Intelligence and academic achievement can be influenced by many factors. Intelligence tests aim to indirectly measure intelligence through assessing problem-solving abilities and capacity for learning from experience. While intelligence was traditionally viewed as a single general ability, more recent theories propose multiple types of intelligence including practical, creative, and emotional intelligence. Academic motivation and mindsets also impact achievement, with mastery orientation and a growth mindset associated with more positive outcomes compared to performance orientation and a fixed mindset. Educating students with diverse abilities and backgrounds effectively requires an understanding of these cognitive and non-cognitive influences on learning.

1. *
Intelligence and Academic Achievement
Week 9

2. *The Concept of Intelligence
What is intelligence?
• Intelligence: the ability to solve problems and adapt
and learn from experience
* Can only be evaluated indirectly

3. *Intelligence Tests: The Binet
Tests 1
Binet stressed that the core of intelligence
consists of complex cognitive processes:
• Memory, imagery, comprehension, and judgment
• Mental age (MA): an individual’s level of mental
development relative to others
* Compared to chronological age (CA), the age from birth
* MA scores correspond to CA scores for an average child
• Intelligence quotient (IQ): an individual’s MA divided by
CA multiplied by 100

4. *Intelligence Tests: The Binet
Tests 2
Stanford-Binet 5: Fluid reasoning, knowledge,
quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial reasoning,
working memory

5. *Intelligence Tests: The
Wechsler Scales
WAIS
WISC
WPPSI

6. *The Use and Misuse of
Intelligence Tests
Intelligence tests predict school and job success
• Moderately correlated with work performance
Many other factors contribute to success in school
and work
• Motivation to succeed, physical and mental health, and social
skills
Intelligence tests should be used in conjunction with
other information
• Developmental history, medical background, school
performance, social competency, family experiences, etc.

7. *Theories of Multiple
Intelligences 1
Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence
• Intelligence comes in three forms:
* Analytical intelligence: ability to analyze, judge, evaluate,
compare, and contrast
* Creative intelligence: ability to create, design, invent,
originate, and imagine
* Practical intelligence: ability to use, apply, implement, and put
ideas into practice

8. *Theories of Multiple
Intelligences 2
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences
Now, from Gardner himself:

9. *Theories of Multiple
Intelligences 3
Emotional intelligence similarly emphasizes
interpersonal, intrapersonal, and practical
aspects
• Ability to perceive and express emotion accurately and
adaptively, understand emotion, and manage emotions
in oneself and others
* Concept originally developed by Peter Salovey and John Mayer
• Critics argue that emotional intelligence broadens the
concept of intelligence too far to be useful and has not
been adequately assessed and researched

10. *Theories of Multiple
Intelligences 4
Do people have one or many intelligences?
• Critics of multiple intelligences argue the research base
to support them has not yet been developed; and
Gardner’s classification in particular seems arbitrary
• Many psychologists continue to support the concept of
general intelligence
• Some experts conclude that individuals also have
specific intellectual abilities
• Scores on tests of general intelligence are substantially
correlated with school grades and achievement test
performance

11. *The Neuroscience of
Intelligence
Studies using MRI scans suggest a moderate
correlation between brain size and intelligence
Most prominent finding is that a distributed
neural network involving the frontal and parietal
lobes is related to higher intelligence
Neurological speed may also play a role in
intelligence

12. *The Influence of Heredity and
Environment 1

13. *The Influence of Heredity and
Environment 2
Variables that correlate with intelligence include how
much parents communicate with their children in the
first three years of life, and schooling
Flynn effect refers to a worldwide increase in scores
over a relatively short amount of time
• 1930-present
Environmental influences are complex
• Growing up with all the “advantages” does not guarantee
success, nor does being “disadvantaged” guarantee failure

14. *Group Comparisons and Issues 1
Cross-cultural comparisons show that cultures
vary in what it means to be intelligent
Cultural bias is an issue in testing
• Early intelligence tests favored people from urban
environments, middle socioeconomic status, and
non-Latino Whites
• Non-native English speakers or nonstandard English
speakers are at a disadvantage in understanding
questions

15. *Group Comparisons and Issues 2
One potential influence on test performance is
stereotype threat: a fear that one’s behavior
might confirm a negative stereotype about one’s
group

