Stud copy Educ6 - chap study guide, test prep focal points PDF

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Intelligence and Cognitive Styles Intelligence: Global capacity to think rationally, act purposefully, and deal effectively with the environment. How we use knowledge to think, solve problems, make decisions, and use language. Ability or abilities to acquire and use knowledge for solving problems and adapting to the world. There is no universal definition of intelligence that satisfies all psychologists. Trying to define intelligence is like trying to define something as abstract as love. Psychologists cannot even agree whether intelligence is a collection of several abilities like verbal, spatial, musical, mathematical, etc. (Thurstone,1938; Guilford, 1988;Gardner, 1983), or just one basic mental ability that affects all cognitive performance (Spearman, 1927). Does intelligence describe content -- the different abilities underlying problem solution? Or does intelligence describe process or the way people collect and use information, collect and use content as Sternberg’s triarchic theory promotes(Sternberg, 1986,00)? His 3-pronged theory says that intelligence exists in 3 forms---analytical, creative and practical. This process approach to intelligence is pretty new. Process theorists propose that intelligence includes not only the ability to adapt to changing environments but the ability to shape the environment to maximize opportunities; not only the ability to handle novel problems but the ability to do so creatively and quickly; not only the ability to acquire thinking strategies but the ability to apply them judiciously; includes “street smarts” and common sense or practicality. Intelligence is not a fixed property. It is continually open to change---maturational or genetically programmed change and change as the result of enriched environment and experiences. It is a current state of affairs, but since it is strongly influenced by past and future experiences, intelligence is not static or set. Both heredity and environment play heavy roles in intelligence -- the age-old nature/nurture interaction -- and the limits to intelligence due to heredity are the least understood. To sort out the effects of genetics and environment in intelligence, it must be remembered that differences within groups experiencing the same environment can be attributed to genetics; differences betw groups experiencing different environments cannot be attributed to genetics. ie-- 2 pot analogy-- pot A has well-fertilized soil; pot B has poor soil. If a handful of seeds are planted from the same bag of seed into both pots, and differences are noted in the height of the resultant plants, you can infer that differences within pot A plants are due to heredity since nothing differs but the plants’ genes. You cannot make the same inference about differences betw the 2 pots of plants. The entirely different environments make estimations due to heredity or genes impossible. ie--The Buraku people of Japan are the poorest in Japan and have suffered generations of discrimination because of their ancestors’ work as tanners and butchers (considered unclean and a violation of Buddhist religious rules forbidding killing animals and touching dead bodies). The law freed the Buraku people years ago, but social change takes a long time. Their IQ scores in Japan are considerably lower than other segments of Japanese people, yet with Japanese who have emigrated to the U.S., the Buraku children do as well as any other Japanese-Americans (Ogbu,86).

So teachers should challenge all students without entertaining preconceived notions of limited potentials. Zones of proximal development (potentials) can not be predicted and may be quite large even in borderline students. So, if we do not really know with any certainty exactly what intelligence is, then how can we measure it? Even Alfred Binet who is credited with developing the first systematic intelligence tests, did not believe he was testing innate ability, but rather was identifying children in school who needed help. Binet and Simon (1904) in France developed a series of testing and comparing successful and unsuccessful children. They were able in 1905, to determine a mental age -- a score based on the average abilities for that age group. A child’s mental age was the age at which most children were successful with the same items as he/she. A child would have a mental age of 8 if his/her successful items were those answered successfully by most 8 year olds, regardless of how old he/she really was chronologically. When introduced into the U.S., Binet’s mental age test was expanded by Wm. Stern in 1912, to include the concept of intelligence quotient -- IQ -- the score comparing mental and chronological ages. Divide mental age by chronological age and multiply by 100. Children with avg intelligence would have a mental age that equaled his/her chrono age; then 1 times 100 would give an IQ of 100. Now IQ is calculated by comparing a person’s score with the scores of others in the same general age group. The avg score for an age group is fixed at 100, and 2/3’s of all scores fall betw 85 and 115 (+ or - 15). Tests come with tables of norms based on the average performance of large samples. Actual test scores can be converted directly into IQ scores. IQ tests do NOT measure intelligence! Remember we can’t even agree on the definition of intelligence. What IQ tests do appear able to measure and predict are academic achievement and school success -- NOT intelligence and life success. IQ tests are unable to test potential development (ie. zones of proximal development). They are unable to test motivation, social skills, personality, drive, emotional maturity, creativity, willingness to work hard, resiliency, optimism, cultural factors or even luck and who you know. Just as there are a myriad of factors which do not appreciably influence IQ test scores, there are a myriad of factors which DO influence individual IQ test scores -- mood, interruptions, headache, no breakfast, the yelling or the beating received the night before, etc. So interpret IQ test scores with much caution and never use them as a sole evaluating measure of a person’s intelligence. Individually administered IQ tests like the Stanford-Binet and the Weschler Scales (WPPSI, WISC-III, WAIS-R) are better predictors of academic success than are group administered IQ tests. With indiv admin IQ tests, there is 1 to 1 contact with an adult. Questions are for the most part asked orally, requiring little reading and writing. With group admin IQ tests, results are much less likely to be reliable. Perhaps a child did not understand the instructions, or his/her pencil broke. Do not put much stake on group administered IQ tests. A student’s tolerance or intolerance for frustration, anxiety level, enthusiasm and interest or lack of each, cannot be noted. Grouping children in manageable units according to academic ability can be both advantageous and disadvantageous. There are 2 main types of ability grouping: between-class and withinclass.

