The theory of multiple intelligences was proposed by ________

Measuring Intelligence
INTRODUCTION

There is a good chance that you have had at least some experience being interviewed—perhaps a job interview or a college admittance interview. What do interviewers want to find out about you? You might have heard questions similar to these:

“What experience do you have waiting tables?”

“Why does studying literature interest you?”

“How would you react if you saw a kid struggling in the pool while you are the lifeguard?”

“So you’re Bill Hanson’s kid? What’s that old rascal up to these days?”

Except for the last question (and let’s face it; sometimes it’s more about who you know than whatyou know), these are questions meant to assess your skills as well as your intelligence—which is related to skill. But what is intelligence? Is it just one thing or a combination of things? Intelligence is defined as your ability to use knowledge to do many things:

• reason

• make decisions

• make sense of events

• solve problems

• understand complex ideas

• learn quickly

• adapt to environmental challenges

Interviews are used to gauge intelligence, but increasingly standardized psychometric tests—tests that examine what people know and how they solve problems—are used to measure intelligence as well. Standardized psychometric tests tend to fall under two types: achievement tests assess people’s current level of skill and of knowledge, while aptitude tests try to predict what skills and jobs people will be good at in the future.

In this ZAPS lab, you will have a chance to experience some specific types of questions that appear on many aptitude tests—including tests used to determine suitably to graduate school programs and jobs.

Instructions:

In this section you can try your hand at answering 20 reasoning problems. There are 4 different question types—all of which are sometimes used in intelligence tests. For each category there are 5 questions.

The first thing you should do is relax. This is not an intelligence test. Among the many differences between this and an actual intelligence test is the fact that you aren't being timed, and actual intelligence tests are usually timed in some manner. However, if you find it is taking too long to answer a question, just guess. Most intelligence tests are also fairly long, and they get progressively tougher.

After you click an answer choice, press 'Submit Answer' to see if your answer was correct or incorrect and to see some feedback.

The first task involves Mathematical Sequences. For each sequence, indicate from the choices which number comes next in the sequence. Note that there is only one correct answer. You'll see five mathematical sequence questions.

Your aim in this ZAPS lab is to:

Click or tap a choice to answer the question.

a) Choose one topic area from the given four, and answer questions relevant to that topic.

b) Answer questions in topic areas of your choice, as quickly as possible.

c) Participate in a timed intelligence test, and gain information about your overall intelligence.

d) Answer questions in the different topic areas, without focusing on speed.

EXPERIENCE

Instructions

The next task involves Analogies (“________ is to x as y is to _________.”) For each analogy, choose an option from each of the two columns. Note that there is only one correct combination. You will see five analogy questions.

Instructions:

The next task involves Dynamic Images. For each question, you will see a series of 5 images. These images are related to each other in a some way. Because of this relation, only one of the images on the bottom can succeed the sequence (in the space indicated with a question mark). Select that image by clicking on it. Note that there is only one correct option. You will see five dynamic image questions.

Instructions :

The final task tests Spatial Ability. For each question, you will see an "unfolded image" on top. Below that, folded images are presented. Your task is to click on the folded image that is identical to the unfolded image. Note that there is only one correct option. An example of this type of problem is given below.

https://digital.wwnorton.com/zaps/labs/measuring_intelligence/fig1.png

(The correct answer for this sample problem is #1—the left-most choice.) You will answer five spatial ability questions.

Data Introduction:

In this ZAPS lab there were three distinct types of tasks, and four categories. Your data will show the number of correct answers (out of five) in each of the four categories shown in parentheses:

1. Numerical tasks test your mathematical skill (numerical insight)

2. Word tasks test your verbal skills (analogies)

3. Picture tasks test your abstract ability (dynamic images) and spatial insight (spatial insight)

Would you want your intelligence to judged solely on the basis of the results of intelligence tests? Why or why not?

You will initially receive full credit for any answer, but your instructor may review your response later.

Submit Answer

YOUR DATA

DISCUSSION

Standardized psychometric tests are used (sometimes controversially) at the elementary and high school levels to assess both individual student achievement and—in some cases—to judge the performance of teachers and schools. In some states they are used at the higher education level as well. Less controversially, intelligence tests are also widely used to detect learning disabilities in children.

Intelligence tests are used to measure the skill levels and aptitudes of potential employees. In combination with interviews, employers may use the scores on the different subtypes of intelligence tests to assess an applicant's aptitude to perform a specific job. For example, it may be more important for an architect to have better spatial insight, and a lawyer to have strong verbal and analytical skills.

