Modern intelligence research
Intellectuals are divided into two categories: some worship the intellect, others use it.
Gilbert Chesterton
The main direction of research at present is the establishment of direct links between intelligence and the manifestation of abilities in different areas. For example, in 1973 the question of whether high achievements in mathematics or the game of chess can be explained by high intelligence or special knowledge was intensively studied.
As one would expect, individuals with high intelligence perform tasks significantly better than those who have limited knowledge and experience in these areas. However, sometimes having low intelligence can be offset by having a lot of experience. People with a lot of specialized experience, such as experts, can achieve the same results as gifted beginners.
But practitioners also need high intelligence. Maybe he is not directly involved in achieving success, but contributes to it, helping in the assimilation of educational material and skills.
If a person has fundamental knowledge in a certain area, then his achievements will be the same as those of a person with high intelligence. Today, scientists define and evaluate intelligence differently than they did in the very recent past, extending this concept to areas that have little in common with the usual cognitive areas of thinking, learning and problem solving. Recently, the concept of EQ has become popular - "emotional" or "social" intelligence, thanks to which it is possible to recognize and evaluate the emotional factor in oneself and others. It also makes it possible to express, regulate and control our feelings, while maintaining objectivity in solving problems. The part of our brain responsible for making quick and easy decisions is usually called "adapted unconsciousness", and research on these processes is decisive in one of the most important areas of modern psychology. This adapted unconsciousness has nothing to do with Freud's unconscious or subconscious. Instead, it can be thought of as something like a computer that processes the incoming data very quickly and quietly, which is necessary for our survival.
If, for example, leaving the house, we suddenly meet the eyes of a car rushing towards us, then we do not have time to choose the option for the optimal response. This is precisely the basis for such a long survival of man on Earth, since our decision-making apparatus in the process of evolution has developed so much that with its help we can, in short moments, with minimal information, make spontaneous decisions that are sometimes of vital importance for us. . Psychologist T. D. Wilson describes this in his book Strawers to Ourselves as follows: “The brain works very rationally in the sense that it shifts most of the complex thinking to the unconscious, just like a modern passenger aircraft through autopilot in able, without help or with minimal help from a person, to pave your way to the goal.
Adaptive unconsciousness illustrates very well how, given information received from the environment, one can warn a person and direct his actions. Each time decisions are made in different parts of our brain and each time they concern different personality traits.
Of course, if a doctor has to make a very important decision to make a complex diagnosis, he needs additional tests, moreover, we want to hear the opinion of another doctor or a whole council. Even to our children, we say: “First think, then act,” and then we trust only our conscious decisions. But there are times when, due to lack of time, stress, and difficult conditions, it is more beneficial for us to spontaneously make decisions on the first impression without much thought, which gives us the opportunity to fully understand our world. Of course, one can and should speak not only about the effectiveness of the first glance, but also about the fact that instinct can be wrong.
So when should we trust our instinct, and when should we be careful before trusting it? If we, listening to instinct, make decisions that always lead to wrong decisions, this means that we make a mistake all the time for reasons that repeat all the time, which we must identify and realize. This is proved by an experiment conducted by the University of Washington in the laboratory of psychology of J. Gottman, in which a married couple at the age of about thirty years old took part. The first impression of them is fashionably dressed, pleasant and intelligent people. Those who later watched Gottman's video got the same impression. The husband, let's call him Bill, had a winning and slightly playful charm, his wife Susannah had a sharp and perky tongue.
They were led into a small room, seated two meters apart, and placed with electrodes on their fingers and earlobes to measure their heart rate, perspiration, and skin temperature. A folding ruler was placed under each of the chairs to measure the movements of the subjects on the chairs. Two cameras, one for each, recorded everything that happened and was said. The couple were left alone for fifteen minutes under working cameras and were instructed to have a discussion on a topic that might cause a quarrel. For Bill and Suzanne, this was the dog that she dreamed about, but he did not want, about which they discussed for a quarter of an hour.
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MOSCOW INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND LAW
Psychology faculty. Specialty "Clinical Psychology"
COURSE WORK
"Intelligence Research in Psychology - Background"
forms of education of the faculty Kapitonova A.A.
Scientific adviser: candidate
in Psychology, Associate Professor Petrovich D.L.
Moscow 2013
1. General idea of intelligence
1.1 Early methods of intelligence research
2. Factor models of intelligence
3. Hierarchical models of intelligence
4. Conclusion
5. List of used literature
1. General idea of intelligence
Intelligence (from Latin intellectus - understanding, understanding, comprehension) in psychology is defined as a general ability to know and solve problems, which determines the success of any activity and underlies other abilities.
The intellect is not reduced to thinking, although mental abilities form the basis of intellect. In general, the intellect is a system of all human cognitive abilities: sensation, perception, memory, representation, imagination and thinking. The concept of intelligence as a general mental ability is used as a generalization of behavioral characteristics associated with successful adaptation to new life tasks.
Currently, there are at least three interpretations of intelligence:
1. Biological interpretation: "the ability to consciously adapt to a new situation."
2. Pedagogical interpretation: "ability to learn, learnability."
3. Structural principle formulated by A. Binet: intelligence as "the ability to adapt means to ends." According to this, the intellect is the totality of certain mental abilities of a person.
Human intelligence determines the totality of cognitive processes.
In a number of psychological concepts, intelligence is identified with a system of mental operations, with a style and strategy for solving problems, with the effectiveness of an individual approach to a situation requiring cognitive activity, with a cognitive style. In modern Western psychology, the most common understanding of the intellect is as a biopsychic adaptation to the existing circumstances of life (W. Stern, J. Piaget).
1 .1 Firstintelligence research methods
Since the 19th century one of the most important questions for psychology was the question of the possibility of assessing and measuring intelligence.
One of the founders of experimental psychology, Alfred Binet, believed that the focus of this science should be higher mental processes. At an early stage in the study of intelligence, Binet tried to understand the relationship between intelligence and those "variables" that were considered in palmistry and phrenology. In addition, he experimented with the same tests used by Galton and Cattell. However, in the early 1890s Binet came to the conclusion that in order to study individual differences in intelligence, it is necessary to turn to more complex mental processes.
In 1891, Alfred Binet began working in the psychological laboratory of the Sorbonne. The work that followed was called The Experimental Study of Intelligence. The basis of this book was observations and experiments on Binet's daughters - thirteen-year-old Margarita and twelve-year-old Armande, as well as on elementary school students.
