Factor Analytic Theories of

Intelligence
 Factor analytic theorists
 Fall into two camps: those who espouse a
general – factor (g) theory
 Those who favor a multiple factory theory
 Galton (1822-1911)– first proposed that
individuals possess both a general
intellectual ability which is present in the
whole range of their mental abilities with
some special aptitudes
 Karl Pearson (1857-1936)
 Galton’s close friend & biographer
 Professor of applied mathematics and
mechanics at University College, London
 Developed the product-moment
correlation formula for linear correlation,
the multiple correlation coefficient, and chi
– square test for determining how well a
set of empirical observations conforms to
an expected distribution
 In contrast, Thorndike, Kelley, and
Thurstone asserted that intelligence is
composed of many independent faculties
such as mathematical, mechanical, and
verbal faculties.
 Spearman introduced statistical techniques
such as factor analysis, that allowed for
the testing of these rival theories
 Factor analysts disagree
 About how intelligence is organized

 Whether intelligence is a general unitary

function or a composite of many
independent faculties
 You should view factor labels as
descriptive categories and not as accurate
reflections of underlying entities
Charles Spearman
Charles Spearman Two- Factor
Theory of Intelligence Figure 5-5

 Spearman (1863-1945) proposed a two-factory

theory of intelligence, emphasizing a general
factor (g) and one or more specific factors (s)
 Thought the (g) factor as “mental energy
 Tests with high g loadings are matrix relations,
generalizations, verbal analogies, arithmetic
problems, paragraph comprehension
 Test with low (g) loadings: recall, speed, visual
motor abilities, counting, simple addition
 General Intelligence (g)
 Charles Spearman – demonstrated that a
statistical factor could explain the high
degree of intercorrelation among
behaviors.
 Knowing a persons level of (g), could
make accurate predictions of performance
on other tasks
Edward Thorndike (1874-
1949)
Thorndike’s multifactor theory
of intelligence
 Postulates that Intelligence is the product of
many interconnected but distinct types of
abilities.
 Certain mental activities have elements in
common & combine to form clusters
 Described three types of intelligence
 Social – deals with people
 Concrete – deals with things
 Abstract – deals with verbal and mathematical symbols
 Concepts were based on a theoretical perspective not on
statistical methods.
 Louis Thurstone’s Multidimensional
Theory of Intelligence
 Stated we can not regard intelligence as a unitary trait.
 Human Intelligence possesses a certain systematic
organization with a structure that we can infer from a
statistics
 Described eight primary mental factors
– Verbal
– Perceptual Speed
– Inductive reasoning,
– Number
– Rote memory
– Deductive reasoning,
– Word fluency
– Space or visualization
 J. P. Guilford’s Structure of
Intellect Theory (1967) figure 5-6

 Maintained that we must consider three

classes of variables in any account of
intellectual abilities:
– (operations): The activities or operations
performed
– Content: the material or content on which the
operations are performed
– Products: the result of the operations
 J. P. Guilford’s Structure of
Intellect Theory (1967)
 Developed the tree-dimensional structure
of intellect model as a means for
organizing intellectual factors.
 The model posits 120 possible factors
 Ex: cognition of semantic units;
factor refers to knowing what a word
means and explaining it
 Philip Vernon’s Hierarchical
Theory Of Intelligence(1950)
figure 5-7

 Factors low in the hierarchy refer to a

narrow ranges of behavior, while those
high in the hierarchy refer to a wide
variety of behaviors
 1965 He believed that we must consider a
general group factor (g) in any attempt to
understand or measure intelligence
 Cattell and Horns Fluid and
Crystallized Theory of Intelligence
figure 5-8

 Raymond Cattell, John Horn 1963-1998)

 There are two types of Intelligence
 Raymond Cattell – general intelligence is
based on two primary intelligence factors:
 (gf) and (gc)

 (gf) Fluid Intelligence – refers to the

efficiency with which an individual learns
and completes various tasks
 Increases and decreases over time,
 (gc) Crystallized intelligence
 Fluid Intelligence
– Essentially nonverbal, culturally free mental
efficiency
– is dependent on physiological structures
(cortical and low cortical regions) that support
intellectual behavior
Ex: fast processing speed, working memory,
 Crystallized Intelligence
 Refers to acquired skills and knowledge that are more
dependent on culture
 Involves over learned and well established cognitive
functions and related to mental products and
achievement.
 Examples of tasks that measure crystallized intelligence
are vocabulary, general information, abstract word
analogies, mechanics of languages
 Is highly influence by formal and informal educational
factors throughout the life span
 Increases through middle adulthood
 Argued against the concept of general
intelligence
 Asserted that intellectual ability is composed of
several distinct functions that have genetic
underpinnings
 Ex: fluid ability and visual thinking decline with
age, whereas crystallized ability and long term
acquiring and retrieval show no decline
 1998 modified theory and proposed 55 primary
abilities
 Carroll’s three stratum Factor
Analytic Theory of Cognitive
Abilities figure 5-9

