Intelligence and

Mental Abilities

You have to do the best

with what God gave you. 
What is Intelligence?
What is Intelligence?
It is a concept and not a “thing.”
It is socially constructed from cultures.
Defined:
mental quality consisting of the ability to
learn from experience, solve problems, and
use knowledge to adapt to new situations.
What is your
intelligence?
 Charles Spearman
Believed we have ONE general (g) intelligence.

Developed a factor analysis.

statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a
test.

Those who score high in one area will typically score high in other
areas (i.e. verbal intelligence, spatial or reasoning).
 L.L. Thurstone
Opposed Spearman.

Identified Seven Clusters

Word fluency
verbal comprehension
spatial ability
perceptual speed
numerical ability
inductive reasoning
memory

Challenged by other researchers because research was inclusive.

 Theories of Multiple
Intelligence
Howard Gardner

Robert Sternberg
 Howard Gardner
Intelligence comes in packages.

Studied people with diminished or exceptional

abilities.

Savant syndrome

Eight intelligences
 Success =
•Talent

•+ Grit
 Robert Sternberg
Agrees there are multiple intelligences.

Three
Analytical (academic-problem solving) intelligence.
Assessed by IQ testing
Creative intelligence
Reacting to situations.
Practical intelligence
Everyday tasks
 Another type of intelligence…
• Emotional
– Related to Gardner’s concepts of interpersonal and
intrapersonal.
– Four major aspects:
• The ability to perceive and express emotions accurately and
appropriately.
• The ability to use emotions while thinking.
• The ability to understand emotions and use the knowledge
effectively.
• The ability to regulate one’s emotions to promote personal
growth.
How Do We Assess
Intelligence?
 “The Republic”
• “...no two persons are born exactly alike; but
each differs from the other in natural
endowments, one being suited for one
occupation and the other for another.”
The Modern Intelligence-
Testing Movement
 The Creators
• Alfred Binet
– 1904, Paris.
– Partner: Théodore Simon

– School determination.

– Based on age (mental age).

– Purpose: ID children who needed attention.

– Feared that it would be used to label children.

 Stanford-Binet
• Lewis Terman
– 1916, Stanford.
– Increased to teenangers/adults.

– Based on IQ.
 IQ Test
• William Stern
• Derived the formula.
• Used by Terman.
• Average IQ = 100

Mental Age
IQ = x 100
Chronological Age
 Today
• Tests represent the test-taker’s performance
relative to the average performance of others
the same age.
Discrimination
 Modern Testing of
Mental Abilities
• Achievement Test
• Intended to reflect what you’ve learned
• Example: AHSGE, AP Exams

• Aptitude Test
• Intended to predict your ability to learn new

skills.
• Example: ACT, SAT, GRE
 Most Popular IQ Test
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
• 11 subtests broken into verbal and

performance areas.
• Separate scores.

• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

 Principles of Test
Construction
• Must meet three criteria:
(1) Standardized
• taken overtime to develop a comparison that becomes meaningful.

(2) Reliable
• yielding dependable testing scores.
• retesting.

(3) Valid
• the extent to which the test measures or predicts what it promises.
• content validity
• predictive validity
• www.begent.org/intelquiz.htm
• www.alliqtest.com/tests/2/2
• www.alliqtests.com