So, in his work with children, Binet used about 20 different methods of inventing 20 words, inventing and completing sentences, writing on a given topic, describing objects, incidents, crossing out letters in a text, memorizing numbers, etc. Based on the experiments, Binet identified two main psychological types that are clearly manifested in children: observant (objective) and fantasizing (subjective). The scientist believed that these types are not inborn and unchanged, the differences between them are smoothed out over time by education. In addition, in this work, Alfred Binet reflects his theoretical developments in the psychology of thinking. He distinguishes three components in thinking: the image, the actual mental activity and the word. Here Binet develops his theory of three images, determining the presence of a specific component of thought, which he called the process of idealization. .
In 1905, French scientists A. Binet and T. Simon created the first test battery to assess the intellectual development of children from 3 to 13 years old. The creators of these tests considered intelligence as the level of mental development achieved by a certain age, which manifests itself in the formation of cognitive functions, as well as in the degree of assimilation of mental skills and knowledge. The number of correctly solved test tasks characterizes mental age child.
In 1905, he founded a free society for the study of the child, sought to attract both the scientific community and the general public to it. In the same 1905, his article “On the Measurement of Intelligence” appeared in the Psychological Yearbook, in which Binet criticized methods for measuring mental development using sensitivity tests, craniometry (measurement of parameters - size and shape - of the skull) and estimates given by teachers. Instead, the scientist suggested using a method based on the educational level achieved by the child.
His developments influenced many psychologists, including Eysenck, the creator of the IQ test.
The first, at the end of the last century, two Frenchmen - A. Bene and T. Simon came up with an intelligence test (Intellectual Quotion (IQ) - IQ) In connection with government requests to find a way to distinguish incapable children, they created the first series of tests (30 tasks ). Their tasks were similar to unpretentious puzzles from different fields of knowledge. Scientists wanted to use tests to identify mental retardation in children. But after a few decades, their tests began to serve healthy people to determine the level of intelligence.
2. Factor models of intelligence
Ch. Spearman's model.
What is the structure of intelligence? There are various concepts that provide answers to this question. So, at the beginning of the century, Spearman (1904) formulated the following postulates: intelligence does not depend on other personal traits of a person; does not include in its structure extraneous qualities for it (interests, achievement motivation, anxiety, etc.); acts as a general factor of mental energy.
Spearman showed that the success of any intellectual activity depends on a certain common factor, a general ability, highlighting general factor of intelligence (factor G) and factor S, office worker indicator of specific ability. From Spearman's point of view, each person is characterized by a certain level of general intelligence, which determines how he adapts to the environment. In addition, all people have developed specific abilities to varying degrees, manifested in solving specific problems.
C. Spearman dealt with the problems of professional abilities (mathematical, literary and others). When processing test data, he found that the results of many tests aimed at diagnosing the features of thinking, memory, attention, perception are closely related: as a rule, people who successfully perform tests for thinking also successfully cope with tests for other cognitive abilities, conversely, low-performing subjects perform poorly on most tests. Spearman suggested that the success of any intellectual work is determined by: 1) a certain general factor, a general ability, 2) a factor specific to this activity. Consequently, when performing tests, the success of the solution depends on the level of development of the general ability (general 0-factor) and the corresponding special ability (S-factor) of the test subject. Ch. Spearman used a political metaphor in his reasoning. He represented the set of abilities as a set of people - members of society. In a society of abilities, anarchy can reign - abilities are not connected in any way and are not coordinated with each other. The "oligarchy" can dominate - the success of the activity is determined by several basic abilities (as Spearman's opponent, L. Thurstone, later believed). Finally, in the realm of abilities, the "monarch" can rule - the G-factor, to which the S-factors are subordinate.
Spearman, explaining the correlation of the results of various measuring procedures by the influence of a common property, proposed in 1927 a method of factor analysis of intercorrelation matrices to identify this latent general factor. (The essence of the method is described in more detail in the specialized literature.)
The G-factor is defined as the total “mental energy” that people are equally endowed with, but which, to one degree or another, affects the success of each specific activity.
Studies of the ratio of general and specific factors in solving various problems allowed Spearman to establish that the role of the G-factor is maximum when solving complex mathematical problems and tasks on conceptual thinking and is minimal when performing sensorimotor actions. The common factor is truly hidden (latent). While maximally influencing the actions taking place in the internal “mental plane”, it minimally manifests itself in the direct interactions of the individual with the objects of the environment.
A number of important consequences follow from Spearman's theory. First, the only thing that unites the success of solving a wide variety of tests is the factor of general mental energy. Secondly, the correlations of the results of performance by any group of people of any intellectual tests must be positive. Thirdly, to test the “G” factor, it is best to use tasks to identify abstract relationships.
Further development of the two-factor theory in the works of C. Spearman led to the creation of a hierarchical model: in addition to the factors "G" and "S", he singled out the criterion level of mechanical, arithmetic and linguistic (verbal) abilities. These abilities (Spearman called them "group factors of intelligence") occupied an intermediate position in the hierarchy of factors of intelligence in terms of their level of generalization.
Subsequently, many authors have tried to interpret the G-factor in traditional psychological terms. A mental process that manifests itself in any kind of mental activity could claim the role of a general factor:
The main contenders were attention (Cyril Barth's hypothesis) and, of course, motivation. G. Eysenck interprets the G-factor as the speed of information processing by the central nervous system. He established extremely high positive correlations between IQ, determined by high-speed intelligence tests (in particular, tests by G. Eysenck himself), temporal parameters and variability of evoked potentials of the brain, as well as the minimum time that a person needs to recognize a simple image (with tachistoscope presentation) . However, the hypothesis of "speed of information processing by the brain" does not yet have serious neurophysiological arguments. Intelligence tests used in this kind of research include only tasks of different levels of difficulty with a closed answer. The test subject must choose one correct answer from a set of proposed ones in a certain time. Efficiency evaluation is determined by the speed and correctness of the task
The structure of intelligence according to Ch. Spearman is a factor-analytical theory of the “general factor”, in which intelligence is considered as a kind of “mental energy”, the level of which determines the success of solving test tasks of any nature. In accordance with this theory, the general factor of intelligence has the greatest weight when performing tasks on abstract relations, and the smallest when performing sensory tasks. In addition to the general, there are also “group” intelligence factors, which include mechanical, linguistic, mathematical competence, as well as “special” factors that contribute only to individual intelligence tests.
Model of intelligence R.Cattell.