Intelligence tests have a long history. The Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) of China, for example, used difficult civil service examinations to select scholar-officials for government posts. Modern Western intelligence tests date back over a hundred years to Alfred Binet, a psychologist commissioned by the French Ministry of Education to devise a way to identify children with learning problems. As part of this effort, Binet conducted a measurment of individuals called their mental age—determined by comparing a child's test score with the average score for children for each chronological age.

Another psychologist, Wilhelm Stern, created a better known measurement of intelligence called intelligence quotient (IQ) partly based on mental age. A child's IQ is determined by dividing mental age by chronological age and multiplying the result by 100. Adult IQs are measured in comparison with the average adult, and not with adults at different ages. Named for psychologist David Wechsler, the WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) is another widely used intelligence test. WAIS tests are divided between verbal and performance parts—in a similar but much more sophisticated way to the Experience in this ZAPS lab. The WAIS verbal part measures comprehension, vocabulary, and general knowledge and includes tests of working memory. The performance part involves nonverbal tasks and measures reaction times.

One question that has plagued intelligence testing is whether there is a kind of general, overarching intelligence, or more discrete and independent kinds of intelligence. Many intelligence tests include several subtests. Appreciating a person’s intelligence, therefore, requires an understanding of how the results of the subtests relate to one another. Charles Spearman invented a statistical technique known as factor analysis to measure the relationships among different skills and intelligence test tasks. The essence of factor analysis is to identify traits that correlate, and those that can be significantly differentiated from other traits. For example, there is usually a moderate-to-high positive correlation between scores on verbal portions and math portions of IQ tests. Given the strength of correlations among different skills, Spearman claimed that performance on individual sections of intelligence tests was due to the existence of a g factor (for "general intelligence"). In other words, what makes someone score high (or low) on both the verbal and math sections of a test is general intelligence.

Even if there are moderate correlations between someone’s verbal and math scores, we can all think of people (perhaps ourselves) who are good at reading comprehension and vocabulary, but can't calculate a 20 percent tip. Or maybe one of your friends is a mathematical genius, but has no social skills at all. A prominent view in contemporary psychology is that of modularity, which claims that cognitive skills are mutually independent of each other. Robert Sternberg popularized this notion in the 1980s by claiming that intelligence is made up by three components: an analytical, creative and practical component. The analytical component refers to the capacity for using learned strategies while solving problems. The creative component involves the ability to solve problems in more novel and creative ways (e.g., "thinking outside the box"). The practical component of intelligence refers to "real world" problem solving skills ("How can I stop my neighbor’s dog from barking while I study for my exam?"). The concept of modularity has also been supported by research in neuropsychology and language.

Based on the research in neuropsychology and psychology, Howard Gardner proposed that there are actually eight distinct kinds of intelligence:

1. verbal

2. visual-spatial

3. logical-mathematical

4. musical

5. intrapersonal (the ability to understand oneself)

6. interpersonal (the ability to understand other people)

7. naturalistic (the ability to understand patterns in nature)

8. bodily-kinesthetic (the ability to learn and create complex patterns of movement)

Gardner based these divisions on studies conducted on savants, who are mentally challenged in most areas, but extremely gifted in at least one. For instance, some savants demonstrate remarkable mathematical or musical abilities, but are otherwise profoundly disabled. Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory is popular with many educators because it is much more flexible than standard measures of intelligence (verbal and logical-mathematical).

Based on what you know and have seen, do you think either of the two broad theories of intelligence—"general intelligence" or "modularity"—is more plausible than the other? Why?

You will initially receive full credit for any answer, but your instructor may review your response later.

Submit Answer

LEARNING CHECK

1. Maya enjoys reading, writing and public speaking. Words are her strength overall, and she excels in Literature and Drama at school. She despises Mathematics, and always does badly on quizzes and exams. According to contemporary views on intelligence, Maya’s advanced verbal skill and relatively poor mathematical skill can be attributed to:

Click or tap a choice to answer the question.

a) Modularity

b) the “g” factor

c) she is a savant

2. Of the four areas of intelligence that appeared in the Experience (numerical insight, analogies, dynamic images and spatial insight), a writer would most likely excel in analogies, and a sculptor would probably excel in spatial insight.

Click or tap a choice to answer the question.

a) True

b) False

3. According to the multiple intelligences theory proposed by Howard Gardner, a professional ballerina and a professional football player would likely have _________ intelligence in common.

Click or tap a choice to answer the question.

a) bodily-kinesthetic

b) musical

c) intrapersonal

d) logical-mathematical