SEMI- FINAL

INTELLIGENCE: MEANING AND MEASUREMENT

Definition of Intelligence

Behavioral scientist, psychometrists, and educators frequently describe

individuals with reference to the intelligence quotient (IQ) that is derived from
standard test of intelligence. Intelligence is used in attempts to evaluate and
measure actual or potential ability to perform selected tasks by complex
learning and thinking.

The Binet Test

The first efforts to measure intelligence were made by Alfred Binet, a French
physician. About a year 1890, he became interested in studying judgement,
attention, and reasoning. His interest in these complex mental processors had
used to try a greater variety of tests than his predecessors had used. Binet
noted that it might be due to psychological factors. He set out to develop tests
to measure those aspects of the individual that contributed so essentially to
school success.

Kinds of Intelligence Test

The Stanford-Binet Test

These tests, so named because they were devised by psychologist at Standford

University following lines laid down by Binet, have appeared in three editions.
The first Stanford –Binet Scale was devised in 1916 by Professor Lewis M.
Terman. A more extensive scale with two forms, was later developed with the
collaboration of Professor Maud Merill. This scale which appeared in 1937,
became the most extensively used device for testing the intelligence of children
individually.

The Wechsler Test

this test is used to assess intellectual profile for people between 16 and 90
years old. It is composed by four scores and general intelligence index. Its
primary use is in clinical, educational, and vocational settings to evaluate
cognitive strengths and weaknesses, guide intervention strategies, and inform
decision making processes related to educational and career planning.

GROUP DIFFERENCE IN INTELLIGENCE

Group intelligences in intelligence have been studied in terms of sex, race, and
nationality, occupation, socio-economic status, and geographical location.

Sex differences- studies indicate that girls get higher intelligence test scores
than boys until the age of 13. The curve of intellectual development parallels
closely the curve of physical development, which shows girls to be more mature
than boys until the teens. Males generally excel as group, in skill with numbers
and spatial relationships. Females excel in memory and verbal matters.

Race/nationality difference- these deficiencies are three in number: 10test

developed for use of individuals of one race or cultural group are not always
equally applicable to measurement of other groups; 2) some racial groups are at
a disadvantage because of language deficiencies; and 3) the subjects tested may
not be representative samples of the group being considered.
Intelligence Levels

Level IQ range

Severe mental retardation or custodial …………………………………Below 25

Moderate mental retardation or Trainable………………………………25-70
Mild Mental Retardation or Educable……………………………………50-70
Borderline defective…………………………………………………………70-80
Low average…………………………………………………………………….80-90
Normal or Average……………………………………………………………..90-110
High Average……………………………………………………………………110-120
Superior………………………………………………………………………….120-130
Very superior…………………………………………………………………..130-140
Genius………………………………………………………………………….140 or greater

Mental Retardation or Feeblemindedness

Mental retardation is a general term used to refer to hundreds of condition that

share the common symptoms of sub-nomal intellectual functioning and
impaired adaptive behavior that seem to originate during the development
period of the individual.

According to IQ level, these individuals below 70 are potentially retarded.

Whether they requie institutional or other specialized care depends in large part
upon the general social situation in which they find themselves. For example a
person with an IQ of 65 might find it possible to maintain adequate economic
and social adjustment as a farmer but might fin dit impossible to exist as an
independent human being in the complex industrial environment of a large city.

Classification of mentally retarded group

1. The severe mentally Retarded which used to be called custodials are the
lowest in intelligence, having IQs below 25 and , as adults, mental ages
less than 3 years. They are incapable of learning to any noticeable
degree.
2. The moderate mentally retarded which used to be called trainable are
higher in the scale of intelligence than the custodials. They have IQs
between 25 and 50 and as adults, have adult’s mental age of 3 to 8
years. They cannot learn to read, spell or do arithmetic. They seldom
acquire much of the a speaking vocabulary. They are not educable but
are trainable.
3. The mild mentally retarded which used to be called the educables are the
higher of mentally retarted group. They have the IQ of 50-70 and, as
adults, mental age of 8 to 11.5 years. The high grade educable can
usually complete the first three or four grades of elementary school but
fails frequently and is considered stupid by teachers and fellow
classmates.