Among the modern models of the structure of the intellect, one can mention the most developed concept proposed by Cattell (1971), which won the recognition of many researchers. This concept assumes that the factor G consists of two common factors, which are called intellect fluid (gf) and intellect crystallized (gc). In fact, Cattell identified five second-order factors, two of which, in his opinion, represent the components G Spearman. Differences between factors gf and gc-- the most detailed aspect of the research of Cattell and his collaborators, hence the name "The Theory of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence".
Cattell agrees with Spearman in understanding the intellect, the essence of which is the comprehension of relationships and dependencies. He believes that there are two determinants of this comprehension of relationships: natural and acquired. The first, naturally conditioned, contribute to the fact that the process of acquiring experience and skills is less difficult for some people than for others. These differences lend themselves to fluid intelligence, which can be supposedly measured by "culture-free" tests.
The use of fluid intelligence to solve problems that arise before a person leads, as a result of training, to the emergence and development of a crystallized intellect, which appears as a kind of condensate of our experience. Crystallized intelligence varies with culture, activities, interests of the individual and is measured by traditional intelligence tests.
Each manifestation of abilities, expressed in activity, is, according to Cattell, a function of certain factors belonging to three classes.
1. Central (or general) abilities are determined by the structural and functional properties of the brain and affect all cognitive processes. It is purely speculatively assumed that the most general of the factors relating to the central abilities can characterize the magnitude of the material substratum of cognition. Other factors are identified with the functional features of the brain. The central faculties are the basis of fluid intelligence.
2.Local abilities associated with both innate and acquired organization of sensory and motor areas of the brain. These abilities are revealed when performing tasks that require, for example, the implementation of auditory or visual perception, as well as motor activity. The factors included in local abilities have a somewhat more limited influence on the success of tests than those related to central abilities.
3.Operation Factors unlike central and local abilities are more closely related to the cultural experience of the individual. They are divided into acquired, or auxiliary cognitive skills (intelligent algorithms), and specialized professional, i.e., skills acquired to achieve a goal. Cattell refers them to crystallized intelligence.
The first two classes are referred to as "limiting abilities" because they limit the effect of learning to some extent. As you can see, they are naturally conditioned. The third class is instrumental structures that arise as a result of the interaction of central and local abilities with the cultural experience of the individual.
The author himself emphasizes that the theory proposed by him is not the same as the division of abilities into naturally conditioned and acquired. The individual level of factors belonging to each of the three classes depends on both hereditary, biological, and environmental factors. The main difference is in the degree of this dependence. Thus, it is assumed that the central abilities are minimally dependent on learning. At the opposite pole are the factors-operations. However, fluid intelligence has an impact on the development of each factor-operation (for example, in relation to acquired skills, the individual level gf will determine the rate at which they learn). Local abilities occupy an intermediate place, they are formed both due to the environment and due to heredity. They also have, albeit to a lesser extent, influence on the development of operational factors. For example, verbal learning leading to the development of word comprehension requires both auditory and visual perception of words.
Cattell comes to the following conclusions.
* Heredity affects Gf to a greater extent than Gs, but Gf is not equivalent to genetic intelligence. Fluid intelligence is a biological ability dependent on the influences of the biological environment, its variables such as nutrition, peculiarities of renatal development, and finally on what is inherited by the individual. Nevertheless, genetic actors have a direct effect on Gf, and indirectly on Gs, through the influence on Gf.
* Environmental changes affecting biological development will have a greater impact on Gfchem on Gs.
* Environmental changes related to education and culture will affect Gs but will not have any effect on Gf.
* Age does not have an equal effect on Gf and Gs. The age-related decrease in fluid intelligence begins earlier (in the 3rd decade) than crystallized, in relation to the latter, it may not manifest itself even in extreme old age.
* Brain injuries will have different effects on Gf and Gs. At an early age, they will affect Gf first and later on Gs. At a later age, brain injuries will have little effect on Gf, Gs will suffer.
At first glance, it may seem that the theory reveals the interaction of environment and heredity in the formation of intelligence. However, this interaction only leads to the emergence of factors-operations that form a crystallized intellect, conditioned by experience and training. Of decisive importance is the natural intellect, which determines and limits the development of the "acquired" intellect. At the same time, natural intelligence is by no means a prerequisite, a potency. It is measurable in the same way as crystallized intelligence. Cattell's theoretical conclusions are largely determined by his belief in the possibility of creating culture-independent intelligence tests.
It is sometimes noted that Cattell, as it were, "splits" intelligence: dependent on heredity and dependent on the environment. In fact, this bifurcation is more of an external character. One should not think that crystallized intellect is basically a social acquisition. Cattell believes that Gs, like Gf, is genetically determined, only the first is approximately 70%, and the second - 90%. %.
Polish psychologists (Z. Petrasinsky, 1975) believe that, minus terminological and technical differences, Cattell's theory is close to the views of Russian researchers. For example, "limiting abilities" correspond to the innate inclinations of abilities. Of course, for the development of a theory, reinterpretation is sometimes not only permissible, but also desirable. But in this case, we are talking about incomparable views.
The experimental data cited by Cattell and S. Horn (Horn, 1968) in favor of the existence of fluid and crystallized intelligence are criticized by Guilford (1980), who indicates that Cattell's data were obtained on a sample with a wide age range ( from 14 years to 61 years), heterogeneous in professions, sex and education. There is practically no correlation between pairs of parameters characterizing, on the one hand, and on the other hand, while the theory provides for the presence of significant correlations.
All this allows Guilford to suggest that there are two groups of tests behind Gf and Gs, and that the results obtained with the help of each of them have a certain curve of development and decline. It is likely that fluid intelligence will be "detected" with the help of high-speed tests that require the active involvement of sensorimotor components of activity, and crystallized intelligence - verbal ones. Guilford expressed his attitude to this theory in the title of an article devoted to its analysis: “Fluid and crystallized intelligence: two far-fetched concepts that (Fluid and crustallized intelligence: two fanciful concepts, 1980). The author of the "cubic" model of intelligence himself is very cautious in assessing the influence of heredity and environment on abilities. He believes that the upper limits of the development of intelligence are determined both by heredity and the environment. Guilford is opposed to "culture-free" tests, which he considers to be an unattainable goal, a false line of research.
Thurstone's model of intelligence.
Thurstone, made a significant contribution to the development of factor analysis techniques, creator multifactorial theory of intelligence.
From 1923, Thurstone worked as a psychologist and head of the personnel department in the Bureau of Personnel Management of the Institute of Management. In 1924 he returned to the University of Chicago as an associate professor of psychology, from 1927 he was a full professor. Here he created a psychometric laboratory.
