Intelligence

and Achievement
 What is Intelligence??
IQ (Intelligence quotient) is an index of how people
perform on a standardized intelligence test relative to
others of the same age.
Non-scientists associate problem-solving ability, verbal
ability and social competence with intelligence.
Three big questions:
– Is IQ unitary (one general ability) or multi-faceted (many different
abilities)?
– To what extent do genetics and environmental influences affect
IQ?
– Is IQ important in predicting academic success and real-life
success?
 Theories Of Intelligence

The Factor Analytic Approach

– Factor analysis: STATISTICAL PROCEDURE
FOR FINDING PATTERNS OF
INTERCORRELATIONS;
Answers questions like: "Do people who do
well on tests of spatial ability also do well on
vocabulary tests?" and "Do people who are
poor on spatial ability have a low
vocabulary?" If so, then there is a general
ability that influences performance in both
these areas.
 Factor analysis results

– General factor (g) and specific factors (s)

comprise intelligence (Spearman)
– Thurstone proposed seven primary skills;
de-emphasized g.
– Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence
Relationship of g and specific abilities
Verbal meaning
Thurman’s seven
Perceptual speed primary skills of
intelligence
Reasoning

Number

Rote memory

Word fluency

Spatial
visualization
 Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Adapt, select,
and shape to
Ability to needs

Encode,
tailor one’s
behavior to
combine,
demands of Exposure
compare context and
information
practice

Information- IQ Experience
processing with a given
skills task/situation
 Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory
1.) Information Processing Skills: Sternberg emphasizes the
cognitive processing skills underlying intelligence. These skills used
abilities such as encoding ability, attention, memory, and
metacognition (e.g., what you know about memory strategies),
(Covered in Chapter 9).
2.) Experience: Intelligence involves the ability to bring together
previous experiences to solve novel problems. The more the
problem directly resembles something you have previously learned,
the less related it is to intelligence. "Teaching for the test" is an
attempt to make IQ less important.
3.) Context: Intelligent people are able to adjust the way they solve
problems and process information depending on context--for
example, being able to transfer skills learned in one context to a new
context. An intelligent person would be able to transfer research
skills formed as a psychology major to a job as a stock broker.
 Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory
Sternberg attempts to de-emphasize the
practical importance of traditional IQ tests. (This
is quite the opposite of the article by Linda
Gottfredson who shows the power of general
intelligence (g) to predict success in life. See the
link at the beginning of this file.)
Sternberg's successful intelligence is "the ability
to fit into, mold and choose environments that
best fulfill the demands of one's society and
one's own needs and desires." It includes
analytical, creative and practical abilities.
Sternberg’s Successful intelligence

Three abilities to meet one’s own goals

Analytic: Analytical abilities are the skills tested in
traditional IQ tests and may be assumed to basically
reflect general intelligence.

Creative: the ability to address new ways of

addressing issues and problems; artistic creativity is
not correlated with general intelligence.

Practical: Practical abilities often involve tacit

knowledge--practical knowledge needed to do a job;
e.g., a mechanic's knowledge of socket wrenches.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences

Intrapersonal Musical
Logical- naturalist
Linguistic mathematical
Bodily-
Spatial Interpersonal kinesthetic
 Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences
1.) Linguistic: Sensitivity to word meanings; mastery of
syntax. Poet

2.) Logico-Mathematical: Understanding of objects,

symbols, and actions that can be performed on
them. ability to operate in the abstract.
Mathemetician, scientist

3.) Spatial: Accurate perception of visual world; ability

to transform perceptions and mentally re-create
visual experience; artist, engineer.
The above three intelligences are specific abilities in
the hierarchical model of general intelligence
(g).
 Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences
4.) Musical: Sensitivity to musical tones and
phrases; ability to combine musical ideas. Musician,
composer

5.) Bodily kinesthetic: Skilled and graceful use of

one's body for expressive, or goal-directed
purposes;
dancer, athlete

6.) Intrapersonal: Access to one's own feeling life;

Novelest, psychotherapist
 Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences
7.) Interpersonal: Ability to notice and distinguish
among others' moods, temperaments, motives &
intentions; Political or religious leader

8.) Naturalistic: Insight into the natural world; ability

to identify life forms; biologist, naturalist.

9.) Spirituality or existential intelligence: Guru?

4-9 not well studied.

 Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences
Each type of intelligence has its own developmental timetable and is
guided by its own unique forms of perception, learning, and memory.
Each intelligence is an adaptation in the evolutionary sense:
– It is designed by natural selection to perform a certain specific function. It deals
with a specific kind of information as input and has specific types of outputs.
– For example, musical intelligence works on specific types of input (rhythms,
harmonies) and results in specific types of output (symphonies, Broadway
musicals).
– This is not the case with general intelligence where people high on g are good
at a whole range of cognitive tasks.
– These intelligences are examples of the sorts of cognitive adaptations proposed
by evolutionary psychologists; see pp. 21-22.

Each intelligence can give rise to precocious geniuses, such as Mozart, who
develop extraordinary abilities at a very early age. Idiot savants, such as
people who can multiply large numbers but are deficient in everything
else, also support the theory; e.g., the autistic person in Rain Man.
 Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences
Some of these abilities are at the second level under g in the
hierarchical model of intelligence (see above): spatial,
numerical, social/verbal, logic/analysis, causal.
– This implies that the theory of multiple intelligences is consistent with
the hierarchical model that includes general intelligence.

Bodily-kinesthetic and some others are not related to general

intelligence.

Criticism: There are no standard assessment techniques.

 The Traditional Approach:
Testing Intelligence
Intelligence quotient (IQ): index of performance
on standardized tests
Can change over life span:
– In general, information processing ability (Fluid
Intelligence, Gf) peaks around age 30.
– But general knowledge and information (crystalized
intelligence, Gc) increases until old age.
 The Traditional Approach:
Testing Intelligence
Processes of intelligence: Mental and
neurophysiological processes influencing
intelligence

Products of intelligence: Skills and

abilities of people of varying intelligence.
 The Traditional Approach:
Testing Intelligence
Intelligence quotient (IQ): index of performance
on standardized tests
– Can change over life span
– Results can only infer capacity
Processes of intelligence: Mental and
neurophysiological processes influencing
intelligence
Products of intelligence: Skills and abilities of
people of varying intelligence.
Primary purposes of intelligence testing
– Predict academic and job performance
– Assess general adjustment and health
 The Traditional Approach: The
Fagen Test of Infant Intelligence
The Fagen Test focuses on infant's selective attention to
novelty.
Example: If a red diamond shape is followed by a green
diamond and a green square, the baby will look at the
green square because it has already processed the
diamond shape and is more interested in the novelty.
Infant is presented with a photo of a face. The photo is
then paired with another face for two 5-second periods
with the order reversed.
 The Traditional Approach: The
Fagen Test of Infant Intelligence
The Fagen Test focuses on infant's selective attention to
novelty.
Example: If a red diamond shape is followed by a green
diamond and a green square, the baby will look at the
green square because it has already processed the
diamond shape and is more interested in the novelty.
Infant is presented with a photo of a face. The photo is
then paired with another face for two 5-second periods
with the order reversed.
The score is the total time spent looking at the novel
photograph. This involves:
– HABITUATION: Lessening of interest with repeated
presentations
– RECOVERY: the ability to recognize a new stimulus as novel
and to direct attention to it in preference to a familiar
stimulus.
 The Traditional Approach: The
Fagen Test of Infant Intelligence

 The test is used to screen children at

risk for very low IQ.
 Successfully identified 85% of children
with low IQ.
 Scores at 7 months moderately
predicted IQ at age 3 and age 5.
 The Traditional Approach: The
Fagen Test of Infant Intelligence

Rose & Feldman: Correlations of 0.3 to

0.4 between IQ in middle childhood
(age 11) and two measures in 7 month-
old infants:
VISUAL REGOGNITION MEMORY: Same
as the Fagen procedure.

CROSS-MODAL TRANSFER: Babies

allowed to manipulate object without
seeing it. Babies then shown pictures
of the object and another object.
 The Traditional Approach: The
Fagen Test of Infant Intelligence
Rose & Feldman: Correlations of 0.3 to 0.4 between IQ in
middle childhood (age 11) and two measures in 7
month-old infants:

VISUAL REGOGNITION MEMORY: Same as the Fagen

procedure.

CROSS-MODAL TRANSFER: Babies allowed to

manipulate object without seeing it. Babies then shown
pictures of the object and another object.
 The Traditional Approach: The
Fagen Test of Infant Intelligence

For both visual recognition memory and cross-modal

transfer, time spent looking at the novel object is
correlated with IQ at age 11.
The tests at age 11 that were most highly correlated with
infant scores were:
 SPEED OF PROCESSING. Speed of processing is a
critical skill related to intelligence, as noted in the
Gottfredson article.

