lecture overview language intelligence the intelligence controversy ©john wiley & sons, inc....

Lecture Overview

• Language • Intelligence

• The Intelligence Controversy

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010

Language: Three Building Blocks


Elements of Language (cont.)

• “The rapid freedom ran around the curious emptiness” (obeys rules of English syntax, but makes no sense semantically)

• Surface structure: word strings that people produce

• Deep structure : abstract representation, or meaning, i.e. Joey fell off swing and hurt his head from swinging too high vs. Joey hurt his head when he fell off the swing


Is language innate in humans?


Do other animals have language the way humans do?


Theories of Language Development

• Nature Perspective: language is an inborn capacity that develops primarily by maturation

– Steven Pinker; Chomsky’s language acquisition device (LAD);

– Nurture Perspective: language develops from a complex system of rewards, punishments, & imitation


Arguments for Nature

• All children develop language in same way• Deaf children develop sign language the way

hearing children develop spoken language• There is a critical period for the development of

language• In most people (left or right hand-ers) language

develops in the left hemisphere)• Almost all mothers and fathers speak “infant-

directed language”©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010

Split-Brain Research • Verbal left• Non-verbal right Gender differences?


Evidence for Nurture

• Children learn different languages depending on where they grow up

• Phonemes are different cross culturally• Parents spend lots of time talking to their

infants (IDL)• Some cases: Genie, Wild Boy show that

language exposure is necessary for normal language development


Animals & Language

• Some of the most successful nonhuman animal language studies have used American Sign Language (ASL).


Intelligence

• Intelligence: global capacity to think rationally, act purposefully, & deal effectively with the environment

• Intelligence is a hypothetical, abstract construct.


What Is Intelligence?

Historical views of intelligence: 1. Single ability or trait general factor called “g”

(Spearman 1920s)2. Three part theory (Sternberg--learned)3. Multiple abilities (Gardner—natural) To mention only a few…


Intelligence Models

• Gardner • Sternberg


How Do We Measure Intelligence?

• Stanford-Binet & Wechsler most widely used individual intelligence tests. Both tests compute an intelligence quotient (IQ), which compares the deviation of a person’s test score to norms for that person’s age group.

–Original version of Stanford-Binet (IQ = MA/CA x 100)

NOW SHOWN WITH NORMS


Measuring Intelligence— The Normal Distribution of IQ Scores


Measuring Intelligence— Sample Wechsler Tests


Measuring Intelligence:Three Scientific Standards

1. Standardization--establishes norms & uniform procedures for giving & scoring tests

2. Reliability--measure of the consistency & stability of test scores over time

3. Validity--ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure


The Intelligence Controversy: Explaining Differences

• Is it in the brain? All mental activity (including intelligence) results from neural activity in the brain.

• Is it genetic or environmental influences? Heredity & environment are important, inseparable factors in intellectual development.


The Intelligence Controversy—Extremes in Intelligence

• Mental Retardation: IQs of 70 & below

• Mental Giftedness: IQs of 135 & above


Genetic Vs. Environmental Influenceon Intelligence: Herrnstein


The Intelligence Controversy: IQ Tests

can be Culturally Biased and biased to gender

What is the heritability??


lecture overview language intelligence the intelligence controversy ©john wiley & sons, inc....

Documents

language john wiley

intelligence intelligence

norms john wiley sons

swing john wiley sons

imitation john wiley

development of language

animals language

language exposure