Spearman's analysis methods were based on the assumption that only one factor is contained in the matrix of correlations between all possible pairs of tests. Thurstone develops a statistical apparatus that allows determining the minimum number of factors in the matrix that must be assumed to explain the ability to perform test items. It proceeds from the principle of "simple structure", the essence of which lies in the fact that the matrix of factors is subjected to rotation in order to obtain the maximum possible number of factor weights that are large in absolute value and at the same time the maximum possible number of zero or close to zero factor weights. .Thurstone explains the principle of “simple structure” in this way: “We take it for granted that individual differences in visual acuity do not play a role in the implementation of a step, thus we assume that certain functions (capabilities) of the brain are necessary for an individual when solving not any , and some tasks. This is the principle of simple structure.”
According to L. Thurstone "there is no common beginning of intellectual activity, but there is only a set of independent intellectual abilities."
One of the first began to apply mathematical methods in psychology and sociology. Based on the factor-analytical studies of Spearman and Cattell in the field of intelligence, he proposed his own version of multivariate factor analysis, which led to the refutation of Spearman's concept of the g-factor of intelligence. At the same time, Thurstone abandoned the assumption about the obligatory presence in the matrix of intercorrelations of the values of the contribution of a single common factor, which made it possible for him to identify several group factors, in particular, in the study of intelligence, they acted in this capacity: perception features, spatial abilities, verbal abilities.
Based on numerous tests of students, Louis Thurstone developed a multifactorial model of intelligence based on 12 factors, of which 7 were most often reproduced in studies, called "primary mental abilities". For the first time they were stated in the book of the same name: "Primary Mental Abilities". Initially, these factors were assumed to be independent.
V - Verbal comprehension is tested with text comprehension tasks, verbal analogies, conceptual thinking, proverb interpretation, etc.
W - Verbal fluency is measured by tests for finding rhymes, naming words belonging to a certain category.
N - The numerical factor is tested by tasks for the speed and accuracy of arithmetic calculations
S - The space factor is divided into two subfactors. The first determines the success and speed of perception of spatial relationships (recognition of flat geometric shapes). The second is related to the mental manipulation of visual representations in three-dimensional space.
M - Associative memory is measured by tests for the rote memorization of word associative pairs.
R - The speed of perception is determined by the rapid and accurate perception of details, similarities and differences in images. Separate the verbal ("perception of the clerk") and "imaginative" subfactors.
I - The inductive factor is tested by tasks on finding the rule and completing the sequence (by the type of D. Raven's test)
Thurstone initially claimed that his work completely disproved Spearman's general factor theory. He believed that there was no reason to use such an indicator as the IQ. (I.Q.) which is based on the overall assessment of the success of the tests. Intelligence, Thurstone believed, must be represented as a profile of assessments of primary factors. At the same time, the differences between the views of these researchers (in the technical, not theoretical sense) are not as great as it might seem at first glance. Their difference is that with oblique rotation, higher order factors are obtained as the end result of several factorization steps, while centroid factorization without rotation presents these factors as the primary result of the analysis.
It should also be borne in mind that most of the research of Spearman and his followers was carried out on children of primary school age. That is why the emphasis is on the factor G. In the works of American psychologists, college students were the object of study. The differentiation of intellect with age made it possible to more clearly identify group factors. A parallel can be drawn with factor studies of personality, which noted both an increase in the number and differentiation of relatively independent symptom complexes with age.
Back in 1940, R. Cattell noted that with the help of second-order factors, it is possible to bring together the views of the English and American schools in the study of intelligence. Thurstone, in his later work, recognized the existence of a factor similar to the factor G Spearman. On the other hand, Spearman agreed with Thurstone's results, as the correlations between his battery tests were predominantly positive (0.35 on average). However, this was a compromise in the field of technology, not theory. Spearman and his followers continued to attach decisive importance to the general factor. Thurstone and his staff took a different position. This influenced the solution of theoretical questions concerning the nature of intelligence.
The research of Thurstone, and after him of other psychologists focused on the study of group factors, contributed to the approval of the concept that denies the general basis of intelligence. The most prominent representative of this trend is Guildford.
J. Gilford's model of intelligence.
In the 60s - J. Gilford, the creator of the first reliable test for measuring social intelligence, considered it as a system of intellectual abilities independent of the general intelligence factor and associated primarily with the cognition of behavioral information. The possibility of measuring social intelligence followed from the general model of the structure of intelligence by J. Gilford.
It must immediately be emphasized that for the American psychologist Guilford (Guilford, 1967), factor analysis is a means of confirming the theoretical validity of the proposed model of intelligence, and not a tool for its construction. The model is based on the assumption of three dimensions, the combinations of which determine different types of intellectual abilities. Each intelligence factor is formed by a combination of one of the types of intellectual operations, the area in which it is performed (content), and the result obtained as a result. Guilford distinguishes five types of operations that make up the first dimension of the model: understanding information (C), remembering (M), divergent thinking, or the production of logical alternatives related to the information presented (D), convergent thinking, or the production of logically valid conclusions. (N) and evaluation - comparison and evaluation of information units according to a certain criterion (E).
The second dimension is defined in terms of the content or forms of presentation of information. The information provided, according to Guilford, can be figurative(F)symbolic (5), semantic (M) and behavioral(AT).
The third dimension is the product, the result of applying a certain intellectual operation to a specific content. The results appear as relatively separate elements, units (U), classes (C), relation(R)systems(S) transformations(T) and implications(I). Thus, the existence of 120 (5x4x6) intelligence factors is assumed, each of which includes a combination of three symbols corresponding to the type of operation, the form of presentation of information and the result obtained.
1. Images (F) - visual, auditory, proprioceptive and other images that reflect the physical characteristics of the object.
2. Symbols (S) - formal signs: Letters, numbers, notes, code symbols, etc.
3. Semantics (M) - conceptual information, most often verbal; verbal ideas and concepts; meaning conveyed through words or images.
4. Behavior (B) - information reflecting the process of interpersonal communication: motives, needs, moods, thoughts, attitudes that determine people's behavior.
Information processing operations:
1. Cognition (C) - detection, recognition, awareness, understanding of information.
2. Memory (M) - memorization and storage of information.
3. Divergent thinking (D) - the formation of a multitude of diverse alternatives logically related to the information presented, a multivariate search for a solution to the problem.
4. Convergent thinking (N) - obtaining the only logical consequence from the information presented, the search for one correct solution to the problem.
5. Evaluation (E) - comparison and evaluation of information according to a certain criterion.
Results of information processing:
1. Elements (U) - individual units of information, single information.
2. Classes (C) - grounds for assigning objects to one class, grouping information in accordance with common elements or properties.