16. *Group Comparisons and Issues 3
Researchers have strived to develop culture-fair
tests, designed to avoid cultural bias
Most intelligence tests reflect what the dominant
culture thinks is important
• For example, the same words may have different
meaning for different groups
• Different attitudes, values, and motivation can affect
performance

17. *Group Comparisons and Issues 3

18. *Group Comparisons and Issues 4

19. *The Development of
Intelligence
Tests of infant intelligence are less verbal and
contain elements related to perceptual-motor
development and social interaction
• Bayley Scales of Infant Development
* Cognitive, language, motor, socioemotional, and adaptive skills
• Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence
* Unlike the Bayley scales, the Fagan test is correlated with
measures of intelligence in older children

20. *The Development of
Intelligence

21. *The Development of
Intelligence

22. *Stability and Change in
Intelligence Through
Adolescence
Intelligence test scores can fluctuate dramatically
across the childhood years
Children are adaptive—their intelligence changes
but remains connected with earlier points in
development

23. *Intelligence in Adulthood1
Crystallized intelligence: an individual’s
accumulated information and verbal skills
Fluid intelligence: the ability to reason abstractly
Note that the data were collected in a
cross-sectional manner
• Cross-sectional: assess individuals of different ages at
the same point in time
• Longitudinal: study the same individuals over a period
of time

24. *Intelligence in Adulthood1

26. *Intelligence in Adulthood 2
Seattle Longitudinal Study

27. *Intelligence in Adulthood 3
With cognitive mechanics, decline with aging is likely
• “Hardware” of the mind, reflecting the neurophysiological
architecture of the brain
• Speed and accuracy in sensory input, attention, visual and
motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and
categorization
Cognitive pragmatics may decline but can also
improve in old age
• Culture-based “software” of the mind
• Reading and writing, language comprehension, educational
qualifications, professional skills, self and life skills

28. *Intellectual Disability
Intellectual disability is a condition of limited
mental ability in which individual:
• Has a low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional
intelligence test
• Has difficulty adapting to the demands of everyday life
• First exhibits these characteristics by age 18
About 5 million Americans fit this definition of
intellectual disability
There are several ways to define degrees of
intellectual disability

29. Type of
Intellectual Disability
IQ Range
Percentage of Individuals with
an Intellectual Disability
Mild 55 to 70 89%
Moderate 40 to 54 6%
Severe 25 to 39 4%
Profound Below 25 1%

30. Classification of
Intellectual
Disability
Level of Support Needed
Intermittent Supports are provided “as needed.” The individual may need
episodic or short-term support during life-span transitions (such as
job loss or acute medical crisis). Intermittent supports may be low
or high intensity when provided.
Limited Supports are intense and relatively consistent over time. They are
time-limited but not intermittent, require fewer staff members,
and cost less than more intense supports. These supports likely will
be needed for adaptation to the changes involved in the school-to-
adult period.
Extensive Supports are characterized by regular involvement (for example,
daily) in at least some setting (such as home or work) and are not
time-limited (for example, extended home-living support).
Pervasive Supports are constant, very intense, and are provided across
settings. They may be of a life-sustaining nature. These supports
typically involve more staff members and intrusiveness than the
other support categories.

31. *Intellectual Disability
Organic intellectual disability: a genetic disorder
or lower level of intelligence due to brain damage
• Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, prenatal
malformation, metabolic disorders, and diseases that
affect the brain
• Most have IQs between 0 and 50
Cultural-familial intellectual disability: cases
with no evidence of organic brain damage
• Emerge from below-average intellectual environments
• Most have IQs between 55 and 70
• Disability is usually not noticeable in adulthood

32. *Giftedness 1
Those who are gifted have above-average
intelligence (IQ of 130 or higher) and/or a
superior talent for something
• Approximately 6% of U.S. students are classified as
gifted
A word of caution regarding representation
• Baltimore Sun investigation in HS (watch the
video link on Blackboard)

33. *Creativity
Creativity is the ability to think about something
in novel and unusual ways and to come up with
unique, good solutions to problems
Creativity requires divergent thinking, which
produces many answers to the same question
• Conventional intelligence tests measure
convergent thinking, in which there is only one
correct answer