 INHIBITION is also important: In order to pay attention

to the novel stimulus, the baby must be able to inhibit
the tendency to pay attention to the familiar stimulus.
 The Traditional Approach: The
Fagen Test of Infant Intelligence

THE BOTTOM LINE: SPEED OF PROCESSING AND

INHIBITORY ABILITY ARE TWO CRITICAL ABILITIES
UNDERLYING INTELLIGENCE.

Another ability underlying g is working memory: The

biggest contributor to individual differences in IQ is
differences in the ability to hold information in
conscious awareness.
Assessed by backward digit-span test: 936709364
 The Traditional Approach: The
Stanford-Binet Test
Used in schools and health settings
Has array of intellectual tasks
Age-related changes in learning built in
Devised mental age IQ = MA x 100
CA
If a 10-year-old child has a mental age of the average 12-year-
old, his IQ is 12/10 * 100 = 120.
If a 10-year-old child has a mental age of the average 8-year-
old, his IQ is 8/10 8 100 = 80.
Stanford-Binet Test: Relationship of g and specific
abilities
 The Stanford-Binet Test
Originated in early 1900s by Binet and Simon as a
means of placing children in appropriate tracks in school-
-basically a project of finding questions that
discriminated among children and successfully predicted
school performance (grades, teachers' opinions). They
didn't have a theory.
The point was to find items that discriminated among
children as follows:
The items of the test were retained only if they were
useful in sorting children by age. E.g., an item would be
retained if it was passed by 40% of 5-year olds, 60% of
6-year-olds, and 80% of 7-year-olds.
Mental age is an index of child's performance level
compared to the average for children of the same age.
 The Traditional Approach:
Testing Intelligence
Other IQ tests:
– The Wechsler Scales
Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of
Intelligence (WPPSI)
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
(WISC)
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
Separate verbal and performance scores
 The Traditional Approach: The
Wechsler Scales
The Wechsler Scales: Separate verbal and
performance scores
Verbal: General information, arithmetic,
similarities between words, digit span
Performance: Picture completion, Picture
arrangement, Reproducing Block designs,
assemble jigsaw puzzle
 The Traditional Approach: The
Wechsler Scales
Wechsler introduced the deviation IQ. in which IQ is
measured in terms of standard deviations from the mean of
children the same age.
This results in the familiar Bell Curve. Average IQ is 100.
An IQ of 115 is 1 Standard Deviation above the mean, 130
is 2 standard deviations above the mean.
 WISC-IV
Arithmetic

Similarities Letter-number sequencing

Vocabulary Picture completion

Information Comprehension

Cancellation Word Reasoning

Block Design Picture concepts

Digit span Matrix reasoning

 The Traditional Approach:
Constructing Measures of
Intelligence
– Psychometrician: test constructor
– Development of norms: Values that describe the
typical test performance of a specific group of people.
Tests are normed for groups having a characteristic
such as age or nationality in common.

– Standardization: The process by which test

constructors ensure that testing procedures,
instructions, and scoring are identical, or as nearly
identical as possible, on every testing occasion.
 The Traditional Approach:
Constructing Measures of
Intelligence

– Validity and Reliability

Validity: THE ACCURACY WITH WHICH A
MEASURING INSTRUMENT ASSESSES THE
ATTRIBUTE THAT IT IS DESIGNED TO MEASURE
CORRELATED WITH MEASURES OF SCHOOL
PERFORMANCE:
– TEACHERS' EVALUATIONS, GRADES;
– the correlations typically are moderate: 0.5 < r < 0.7;
– GOTTFREDSON ARTICLE: THERE ARE A LOT OF
OTHER REAL-WORLD CORRELATES OF IQ.
Reliability:THE CONSISTENCY OR
REPEATABILITY OF A
MEASURING INSTRUMENT
The Traditional Approach:
Constructing Measures of
Intelligence

IQ TESTS MAY NOT TAP SKILLS

IMPORTANT IN OTHER CULTURES (ACT
AS A SUCCESSFUL URBAN CANDY
VENDOR IN BRAZIL) OR MANY SKILLS
VALUED IN OUR CULTURE:
conscientiousness, athletic ability, and
sociability.
Conscientiousness is the other trait
besides IQ that is important for predicting
school success and job success.
 The Traditional Approach:
Testing Intelligence
Stability of Measured Intelligence
– Longitudinal studies

