Cognitive Psychology, 2nd Ed..ppt

Cognitive Psychology, 2nd Ed. Chapter 15 Intelligence General Intelligence Intelligence Quotient (IQ): MA/CA x 100 General intelligence (g) Biological measures -perceptual-motor RT -ERP complexity General Intelligence Fluid vs. Crystallized intelligence General fluid intelligence correlated with central executive functions of working memory. PET activation in left lateral prefrontal cortex for both spatial and verbal problem solving—indicative of central executive involvement. Criticisms of g Verbal IQ and Performance IQ are dissociated in aging. IQ tests measure linguistic, logical-mathematical, and spatial intelligence. Musical, bodily-kinesthetic, and intra- and inter-personal intelligence are ignored by IQ tests. Nature vs. Nurture in IQ Heritability (h2): Proportion of variance caused by genetic differences. Heritability: correlation between identical twins reared apart (r = h2). Heritability increases with age from .4 in childhood to .75 in late adolescence. Multiple genes, probabilistic effects Nature vs. Nurture in IQ Extent of parents talking with young children predicts verbal IQ. Deprivation, neglect, and abuse harm IQ but is there a threshold for normal development? Nature vs. Nurture in IQ Preschool programs (e.g., HeadStart) increases chances of finishing school. Deprivation, neglect, and abuse harm IQ, but is there a threshold for normal development? Flynn Effect: Increase in IQ in industrialized nations of 3 points per decade since 1940. Sex Differences Understanding effect size (d = mean difference divided by standard deviation) d = .20 = small d = .50 = medium d = .80 = large Sex Differences Verbal ability: small advantage for females on some tests. Visuo-spatial ability: small to large advantage for males, depending on the specific test (e.g., mental rotation vs. spatial perception). Sex Differences Mathematical ability: small to medium advantage for males, because of larger male variability. Navigation: no sex advantage