34. *Creativity
Creative process has often been described as a
five-step sequence:
• 1. Preparation
• 2. Incubation
• 3. Insight
• 4. Evaluation
• 5. Elaboration

35. *Creativity in Adulthood
Creativity often peaks in adulthood
• About 80% of individuals’ most important creative
contributions are completed by age 50
• Creativity often peaks in the forties before declining
• Decline is often not dramatic
Age of decline varies with the domain involved
• In philosophy and history, older adults continue to show
as much creativity as when they were younger
• In lyric poetry, abstract mathematics, and theoretical
physics, the peak of creativity is often reached in the
twenties or thirties

36. Contemporary Approaches to
Student Learning and Assessment

38. Montessori MethodMontessori MethodMontessori Method

39. Schools and Developmental Standards
Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)
focuses on the typical developmental patterns of
children and the uniqueness of each child
• Emphasizes creating settings that reflects children’s
interests and capabilities while encouraging active
learning
• Desired outcomes include critical thinking, cooperative
work, problem solving, self-regulatory skills, and learning
enjoyment
• Individual programs vary; and mixed outcomes have
been seen

40. Head StartHead Start

41. Schools and Developmental Standards
There is no consensus about the curriculum for
early childhood education programs
Many high-quality early childhood education
encompasses both traditional and constructivist
approaches
• Also focus on cognitive and socioemotional development

42. Elementary and Junior High Schools
Children experience new roles and obligations
after beginning elementary school
• Too often, early schooling proceeds on the basis of
negative feedback, having an effect on self-esteem
Transition to middle or junior high school
can be stressful
• Simultaneous individual, family, and school changes

43. Elementary and Junior High Schools
Critics argue middle schools should include
activities that reflect a wide range of individual
differences in biological and psychological
development
Carnegie Foundation (1989) conducted an in-
depth evaluation of U.S. middle schools
• Middle schools are massive and impersonal, using
irrelevant curricula and lacking access to health care and
counseling
• Recommended a complete overhaul to smaller
“communities” with lower student-to-counselor ratios,
new curricula, and more in-school physical education

44. High Schools
To many, high schools exhibit similar problems
• Critics stress that U.S. high schools foster passivity,
and schools should create multiple pathways for identity
achievement
• Many students graduate high school with inadequate
reading, writing, and mathematical skills
 Enter college in need of remediation classes
• High school dropouts do not have the skills needed to
obtain decent jobs or be informed citizens
• Transition to high school is often difficult; and for many,
high school is more about navigating the social world
than about getting an education

45. High Schools
U.S. high schools often offer a wide array of
extracurricular activities, beyond academic courses
Benefits of student participation in extracurricular
activities:
• Higher grades
• Greater school engagement
• Less likelihood of dropping out
• Improved probability of going to college
• Higher self-esteem
• Lower rates of depression, delinquency, and substance abuse

46. High Schools
U.S. high school dropout rates have declined
overall
• Dropout rate for Latino adolescents remains high,
although this too is declining
• Lowest dropout rate is seen among Asian Americans
• Males are more likely to drop out than females
• Higher dropout rates are seen in low-income areas of
inner cities
 In some large cities, the dropout rate is as high as 50%

47. College and Adult Education
Transition from high school to college parallels
earlier transitions
Benefits of transition:
• Movement to a larger, more impersonal school
• Interaction with peers of more diverse backgrounds
• Increased focus on achievement and assessment
• Greater independence from parental monitoring
• Challenged intellectually by academic work
• More opportunities to explore lifestyles and values

48. Daily Activity Self-Ratings and
College Students’ Happiness

49. College and Adult Education
Adult education refers to all forms of schooling and
learning in which adults participate
• Literacy training, community development, university
credit programs, on-the-job training, and continuing
professional education
 Offered by colleges, libraries, museum, government agencies,
businesses, and churches
• Large number of adults pursue education and advanced
degrees on a part-time basis
 Increased leisure time, the need to update information/skills,
enjoyment of learning, keeping the mind active
• Women represent the majority of adult learners

50. Educating Children with Disabilities

51. Educating Children with Disabilities
Types of learning disabilities:
• Dyslexia: severe impairment in the ability to read and spell
• Dysgraphia: involves difficulty in handwriting
• Dyscalculia: difficulty in math computation; also known as
developmental arithmetic disorder
Precise cause of disabilities has not been determined
• Likely that they are due to problems integrating information
from multiple brain regions or subtle difficulties in brain
structures and functions
Interventions often focus on reading ability