The Borderline Defective, Low Average, Normal or Average, etc.

Low average- with IQ between 80-90. They can learn all basic skills-
reading, writing, and motor activities but frequently with some difficulty.
 Normal or average- IQ scores between 90 and 110. They have the
capacity for relatively easy accomplishments of all the skills demanded in
everyday life.
High average- IQs of 110-120 is nearly so well-defined as the counterpart
on the opposite side of the average group. It constitutes the bright-
average range and include a large number of college graduates, many of
whom have careers in business and technical work.
Superior- IQs 120-130 include the largest number of those with the
capacity for reasonably easy accomplishment of the schooling necessary
for professional scientific work. The intelligence of this group is usually
underrated by normal people because the superior group are seldom
challenged to do what they are really capable of doing.

Very superior- IQ of 130-140 are classified as very superior. Tests show

that these individuals to be the lowest in the class in living up to
capacity.

Gifted persons; Geniuses; Prodigies

Terman spoke of individuals who score above 130 as intellectually gifted

or very superior. In English-speaking countries, the term “gifted”
generally is applied on the basis of psychometric criterion alone; a
minimum IQ of about 130 is typically required for one to be classified as
gifted.

A genius by definition is rare. The term is commonly used to refer to

those who manifest very superior general intelligence often defined as
140 or greater and who have demonstrated their superiority through an
unusually high level of achievement in an intellectually demanding
pursuit.

Prodigy is generally used to refer to individuals who have achieved

special distinction in a specific enterprise, usually at an early stage, but
without the requirement of superior psychometric intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability such as being able to:

1. Motivate oneself and to persist in facing frustrations.
2. Control impulse and delay gratification.
3. Regulate one’s mood and keep the stress from swamping the ability to
think, to communicate well, and
4. Empathize and to hope.

The five components of emotional intelligence, according to Dr. Goleman are:

self-awareness, managing moods, motivation, empathy, and social skill. When a
person has self-awareness, he says, he knows his feelings and based on these
emotions can make decisions. Aside from being aware of their feelings,
emotionally intelligent persons are also said to be adept at managing their own
moods.
LEARNING

Learning has been defined as a “form of adaptation, mode of adjustmnets, and

change in behavior”. Bugelski (1986) describes learning as the mental activities
by means of which knowledge and skills, haits,attitudes and ideals are
required, retained, and utilized resulting in the progressive adaptation and
modification of behavior.

How Learning Takes Place

1. Classical conditioning – it is the simplest of all forms of learning proposed

by Ivan Pavlov. In his famous experiment on the dog, food and bell, he
discovered the conditioned reflex. In classical conditioning, the organism
learns to respond to a new stimulus in the same or similar it responds to
the old unconditioned stimulus.
2. Instrumental conditioning – it is believed that the most extensive and
systematic experiments o operant conditioning were done by B.F
Skinner. He used reinforcement in his experiments . a reinforcement is
any stimulus that will maintain or increase the strength of a response.
The two types of reinforcers are the positive and the negative reinforcer.
3. Insight learning- the earliest and best known for insight learning were
done by Gestalt psychologist, Wolfgang Kohler to describe solving by
grasping relations, especially if the solution is arrived at suddenly.

LAWS OF LEARNING
Thorndike proposed three primary laws of learning.
1. The law of readiness-this law is related to maturation. This law
states that other things being equal, when the individual is ready to
act, to do so is satisfying, and not to do so is annoying.
2. Law of exercise- this law is made up of two parts: the law of use and
law of disuse. The law of use asserts that, other things being equal,
the more frequently a modifiable connection between a situation and
response is used, the stronger is that connection. The law of disuse
asserts that, other things being equal, when a modifiable connection
between a situation and response is not used over period of time, the
strength of that connection is weakened. Review, drill and practice.
3. Law of effect- it supplements the law of exercise. This states that
connections which are pleasant tend to be repeated and
strengthened, and those that are unpleasant tend to be avoided or
weakened.