3. Relations (R) - establishment of relations between units of information, links between objects.
4. Systems (S) - grouped systems of information units, complexes of interconnected parts, information blocks, integral networks made up of elements.
5. Transformations (T) - transformation, modification, reformulation of information.
6. Implications (I) - results, conclusions, logically related to this information, but beyond its limits.
Thus, D. Gilford's classification scheme describes 120 intellectual factors (abilities): 5x4x6=120. Each intellectual ability corresponds to a small cube formed by three axes of coordinates: content, operations, results. (1992), B. Kulagin (1984).
According to the concept of D. Gilford, social intelligence is a system of intellectual abilities, independent of the factors of general intelligence. These abilities, as well as general intellectual ones, can be described in the space of three variables: content, operations, results. J. Gilford singled out one operation - cognition (C) - and focused his research on the cognition of behavior (CB). This ability includes 6 factors:
Cognition of elements of behavior (CBU) - the ability to isolate verbal and non-verbal expression of behavior from the context (the ability is close to the ability to isolate the "figure from the background" in Gestalt psychology).
Behavior class cognition (CBC) – the ability to recognize common properties in some stream of expressive or situational behavioral information.
Behavior Relationship Cognition (CBR) is the ability to understand the relationships that exist between units of behavioral information.
Cognition of behavioral systems (CBS) - the ability to understand the logic of the development of integral situations of interaction between people, the meaning of their behavior in these situations. Behavior transformation cognition (CBT) - the ability to understand changes in the meaning of similar behaviors (verbal or non-verbal) in different situational contexts.
Behavioral Outcome Cognition (CBI) – The ability to anticipate the consequences of behavior based on available information.
J. Gilford developed his test battery based on 23 tests designed to measure the six factors of social intelligence he identified. The results of the testing confirmed the initial hypothesis. Social intelligence did not significantly correlate with the development of general intelligence (with average and above average values of the latter) and spatial representations, the ability for visual discrimination, originality of thinking, and the ability to manipulate comics. The last fact is especially important, because his method used non-verbal information in the form of comic strips. Of the original 23 tests, four tests that are most adequate for measuring social intelligence made up the diagnostic battery of J. Gilford. Subsequently, it was adapted and standardized in France. The results of the French adaptation were summarized in the manual "Les tests d? intelligence sociale", which was taken as the basis for adapting the test to the Russian socio-cultural conditions of Mikhailova E.S. in the period from 1986 to 1990 on the basis of the laboratory of pedagogical psychology of the Research Institute of Professional Education of the Russian Academy of Education and the Department of Psychology of the Russian State Pedagogical University (Mikhailova, 1996).
Later, J. Gilford (1959) singled out 120 intelligence factors based on what mental operations they are needed for, what results they lead to and what their content is (it can be figurative, symbolic, semantic, behavioral). Under the operation, Guilford understands the ability of a person, or rather, a mental process: concept, memory, divergent productivity, convergent productivity, evaluation. Outcomes are the form in which information is processed by the subject: element, classes, relationships, systems, transformation types, and inferences. Currently, appropriate tests have been selected for the diagnosis of more than 100 factors indicated by Gilford.
3. Hierarchical models of intelligence
MODEL OF INTELLIGENCE J.VEKSLER.
In 1937 the first version of his test for measuring intelligence was proposed by D. Veksler. He created a scale for measuring intelligence not only for children, but also for adults. The Wexler intellectual scale for children has been translated into Russian, adapted and widely used in our country.
The hierarchical model of J. Wexler also includes three levels:
1) the level of general intelligence;
2) the level of group factors: intelligence of actions and verbal intelligence;
3) the level of specific factors
“Intelligence is the global ability to act intelligently, to think rationally, and to cope well with life's circumstances” (Wexler).
Nothing grows in an empty place: a huge experience in consulting and psychodiagnostic work, an excellent scientific school that he went through.D. Veksler under the guidance of outstanding psychologists, personal talent - were the basis of the creative success of this scientist.
In 1939, Veksler created the first version of the intelligence scale for adults; three years later, the second version was released, designed for the needs of the army (the Second World War is on) - “army Veksler”. In 1955, the final version of the adult intelligence test appears. The last lifetime version of the Wexler test was released in 1981 (intended for examining persons from 16 to 64 years old), and the latest revision made by his student Alan Kaufman dates back to 1998. Similar test forms are being created for children 5-15 years old (1949) and for children from 4 to 6.5 years old (1963).
WHAT NEW D. VEKSLER INTRODUCED TO INTELLIGENCE TESTING?
Firstly, he abandoned the concept of intelligence as “mental age”, which was introduced by A. Binet, the creator of the first test of mental abilities, and then developed by V. Stern (he came up with a formula for defining IQ as the ratio of mental age to physical) .
Wexler relied on the idea of his teacher Ch. Spearman: intelligence is a general ability (“mental energy”) that affects the success of any tasks based on identifying relationships and connections between phenomena and objects of reality. Wexler himself defined intelligence as a complex global ability of an individual to purposefully behave, think rationally and successfully interact with the external environment.
Secondly, D. Wexler singled out two components in the intellect, as well as two spheres of its manifestation: verbal intellect and action intellect. During the First World War, American psychologists were faced with the fact that not all recruits coped with the "Army Alpha" test due to low intelligence. Many recent emigrants were mobilized into the US Army, who knew little English and had difficulty understanding the instructions for the test and the content of the assignments. Therefore, a second version of the test (“Beta”) was created for them, which included non-verbal tasks. Wexler suggested that in addition to general intelligence, there are verbal and non-verbal intelligence that should also be measured.
Thirdly, Veksler introduced the concept of "age norm". The subject received a test score based on a comparison of his results with the average results of the age group to which he belonged. The intelligence quotient was expressed in standard deviation units.
The test was intended for a comprehensive examination of patients in a psychiatric clinic. The main purpose of the test is to fine-tune the diagnosis of mental disorders in various diseases (psychosis, neuroses, etc.), as well as to determine the level of an intellectual defect in people with congenital intellectual underdevelopment and senile dementia. Therefore, the selection of the intellectual defect coefficient, which characterizes the decline in mental abilities with aging, is of paramount importance when processing test results.
Wexler was never a limited "psychometrist", he was always aware of the shortcomings of his test. An experienced clinician and consultant, Wexler considered his test as a way of a multifaceted study of the patient and drew attention to the need to monitor additional signs of behavior (understanding instructions, facial expressions and pantomime, etc.), as well as the process of solving tasks.
