaking down a problem into sub-goals while working                                     toward decreasing the distance is called means-end analysis as in the Tower of Hanoi problem.

      III.       The history of intelligence tests started with Sir Francis Galton, in 19^th century                  England.

A.    Initially, Sir Francis Galton, for the purpose of eugenics, was involved in developing a test for intelligence.

B.     Sir Francis Galton is credited for developing correlational statistics which did not exist before him.

C.     It was Karl Pearson, a disciple of Galton, who formulated the correlational coefficient of Galton.

IV.              Intelligence Quotient is a formula of dividing mental age by chronological age and then multiplying by 100.

A.    Frenchman Alfred Binet and his assistant Theophile Simon, while working on the problem of mental retardation, got the backing of the French government to develop a test that could be used to determine intellectual development in children which finally led to the acceptance of the first test on intelligence in 1905.

B.     It was Lewis Terman, an American working at Stanford University, who came up with what became known as Stanford-Binet scores in 1916.

C.     David Wechsler, Chief Psychologist for Bellevue hospital in New York, developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) in 1955.

D.    H e also developed the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC).

V.                Wechsler also devised a more advanced way of reporting intelligence leading to a process known as standardization.

A.    Standardization is a way of interpreting test scores by providing test models.

B.     When test scores are consistent, it is known as reliability because the coefficient is strongly positive.

C.     When a test predicts or measures what it is supposed to predict, it is known as validity.

D.    Despite agreeing on what intelligence should predict, psychologists do not agree on how to define intelligence.

VI.              For over a hundred years, there has been long-running argument over whether intelligence is a single general ability or a collection of specific abilities.

A.    On intelligence test performance, it was Charles Spearman who argued that it is a function of two factors: general intelligence and specific intellectual abilities such as reasoning.

B.     L. L. Thurstone, based on his research, argued that there were seven primary mental abilities-verbal comprehension, number facility, spatial relations, perceptual speed, word fluency, associative memory, and reasoning.

C.     Thurstone used factor analysis, a statistical technique that identifies clusters of test items that measure the same ability (factor).

D.     Raymond Cattell (a student of Spearman) and John Horn came up with two types of slightly different mental ability theory that influenced researchers in aging:

1.      Fluid intelligence, abilities independent of acquired knowledge, include abstract learning, logical problem solving, and the speed of information processing.

2.      Crystallized intelligence refers to accumulated knowledge and verbal and numerical skills.

VII.           Modern psychologists believe that both heredity (nature) and environmental experiences (nurture) best define intelligence.

A.    Heritability is an index of the degree that variation of a trait within a given population is due to heredity.

B.     Reaction range is the genetically determined limits for an individual’s intelligence.

C.     The Flynn effect refers to the fact that in the United States and other Western industrialized nations, average intelligence scores have improved steadily over the last century.