Other Lawas of Learning

1. The Law of Apperception (Herbart)- this law refers to the application of

past experiences of the pupil in forming a new connection or integrating
his past experiences with the new situation. Learning proceeds from the
known to the related unknown. The process of assimilation of the new by
the old is called assimilation.
2. The Law of association (Kant)- a new connection is formed through the
association of the past and the new situations. It is the process of
relating two or more experiences to each other.
3. The Law of use and disuse(, Gates)- this law explains that the use of the
connection strengthens the response; the stronger the connection, the
more prompt, easy and certain the response will be. It weakens when the
connection is not used.
 4. The Law of Frequency and Recency (Watson) – this law states that the
more frequently the connection is exercised, the stronger the connection
will be. The response or connection most frequently made will be
retained. The more recently the connection is formed, the easier it is to
recall or the more effective to reproduce.
5. Law of Intensity (Carr)- the more intense or vivid the exercise, the
stronger the connection will bem an intense connection will be
remembered longer than one less intense. Carr assumed that all
responses are retained but that some are strengthened and are therefore
more likely to be aroused when a situation is presented.
6. The Law of Primacy (Watson) -this law states that the first learned act will
be better remembered that acts learned later.
7. The law of forgetting (Ebbinghause)- forgetting is typically rapid during
the time shortly after learning a less rapid during subsequent periods.
Forgetting is less rapid if the material is meaningful if there is over
learning or if there is not intervening activity between learning and recall.

RETENTION AND TRANSFER

RETENTION- refers to the extent to which material originally learned still

persist. When the child, for example, correctly spells a word or solves a problem
for the first time, we say that he has then acquired that particular behavior. If
the same child correctly repeats the performance later, we say that he
remembered, or retained what he acquired earlier.

TRANSFER- occurs when whatever is learned in one situation is used in anew

or different situation. The influence that learning one task may have on the
subsequent learning of another is called transfer of learning.

MEMORY AND FORGETTING

MEMORY- was one of the first phenomena to be studied in a psychological

laboratory. Memory is a term to label the way facts are impressed, retained and
later recalled.

FORGETTING- it is a failure to retain what was learned. It also refers to the

extent that learned materials are lost.

 Without memory, there can be no learning. On the other hand, if there

were no learning, there is nothing to remember. Learning may be thought
of as building up memories for future use, and memory is the storage
and retrieval of this information. Evidence for memory can be found in
different tasks like recall, recognition, and relearning.
RECALL- is the most difficult of these tasks since most of the related
stimuli are absent.
RECOGNITION- involves differentiation of the familiar from unfamiliar.
RELEARNING- is an attempt to regain material or a skill that has been
partially or completely lost.

 For optimal learning, retention or remembering should be improved and

forgetting prevented. Improvement in retention comes through improved
methods of fixating the material and through practice in recall. Correct
performance from the start and guidance may be necessary to bring
 about improvement. To prevent forgetting, a knowledge of the causes of
the forgetting will be helpful.

THEORIES OF FORGETTING

a. Passive Decay Through Disuse- this theory assumes that lapse of time is
responsible for forgetting. when something is learned and used
repeatedly, it is remembered, but when it is not used, it is forgotten. This
explanation in terms of disuse suggests deterioration or decay of the
connections in the brain as the reason for forgetting.
b. Interference Effects- interference of present learning with what has been
previously learned leads to forgetting. For example, you read and studied
the last chapter and remembered much of what you read or studied.
Now, you are in this chapter, possibly you’re reading this will interfere
with your remembering the earlier material. This phenomenon is called
retroactive inhibition.
c. Obliteration of the memory trace- this state occurs because of certain
conditions other than time. One is the effect of emotional shock. The
most widely accepted explanation is that emotional shock or other
conditions prevent consolidation. In this theory, the engram is disrupted
before consolidation has taken place.
d. Motivated forgetting- this may be illustrated by repression. According to
this principle, some of our memories become inaccessible to recall
because of the negative effect on us. Motivated forgetting is evident in the
following: when we try to forget an unpleasant experience but are not
completely successful; and when one has conveniently forgotten some
unpleasant obligation as when a high school student is asked to see the
principal immediately after classes honestly forgets that he has to do so.