52. Educating Children with
Disabilities: ADHD
Attention hyperactivity deficit disorder (ADHD) is a
disability in which children consistently show one
or more of the following characteristics:

53. Educating Children with
Disabilities: ADHD
No definitive causes of ADHD have been found,
though several have been proposed
• Genetic inheritance
• Brain damage
• Cigarette and alcohol exposure during pregnancy
• Higher levels of maternal stress
• Low birth weight
Number of differences found in brain scanning
techniques

54. Educating Children with
Disabilities: Autism Spectrum
Disorders

55. Educating Children with
Disabilities: Autism Spectrum
Disorders
Brain structure and neurotransmitter abnormalities
may contribute to ASD
• Genetic factors may be involved
Boys are estimated to be five times more likely to
develop ASDs
Children benefit from a well-structured classroom,
individualized instruction, and small-group
instruction
• Behavioral management techniques are sometimes
effective in helping autistic children learn

56. Educating Children with
Disabilities: IDEA

57. Socioeconomic Status and
Ethnicity in Schools

58. Achievement:
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation: doing something to obtain
something else
Intrinsic motivation: internal motivation to do
something for its own sake
Parental motivational practices are linked to
children’s motivation
Students’ internal motivation and intrinsic interest
increases when they have opportunities to make
choices and take responsibility for learning

59. Achievement:
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation
As students move from the early elementary
school years to the high school years, intrinsic
motivation tends to decline
• Largest increase in extrinsic motivation occurs between
the sixth and seventh grades
• Students compare themselves more with other students
because they are increasingly graded in terms of relative
performance
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can operate
simultaneously
• Extrinsic motivation alone is not a good strategy

60. Dweck (1986)

61. Mastery Motivation and Mindset 1
Mastery orientation: task-oriented, concerned with
learning strategies and the process of
achievement rather than ability or outcome
Helpless orientation: seeming trapped by the
experience of difficulty, and attributing difficulty to
lack of ability
Mastery-oriented individuals often instruct
themselves to pay attention, think carefully, and
remember strategies
• Feel challenged and excited by difficult tasks

62. Mastery Motivation and Mindset 2
Performance orientation: focused on winning
rather than on an achievement outcome
• Happiness results from winning
Mastery and performance goals are not mutually
exclusive
• Can be both mastery- and performance-oriented
• Combination often benefits students’ success

63. Mindsets

64. Mastery Motivation and Mindset 3
Mindset: the cognitive view that individuals
develop for themselves
• Fixed mindset: belief that qualities are carved in stone
and cannot change
• Growth mindset: belief that qualities can change and
improve through effort
• Influences whether individuals are optimistic or
pessimistic; shapes their goals and how hard they will
strive to reach their goals; and affects achievement and
success in school and sports
• Shaped by parents, teachers, and coaches

65. Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy: the belief that one can master a
situation and produce favorable outcomes
Students with low self-efficacy avoid learning
tasks, especially those that are challenging
Those with high self-efficacy work eagerly at
learning tasks
Children’s and adolescents’ development is
shaped by their parents’ self-efficacy

66. Goal Setting, Planning, and
Self-Monitoring
Self-efficacy and achievement improve when
individuals set goals that are specific, proximal, and
challenging
• Students can set both long-term (distal) and short-term
(proximal) goals; short-term goals are steps toward
long-term goals
• Challenging goals are a commitment to self-improvement; but
goals are best matched to one’s skill level
Individuals should plan how to reach their goals and
monitor how well they are sticking to their plan
• Delaying gratification is important

67. +
Differences in Learners
Motivation
 Not enhanced by $$
 Prioritized, meaningful material
= motivation

68. +
Differences in Learners
 Working Memory
 Reasoning
 Reading Comprehension
 Control of attention

69. +
Differences in Learners
Anxiety
 Hurts working memory
 Write about it!