Despite its complexity, the test is standardized, and deviation from the norm during its implementation is considered unacceptable. At the same time, there are also abbreviated versions of the test, designed for a quick and rough assessment of the level of development of mental abilities.
Immediately after its appearance, the Wexler test began to be widely used outside the clinic: in professional selection, to assess the level of intelligence of "normal", that is, mentally healthy adults and children, and even to assess the level of intellectual giftedness.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of publications in the world devoted to the application of the D. Wexler intelligence test. Even more research has been done using it.
This test cannot be so easily abandoned in psychodiagnostic practice and in research work, just as it is impossible to simply refuse the platinum-iridium meter - the standard of length stored in Paris. Otherwise, the results of studies and surveys conducted by different psychologists at different times and in different countries will be incomparable. And no matter how we feel about the Wechsler test, we will use it for a very long time.
At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to some myths that have developed around the Wexler test and its additional features.
R. Sternberg's model.
The most famous in the late 80s and early 90s was the concept of intelligence by Robert Sternberg.
The so-called "hierarchical model of intelligence" was supposed to explain the relationship between: intelligence and the mental processes that regulate behavior; intelligence and personal experience of the individual; intelligence and adaptive behavior. Intelligence provides information processing. The Sternberg model is more of a general psychological than a differential psychological concept. The scientist explains the differences in intellectual productivity by differences in the cognitive structures of individuals.
Sternberg identifies three types of intelligence components responsible for information processing:
I. Metacomponents - management processes that regulate specific information processing processes. These include: 1) recognition of the existence of a problem; 2) awareness of the problem and selection of processes suitable for its solution; 3) choice of strategy; 4) choice of mental representation; 5) distribution of "mental resources"; 6) monitoring the progress of problem solving; 7) evaluation of the effectiveness of the solution.
II. Executive components are processes of a lower level of the hierarchy. In particular, according to Sternberg, the so-called process of “inductive thinking” (its success is determined by the factor G) includes coding, identifying relationships, matching, applying comparison, justification, answer.
W. Naiser, criticizing Sternberg's position, argues that the number of performance components can be infinite, and their features are determined by the features of the tasks. At least this part of Sternberg's concept is the least detailed and substantiated.
III. The knowledge acquisition components are necessary for the subject to learn to do what the metacomponents and executive components do. Sternberg refers to their number: 1) selective coding; 2) selective combination; 3) selective comparison.
The main thing for a person in the course of cognition is to separate relevant information from irrelevant information, to form a consistent whole from the selected information.
In the course of solving the problem, the components work in concert: the metacomponents regulate the functioning of the executive and “cognitive” components, and they, in turn, provide feedback for the metacomponents.
The level of metacomponents is described in the most detailed and reasonable way in R. Sternberg's concept. He believes that the main difficulty in solving problems lies not in the solution itself, but in the correct understanding of the essence of the problem. So, oligophrenic children differ from normal children in that they need a complete and clear explanation of the conditions of the problem and ways to solve it. Thus, intelligence is the ability to learn and solve problems in the face of incomplete explanation.
A very interesting, in my opinion, fact established by R. Sternberg as a result of experiments is the following: subjects who solve problems most successfully spend relatively more time on planning, choosing a strategy and coding the conditions of the task and very little on its execution (operations with information). It is not clear, however, whether they spend more time planning and representing than the "average subject" or their own performing stage. The main factor that emerges in Sternberg's argument is the factor of attention. . For example, children often make mistakes in counting objects because they count some objects twice, which Sternberg explains as a loss of control over the solution of the problem.
Since Sternberg focuses his research interest on factors “external” in relation to intelligence, selectivity, attention resource, control, etc. inevitably come to the fore. And the intelligence itself is lost in “executive components” and “strategies”.
Intelligence is best measured in areas where tasks are relatively new to the individual and cognitive skills are being automated. Completely new tasks will be misunderstood, while well-known ones are solved at the level of automatisms and do not require intellectual efforts.
The sphere of interaction of intelligence with the outside world includes such manifestations as practical and social intelligence. According to Sternberg, intelligence serves the purpose of ensuring the relationship of the individual with the external environment. He identifies three types of such relationships: adaptation, internal choice, and construction.
In 1981, he invited 150 expert psychologists and 500 non-specialists to list the properties of a person, as well as the types of human activities in which "intelligence", "lack of intelligence", "scale intelligence", "intelligence in everyday life" are manifested. Then the subjects rated on a 7-point scale how these features are inherent in the "ideally intelligent person." The data were processed using correlation and factor analyses.
In the group of non-specialists, three factors stood out: 1) the ability to solve problems of a practical nature; 2) "verbal abilities"; 3) "social competence". In the correlation matrix obtained on the basis of expert data, three factors can be distinguished: 1) “verbal abilities”; 2) ability to solve problems; 3) practical intelligence.
One of Sternberg's best-known studies focuses on the relationship between intelligence, wisdom, and creativity (general creative ability). From Sternberg's point of view, these concepts are "prototypical", basic for characterizing the human mind.
Three bipolar parameters have been identified that describe intelligence:
1. Ability to solve practical problems (practicality, reasonableness, flexibility in applying knowledge) - verbal ability (clarity and fluency of speech).
2. Intellectual integration (the ability to see differences and agree on different points of view) - purposefulness (selective search for information, persistence).
3. Contextual intelligence (knowledge of the world, the ability to use personal experience) - fluid thinking (wit, quick thinking, the ability to think abstractly).
These studies served as the beginning of the study of "ordinary concepts of intelligence" in various countries.
The next step in the development of Sternberg's concept was the theory of "mental control" or "government in the structure of intelligence." The control system can be translated into the language of describing the intellectual behavior of an individual. Let's take this diagram as a curiosity:
Functions: Levels:
1) legislative; 1) global;
2) executive; 2) local.
3) judicial (evaluative).
Shapes: Spheres:
1) monarchical; 1) internal;
2) hierarchical; 2) external;
3) oligarchic; Orientation:
4) anarchist. 1) conservative;
2) progressive.
The combination of these features characterizes individual intelligence. Case studies like these delight attendees at university parties. Sternberg is the main opponent of the concepts of "hard way" (hard way), as they were designated by Vernoy. Sternberg criticizes Eysenck for trying to reduce intelligence to neurophysiological measures. From his point of view, the correlation approach based on correlating the parameters of cognitive tasks with grades of school achievements and intelligence testing data also does not justify itself.
Model of the structure of intelligence G. Eysenck.
