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Differential Psychology
Part 1:
Intelligence & Psychological testing
Dr Andreas Fichtinger
An Introduction to Intelligence
Introduction to Intelligence
Why study intelligence?
• Humans are unique in their intelligence
• Intelligence is arguably the most significant individual difference
• Intelligence theory & testing has played very important role in the
history and evolution of modern psychology
• Intelligence is widely measured & used in decision making (e.g.
clinical, education, job selection etc.)
• Intelligence arguably underlies all other aspects of psychology
• Intelligence is a ubiquitous psychological difference between people
(which is often overlooked)
• Intelligence has been considered as a 6th Personality factor to be
added to the “Big 5” personality factors
• Intelligence theory & testing had controversial history – illustrated by
important ethical issues in science and psychology
Introduction to Psychology
What do you think about Intelligence?
• What is your definition of intelligence?
• What are the names of some psychologists who
have studied intelligence?
• What would you like to know about intelligence?
Introduction to Intelligence
Some critical questions:
• Does it matter that someone is better at a
particular kind of problem solving task?
• Can we truly know whether certain
individuals are more intelligent than others?
• What does is mean to be more intelligent?
Introduction to Intelligence
• Normality is not always most “desirable” classification
– E.g. most people have caries; most students are in debt
• Several situations in which people want to distance
themselves from the “norm”
• Intelligence is one clear example
– About ability to solve mental problems that are related to
performance in school, work & most real life settings
– Most people are of average intelligence, yet most would prefer to
be considered among the brightest.
• Individual differences in intelligence refer to an
individual’s ability to solve problems that contribute
towards his/her successful adaptation to the real world.
Introduction to Intelligence
• Intelligence – major area in Differential Psychology
– Concerned with prediction of human performance (e.g. at school;
work or university)
• Intelligence ought to be conceptualised as part of
personality
– since performance is a type of behaviour
• However, intelligence & personality developed
independently
– justified by sufficient methodological & theoretical reasons
• More recently, increased interest in relationship between
intelligence & personality (e.g. Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham,
2004).
Illustrative example
Consider the following example:
• On the first day of school, a teacher asks his pupils
(about 6 years of age) a number of questions, such
“What time is it now?”, “How much do 4+7 make?”,
“What is a zebra?”, and “Why is it dark at night”? Some
answer all questions correctly, whilst others do not.
Furthermore, some pupils know the answer to some but
not other questions, and even amongst those who get all
the answers right, some are able to respond quicker than
others, and some provide a more advanced explanation.
Illustrative example
Two simple questions:
1. Why are some pupils better at solving the
problem?
2. Does it matter that someone is better at a
particular kind of problem solving?
Illustrative example
Ad 1. Why are some pupils better at solving
the problem?
– previously acquired knowledge (taught by
parents or friends)
– differences in intellectual curiosity
– differences in brain functioning
Illustrative example
Ad 2. Does it matter that someone is better at a
particular kind of problem solving?
–
–
Problems that (i) require mental operations & (ii) are
related to indicators of competence in real-life
settings may be considered as a measure of
intelligence.
Intelligence measures are important because they
allow to make (i) predictions about someone’s level
of future achievement & (ii) to compare their
performance based on objective problems.
Defining Intelligence
• Considerable overlap between expert & lay
conceptions. Both believe that…
– certain mental or psychological processes account for
difference in performance &
– differences can be affected by biological &
environmental factors
• Less agreement on…
– how these differences can be measured
– which abilities are more important
– whether people who score high on some ability may
score low on others.
• Implicit theories of intelligence (e.g. Maltby et al., 2010)
Research into implicit theories
of intelligence
• Expert & non-expert (lay-persons’) theories of
intelligence
• Implicit theories of intelligence
– across cultures
– across the lifespan
• Typical research questions:
– Do people perceive intelligence differently for
different stages of the life span?
– Do individuals perceive intelligent behaviour
differently across cultures?
Lay-persons’ implicit theories of
intelligence (USA)
• Practical problem solving
• Verbal ability
• Social competence.
(Sternberg, Conway, Ketron & Bernstein, 1981)
Lay-persons’ implicit theories of
intelligence (Taiwanese Chinese)
•
•
•
•
•
A general cognitive factor of intelligence
Inter-personal intelligence
Intra-personal intelligence
Intellectual self-assertion
Intellectual self-effacement.