MOTIVATION
The term motivation is derived from the word, “ motive” which means the
inner state that energizes , activates or moves and that which directs
behavior towards our goals. Motivation starts when a person perceives a
need that must be satisfied. This perception occurs when some form of
stimulus attracts a person’s attention to the need. When the person
perceives the need, he is motivated to act in order to satisfy.

Drive- a physiological condition which impels the organism to become

active. It is unlearned and is engaged in for immediate satisfaction. The
gaining of satisfaction reduces or eliminates tensions cause by the drive
or the urge. Human drives function as inner active forces which affect an
individual’s thinking, feeling, and behavior. When a man can satisfy his
drives, he tends to develop patterns of behavior that are accompanied by
feelings of pleasantness. If the fulfillment of his drives is denied, he
becomes annoyed.

Motive- something that incites the organisms to action or that sustains

and gives direction to action once the organisms has been aroused. It
can be regarded as characterizing those internal conditions of forces that
tend to impel an individual toward the attainment of certain goals by
causing one stimulus pattern to be more forceful than another or by
enabling the individual desire strongly that which is not within the ranc
eof sensory stimulation at the moment.
Goal- this refers to a substance, object or situation capable of satisfying
a need and toward which motivated behavior is directed.

Need- a need is defined as a “lack of something required for the survival

of, health or well-being of the individual”.

Theories of Motivation
Motivation theories are products of man’s thinking. Man formulates
theories of motivation while trying to explain the behavior of his
fellowman, particularly the reason behind people’s actions.

Theory of Sequential Development

The organization of basic needs described by Abraham Maslow, a social
anthropologist, is helpful in understanding the variety of needs of an
individual. He presents seven levels arranged in a hierarchy. Arranged
from the lowest to the highest levels.

If you examine the diagram carefully, you will notice that it forms a
hierarchy; that is, the needs are shown in ascending order of emergency.
Those at the bottom are of initial importance.

PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

Sigmund Freud, a Jew, is known as the father or Psychoanalysis. He

considers personality to have three structures: the ID, EGO, and
SUPEREGO.

ID- the amoral part of the personality. It is primitive and unconscious. It

is the savage, animalistic nature of man such as the sex drive and the
urge to destroy. The ID would seek immediate satisfaction for those
motives as they aries without regard for moral stamdards of right and
wrong. The Id is the pleasure-seeking part of the personality.

EGO- consist of ways of behavioral and thinking that are socially

acceptable. It is sometimes called “self”. It delays the satisfaction of the
ID and channels the libido into socially approved outlets. This is partly
unconscious because it is in communication with ID.
SUPEREGO- corresponds to what is commonly referred to as conscience.
It is the moral part of the personality. It consists of of restraint; it
represents the ideal rather than the real. Its main function is to inhibit
the impulses of the id. It also restrains the activity of the ego. It main
concern is to decide whether something is right or wrong so that it can
act in accordance with the moral standards authorized by the agents of
society.

SUPERIORITY AND INFERIORUTY THEORIES BY ALFRED ADLER

1. Inferiority principle- Adler believes that man is born into the world
feeling incomplete and unfulfilled, with a deep sense of inferiority.
Most of humanity wants to go beyond where it is, but once having
attained a desired goal, one has only a temporary feeling of
satisfaction and success. The moment human being can see
something bigger and beyond where he is at the moment, he again
feels inferior, unfulfilled or incomplete and the entire process will
leads from inferiority to efforts for new attainment starts again.
2. Superiority principle- man, according to Adler, wishes to be superior
and his superiority wishes to grow out of feelings of being inadequate.
To Adler, there is only one drive, and that is the desire for superiority.
Super does not mean power over men, but that each human being is
striving to be superior within himself and not necessarily in
competition with other men. Superiority, therefore, means “superior
over oneself”. It is the prime mover in life, the dynamism that
describes why man does the things he does.