STABILITY DECREASES WITH AGE INTERVAL: longer

intervals show lower stability.
2.) STABILITY HIGHER FOR SIMILAR LENGTH INTERVAL
AT LATER AGES; there is more stability for a two-year
interval from age 12-14 than from age 4-6.
Correlation of .7 between age 8 and 18.
The ages of 6 and 10 seem to be ages when change in IQ
is most likely. Age 6 is when children are undergoing
changes that allow them to think more abstractly and
conceptually. This is the age when, in Piaget's theory,
children go from the Pre-operational to the Concrete
Operational Stage. Age 10??
 Flynn Effect
FLYNN EFFECT: IQ has been increasing—
about 15 points between 1932 and 1978.
Not clear why this is: Better nutrition is a
strong possibility. (Recall the cohort effects on
age of menarche in Chapter 6.)
The textbook comments that "Whether gains
were larger in certain groups, such as those
with lower ability levels, and whether they can
be observed in different generations of the
same families, remains unknown."
 Why Do People Differ In Measured
Intelligence?: Genetics and
Intelligence
Responsible estimates of 40% to 80% of the variation in IQ is because
people have different genes
The degree of genetic influence (=heritability) increases as children
get older. Jensen argues that the 80% estimate would apply to
intelligence in later adulthood, while in childhood only about 40% of
the differences among children are due to genetic differences.

Stephen Ceci: Less than 40%.

All agree that environmental differences have an effect;

environmental differences may be social (family, peers, school) or
non-social (nutrition, pollutants, diseases).

The fact that a trait is caused by genes does not mean that it can't be
influenced by the environment.
Example: Blindness, deafness, Pheylketonuria (PKU).
 Heritability
HERITABILITY IS A MEASURE OF THE
PROPORTION OF VARIATION FOR A GIVEN TRAIT,
SUCH AS INTELLIGENCE, THAT IS CAUSED BY
GENETIC VARIATION.
A HERITABILITY OF 1.00 WOULD MEAN THAT ALL
THE VARIATION IN INTELLIGENCE WAS THE
RESULT OF GENETIC VARIATION. (NONE OF THE
VARIATION COMES FROM REARING IN DIFFERENT
ENVIRONMENTS.)
A HERITABILITY OF 0.00 WOULD MEAN THAT NONE
OF THE VARIATION IN INTELLIGENCE WAS DUE TO
GENETIC VARIATION. (ALL THE VARIATION COMES
FROM REARING IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS.)
 Heritability
Estimates of heritability apply to the entire
population studied;
Estimates of heritability are averages, and they do
not apply to particular people.
Can't say: He has a heritability of .6 for IQ.
Can say: For a random sample of the Long Beach
Public Schools, the heritability of IQ is .6.
This would be compatible with some children's IQ
being strongly influenced by the environment and
other children's IQ not being influenced by the
environment.
The heritability estimate is an average of all the
influences for the entire sample
 Why Do People Differ In Measured
Intelligence?: Genetic Views
Associative learning (Level I learning): short-term
memory, rote learning, simple associative skills.
Example: Child recalls list of familiar objects.
Cognitive learning (Level II learning): abstract
thinking, symbolic processes, using language in
problem solving.
– Example: What is the next number in the following
series? 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 17 ...
– How are an apple and a banana alike?

Jensen: Only tasks involving cognitive learning

(Level II learning) predict school performance;
these are the skills that tap intelligence and
differentiate high IQ people from low IQ people.
 Why Do People Differ In
Measured Intelligence?
Heritability (degree of genetic influence) depends
on the sample being studied. (p. 429):
Kagan (1969): In countries with high levels of
nutrition and health care, most of the variation in
height is because people have different genes.
But in countries where there are vast differences
in nutrition and health care, most of the variation
in height is because people live in different
environments.
Therefore, you cannot suppose that the same
estimate of the heritability of height would apply
to the two groups.
 Why Do People Differ In
Measured Intelligence?
Heritability (degree of genetic influence) depends on the
sample being studied. (p. 429):
Another example:
1606: 400 YEARS AGO, ONLY RICH PEOPLE ATE WELL.
RESULT: MOST OF THE PHENOTYPIC VARIATION IN
HEIGHT WAS THE RESULT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
VARIATION. IN SOME COUNTRIES THIS CONTINUES TO
BE THE CASE.