70. +
Differences in Learners
Expertise
 Chase & Simon (1973) study of
chess masters
 Chunking

71. Careers, Work, and Retirement
Quality of schooling and achievement orientation
provide the foundation for career success and the type
of work pursued
Children have idealistic fantasies of career choices
• In the late teens and twenties, career decision making
becomes more serious
 Different career opportunities are explored
• In college, the focus becomes choosing a major or
specialization designed to lead to work in a specific field
• By the early to mid-twenties, many individuals complete
education or training and enter a full-time occupation

72. Careers
Career mystique: ingrained cultural beliefs that
engaging in hard work for long hours through
adulthood will automatically lead to status,
security, and happiness
• Idealized concept of a career path toward achieving the
American dream
• Never been a reality for many individuals, especially
ethnic minorities, women, and poorly educated adults
• Global outsourcing and economic changes have reduced
job security for the middle class

73. Work
Increased number of adolescents work part-time while
attending school
• Estimated 80–90% of adolescents are employed at some point
Large amounts of time in paid labor produces limited
developmental benefits for youth
• Associated with risky behavior and costs to physical health
Work does benefit many youth in low-income, urban
contexts by providing economic benefits and adult
monitoring
• May increase school engagement, decrease delinquency

74. Work in Emerging Adulthood
Along with the increasing number of adults in
higher education, many leave home and enter
careers at later ages
• Changing economic conditions have made the job
market more competitive
 Increased demand for highly skilled workers
Adults who don’t go to college may experience a
lowered ability to get a good job
• Job market for those with only a high school education
has worsened

75. Work in Adulthood
Most individuals spend about one-third of their
lives at work
Work defines people in fundamental ways
• Financial standing
• Housing
• Ways in which time is spent
• Where people live
• Friendships
• Health
• For some, identity and a structure and rhythm to life

76. Work in Adulthood
One trend in the U.S.: the disappearing long-term
career for an increasing number of adults
• Especially men in private-sector jobs
• Dramatic increase in technology and companies’ use of
cheaper labor abroad
Work can be stressful to the point of health risks
• Low salaries
• Lack of advancement opportunities
• Uncertain job expectations
• Long hours
• Policies out of step with today’s workforce

77. Work in Adulthood
Unemployment produces stress regardless of
whether the job loss is temporary, cyclical, or
permanent
• Related to increased physical problems, mental
problems, substance use and abuse, and marital
difficulties
Stress related to unemployment comes from the
income loss and financial hardships, but also from
decreased self-esteem
• Those who cope well with unemployment have financial
sources to rely on or family members’ support

78. Work in Adulthood
Dual-career couples may have special problems
finding a work-family life balance
Number of two-earner couples has increased
considerably in recent decades
As more U.S. women work, the division of
responsibility for work and family has changed:
• Husbands take more responsibility for maintaining the
home
• Women take more responsibility for breadwinning
• Men show greater interest in families and parenting

79. Work in Adulthood
Gender inequalities still persist, even as couples in
dual-earner families strive for gender equality
• Career decisions are often made in favor of men’s
greater earning power
• Women spend more time in homemaking and caring for
children

80. Work in Late Adulthood
Percentage of older U.S. adults still working or
returning to work has been increasing since the
1990s
• Working full-time longer to secure enough money to
fund retirement
Cognitive ability is one of the best predictors of job
performance for older adults
• Fewer absences, accidents, and increased job
satisfaction compared to younger adults

81. Retirement
Option to retire is a twentieth-century phenomenon
in the U.S., largely due to the Social Security
System
• On average, today’s workers will spend 18 years of their
lives in retirement
• Life paths to retirement in people’s sixties:
 Do not retire; continue working
 Retire from career work, then take up a different job
 Retire from career work and do volunteer work
 Retire from a postretirement job and go on to another
 Move in and out of the workforce, with no retirement
 In poor health, move to a disability status and into retirement
 Layoff defined as “retirement”

82. Retirement
Approximately 7 million retired Americans return to
work after retirement
• Postretirement jobs typically pay less
Main worries as adults approach retirement:
• Drawing retirement income from savings
• Paying for health care expenses
Varying reasons for retirement; varying reasons for
continuing to work

83. Retirement
Older adults who best adjust to retirement:
• Healthy
• Have adequate income
• Active
• Better educated
• Have an extended network of friends and family
• Satisfied with life before retirement
Flexibility is a key factor
• Discover and pursue their own interests
• Planning and successfully carrying out the plan
 Balanced plan, including finances and other areas of life