Between-class ability grouping-- tracking-- is a system of grouping in which students are assigned to classes based on their measured abil or achievements. Research has shown that segregation by abil into whole classes, like high, middle and low classes of a subject, does not improve learning (with the exception of honors classes) and may be detrimental for low-ability students. Teachers of low classes tend to be less enthused, display less enjoyment, and lower expectations. They focus on lower basic objectives and more routine procedures stressing memorization. Besides having low-level material, students are not encouraged to think for themselves and be creative. They are taught to be passive rather than active learners, they have higher absentee rates and present more behavior management problems. As for self-esteem, this suffers damage the moment a child learns he/she is scheduled inot the dummy English or dummy math class. A disproportionate number of students in low classes belong to minority families and low-SES families. The sad thing is that placements into these low classes are decided using group-administered IQ tests rather than tests measuring skills on the particular subject in question. Within-class ability grouping is a system of grouping in which students in a class are divided into 2 or 3 groups based on ability in an attempt to accommodate student differences. Within-class abil grouping is generally positive for students at all abil levels if the following conditions are met: 1. Flexibility with changes are possible as achievement changes. 2. Comparisons betw students and betw groups are discouraged. Whole class spirit is encouraged. The only comparisons allowed are betw a child’s own previous level and his/her present level. 3. Small number of groups, not to exceed 3, are allowed. 4. Methods and pace fit the needs of the group. Cognitive Styles Students have different ways of perceiving and organizing information called their cognitive styles. These cognitive styles do not reflect intelligence levels. Equally knowledgeable people may respond differently to the same stimuli---one may respond quickly and another may respond more slowly and methodically. One may analyze the whole visual field and another may analyze individual contributing elements to the whole visual field. Students may approach problems in different ways. Some are good at seeing overall important meaning; others are good at finding relevant details. Some need step-by-step guidance and structure; others need more flexibility. Field dependence refers to the cognitive style in which patterns are perceived as wholes. A student with a field-dependent cognitive style, sees the overall global picture---the forest rather than the trees. A field dependent learner can make broad general distinctions among concepts. He/she is socially oriented and sensitive to the feelings of others. Students with this field dependent cognitive style, learn better when the material has social content, whereby the student can see the value of the task to other people. This type of student needs to be externally reinforced or praised and is more affected than field-independent students by criticism. A fielddependent learner needs teacher guidance, structure, organization, and goal setting. She/he thrives on seeing the relevance, meaning and applicability of learning tasks. Field independence refers to the cognitive style in which separate parts of a pattern are perceived and analyzed. A student with a field independent cognitive style, sees the details--the trees rather than the forest. A field-independent learner perceives analytically and can divide a task into its component parts. He/she is impersonally oriented rather than socially oriented. Goals are self-defined and do not depend on the teacher for definition. A field-independent stu-

dent is good at organizing and structuring own learning. This student is less affected by criticism and more affected by grades and competition. She/he thrives on making own choices and will learn better if he/she can see the personal value of a learning task to self. Other cognitive style types are impulsive and reflective. Impulsive cognitive style refers to responding quickly but often inaccurately. A student with an impulsive cognitive style will go fast but make plenty of mistakes. Reflective cognitive style refers to responding slowly and carefully. This type of student takes more time but makes fewer errors. This type of cognitive style lends for improved school task performance. Reflectivity can be encouraged and increased with specific strategy training like the strategy of self-instruction. Self-instruction involves talking out-loud to self while going through the steps of a task. (Remember private speech considered so important by Vygotsky?) Teachers should model this strategy when teaching, being careful not to skip any steps. Other specific strategy training to increase reflectivity include scanning the overall lesson or assignment, checking completed work, considering reasonable alternatives or other ways to solve the problem or learn the task, and being selective when test-taking so as to use allotted time more wisely. Each of us have learning style preferences in addition to cognitive styles. Learning style preferences are individually preferred ways of studying and learning, such as using pictures rather than words or visual stimuli rather than verbal stimuli. Some of us prefer to work or study alone and some of us prefer to study with others in groups. Some students can concentrate and learn better with silence; others need noise and background clatter like the radio. Some do better upright in a chair; others prefer lying in bed (hidden snooze danger). Some need visuals like diagrams and arrows and boxes; others need verbal tapes. Some students prefer working early in the morning; other students prefer working late at night; and others some time in between. Because everyone has individual learning preferences, it is wise for a teacher to present material in different modalities, thus allowing students to work and to learn using their preferred mode at least some of the time. By exposing students to alternative modes, a teacher offers variety and other possibilities other than what is comfortable and tried and true. Students do not always know best. He/she may prefer a certain style only because it is easier and more practiced--not because the comfortable way offers more learning potential. Real learning can be hard and uncomfortable....