The non-factorial model of intelligence was developed by G. Eysenck (Eysenck, 1979), who adjoins the English psychological school, which constantly emphasizes the importance of the general factor. This model borrows certain elements of Guildford's scheme, which Eysenck, not without reason, considers insufficiently confirmed empirically and theoretically. Schematically, his model also looks like a cube, each of whose planes represents different modalities: intellectual processes(thinking, memory, perception, etc.), test material( verbal, spatial, etc.), finally, what is called "quality"(speed and strength of intellectual processes). Let us immediately clarify that the strength (power) of the intellect consists of perseverance in completing tasks and a tendency to check for errors (for more details, see the section "Intelligence and Personality").
Eysenck himself points to the similarity of the category "intelligent operations" with Guilford's operations. The categories "test material" and "content" are also similar. Only instead of the category "the result of thinking" the author introduces "quality". Eysenck does not deny the existence of a general intelligence factor, believing that his model combines Spearman's g-factor, Thurstone's primary factors, and also, and this, in fact, is the author's contribution, decomposition IQ on speed, persistence, and propensity for error checking. According to Eysenck himself, his model of the structure of intelligence is the most effective and "is the best of all that we have today" (Eysenck, 1979, p. 193).
This model, which compiles elements of others, would hardly need special mention if it were not for the name of its author, who for a long time set the tone for English studies of the intellect.
Hans Jurgens Eysenck, a psychotherapist at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London, developed the general concept of intelligence. He proceeds from the fact that intelligence, despite the difficulties of its definition, signs, is just as scientific a concept as gravity, electricity, chemical bonds: from the fact that they are not visible, not tangible, and, therefore, according to some researchers are not "material", they do not lose their cognitive value as scientific concepts. Dwelling on the difficulties of defining intelligence, he points out that this largely stems from the fact that today there are three relatively different and relatively independent concepts of intelligence. At the same time, he does not mind comparing them one to the other and even tries to explain "under the same roof"
biological intelligence - these are innate predetermined abilities for information processing associated with the structures and functions of the cerebral cortex. This is the basic, most fundamental aspect of intelligence. It serves as the genetic, physiological, neurological, biochemical and hormonal basis of cognitive behavior, i.e. associated mainly with the structures and functions of the cerebral cortex. Without them, no meaningful behavior is possible. D. Wexler argues that "any working definition of intelligence should be fundamentally biological."
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Introduction.
The task of establishing the level of intelligence has been one of the most important in psychology since the formation of this science. It was the intellectual indicator of a person that made it possible to characterize his mental and moral qualities. The establishment of quantitative and qualitative dependences of these indicators on the level of intelligence development has made it possible to develop various methods for studying intelligence and related qualities. Evaluation of intelligence as a specific human activity gave rise to techniques like the Eysenck test. Establishing its structure gave rise to a huge number of tests, investigated various aspects. So there were tests of logical, figurative, creative and technical thinking. Appropriateness tests also turned out to be closely related to the level of intelligence. Moreover, in order to obtain the position of a US civil servant, the applicant must show an IQ level of at least 100, and certification for obtaining a professional qualification category involves, in addition to demonstrating production skills, passing a whole range of such tests.
The educational program of schools in the United States and other developed European countries includes the use of intelligence testing methods as an evaluative, stimulating tool that causes additional motivational changes. Thus, the indicator of intelligence (not necessarily IQ) has become one of the most important indicators of human fitness for a particular activity, and ultimately the usefulness of a person as such.
It is necessary to distinguish between tests of the development of intelligence and tests of intelligence as such. The first, as a rule, includes questions of an educational nature, standardized tasks with a rigid structure. This group of methods is designed to assess the education of a person, the speed and quality of his thinking, the speed of reaction and the ability to switch from one type of activity to another. A person is tested only as a performer, tested on a standard scale without being able to stand out from the general scheme. The methods of the second group are deprived of this shortcoming, they determine the prevailing type of thinking, the methodology for finding a solution to the problem, the non-standard approach, creativity, and the ability to operate with concepts. Such methods are never rigidly established, they are compiled on the basis of creative tests, tests of an intuitive nature, where not speed is evaluated, but the manner of solving a particular problem, the level of conceptual connections, non-standard thinking, and the effectiveness of the approach. However, such tests are not suitable for mass verification due to their purely individuality, the complexity of the assessment, and the large time spent on processing the result. In the generally accepted understanding, the test of intelligence is reduced to the solution of one or a series of tests that assess the general educational level of a person, that is, tests of the first group. This is due to the dual application and interpretation of the intellect. In the broadest sense, the intellect is both a separate structure of the human brain and a psychological process occurring inside it, hence the ambiguous assessment of the results of this process. However, the task of psychology is set very narrowly, and an academic definition of this term is sufficient for its solution.
What is intelligence?
Intellect (from Latin - Intellectus) in a broad sense is the totality of all cognitive functions of an individual: from sensation and perception to thinking and imagination; in a narrower sense, it is thinking.
Intelligence is the main form of cognition of reality.
There are three varieties in understanding the function of the intellect: 1) the ability to learn, 2) operating with symbols, 3) the ability to actively master the patterns of the reality around us.
The term intelligence is often used to emphasize the specifics of human psychological activity. It should not be overlooked, however, that the ability to deal with abstract symbols and relations is only one side of the intellect; no less important is such a side as the concreteness of thinking. Often, intelligence is interpreted as the ability to adapt to new situations, using previously acquired experience. In this case, the intellect is actually identified with the ability to learn. However, one cannot ignore the fact that the intellect contains a productive beginning. The most essential thing for the human intellect is that it allows you to reflect the regular connections and relationships of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world, thereby making it possible to creatively transform reality.
How Intelligence is Researched?
Intelligence research methods are roughly divided into: experimental, survey and creative (intuitive).
The former give the fastest and clearest result.
The latter allow a series of correlated data, but are slightly more difficult to process.
The third type is placed in a special class, it is the most informative, but it presents significant difficulties in processing the result and its interpretation, moreover, the results obtained using this group of methods are not always clearly related to similar results of another group.
Below, examples from the first and second groups will be used. To avoid ambiguous interpretations and a large theoretical justification.
Preschool age.
During the transition from early to preschool age, that is, in the period of time from 3 to 7 years, under the influence of productive, design and artistic activity, the child develops complex types of perceptual analytical-synthetic activity. New content also acquires perceptual images related to the shape of objects. In addition to the contour, the structure of objects, spatial features and the ratio of its parts are also distinguished.
