Intelligence and Language


• Defining and Measuring Intelligence• The Social, Cultural, and Political Aspects of Intelligence• Communicating With Others: The Development and Use of Language


• The ability to think, learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations

• A system of communication that uses symbols in a regular way to create meaning

Intelligence Language


• Key issues in the study of intelligence:– whether intelligence involves a single ability or multiple abilities– how intelligence is measured– what intelligence predicts– social and cultural influences on intelligence– the roles of nature and nurture in intelligence


Intelligence is positively related to:• academic and military performance• job success• longevity• leadership ability

Intelligence is negatively related to:• criminal behavior

Defining and Measuring Intelligence


• Learning Objectives1. Define intelligence and list the different types of intelligences psychologists

study.2. Summarize the characteristics of a scientifically valid intelligence test.3. Outline the biological and environmental determinants of intelligence.

General (g) Versus Specific (s) Intelligences

• Binet and Simon developed the first intelligence test to help teachers educate better and slower learners.– The test contained a wide variety of questions including the ability to name

objects, define words, draw pictures, complete sentences, and so on.– Despite the variety of items, performance on each type of item correlated

positively with performance on the other types.• Terman developed the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test, an American version of Binet

and Simon’s test.


• The construct that the different abilities measured on an intelligence test all have in common

• Proposed by Charles Spearman• Relates to abstract thinking

• A measure of specific skills in narrow domains

General Intelligence (g) Specific Intelligence (s)


• The capacity to learn new ways of solving problems and performing activities

• Tends to decrease with age

• The accumulated knowledge of the world we acquire through our lives

• May increase with age

Fluid Intelligence Crystallized Intelligence


Thurstone’s Seven Primary Mental Abilities

word fluency

verbal comprehension

spatial ability

perceptual speed

numerical ability

inductive reasoning

memory


analytical intelligence• The ability to

solve problems with a single right answer

creative intelligence• ability to develop

new ideas

Sternberg’s Triarchic

Theory of Intelligence

practical intelligence• “street smarts;”

“common sense”


• Supporting Sternberg’s theory, creativity is not highly correlated with analytical intelligence.

• The brain areas associated with convergent thinking – finding the right answer – are different than those related to divergent thinking – coming up with new ideas.– But creativity does rest on some of the basic abilities measured by g, such as

thinking abstractly and adapting to new situations.


Creativity’s Key

Ingredients

expertise

imagination

risk takingintrinsic interest

creative environment


Gardner’s Eight Specific Intelligences

• ability to speak and write wellLinguistic

• ability to use logic and mathematical skills to solve problemsLogico-Mathematical

• ability to reason about objects in three dimensionsSpatial

• ability to perform and enjoy musicMusical

• ability to move the body in sports, dance, or other physical activitiesKinesthetic

• ability to understand and interact effectively with othersInterpersonal

• ability to have insight into the selfIntrapersonal

• ability to recognize, identify, and understand animals, plants, and other living things

Naturalistic


Contributions of Gardner’s

Theory

Limitations of Gardner’s

Theory

The different intelligences are

correlated.

It is not clear how many intelligences there really are.

Gardner’s intelligences seem more like abilities.

It has been influential in education.

Measuring Intelligence: Standardization and the Intelligence Quotient

Good Intelligence

Tests

reliable• consistent

valid• actually

measures intelligence

standardized• have been

given to many people of different ages


• Intelligence tests should be standardized regularly, because the level of intelligence in a population may change over time.

• Flynn effect– Scores on intelligence tests worldwide have increased substantially over the past

few decades.


• IQ = (mental age/chronological age) X 100– mental age – the age at which an individual is performing intellectually

• IQ scores on modern intelligence tests are based on the relative position of a person’s score among scores of other people of the same age.


IQ Scales•WAIS-IV•most widely used intelligence scale for adults

•WISC-IV•WPPSI-III

aptitude tests – designed to measure ability on a given task•SAT•ACT•GRE•LSAT•MCAT

personnel selection – the use of structured tests to select people likely to do well at given jobs•based on job analyses, determinations of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal characteristics (KSAPs) required for a particular job

The Biology of Intelligence

brain size

• Intelligence is positively related to brain volume, the number of neurons in the brain, and the thickness of the cortex.

speed and efficiency of neural transmission

• More intelligence people show less brain activity when they work on tasks.

