Deck 8: Section 1: Intelligence and Academic Achievement

Question 1

You have learned that intelligence is probably the most stable of all psychological traits. Why, then, would the amount of emphasis children and their parents place on academic success and the type of discipline parents use affect the stability of children's IQs? Knowing what you know about these associations, what are some things parents can do to help their children to improve their IQs?

Answer 1

Not Answer

Question 2

You have learned a great deal about a number of theories of intelligence, including traditional theories and alternative theories. The theories vary in terms of the domains and skills involved, as well as their specificity versus generality. What is your own view of intelligence? Provide a detailed description of your perspective along with an argument about why your perspective is correct.

Answer 2

Not Answer

Question 3

Define practical intelligence and give an example of it. Explain the relationships among practical intelligence, IQ, and occupational success. Why do you think these relationships exist? Provide an example of one or more individuals you know to support your explanation.

Answer 3

Not Answer

Question 4

A school principal who is interested in the impact of schooling on children's IQ scores needs to acquire evidence for the relationship between schooling and intelligence. Write a brief review of the relevant research on the topic, and make three recommendations on what the principal should do with the information provided.

Question 5

Describe the prereading skills that are associated with later reading ability. Are all of these prereading skills causally related to later reading ability? Explain the causal or correlational associations.

Question 6

What is an IQ? Describe how IQ scores are computed. Why are IQ scores calculated in this manner? What is the advantage to this method of computation? Are there any disadvantages?

Question 7

Describe Sternberg's theory of successful intelligence. What does he propose is included in successful intelligence? What evidence supports this theory?

Question 8

Describe the processes by which more intelligent people achieve higher occupational success than do less intelligent people. What are the implications of these processes for the notion of the active child?

Question 9

Describe the phenomenon known as the Flynn effect. Give a detailed explanation of why you believe this phenomenon has occurred. Are there any alternative explanations? Why or why not?

Question 10

Using what you have learned about Sameroff's risk index, what advice would you give parents who are concerned about their children's intellectual development?

Question 11

A social worker is working with a woman who is living in poverty and who has a new baby. Based on information about the manner in which poverty affects intellectual growth, what advice might the social worker give to the woman about what she can do to help her child develop intellectually?

Question 12

A teacher has been given a grant to start an early-intervention program in her community. Design a program for the teacher. Be specific about who her participants will be and what her focal point(s) will be. What kind of results should she expect? Which benefits of the intervention might be easiest to obtain, and why? Which benefits might be the most difficult to obtain, and why? Are there any desired effects of the intervention that will be nearly impossible to achieve?

Question 13

How are children's IQ scores associated with the quality of their family environment? Do these associations necessarily indicate a causal link between the quality of the family environment and IQ? Answer this question in terms of the three processes Scarr has proposed to account for gene-environment relations. Be sure to give specific examples of each process to support your position.

Question 14

In what ways is the development of intelligence continuous? In what ways is it discontinuous? Give at least one example to support each conclusion.

Question 15

Why do you think our society puts so much emphasis on intelligence? Do you agree with this level of emphasis, or do you think we put too much or even too little emphasis on it? Explain your position, and give specific examples to support it.

Question 16

Give at least three examples of risks that are included in Sameroff's risk index and explain why these risks would have a negative impact on IQ score. Identify at least one additional factor that you believe should be considered by Sameroff as an additional risk. Why do you think this risk would have an important effect on IQ score?

Question 17

Describe the controversy about how intelligence should be defined. What resolution has been proposed by John Carroll? Describe two advantages and two disadvantages of his proposal.

Question 18

Do the academic domains of reading, writing, and mathematics share any requisite basic skills, or are all of the necessary low-level skills specific to the domain? What about high-level skills and processes?

Question 19

Think about your fellow students in high school or university. Describe two of them, one whose IQ score (at least your assumption of it) is consistent with his or her grades in the way in which you would expect, and one whose IQ score is less consistent with his or her grades. For the person whose IQ score is less consistent with his or her grades, explain the inconsistency. What other factors appear to have an influence on grades for this person?

Question 20

An educator has been commissioned to test several theories of intelligence to determine which one is the best. How should he go about this task? What outcomes or correlates would he examine to make this decision?

Question 21

Identify and explain the similarities between children's choices among word-identification strategies and their choices among strategies for solving single-digit arithmetic problems. Give one or more examples to illustrate the similarities.