PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

Chapter-1 VARIATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

Weightage: 09 marks

I. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN HUMAN FUNCTIONING

Variability is a fact of nature. Individual variations are common within and across all
species.

Individuals vary in terms of :-

(a) Physical characteristics, such as height, weight, strength, hair colour, and so on.
(b) Psychological dimensions, such as they may be intelligent or dull, dominant or
submissive, creative or not so creative, outgoing or withdrawn, etc.

Each one of us is unique as different traits can exist in varying degrees in an individual.
Every individual exemplifies/ demonstrates a typical combination of various traits.

Individual differences refer to distinctiveness and variations among people’s characteristics

and behaviour patterns. While many psychologists believe that our behaviours are
influenced by our personal traits, some others hold the view that our behaviours are
influenced more by situational factors (Situationism).

Situationism states that situations and circumstances in which one is placed influence one’s
behaviour. Sometimes the situational influences are so powerful that individuals with
differing personality traits respond to them in almost the same ways. For e.g a person, who
is generally aggressive, may behave in a submissive manner in the presence of her/his top
boss. The situationist perspective views human behaviour as resulting from interaction of
external and internal factors.

II. ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

Psychological attributes can be simple phenomena (like reaction time, i.e, time taken to
react to a stimulus) s well as highly global concepts (like happiness).

Assessment is the first step in understanding a psychological attribute. Assessment refers

to the measurement of psychological attributes of individuals and their evaluation, often using
multiple methods in terms of certain standards of comparison. For example, assessment of
dominanace or stress level in an individual. The attribute chosen for assessment depends
upon our purpose.

Our assessment may be informal or formal.

Formal assessment Informal assessment

It is objective, standardised, and organised It varies from case to case and from one
assessor to another
It holds very less/no chances of subjective It is open to subjective interpretations.
interpretations
Psychologists are trained in making formal It does not require training, basic
assessment of psychological attributes observation skills required
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Psychological assessment uses systematic testing procedures to evaluate abilities,

behaviours, and personal qualities of individuals.

Some Domains of Psychological Attributes

Psychological attributes are not linear or unidimensional.

Psychological attributes are usually multi-dimensional, i.e, they are complex and expressed
in terms of dimensions. For e.g- a complete assessment of a person would require his/her
functioning in various domains or areas, such as cognitive, emotional, social, etc.

Some important attributes categorised on the basis of varieties of tests used in psychological
literature are intelligence, aptitude, personality, interest, values.

Intelligence Personality Aptitude Interest Values

Intelligence Personality Aptitude refers Interest is an Values are
refers to the refers to unique to an individual’s enduring beliefs
global and and relatively individual’s preference for about an ideal
aggregate stable qualities underlying engaging in one mode of
capacity of an that potential for or more specific behaviour
individual to characterise an acquiring skills. activities relative
think rationally, individual’s to others.
act purposefully, behaviour
and to deal across different
effectively with situations over
her/his period of time.
environment
Intelligence tests Personality tests Aptitude tests Assessment of In value
provide a global try to assess an are used to interests of assessment, we
measure of a individual’s predict what an students may try to determine
person’s general unique individual will help to decide the dominant
cognitive characteristics, be able to do if what subjects or values of a
competence e.g. whether one given proper courses they person (e.g.,
including the is dominant or environment can pursue political,
ability to profit submissive, and training comfortably and religious, social
from schooling. outgoing or with pleasure. or economic)
withdrawn,
moody or
emotionally
stable, etc.
Generally, Personality A person with Knowledge of A person having
students having assessment high mechanical interests helps a value sets a
low intelligence helps us to aptitude can us in making standard for
are not likely to explain an profit from choices that guiding her/his
do so well in individual’s appropriate promote life actions in life
school-related behaviour and training and can satisfaction and and also for
examinations predict how do well as an performance on judging others
but their she/he will engineer. jobs
success in life is behave in future Similarly, a
not associated person having
only with their high language
intelligence test aptitude can be
scores. trained to be a
good writer.
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

Assessment Methods

Psychological test is Objective tests and These tests are widely

Psychological an objective and projective tests have used for the purposes of
Test standardised been developed to clinical diagnosis,
measure of an measure all the guidance, personnel
individual’s mental dimensions of selection, placement, and
and/or behavioural psychological attributes training.
characteristics. (e.g., intelligence,
aptitude, etc.) described
above.

Interview Interview involves An interview can be It can be used when a

seeking information structured or counsellor interacts with a
from a person on a unstructured depending client, a salesperson
one-to-one basis. upon nature and makes a door-to-door
purpose of interview survey, an employer
selects employees for
her/his organisation, or a
journalist interviews a
political leader
Case Study Case Study is an in- Case studies are based Case studies are widely
depth study of the on data generated by used by clinical
individual in terms different methods, e.g. psychologists. Case
of her/his interview, observation, analyses of the lives of
psychological questionnaire, great people can also be
attributes, psychological tests, etc. highly illuminating for
psychological those willing to learn from
history in the their life experiences.
context of her/his
psychosocial and
physical
environment.