• The speed of performing simple tasks is related to intelligence.

working memory capacity

• IQ scores correlate about .50 with working memory capacity scores.

Is Intelligence Nature or Nurture?

Nature Nurture

Fraternal twins have more similar

Iqs than do nontwin siblings.

Education plays a causal role in increasing IQ.

SES correlates negatively with IQ.

The IQs of identical twins correlate highly

(.86)

40% --of the variability in IQ

reflects genetics. 80%

Parental IQ is more similar to

that of biological than adopted

children.

Emotional Intelligence

• The ability to accurately identify, assess, and understand emotions, as well as to control one’s emotions

• Measures of emotional intelligence may not have adequate reliability or construct validity.

• The ability to control and productively use one’s emotions

• Positively related to social and cognitive intelligence, SAT scores, the ability to cope with stress and frustration

Emotional Intelligence Emotion Regulation


• Key Takeaways– Brain volume, speed of neural transmission, and working memory capacity are

related to IQ.– Between 40% and 80% of the variability in IQ is due to genetics, meaning that

overall genetics plays a bigger role than does environment in creating IQ differences among individuals.

– Intelligence is improved by education and may be hindered by environmental factors such as poverty.

– Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify, assess, manage, and control one’s emotions. People who are better able to regulate their behaviors and emotions are also more successful in their personal and social encounters.


• Key Takeaways, continued– Intelligence is the ability to think, learn from experience, solve problems, and

adapt to new situations. Intelligence is important because it has an impact on many human behaviors.

– Psychologists believe that there is a construct that accounts for the overall differences in intelligence among people, known as general intelligence (g).

– There is also evidence for specific intelligences (s), measures of specific skills in narrow domains, including creativity and practical intelligence.

– The intelligence quotient (IQ) is a measure of intelligence that is adjusted for age. The Wechsler Adult lntelligence Scale (WAIS) is the most widely used IQ test for adults.

THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF INTELLIGENCE

THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF INTELLIGENCE

• Learning Objectives:1. Explain how very high and very low intelligence is defined and what it means to

have them.2. Consider and comment on the meaning of biological and environmental

explanations for gender and racial differences in IQ.3. Define stereotype threat and explain how it might influence scores on

intelligence tests.

Extremes of Intelligence: Retardedness and Giftedness

• IQ is distributed in the population in the form of a normal distribution (or bell curve).– Most scores fall toward the middle, with many fewer scores

falling at the extremes.

Extremes of Intelligence: Retardedness and Giftedness

• The distribution of IQ scores for men is more spread out than is the distribution for women.– About 20% more men than women fall in the extreme (very smart or very dull)

ends of the distribution.– Boys are five times more likely to be diagnosed with dyslexia than are girls.– Boys are also more likely to be classified as mentally retarded. – But boys are also about 20% more highly represented in the upper end of the IQ

distribution.

Extremely Low Intelligence

• Mental retardation– IQ below 70– deficits since childhood– trouble with basic life skills– about 1% of the U. S. population


profoundretardation moderate retardation


• Down syndrome– mental retardation caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st

chromosome– occurs in 1 per 800-1000 births

• more common in those born to older mothers– accompanied by a distinct pattern of physical features

• flat nose, upwardly slanted eyes, protruding tongue, short neck

Extremely High Intelligence

• Giftedness– IQ above 130

• Lewis Terman studied 1500 gifted high school students for more than seven decades.– These students were not unhealthy or poorly adjusted. They had above average

physical health and social relationships.– Many went on to achieve levels of education and to enter prestigious

professions, such as law, medicine, and science.

Sex Differences in Intelligence

• However, the average difference between men and women is small compared to the average differences within each sex.

• Sex differences in intelligence reflect both nature (brain lateralization, hormones) and nurture (social expectations and discrimination).

