Click the link for a short presentation about intelligence that includes information on properties of intelligence, giftedness, and intellectual disabilities.

1. Intelligence:
“The ability to solve problems and to adapt and learn new
experiences.”

2. Properties of Intelligence:
- It is an abstract, broad concept and there are many ways to define it
- Individual variations is a key aspect of Intelligence
- It is broadly defined as the ability to solve problems and adapt and learn from experiences
- It cannot be directly measured, but evaluated indirectly by studying and comparing cognitive tasks
people perform
- Intelligence test scores can fluctuate dramatically across childhood years, test scores fluctuate
considerably with children and adolescents
- The Stanford-Binet and The Wechsler scales are the main tools used to assess intelligence, these
tests provide overall IQ
- IQ scores can produce certain expectations and stereotypes
- There are cultural variations in the way that intelligence is defined, tests may be biased against
certain groups and likely reflect the values and experiences of the dominant culture
- Various theorists identify different types of intelligence including: emotional, analytical, creative,
practical, verbal skills, mathematical skills, spatial skills, bodily-kinesthetic skills, musical skills,
interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills, and naturalist skills

3. Giftedness
● People who are gifted have high intelligence or superior talent of some kind.
● An IQ of 130 is often used as the low threshold for giftedness.
● Programs for the gifted tend to select students who have intellectual superiority and academic aptitude
compared to those who are talented in the arts or athletics.
● Gifted people tend to be more mature, to have fewer emotional problems than others.
● Gifted children are more likely to suffer internalized problems such as anxiety and/or depression than
externalized problems such as aggression and/or acting out.
● Three characteristics of gifted children:
○ Precocity: these children are precocious and tend to master their learning in a specific area of study
or talent more effortlessly and sooner than other children.
○ Marching to their own drummer: they tend to solve problems in their own unique way without
additional and detailed instruction.
○ A passion to master: they have self-motivation to understand and master their specific talent.

4. Intellectual Disabilities:
Intellectual disabilities are inadequate
intellectual functioning. This can be seen as
having a lack of age-appropriate skills in
learning and caring for themselves.
Intellectual disability is: a condition of limited
mental ability in which the individual
● (1) has a low IQ below 70 on a
traditional intelligence test;
● (2) has difficulty adapting to the
demands of everyday life; and
● (3) first exhibits these characteristics
by age 18 (Hodapp & others, 2011).
Organic intellectual disability is a genetic
disorder caused by brain damage
Causes:
● Extra chromosome
● Fragile X syndrome
● Abnormal X chromosome
● Prenatal malformation
● Metabolic disorder
● Disease affecting the brain
Cultural-familial
intellectual
disability is a
classification when
no evidence can be
found for it to be a
organic brain
disability. IQ is
between 55 - 70.
Causes: living in a
below-average
intellectual
environment
Results in: failed
classes, need a
reward system,
sensitive to other’s
expectations
An intellectual disability can be
categorized as mild, moderate, severe or
profound.