Development of intelligence test performance Essay Example for Free

Development of news show shield performance EssayIntelligence erect be defined in several ways, ranging from broader definitions such as the ability to cope with life, to more specific definitions such as skill in problem-solving and reasoning. Intelligence shews be implemented by psychologists in order to assess such skills, and a quantitative measure of this intelligence is usually presented in the form of an IQ (intelligence quotient). IQ scores be the basis of much research into the get hold of of intelligence test performance.One cultural factor which may have an affect on a childs measured intelligence is mother love trammels may tackle a part in childrens cognitive development. This hypothesis dismiss be tested by studying children who have been separated from an attachment object (i.e. a parent), and Skeels Dye establish recount to suggest that the formation of an attachment improves intelligence test performance. In their study, 13 of the most mentally re tarded infants in an orphanhood were travel to an institution for mentally retarded women, where they would form an attachment with a mildly retarded woman.Over the next four years, those who had moved had an medium IQ gain of 32 points, compared with an average reduction of 21 IQ points for those who remained in the orphanage this difference was still evident 27 years subsequently. This study can be commended for its implications at the age the accepted view was that IQ was constant throughout life, but the study showed that, with the right treatment, IQ can be significantly improved.A nonher factor in IQ development is quality of rearing. Schweinhart et al.s Perry Preschool Project provides evidence for this compared to children given no pre-school education, those who had been given quality pre-school education appeared not only to have improved IQs later in life, but they were also less likely to commit crime and drop out of lavishly-pitched school. This finding is duplic ated by Operation Headstart, which provided children from disadvantaged homes with pre-school programs. There was an average IQ gain of 10 points in the first year and, although the IQ scores returned to average levels, subsequent progress such as high school graduation was higher in those who had taken part in the project. This indicates that an increased quality of education may lead to an increase in IQ.Another cultural factor that may trance the development of measured intelligence is a childs home environment. Bradley et al. Identified six factors, including parental involvement and the training of play materials, which were significant in a childs development of intelligence, and called it the HOME inventory. If the HOME score of a child was low, a childs IQ may have declined between 10 and 20 points between the ages 1 and 3, whereas the opposite was square(a) for those with high HOME inventory scores. This theory would be supported by Piaget and Vygotsky, the theories of b oth of whom suggest that the provision of age-appropriate play materials are likely to improve cognitive development. In addition, Vygotsky emphasises the role of culture in cognitive development, which is very much in line with the HOME inventory study.It may even be that nutrition is a cultural factor which has an influence on a childs development of intelligence. In a study by Schnthaler Bier, children who had been given vitamin-mineral supplements performed snap off on a non-verbal IQ test than those who had been given a placebo. This supports the belief that diet has an influence on intelligence, but it it not necessarily the case that supplements improve IQ the researchers suggested that it was a poor diet that diminished IQ, and the improved diet restored the cognitive abilities of the children who previously had a poor diet.The musical theme that it is environmental cultural factors, rather than race and genetic cultural factors, that have an effect on a childs intellig ence test performance is supported by Scarr Weinberg, who found that both white-hot and black children, when adopt by middle-class white families, performed better on IQ tests at age 7 than the average for their respective ethnic groups. They attributed this improvement to growing up in a culture of tests and schools, and exposure to better healthcare and socialisation.However, in a follow-up study ten years later, it was found that the black childrens IQs were not notably higher than the average for their group, indicating that an upbringing in a white, middle-class home had little or no influence on their intelligence. However, this does not necessarily indicate that it is a genetic cause, since skin food colouring and intelligence are believed to have very different genetic structures. It may be in substantiative genetic influence, in that black children raised in a white home have visit self-expectation, or that they socialise with other black children at school (which may have more of an influence than their white, middle-class home).IQ tests have, however, been heavily criticised for lacking reliability, as an IQ result from one test can vary dramatically with an IQ result from another. Additionally, they have been criticised for being culturally biased there are many different types of thought (e.g. language, problem-solving, pattern recognition, reasoning), and some types of thought are more valued in some cultures than in others.This may extend to sub-cultural differences between people of different socioeconomic status. For example, it has often been found that black American children perform less well on IQ tests than white children, however, Serpell (1979) found that white children performed significantly less well than black children on an IQ test aimed at black Americans. This brings into apparent motion the use of IQ tests as a valid method of measuring intelligence.