2006: IN THE US, ALMOST EVERYONE EATS ENOUGH TO

ACHIEVE THEIR MAXIMUM HEIGHT
RESULT: MOST OF THE PHENOTYPIC VARIATION IN
HEIGHT IS THE RESULT OF GENETIC VARIATION.
BASICALLY THE IDEA IS THAT IF YOU GET RID OF ALL
THE ENVIRONMENTAL SOURCES OF VARIATION, THE
REST OF THE VARIATION IS GOING TO BE THE RESULT
OF GENETIC VARIATION.
 Environmental variation has most effect in poor
environments, especially abusive environments

ABUSIVE VERSUS NORMAL ENVIRONMENTS

IQ
Gain from
Bad E’s have Better Normal
Accelerating E
Negative effects
On IQ

__________|___________________|_____
ABUSIVE NORMAL ENRICHED
 Environmental variation has most effect in poor
environments, especially abusive environments

ABUSIVE VERSUS NORMAL ENVIRONMENTS

Environmental influences are highest on the left hand side of this

graph.
If you had a sample of children who came from normal
environments, the degree of genetic influence would be relatively
high, but if you had a sample from abusive environments or even
perhaps the low end of normal environments, there would be more
evidence for environmental influence.
The empirical data supporting this is a bit mixed, but it is certainly
true that the degree of genetic influence is less if you are studying
only abused children.
The low end of normal environments in the US would be working
class people who send their kids to school but are not well educated
and are not much interested or able to provide a lot of intellectual
stimulation to their children.
The high end of normal would be yuppie-type, well educated parents
who desperately try to get their kids into the best schools, hire
tutors, and take them on trips the local art museum.)
 Why Do People Differ In
Measured Intelligence?
Environmental factors affecting IQ
– Pregnancy and birth problems: Prenatal
malnutrition, maternal disease (e.g.,
AIDS); These characteristics are
considered congenital--that is, they are
acquired either in utero or shortly after
birth; they are not inherited.
 Why Do People Differ In
Measured Intelligence?
Environmental factors affecting IQ

– The family: IQ correlated with family environments that

are "emotionally and verbally responsive to their
children, provide appropriate play and reading
materials, encourage children in school, etc.
– THESE FINDINGS COULD BE DUE TO PASSIVE
GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT CORRELATIONS.
Parent

Genes Env.
Child
 Why Do People Differ In
Measured Intelligence?
Environmental factors affecting IQ
– Schools and Peer Groups: Ceci:

Lack of formal education or "dropping out" of

school associated with DECLINES in IQ.
IQ declines during summer vacation
Children whose birthdays barely qualify them
for school entry have higher IQs.
 Why Do People Differ In
Measured Intelligence?
Environmental factors affecting IQ
Peer culture: Compared to European-American
children, peer groups of Asian Americans
supported each others' academic pursuits and
participated in education-related activities such
as studying together. They were less involved in
dating and general socializing. Linked with
higher achievement.
African-Americans: Peer groups express anti-
academic attitudes, ridiculing and isolating
students who try to succeed at school. Children
may try to fit in by not taking school seriously.
Community: Isolated rural areas tend to be
associated with lower IQ.
 Asian American

80 European American
Chinese
Japanese
60

40

20

Figure 10-2
0
Studying A good
hard teacher
 Ethnicity, Social Class, And
Intellectual Performance

Social class
– Social class: education, occupation, income,
lifestyle, housing, possessions, use of time

– Social class: Lower SES children score 10-15

points below Middle SES children.
Differences can be found at 18 months of
age. Therefore not due to the school system.
 Social Class and Parent-Child
Interaction:
Middle-class mothers more likely to speak in
response to babies' vocalizations, and infants
tended to stop vocalizing when moms spoke to
them. Opposite with lower-class mother-baby
pairs.
Middle-class mothers generally more involved
with babies.
Within African-American families, similar
differences can be found between lower- and
middle-class families: Middle class A-A mothers
gave more complex reasons for rules and
guidelines.
 80
Japanese
Chinese
60
American

40

20

0
Very Satisfied Not
satisfied satisfied Figure 10-7
Attitudes toward children’s academic performance
Box 10-1: Asian students higher on math scores; Figures
10-6 and 10-7 Differences:

Chinese and Japanese mothers see academics as most

important thing a child does.
They are more likely to help children with homework.
Strictly monitor children's homework and play time.
They do not think that intelligence is innate but attribute
the success of their children to studying hard. This is an
incremental theory of intelligence as a body of skills that
can be increased with effort.
They think their children are average, while American
mothers think their children are smarter than they really
are.
Box 10-1: Asian students higher on math scores; Figures
10-6 and 10-7 Differences:

Americans spend less time on homework, more

on play and chores.
Americans read more and provide more general
intellectual stimulation rather than focusing
specifically on academic achievement.
American students require more supervision
and non-academic input from teacher
(Therapist, counselor).
American students less disciplined. Classrooms
are more disorderly.
 Cognitive Intervention Studies
Interventions: Head Start
– 3-4-year old children. IQ increases
immediately after program but tends to
decline over time.
– No long term effect on IQ.
– Positive effects on achievement tests,
placement in special education and
criminal behavior.
 Cognitive Intervention Studies
Interventions: The Abecedarian Project
– Increased percentage of children
retained in grade up to age 15 (Box 11-
3);
– Effects on achievement tests also were
found.
– Again, no long term effects on IQ.
 60

50
Children
40
retained
in grade 30
(percent)
20

10

0 Figure 10-9
Control Preschool
intervention

Treatment group
Characteristics of successful
intervention programs
 Timing: Must begin by age 2 and continue until kindergarten;
Suggests Critical or Sensitive Period
 Intensity: Success influenced by how much time is spent in the
program.
The Abecedarian Project found that continued intervention had
beneficial effects, but not as much as the early intervention.
 Direct provision of learning experiences to children (as opposed to
working only with parents).
Must be academically oriented, not just play.
 Environmental maintenance of development:

"Unless poor or at-risk children are supported in multiple domains of

development beyond the preschool years, they will not develop the
skills, motivation, health and resources needed to succeed in the
school setting. Two-generation programs may, by helping parents,
create the support system children need to make academic
progress."
Beyond The Norms: Giftedness
And Mental Retardation

Intellectual giftedness: IQ over 130

Mental retardation: IQ below 70
Learning disabilities: speech, language, or
reading impairments;
– These are not deficits in general intelligence.
– They are deficits in specific abilities
– Recall Spearman’s theory.
Spearman: General and Specific
Abilities
 The Intellectually Gifted

Acceleration of gifted children works well.

– Accelerated children did not have low self-esteem;
only 5% of accelerated children felt that being moved ahead
had affected them negatively; at age 23,
only 3.3% believed that their socio-emotional adjustment was
negatively affected.
– Many mathematically gifted children graduate from college
before age 18.
Gifted children process information more rapidly. E.g., they could
distinguish two numbers or words faster
– Indicates they are better at speed of processing
– These tasks are like the elementary cognitive tasks discussed in
the Gottfredson article.
 Mental Retardation
Defined as IQ below 70 in presence of "adaptive behavior deficits.“
– Mild: 50–70
– Moderate: 35–50
– Severe: 20–35; may learn to read a few words and speak.
– Profound: < 20–25; require close supervision in sheltered
settings.

Mildly retarded children are often indistinguishable from others until

adolescence when they have problems with more advanced
academic work.
– 85% of retarded people are mildly retarded.
– Moderately retarded can benefit from vocational training.
– 95% of retarded people can hold jobs and live in the community.
 Creativity
Creativity: hard to define
– Has notion of uniqueness
– Creative ideas have usefulness
– Defined as ability to solve problems,
create products, or pose questions in a
unique way
– Not correlated with IQ
– Correlated with Personality Traits of
Openness and Extraversion
Are children creative?
– Inability to distinguish between reality and
fantasy is not really creative
– Many believe play facilitates creativity
 Creativity
Wallach & Kogan (1965)
– Small correlation between IQ and creativity
– High-IQ children are good at Convergent
thinking (=has goal of solving problems or
getting correct answers)
– High-Creative children are good at
divergent thinking (imaginative, seeks
variety and novelty)
– At high of IQ, there is a moderate
correlation between IQ and creativity.
Are children creative?
– Inability to distinguish between reality and
fantasy is not really creative
– Many believe play facilitates creativity
 Creativity

Are children creative?

– Inability to distinguish between reality and
fantasy is not really creative
– Many believe play facilitates creativity
The End