Variations in Psychological Attributes
Humans have individual differences and the way they think and behave varies.
Five Psychological attributes
Intelligence
Intelligence: The ability to think rationally, act purposefully, and effectively deal with environment.
Aptitude: An individual's potential for acquiring skills.
Interest: An individual's preferences.
Personality: Relatively enduring characteristics of an individual.
Values: A set of beliefs about the ideal mode of behavior.
This results in variation.
These variations could be biological or environmental,
The Situationist perspective believes behavior to be more influenced by external factors.
Founder: Alferd Binet
A key concept in understanding psychological attributes.
Definitions have been given by the Oxford Dictionary, Weschler, Alfred Binet, Gardner & Sternberg, etc
Assessment
It is the first step in understanding psychological attributes.
Types of Assessment
(1) Formal: Objective and Standardized
(2) Informal
Various Methods of Assessment
(1) Psychological testing:
(2) Interview
(3) Case study
(4) Observation
(5) Self-report
It is measured by IQ Quotient.
Formula:
IQ = Mental Age/Chronological Age×
100
Theories of Intelligence
Intellectual Deficiency
Intellectual Giftedness
Intelligence: Nature & Nurture
Two Approaches:
(1) Psychometric approach: Views intelligence as an aggregate.
(2) Information-processing approach: Focuses on the process of how intelligence is processed
Psychometric Theories
(1) Uni-Factor Theory, Alfred Binet
(2) Two-Factor Theory, Charles Spearman, 1927
(3) Theory of Primary Mental Abilities, Louis Thurstone
(4) Hierarchical Model of Intelligence, Arthur Jensen
(5) Structure of Intellect Model, J.P. Guilford
Information-processing Theories (1) Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner
(2) Triachic Theory of Intelligence, Robert Sternberg
(3) PASS Model of Intelligence, Jack Naglieri, J.P. Das, and Kirby
(1) Uni-factor theory considered one similar set of abilities in all.
(2) Two-factor theory consisted of two factors:G factor (abilities common to all) and S factor (special abilities)
(3) Theory of Primary Mental abilities consists of 7 primary mental abilities: Verbal comprehension, Numerical abilities, Spatial relations, Perceptual speed, Word fluency, Memory, and Inductive Reasoning.
(4) Hierarchical Model has two levels. Level 1 is associative learning, and the output is similar to input. Level 2 is cognitive competence, and the output is more than input.
(5) Structure of Intellect Model comprises 3 components: operations, contents, and products. The model has 180 (5 ×6×5) cells.
Theory of multiple intelligences
• Consists of 9 independent types of intelligences.
• Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Spatial, Musical, Bodily kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalistic, and Existential.
Triarchic Theory
• Consists of 3 kinds of intelligences.
• Componential or Analytical intelligence, Experimental or Creative intelligence, and Contextual or Environmental intelligence
PASS Model
• PASS stands from Planning, Arousal/Attention, Simultaneous or successive processing.
• A minimal arousal focuses our attention on stimuli.
• Simultaneous processing includes associating two things at the same time while successive processing includes recalling information serially.
• Planning refers to creating a mental plan of the possible courses of actions, implementing them, and evaluating their effectiveness.
Emotional Intelligence
Creativity
Aptitude
Both heredity and environment play an important role in intelligence.
• The evidence of heredity's connection with intelligence comes from twins and adoption studies.
• The studies show that kids have a similar IQ to that of their biological parents before the age of 6-7. Then, it shifts to the adoptive parents.
• They also show that disadvantaged children adopted into good families show an increased IQ.
IQ
• It stands for Intelligence Quotient.
• IQ scores are a formal measure of intelligence.
• Alfred Binet & Theodore Simon conceptualized Mental age.
• William Stern gave the formula of IQ.
• The average IQ is 100.
• IQ scores of people fall into a bell-shaped curve called the normal curve.
• People on either sides of the extremes (low and high) are rare and around 2.2%.
• Intellectual deficiency is categorized by an IQ score below 70.
• AAMD gives 3 characteristics of intellectual deficiency: Significantly sub-average intellectual functioning, deficits in adaptive behavior, and is developed during the developmental period.
• There are varying levels of intellectual deficiency, ranging from mild to profound.
(1) Mild: 50-69
(2) Moderate: 35-49
(3) Severe: 20-34
(4) Profound: Below 20
• Characterized by an IQ above 130.
• 3H defines intellectual giftedness: High commitment, creativity, and ability.
• Gifted children can also be identified by teacher's judgements, school achievement records, parent interviews, self and peer ratings, etc.
Terman's study of gifted children
• Terman, in the 1920s pursued 1500 gifted children throughout their lives.
• Why? To measure their occupational success and life adjustment.
Types of Intelligence Tests
(1) Verbal, non-verbal, or performance tests.
(2) Group tests or individual tests.
(3) Culture fair or culture biased tests.
Culture and Intelligence
• Our socio-cultural environment affects intelligence.
• While things like walking and running are universal, the way we think and problem-solve is largely culture-produced.
• Western countries value technological intelligence while Asian countries do not.
Intelligence in the Indian Tradition
• It is called Integral Intelligence.
• A holistic view of intelligence.
• Consists of 4 components: Cognitive, emotional, social, and entrepreneurial.
• EQ is the feeling side of intelligence.
• It is the ability to perceive one's and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the info toguide one's thinking and actions
• EQ is more important than IQ for attaining success in life.
• Creativity is the ability to produce something new and unique for novel causes.
• Every individual possesses some amount of creativity.
• Creaitivity is determined by both heredity and environment.
Creativity and intelligence have a positive correlation.
• A certain level of intelligence is necessary for the creative process.
• However, it is not necessary that an intelligent person may be creative.
• None of the gifted children in Terman's research came to be known for a creativity in their fields.
• Aptitude is the potential of an individual for acquiring skills.
• People with the same IQ may have different aptitudes.
• Both aptitude and interest in a certain field are necessary for success.
• Aptitude tests are used to measure Aptitude.
Types of Aptitude Tests
(1) Multiple or Generalized Aptitude Tests: DAT (consists of 8 subsets), GATB
(2) Independent or Specialized Aptitude Tests: Clerical Aptitude Test, Typing Aptitude Test