Women Surpass Men in:• verbal ability• emotional

intelligence

Men Surpass Women in:• spatial

ability• math skills

Racial Differences in Intelligence

• There are differences between racial and ethnic groups in the mean IQ.– The mean IQ of Jews and East Asians is somewhat higher than that of Whites in

general.– Blacks and Hispanic have averages somewhat lower than those of Whites.

• The mean IQ distribution for African Americans is about 85. That for Hispanics is about 93.

• Biases in intelligence tests themselves do not seem to be large enough to wholly explain these differences.

Racial Differences in Intelligence

• Eugenics– the proposal that one can improve the human species by permitting the

reproduction of only those people with genetic characteristics judged desirable– popular in the U. S. early in the 20th century

• supported by prominent psychologists and included in high-school and college curricula

– led to policies restricting immigration and requiring sterilization, especially of poor ethnic and racial minorities

Stereotype Threat

• Stereotype threat– performance decrements caused by the knowledge of cultural stereotypes– Test situations may activate negative stereotypes among targeted groups,

draining cognitive capacity and creating anxiety. In turn, performance is impaired.

The Social, Cultural, and Political Aspects of Intelligence

• Key Takeaways– IQ is distributed in the population in the form of a normal distribution (a bell

curve).– Mental retardation is a generalized disorder entailing an IQ below 70, deficits

since childhood, and trouble with basic life skills, such as dressing and feeding oneself and communicating with others. One cause of mental retardation is Down syndrome.

– Extremely intelligent individuals are not unhealthy or poorly adjusted, but are above average in physical health.

– Men and women have almost identical intelligence, but men have more variability in their IQ scores than do women

The Social, Cultural, and Political Aspects of Intelligence

• Key Takeaways, continued– On average, men do better than women on tasks requiring spatial ability,

whereas women do better on verbal tasks and score higher on emotional intelligence.

– Although their bell curves overlap considerably, there are also average group differences for members of different racial and ethnic groups.

– These differences have at times led to malicious attempts to correct for them, such as the eugenics movement in the early part of the 20th century.

– The situation in which one takes a test may create stereotype threat—performance decrements that are caused by the knowledge of cultural stereotypes.

COMMUNICATING WITH OTHERSThe Development and Use of Language

Communicating With Others

• Learning Objectives:1. Review the components and structure of language.2. Explain the biological underpinnings of language.3. Outline the theories of language development.

The Components of Language

• th e in fo rm a ti o n su rro u n d in g la n g u a g e• e.g.,

kn o w led ge, gestu res, to n e o f vo ice , etc .

context

• th e r u les fo r co n s tru c tin g sen te n ces• e.g., n o u n

p h r ase + verb p h r ase ( Th e ca t + sta lked th e mo u se. )

syntax

• th e sma l lest u n i ts o f mea n in g in a la n g u a g e• e.g. , sta lk + -

ed

morphemes

• th e sma l les t u n i ts o f so u n d th a t ma ke a mea n in g fu l d iff eren ce i n a la n g u a g e• e.g ., /s/ , /t/ ,

etc .

phonemes

The Biology and Development of Language

• Children who are not exposed to language early in life will likely never learn one.– Case studies of abandoned or severely deprived show that some socialization is

possible after puberty, but the development of language is not.– Deaf children who are not exposed to sign language in their early years probably

will not learn it.

The Critical Period Hypothesis

• Critical period– A time in which learning can occur easily

• For language learning, the critical period lasts between infancy and puberty. After puberty, learning language is difficult, if not impossible.

• More recent research indicates that language learning can occur during adulthood, but less easily than during childhood.

The Biology of Language

• For most people the left hemisphere is specialized for language.

• Broca’s area, near the motor cortex, is involved in language production.

• Wernicke’s area, near the auditory cortex, is specialized for language comprehen-sion.

Learning Language

2 days can distinguish between sounds of native and foreign languages.

6-8 weeksbegins making vowel sounds

7 monthsbabbling – intentional vocalizations lacking specific meaning

1-3 yearsUtterances contain many phonological errors and pronunciations are simplified, but speech becomes increasinglyaccurate.

Phonological Development

Learning Language

6 monthsunderstands own name

10-12 monthsbegins to understand commonly used words

produces first words – usually nouns – at about 12 months

2 yearsvocabulary of several hundred wordsYoung children often overextend the meanings of the words they use.

