~ What is Intelligence ~
What is intelligence? Simply defined, it is a combination of crystallized and fluid intelligence as measured by verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning and organization, working memory, and processing speed. David Wechsler, the guru of intelligence testing (s.f. the section following), defined intelligence as the capacity to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment (1944, p.3). Or, as we used to say in grad school, intelligence is what intelligence tests measure. Crystallized Intelligence refers to a
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general fund of knowledge, information that has been acquired and learned, whereas Fluid Intelligence refers to our abilities, or more specifically, that of novel problem solving, comprehension of information, adaptability, and inventiveness (comprising the ability to discover or create something new based upon information previously learned and to think on one's feet). The factors that determine intelligence are often complex and multitudinous, and include genetics and epigenetics, familial environment, lifestyle choices, exposure and observational learning, education, nutrition, sleep hygiene, physical fitness, psychological stability and trauma, biological factors, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, culture, temperament, and personality.
The Testing of Intelligence. The birth of intelligence testing began in 1908 in Vineland, New Jersey, by Henry Herber Goddard who later teamed with Alfred Binet in France. Goddard published the Binet and Simon Tests of Intellectual Capacity, for the purpose of assessing what was then referred to as 'feeble-minded' children, and shortly thereafter began administering the test to Ellis Island immigrants (having no relation whatsoever to 'feeble-mindedness!). The early Binet and Simon tests were replaced by the long-standing Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. In 1939 David Wechsler revised the
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Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale (WBIS), a test that served as the prototype for his 1955 Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), and followed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), and the Wechsler Adult Scale of Intelligence (WASI). The WAIS is the most widely administered test of intelligence world-wide.
Most WAIS tests are now computerized such that the administrator as well as the test-taker each have an iPad that are connected to one another and then synced in the cloud. Anything the test-taker touches or draws on their iPad instantly appears on the administrators iPad, ad vice versa. I find this manner of administration and scoring to be the most accurate and efficient. Elderly test-takers not familiar with a computer tablet or those that feel intimidated by the use of the iPad, can always be tested the old-fashioned way.
There are several important features that distinguish the Wechsler tests from all the others that came before (and have come after) it. Wechsler believed that intelligence is not a general term but rather, is a combination of verbal scales and non-verbal scales of performance. The Wechsler tests are incredibly complex test that take a significant amount of training to administer, score and especially to interpret, and can only be interpreted by those that hold a PhD in clinical psychology and have additional training in psychometric evaluation. The WAIS tests generate three sets of scores; what is referred to as an 'IQ' score is actually the tally of the scores from each of the two subtests. The current and fourth iteration of the WAIS is comprised of three tests of Verbal Comprehension, three tests of Perceptual Reasoning, two tests of Working Memory, and two tests of Processing Speed.
The 10 tests (AKA scales) assesses abstract thinking, concept formation, verbal reasoning, language development, expressive and areceptive language, long-term memory retrieval, the ability to learn and recall information, intellectual curiosity, alertness and attention, visuospatial and visuomotor skills, pattern recognition and analysis, ability to discriminate objects and designs, non-verbal reasoning, visual inelligence, attention to detail, fluid reasoning, digit span recall and sequencing, auditory recall, short-term, working, and long-term memory, calculation skill, novel problem solving, mental manipulation of number operations, processing speed, and psychomotor speed. In other words, tests of intelligence are designed to assess brain functioning.
Most WAIS tests are now computerized such that the administrator as well as the test-taker each have an iPad that are connected to one another and then synced in the cloud. Anything the test-taker touches or draws on their iPad instantly appears on the administrators iPad, ad vice versa. I find this manner of administration and scoring to be the most accurate and efficient. Elderly test-takers not familiar with a computer tablet or those that feel intimidated by the use of the iPad, can always be tested the old-fashioned way.
There are several important features that distinguish the Wechsler tests from all the others that came before (and have come after) it. Wechsler believed that intelligence is not a general term but rather, is a combination of verbal scales and non-verbal scales of performance. The Wechsler tests are incredibly complex test that take a significant amount of training to administer, score and especially to interpret, and can only be interpreted by those that hold a PhD in clinical psychology and have additional training in psychometric evaluation. The WAIS tests generate three sets of scores; what is referred to as an 'IQ' score is actually the tally of the scores from each of the two subtests. The current and fourth iteration of the WAIS is comprised of three tests of Verbal Comprehension, three tests of Perceptual Reasoning, two tests of Working Memory, and two tests of Processing Speed.
The 10 tests (AKA scales) assesses abstract thinking, concept formation, verbal reasoning, language development, expressive and areceptive language, long-term memory retrieval, the ability to learn and recall information, intellectual curiosity, alertness and attention, visuospatial and visuomotor skills, pattern recognition and analysis, ability to discriminate objects and designs, non-verbal reasoning, visual inelligence, attention to detail, fluid reasoning, digit span recall and sequencing, auditory recall, short-term, working, and long-term memory, calculation skill, novel problem solving, mental manipulation of number operations, processing speed, and psychomotor speed. In other words, tests of intelligence are designed to assess brain functioning.