(Yang & Sternberg, 1997)
Implicit theories of intelligence by
countries around the world
Source: Maltby, Day & Macaskill (2010). Personality, Individual Differences and Intelligence (2nd ed.). Pearson Education Ltd.
Defining Intelligence
• Idea that some people are brighter than others
has always been reflected in human society
• Also reflected in number of language descriptors
of ability
• For example, synonyms of intelligence:
– “Clever, bright, sharp-witted, talented, gifted, smart,
capable, able, competent, knowledgeable, educated,
brainy, ingenious, skilful,...”. (Oxford Thesaurus,
2009).
• What about a definition of Intelligence in
Psychology?
Introduction to Intelligence
Classic definitions of intelligence:
• “The ability to carry out abstract thinking”. (Terman, 1921)
• “The capacity to learn or to profit by experience”. (Dearborn, 1921)
• “Intelligence is what is measured by intelligence tests”. (Boring,
1923)
• “A global concept that involves an individual’s ability to act
purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the
environment”. (Wechsler, 1958)
• “The ability to use optimally limited resources – including time – to
achieve goals”. (Kurzweil, 1999)
• “Intelligence is adaption to the environment”. (Unknown)
• “Intelligence is what you do when you do not know what to do”.
(Unknown)
Defining Intelligence
• Psychologists measured differences between people in a
systematic, robust and unbiased way.
• Scientific notion derives largely from use of psychometric
instruments to predict future performance in school
• Also explains why concept of intelligence is closely
related to scholastic achievement or ability to excel
academically
• For many decades intelligence was defined
operationally rather than conceptually or theoretically
(e.g. in terms of underlying psychological processes)
• Reflected in one classic definition of intelligence:
– “Intelligence is what is measured by intelligence tests” (Boring,
1923).
Defining Intelligence
• Intelligence is only an inferred notion or latent
construct that refers to observable behaviour
• Hence, extent to which intelligence is or is not a
meaningful concept depends on empirical data &
observable behaviour.
• Typically this behaviour is measured in terms of
individual differences in standardised performance on
tests correlated with real-life outcomes (e.g. exam
grades; job performance)
• Thus, key issue is “not whether we measure intelligence
but whether we have found something worth measuring”
(Miles, 1957).
Graphical depiction of the latent concept of intelligence
in relation to both test scores and real-world
performance
Time 1
Time 2
performance
school/ job
test scores
“intelligence”
latent influence
observable correlation
Source: Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2008) Personality and individual differences. BPS Blackwell
Defining Intelligence
• Any definition of intelligence will also have to
conceptualise the underlying or latent processes
that cause individual differences in performance.
• Reflected by a recent definition:
– “Intelligence is a general ability to reason, plan, solve
problems, think abstractly, learn quickly, and learn
from experience” (Gottfredson, 2000).
• Hence, intelligence refers not to specific
abilities, but to “indivisible quality of mind that
influences the execution of all consciously
directed activities” (Robinson, 1999).
Introduction to Intelligence
Proposed definition of intelligence
Intelligence is:
– a ubiquitous individual difference
– a hypothetical construct
– reflected in a variety of behaviours which
demonstrate a cognitive capacity for…
• thinking and reasoning
• learning and adapting
(Neill, 2005)
Introduction to Intelligence
Shortcomings of intelligence research:
• Classifying people in terms of abilities or level of
skills is over-simplistic
• IQ tests may discriminate against people (e.g.
economically disadvantaged people)
• Classification likely to be detrimental for both
individuals & society.
Introduction to Intelligence
Strengths of intelligence research:
• May help to recruit best people for each job,
resulting in economic gain for society
• Individual benefit from accurate & unbiased
identification of intellectual strengths &
weaknesses
• Improved understanding of processes
underlying individual differences in cognitive
ability
References
• Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2008). Personality and
Individual Differences. BPS Blackwell
• Chamorro-Premuzic, T. & Furnham, A. (2004). A
possible model to understand the personality-intelligence
interface. British Journal of Psychology, 95, 249-264.
• Maltby, J., Day, L., & Macaskill, A. (2006). Personality,
Individual Differences and Intelligence. Prentice Hall.