ALTH106 Week 6 Tim’s Lecture

Intelligence

Defined: Intelligence is the set of mental abilities and talents that an organism can employ to achieve
its goals by overcoming challenges and obstacles.

- From an allied health perspective, the main utility of the concept of intelligence is to help us
understand, describe, and necessary quantify, degrees of mental impairment.

Testing Intelligence throughout time

Mid to Late 1800s

- Simple memory reaction-time, puzzle (but no writing)  set the standard for nomothetic
research practises in psychology for centuries to come such as mass-testing of large groups
using standardised measures.
- Binet (French Scientist) introduced concept of ‘mental age’, a standardised description of the
mental prowess children typically show by certain ages.  scientists today can quantify the
extent of intellectual impairment as mental age lagging behind true age.

Development of IQ Tests  since the establishment of the Stanfor-Bonet Scale and the IQ construct,
many subsequent IQ tests have been developed as attempts to capture a more reliable conception
of IQ (most noteworthy are Wechsler Intelligence Scales)

Intellectual Impairment

- Individuals with estimated mental ages significantly below averages for their chronological
age are considered broadly intellectually impaired. (Below 70)
- Individuals must possess noteworthy impairments or delays in multiple domains of cognitive
functioning to receive a deviation so intense.
- These intellectual impairments can be caused by a wide range of diseases including genetic,
metabolic, environmental factors.
- 3% of the Australian population have a noteworthy intellectual impairment while 61% of
whom have severe limitations in activities of daily living, requiring routine assistance or
health interventions.

Limitations of IQ Tests

- The validity of IQ tests is often called into question, as the test-like nature of the scales mean
they are most predictive in written, scholastic and academic settings, less so elsewhere. They
are definitely valid in predicting performance in these domain, but struggle with predicting
more hand on talents.
- Reliability in modern IQ tests are extremely well refines, and have demonstrably high
reliability across many different sessions.
- IQ tests run the risk of containing systematic biases that many go unexamined in cultural
contexts where the superiority of favoured groups is assumes, or at least suspected.
- Many retain a strong scepticism towards IQ testing as a possible means of reinforcing an
oppressive status quo, which is particularly likely when people place a great deal of value in
IQ scores.
- Some critics argue that the misuse is almost inevitable, as the very purpose of standardised
IQ tests isn’t to measure some stand alone cognitive phenomenon in absolute terms, they’re
intended to discover individual differences in ability.
 General Intelligence
- As our understanding of the mind has grown more detailed, it has become clear that
intelligence isn’t a single, domain general ability, but rather many specific sub-abilities.
- ‘specific intelligence’ Howard Gardner a theory of multiple intelligences, the
circumstances where people showed aptitude to specific domains but not in general
intelligence. ‘smart in different way.’

Genetics vs Environment

 40-60% of the individual variance in adult IQ scores can be attributed to genetic inheritance.
- You inherit physical differences in the sensitivity and efficiency their neurologically basic
cognitive abilities, impulse control.
 Environment
- Access to eduction
- Better childhood nutrition
- Stressful/ dangerous circumstances
 The environment is important but not very significant in the intelligence of people.