Measuring Intelligence. In scoring and interpreting an IQ test, it is important to understand that each of the 10 scales receive their own stand-alone score, separate and apart from any of the other scales. A second set of scores is obtained by tallying up the scores of the Verbal scales (AKA VIQ), and separately, tallying up the scores of the Performance scales (AKA PIQ). So far we now have 12 distinct scores, 10 scores corresponding to each of the 10 scales, a VIQ score, and a PIQ score. It is important to note that all tests of intelligence are normed, meaning each final test score is relative to an individuals age, gender, and level of education. In other words, a 20-year old female with the same level of education as a 60 year-old female might
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both receive a final scale score of 120, but the 20 year-old will need to make considerably less errors and work significantly faster than the 60 year-old just to attain the same score. Tests are normed because we are aware that the brain has stages of development that directly correspond to a persons age, and that education profoundly impacts the health and functionality of the brain, and that while there is absolutely no difference in intellect between the genders, we know that each gender has natural strengths and weaknesses in differing areas of functionality in much the same way that athletic competition assigns different scores to each gender, and that a healthy 20 year-old male can not be compared to a healthy 20-year old female in the same exercise or sport. i.e., what is healthy and normal for a 20 year-old is not healthy and normal for a 60 year-old.
Test Interpretation and Intelligence Quotients (IQ). Technically speaking, an individual's IQ score (AKA the Full Scale score) is the number received as a result of IQ testing. The problem, is that the layperson is generally unaware of the importance of the OTHER scores that actually comprise the IQ score, incorrectly assuming that this Full Scale (FS) score is the one that "counts". Unfortunately, the FS score is no more a reflection of intelligence than it is of brain health and can be terribly misleading! That said, the Wechsler scales are a highly accurate and reliable measure of a person's brain functioning if - and here is the proviso - one understands how to actually interpret their scores. The importance of the test is that it measures the functioning of each area of the brain and assesses overall brain health, and perhaps more importantly, brain damage.
Intelligence testing is to the brain, what a physical is to the body. When a physician administers a physical exam, checks your reflexes, takes blood, stool, and urine samples, assesses your lung function and breathing, etc., you are being evaluated against what is considered normal and healthy functioning. When the results demonstrate that you are completely normal and healthy, aside from the good news, it means that compared to your peer group, generally based upon age, that you are functioning exactly as you should for optimal health. What it does not mean, is that you have superior athletic prowess, that you are an elite athlete, or can perform at the Olympics. It simply means that the various parts of your body both externally and internally, are free of disease and are operating within normal limits for your peer group.
Just as the results of a physical examination demonstrate level of health and functioning ability, psychological and neuropsychological testing evaluates each area of your brain, and the functions that are subserved by each area, and compares the results to that of your peer group. With a physical examination, your body parts and lab results are evaluated both as individual components, and then as a whole. With intelligence testing, exactly the same thing; each part of your brain is evaluated individually, and then as a whole. An individual can score rather high as an overall FS score and still be significantly impaired. We actually see this typically with individuals on the Spectrum. And for this very reason, having a "high IQ score" does not necessarily equate with being very smart, since a person can score extremely high in certain areas, low in other areas, and wind up with a sizable FSIQ score, and as such, it does not mean brain health. In fact, brain health is when each area and the functioning of each area of the brain operates at the same level, this is what correlates with brain health. It makes no difference how high those scores are. An excellent result is when you are functioning in all areas similar to one another, and not whether or not the end result is high. It is suggested that even Albert Einstein had less than desirable intelligence overall, but was superior in certain specialized areas. When it comes to intelligence testing and scores, "normal" is excellent.
Want to know more? You can follow my blogs, attend a webinar or seminar, or take an e-course.
Intelligence testing is to the brain, what a physical is to the body. When a physician administers a physical exam, checks your reflexes, takes blood, stool, and urine samples, assesses your lung function and breathing, etc., you are being evaluated against what is considered normal and healthy functioning. When the results demonstrate that you are completely normal and healthy, aside from the good news, it means that compared to your peer group, generally based upon age, that you are functioning exactly as you should for optimal health. What it does not mean, is that you have superior athletic prowess, that you are an elite athlete, or can perform at the Olympics. It simply means that the various parts of your body both externally and internally, are free of disease and are operating within normal limits for your peer group.
Just as the results of a physical examination demonstrate level of health and functioning ability, psychological and neuropsychological testing evaluates each area of your brain, and the functions that are subserved by each area, and compares the results to that of your peer group. With a physical examination, your body parts and lab results are evaluated both as individual components, and then as a whole. With intelligence testing, exactly the same thing; each part of your brain is evaluated individually, and then as a whole. An individual can score rather high as an overall FS score and still be significantly impaired. We actually see this typically with individuals on the Spectrum. And for this very reason, having a "high IQ score" does not necessarily equate with being very smart, since a person can score extremely high in certain areas, low in other areas, and wind up with a sizable FSIQ score, and as such, it does not mean brain health. In fact, brain health is when each area and the functioning of each area of the brain operates at the same level, this is what correlates with brain health. It makes no difference how high those scores are. An excellent result is when you are functioning in all areas similar to one another, and not whether or not the end result is high. It is suggested that even Albert Einstein had less than desirable intelligence overall, but was superior in certain specialized areas. When it comes to intelligence testing and scores, "normal" is excellent.
Want to know more? You can follow my blogs, attend a webinar or seminar, or take an e-course.