5 yearsvocabulary of several thousand words

10 yearsvocabulary of 50,000 words

By college, vocabulary increases to 200,000 words.

Morphological Development

Learning Language

• Syntactic development– Early sentences may include only the noun.– Sentences later increase to two words.– These early sentences begin to follow the syntax of the child’s native language.

How Children Learn Language: Theories of Language Acquisition

• “nurture” approach– Language development occurs through principles of learning, such as

association, reinforcement, and observation.– Associated with Skinner– Children do seem to modify their language based on imitation, reinforcement

and shaping.– But children learn language too fast for it to occur solely through reinforcement.– Deaf children whose parents don’t use ASL learn to sign on their own, and make

up sign languages if they need to.

How Children Learn Language: Theories of Language Acquisition

• “nature” approach– Associated with Chomsky– Human brains include a language acquisition device, which includes a universal

grammar underlying all human language.– deep structure – how an idea is represented in the fundamental universal

grammar– surface structure – how an idea is expressed in a particular language– Psychologists agree that babies are genetically programmed to learn language.– But the evidence for a universal grammar is limited.

Bilingualism and Cognitive Development

• Bilingualism– the ability to speak two languages– related to better cognitive functioning, cognitive flexibility, and analytic skills– associated with higher neural density in language areas of the left hemisphere

Can Animals Learn Language?

• Nonhuman animals have a wide variety of communication systems.– Male songbirds sing to attract mates and protect territory.– Chimpanzees use facial expressions and actions to convey aggression.– Honeybees dance to attract other bees to food sources.– Vervet monkeys use specific sounds to communicate specific meanings.

Can Animals Learn Language?

• Efforts to teach nonhuman animals language have met with only limited success.– Catherine and Keith Hayes raised a chimpanzee named Viki in their home along

with their children. But Viki could never speak, due to the limitations of her vocal cords.

– Allen and Beatrix Gardner taught a chimpanzee named Washoe to sign using ASL. Washoe could label 250 objects and make simple requests and commands.

– Washoe’s adopted daughter Loulis learned 70 signs simply by watching Washoe.

• The most proficient nonhuman language speaker is Kanzi, a bonobo

Kanzi’s language abilities

resemble humans’.

Kanzi does not

have a true

language like

humans do.

Kanzi’s langauge is focused mostly on food and pleasure.

Kanzi takes a long time to learn each new word.

Kanzi’s syntax is at the level of a 2-year-old human.

Kanzi generates very few new phrases.

Kanzi learns by observation.

Kanzi learned faster when he was younger.

Kanzi uses symbols to comment on social interactions.

Kanzi created an elementary syntax.

Language and Perception

• Linguistic relativity – The idea that language and its structures influence and limit human thought– Proposed by Benjamin Whorf, an American linguist– Research examining color and number perception among preliterate cultures has

provided only limited support for the notion of linguistic relativity.

COMMUNICATING WITH OTHERS

• Key Takeaways– Language involves both the ability to comprehend spoken and written words and

to speak and write. Some languages are sign languages, in which the communication is expressed by movements of the hands.

– Phonemes are the elementary sounds of our language, morphemes are the smallest units of meaningful language, syntax is the grammatical rules that control how words are put together, and contextual information is the elements of communication that help us understand its meaning.

– Recent research suggests that there is not a single critical period of language learning, but that language learning is simply better when it occurs earlier.

– Broca’s area is responsible for language production. Wernicke’s area is responsible for language comprehension.

– Language learning begins even before birth. An infant usually produces his or her first words at about 1 year of age.

COMMUNICATING WITH OTHERS

• Key Takeaways, continued– One explanation of language development is that it occurs through principles of

learning, including association, reinforcement, and the observation of others.– Noam Chomsky argues that human brains contain a language acquisition module

that includes a universal grammar that underlies all human language. Chomsky differentiates between the deep structure and the surface structure of an idea.

– Although other animals communicate and may be able to express ideas, only the human brain is complex enough to create real language.

– Our language may have some influence on our thinking, but it does not affect our underlying understanding of concepts.

Intelligence and Language

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