 John Carroll (1997) based the theory on 465

research studies
 Postulates there are many distinct individual
differences in cognitive ability
 These can be classified into three strata or levels
 All abilities are assumed to be cognitive
 In many cases they go far beyond the kinds of
intelligences measured in typical batteries of
intelligence tests
 Narrow (stratum I): first level
 Consists of 65 narrow abilities comprising
levels of mastery in various cognitive
areas (general sequential reasoning,
reading comprehension, memory span,
visualization, speech sound discrimination,
originality/creativity, numerical facility,
and simple reaction time)
 Broad (Stratum II)

 The second level is composed of eight broad

factors:
– Fluid intelligence (Gf)
– Crystallized intelligence (Gc)
– General memory (Y)
– Broad Visual Perception (V)
– Broad Auditory Perception (U)
– Broad Retrieval Capacity (R)
– Broad Cognitive Speediness (S)
– Processing Speed (Decision Speed (T)
 General (Stratum III)

 The third is composed of a general factor

or g.
 Carroll’s theory constitute a provisional
statement about the enumeration,
identification, and structuring of the total
range of cognitive ability discovered thus
far.
 Carroll’s theory was expected to replace,
expand or supplement previous theories
Campione, Brown and Borkowski’s
information – processing theory
 Joseph Campione and Ann Brown (1978)
and expanded by John Borkowski (1985)
 Information – processing conceptions of
intelligence focus on the ways individuals
mentally represent and process
information.
 In these models, human cognition is
conceived as occurring in a series of
discrete stages
Figure 5-10 Campoine, Brown and
Borkowski’s model of intelligence
 Information is received at one stage, and
then passed on as input to the next stage
for further processing.

 Mental process are composed of specific

covert cognitive behaviors, “which
transform and manipulate information
between the time it enters as a stimulus
and the time a response to it is selected.
 Figure 5-11

 Shows how a cognitive, motivational and and

self – system components interact to facilitate
metacognitive processes.

 Example: A child is taught to use a learning

strategy, and with recognition, comes to learn
about the attributes of that strategy.
 The attributes of this specific strategy knowledge include
the effectiveness of the strategy, the range of its
appropriate applications, and the proper use of the
strategy with a variety of tasks.
 2. The child learns other strategies and repeats them in
multiple contexts. The child comes to understand when,
where, and how to employ each strategy. In this way
specific strategy knowledge is enlarged and enriched.
 The child gradually develops the capacity to select
strategies appropriate for some tasks, but not others,
and adjust the strategy by monitoring performance.
 Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of
Intelligence figure 5--12
 Robert Sternberg (1986)

 Divides human intelligence into three

dimensions: componential, experiential,
contextual
PASS model of Intelligence figure 5-13

 JP Das,Jack Naglieri, and John Kirby’s

 Planning-Attention-Simultaneous success
processing (PASS model of Intelligence
 Based on work of Alexsanr Luria’s (1966)
in neuropsychology
 postulates that four cognitive processes
are involved in intellectual functioning
 Planning process involved cognitive control,
knowledge, intentionality, and self regulation
 Attention processes allow for focused cognitive
ability
 Simultaneous processing involves perception of
stimuli as a whole or the understanding of
grammatical statement s requiring integration of
words into a meaningful idea
 Successive processing – involves operating on
stimuli arranged in sequence in order to make a
decision
 *processing occurs in a sequence-dependent,
temporally based series
 The four process operate together when a
person is working on intellectual tasks
 The Cognitive Assessment system (CAS) was
designed according to the PASS system
 CAS designed for children ages 5-17, takes 1
hour to administer, has adequate reliability and
validity, measures cognitive ability based on
planning, attention, simultaneous and successive
processing
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence
Theory (1993, 1998) figure 5-14

 Indentified eight competencies and two

tentative competencies
 Proposes that multiple intelligence theory
be used as a basis for assessing children
 He believes that we can assess children ’s
intellectual competencies through planned
observation Ex: teach an infant a pattern,
and then test infant to see if they
remember the pattern
 Different assessment strategies are required for
evaluating children of different ages
 Developing a reasonably accurate picture of a
child’s abilities may require 5 to 10 hours of
observation of regular classroom activities over
the course of a month.
 Gardner has not developed a standardized test
to measure these different types of intelligences
Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence
Theory (1996)
 Referred to as successful intelligence - the
ability to adapt, to shape, and select
environments to accomplish one’s goals and
those of one’s society and culture.
 Individuals with successful intelligence are able
to discern their strengths & weaknesses and
then determine ways to use their strengths and
minimize their weaknesses.
 Three broad areas associated with Succ. Int:
analytical, creative and practical abilities
Ceci’s Bio-Ecological Theory of
Intelligence (1977)
 Attempts to explain the development of behavior using
four perspectives
 Intelligence composed of multiple cognitive abilities
rather than one pervasive general factor
 It is the interplay of genetics and environmental
interactions at various points in development that
produces changes in intelligence
 Cognitive processes depend on the context in which
cognition takes place
 Noncognitive intrinsic abilities are highly important in the
development of intelligence (temperament, motivation,
 Piaget’s Periods of Cognitive
Develooment Table 5-2

 All children go through four developmental

periods:
 Sensorimotor
– There are six developmental stages
 Preoperational ages 2-7
 Concrete ages 7-11
 Formal Operations ages 11 and upward