Perceptual actions are also formed in learning, and their development goes through a number of stages. At the first stage, the formation process begins with practical, material actions performed with unfamiliar objects.
At the second stage, the sensory processes themselves, restructured under the influence of practical activity, become perceptual actions. These actions are now carried out with the help of the corresponding movements of the receptor apparatus and anticipating the performance of practical actions with perceived objects.
At the third stage, perceptual actions become more hidden, curtailed, reduced, their external, effector links disappear, and perception from the outside begins to seem like a passive process. In fact, this process is still active, but proceeds internally, mainly only in the consciousness and at the subconscious level in the child.
Along with the development of perception in preschool age, there is a process of improving attention. A characteristic feature of the attention of a preschool child is that it is caused by outwardly attractive objects, events and people and remains concentrated as long as the child retains a direct interest in the perceived objects. Attention at this age, as a rule, rarely arises under the influence of an internally set task or reflection, i.e., in fact, it is not arbitrary. It can be assumed that internally regulated perception and active command of speech are associated with the beginning of the formation of voluntary attention.
The development of memory in preschool age is characterized by a gradual transition from involuntary and direct to voluntary and indirect memorization and recall. Voluntary reproduction occurs earlier than involuntary memorization, and in its development, as it were, overtakes it.
It is believed that with age, the speed at which information is retrieved from long-term memory and transferred to operational memory increases, as well as the volume and duration of operative memory. Most normally developing children of primary and secondary school age have well developed direct and mechanical memory.
In the first half of preschool age, the child's reproductive imagination predominates, mechanically reproducing the impressions received in the form of images. At the older preschool age, when arbitrariness appears in memorization, the imagination from a reproductive, mechanically reproducing reality turns into a creatively transforming it. It connects with thinking, is included in the process of planning action.
Just like perception, memory and attention, imagination becomes voluntary from involuntary, gradually transforms from direct to indirect, and the main tool for mastering it on the part of the child is sensory standards.
At preschool age, children begin to play the so-called role-playing games, which strongly stimulate the development of imagination, primarily visual-figurative. Its formation depends on the development of the child's imagination. The main lines of development of thinking in preschool age can be outlined as follows: further improvement of visual-effective thinking on the basis of developing imagination; improvement of visual-figurative thinking on the basis of arbitrary and mediated memory; the beginning of the active formation of verbal-logical thinking by using speech as a means of setting and solving intellectual problems.
Method 1.
"Cut out shapes"
This technique is designed to assess visual-effective thinking. The task is to cut out the figures drawn on it as quickly and accurately as possible.
Method 2.
"Reproduce the drawings"
The task of this technique is to reproduce pictures in special empty squares that depict figures in the same squares. You have five minutes to complete the task.
When evaluating the psycho-emotional state and neuropsychic development of a child, special attention should be paid to the study of intelligence, and intelligence should be perceived not as an independent function from others, but as one of the aspects of mental activity.
Even in the conditions of a normal conversation, some pronounced signs can be identified that indicate an insufficient development of the intellect and the mental functions associated with it. In the absence of defects in the auditory and speech apparatus, certain forms of alalia and aphasia, speech communication serves as a reliable indicator of mental development. You can ask the child to tell about himself, his family, studies, games, while getting an idea of the completeness and adequacy of perception and understanding of the world around him. You should pay attention to vocabulary, expressiveness and perception of someone else's speech, fluency of speech. On the basis of these signs alone, in general, it is often possible to diagnose intellectual and mental underdevelopment. Observing the behavior of the child, his reaction to the situation, interest in books, toys, interaction with adults, you can get an impression of his attentiveness, attention stability, concentration, volume, distractibility.
In children under 9-10 years old, it is most convenient to use drawing to determine the level of intelligence by offering to draw an object. Observing how a child holds a pencil, what colors he uses, the very process of drawing, you can get an idea of many characteristics of the psyche.
For a special assessment of intelligence, you can use a wide range of traditional tests, as well as a number of psychological techniques that should reveal not only the personal characteristics of the psyche, but also the potential of the child. They allow you to penetrate deeper into the qualitative features of the psyche of children and are recommended for use as one of the elements in the diagnosis of mental development. The Wechsler scale is designed for children aged 5 to 15 years. This test is based on the concept that intelligence includes the ability not only to operate with symbols, abstract concepts, and think logically, but also to navigate the environment and solve problems with specific objects. The technique consists of a verbal scale and an action scale, as a result of filling in which three final statistical assessments are obtained: general, verbal and non-verbal with the corresponding intellectual coefficients. The verbal scale consists of six tasks:
1) tasks for general awareness;
2) tasks for general understanding;
3) arithmetic tasks;
4) tasks to establish similarities between concepts;
5) "dictionary" - a list of 40 words of increasing difficulty, the meanings of which must be determined by the child;
6) the task of memorizing the digital series characterizes short-term memory.
The activity scale (non-verbal) is also composed of six tasks:
1) a task for the ability to differentiate the main and the secondary;
2) a task for the ability to understand the situation as a whole and establish cause-and-effect relationships;
3) “composing figures from cubes” in accordance with a number of increasingly complex patterns reveals analytical and synthetic abilities and the possibilities of spatial coordination and integration;
4) the task "folding of objects" requires, from partial information, to create a whole with a significant freedom of choice of solution;
5) the coding task is designed to recognize the ability to learn new material;
6) "Labyrinths" - finding the right path in a number of increasingly complex labyrinths allows you to judge spatial representations.
The results of each task are evaluated separately, and this makes it possible to obtain a qualitative description of various mental functions, especially if we take into account the methods of performing certain tests. This test has the advantage that a variety of tasks allow you to assess abilities that are practically free from the influence of training.
The presence of the activity scale allows the study of children with poor hearing and speech disorders. In apathetic children, this scale is of some interest and even allows further research on the verbal scale. Psychological research can be especially effective, for example, in addressing the issue of learning.
School readiness decision, in other words - school maturity assessment, is a very significant moment in the study of the psyche, since when an immature child enters completely different conditions - school - it leads to maladjustment reactions and behavioral disorders. To assess school maturity, it is recommended to use the Kern-Irasek test. This indicative psychomotor test is carried out individually or in a group of 10-15 children.
The test consists of 3 tasks:
1) drawing of a person;
2) drawing a short phrase of 3 words;
3) drawing a group of points.
The performance of each task is evaluated on a five-point system. The sum of the results of the individual tasks represents the overall result of the research. Three ratings are possible: "mature", "maturing", "immature" child. The first have a total score of 3-5 points, the second - 6-9 points, the third - 10-15 points.