Understanding Intelligence: iq, ei, and mi restructuring our notions of Learning and Intelligence

Understanding Intelligence: IQ, EI, and MI

• Restructuring our notions of Learning and Intelligence

Intelligence

• 4 Characteristics:

• Adaptive – modifying behavior to accomplish new tasks successfully

• Learning Ability – Learn new info quickly & easily

• Use of Prior Knowledge – to analyze & understand new situations

• Culture Specific - intelligence in one culture isn’t always same in another

Intelligence & Culture

• Intelligence is adaptive

• Must help learner survive & thrive in their particular culture
• Since cultures differ, intelligence must be different in various cultures

Intelligence

• Not a measure of what a person has learned (i.e. school achievement)

• Often thought of as innate

• But intelligence depends on prior knowledge

• Not necessarily a permanent, unchanging characteristic

• Can be modified through experience & learning

Measuring Intelligence

• Hard to measure & define

• Lead to creation of an Intelligence Test to measure:

• General knowledge
• Vocabulary
• Perception
• Memory
• Abstract Thought

I.Q. – Intelligence Quotient

• Traditionally thought of as a ‘fixed’ trait, but some research shows some gains are possible.

• Especially if child was in inadequate environmental conditions (malnourished, no school, etc.)

• Largely predictive of school success

IQ History – Early 1900’s

• Developed when mass education became the norm.

• Originally designed to identify and help “slower” students in France.

• Tested many children of the same age & identified patterns.

Sample IQ Test Questions

• What does the word quarrel mean?

• How are a goat and beetle alike?

• What should you do if you get separated from your family in a large department store?

Sample IQ Questions….

• Three kinds of people live on the planet Ziropox; bims, gubs, and lops. All bims are lops. Some gubs are lops. Which one of the following must be true?

• A) All bims are gubs
• B) All lops are bims

• C) Some gubs are bims

• D) Some lops are bims.

IQ Continued…

• IQ tests are age specific – only compared to others of your age

• Tests are different depending on age

IQ Test by Age

• Elem. Tests – Ability to manipulate & work with concrete objects

• Lower Elementary: Copying geometric figures, remembering short lists, identifying similarities & differences
• Upper Elementary: Assembling puzzles, remembering sentences & series of numbers, recognizing concrete analogies, finding absurdities in illogical statements

IQ Test by Age

• Adolescence - Includes abstract ideas

• Middle School: vocabulary, drawing logical inferences from verbal descriptions, identifying similarities across dissimilar concepts
• High School: Those listed above plus – identifying differences in abstract words, interpreting proverbs, breaking down complex geometric figures

Results are ‘normalized’ – designed so 100 is average (50% above, 50% below)

• Results are ‘normalized’ – designed so 100 is average (50% above, 50% below)

• 2/3 of us score between 85-115

• Psychologists have created a method of scoring IQ tests that creates this distribution

• Score tests so 100 is always average

IQ Scores on the Rise

• Worldwide IQ scores have steadily increased over the years

• Many people who were considered normal in 1900 would be below average today
• Racial & ethnic groups becoming increasingly similar too

• Probably due to:

• Increased nutrition, smaller families, better schooling, increased cognitive stimulation (TV, books, internet, video games)

Practice IQ Test

• MENSA – “welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population”

• http://www.mensa.org/workout.html

World’s Smartest Person ….

• According to the High IQ Society, the world’s smartest person is a graduate student at the University of Michigan.

• “there's a little bit of difference between being the world's smartest person and winning this contest – the smartest person in the world probably wouldn't bother entering this contest. I just thought it would be fun.” – Andrew Nierman

I.Q. Score Cautions

• Questions may be culturally biased.

• Ex: What is a toboggan?

• Environmental Conditions

• Poor nutrition, lack of books, toys, schooling, etc

• Test Anxiety

• Predicative of school success – not necessarily life success

A Different Take: Multiple Intelligences

• Developed by Howard Gardner in the early 1980’s at Harvard.

• Attempt at a more complete understanding of intelligence.

• Developed 8 intelligences.

• We have a unique blend of

• intelligences.

Gardner’s Intelligences

• Logical-mathematical (number smart)

• Linguistic (word smart)

• Bodily-Kinesthetic (body smart)

• Musical (music smart)

• Spatial (picture smart)

• Interpersonal (person smart)

• Intrapersonal (myself smart)

• Naturalist (nature smart)

Take a MI Test

• http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/questions/questions.cfm

• What do the average American female and male results look like (according to this particular test)?

Multiple Intelligences ….

• Not readily accepted within academic psychology, but embraced by educators.

• MI rings true for teachers – matches their experiences with students.

• New approaches to better meet the needs of a larger range of students.

Multiple Intelligences ….

• Importance of portfolio assessment.

• Not feasible to teach to all intelligences all the time.

• With understanding of MI, teachers can create more balanced setting to enhance success of all students.

• Possible inclusion of other intelligences.

Another Take: Emotional Intelligence

• A type of social intelligence that involves the ability to:

• Monitor one’s own and others’ emotions
• To discriminate among them
• To use the information to guide one’s own thinking and actions

Emotional Intelligence ….

• Based on a study from the 60’s - the marshmallow experiment

• 4 year olds and their self-control

• Children were followed up 12 years later

• What do you think researchers found?

Emotional Intelligence ….

• May be a better predictor of success in life than IQ.

• Can Emotional Intelligence be taught?

• What do you think?

Summing Up …

• New ways of understanding learning and intelligence.

• Multiple Intelligences – a unique blend of intelligences

• IQ vs. EQ

• Success in school; success in life

Questions to ponder…

• So is intelligence a useful concept? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?

• In particular, is intelligence useful for teachers and for our system of education?

• Identify an outcome and then authentic assessments from 5 of the 8 multiple intelligences…