Observation Observation A good observer Certain phenomena such

involves employing knowswhat s/he is as mother-child
systematic, looking for, whom s.he interactions can be easily
organised, and wants to observe and studied through
objective when and where observation.
procedures to observation needs to be
record behavioural made
phenomena
occurring naturally
in real time.
Self-Report Self-Report is a These are fairly Such information may be
method in which a structured measures obtained by using an
person provides scored in quantitative interview schedule or a
factual information terms and analysed questionnaire, a
about based on norms psychological test, or a
herself/himself developed for the test personal diary.
and/or opinions
beliefs, etc. that
s/he holds.
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

III. INTELLIGENCE

A. Definition:

Intelligence is a key construct employed to know how individuals differ from one another,
how people adapt their behaviour according to the environment they live in.

Alfred Binet was one of the first psychologists who worked on intelligence. He defined
intelligence as the ability to judge well, understand well, and reason well.

Wechsler defined intelligence as the global and aggregate capacity of an individual to think
rationally, act purposefully, and to deal effectively with her/his environment. His intelligence
tests are most widely used, and he understood intelligence in terms of its functionality, i.e. its
value for adaptation to environment.

Gardner and Sternberg have suggested that an intelligent individual not only adapts to the
environment, but also actively modifies or shapes it.

B. THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

Theories of intelligence can be broadly classified as either representing a

psychometric/structural approach or an information-processing approach.

Psychometric approach Information-processing approach

The approach considers intelligence as an the approach describes the processes
aggregate of abilities people use in intellectual reasoning and
problem solving.
It expresses the individual’s performance in The major focus of this approach is on how
terms of a single index of cognitive abilities an intelligent person acts.
Focus is on structure of intelligence or its Emphasise studying cognitive functions
underlying dimensions underlying intelligent behaviour.

B1. PSYCHOMETRIC APPROACHES

 Uni or one factor theory of intelligence by Alfred Binet

1. He was the first psychologist who tried to formalise the concept of intelligence in terms of
mental operations.
2. Binet’s theory of intelligence was simple as it arose from his interest in differentiating more
intelligent from less intelligent individuals.
3. He conceptualised intelligence as consisting of one similar set of abilities which can be used
for solving any or every problem in an individual’s environment. His theory of intelligence is
called.

 Two-factor theory of intelligence by Charles Spearman (1927)

1. Employing a statistical method called factor analysis, he showed that intelligence consisted
of a general factor (g-factor) and some specific factors (s-factors).
2. The g-factor includes mental operations which are primary and common to all performances.
There are also many specific abilities which are contained in the s-factor.
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3. Excellent singers, architects, scientists, and athletes may be high on g-factor, but in
addition to this, they have specific abilities which allow them to excel in their respective
domains.

 Theory of primary mental abilities by Louis Thurstone

1. It states that intelligence consists of seven primary abilities, each of which is relatively
independent of the others.
2. These primary abilities are:
(i) Verbal Comprehension (grasping meaning of words, concepts, and ideas),
(ii)Numerical Abilities (speed and accuracy in numerical and computational skills),
(iii) Spatial Relations (visualising patterns and forms),
(iv) Perceptual Speed (speed in perceiving details),
(v) Word Fluency (using words fluently and flexibly),
(vi) Memory (accuracy in recalling information), and
(vii) Inductive Reasoning (deriving general rules from presented facts).

 Hierarchical model of intelligence by Arthur Jensen

1. The model consists of abilities operating at two levels, called Level I and Level II.
2. Level I is the associative learning in which output is more or less similar to the input (e.g.,
rote learning and memory).
3. Level II, called cognitive competence, involves higher-order skills as they transform the input
to produce an effective output.

 Structure-of-intellect model by J.P. Guilford

1. It classifies intellectual traits among three dimensions: operations, contents, and products.
2. This classification includes 6 x 5 x 6 categories, therefore, the model has 180 cells. Each cell
is expected to have at least one factor or ability; some cells may have more than one factor.
Each factor is described in terms of all three dimensions.
3. Operations are what the respondent does. These include cognition, memory recording,
memory retention, divergent production, convergent production, and evaluation.
4. Contents refer to the nature of materials or information on which intellectual operations are
performed. These include visual, auditory, symbolic (e.g., letters, numbers), semantic (e.g.,
words) and behavioural (e.g., information about people’s behaviour, attitudes, needs, etc.).
5. Products refer to the form in which information is processed by the respondent. Products are
classified into units, classes, relations, systems, transformations, and implications.

B2. INFORMATION-PROCESSING APPROACHES

 THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES by Howard Gardner

1. According to him, intelligence is not a single entity; rather distinct types of intelligences exist.
Each of these intelligences are independent of each other. This means that, if a person
exhibits one type of intelligence, it does not necessarily indicate being high or low on other
types of intelligences.
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2. Different types of intelligences interact and work together to find a solution to a problem.
Gardner studied extremely talented persons, who had shown exceptional abilities in their
respective areas, and described eight types of intelligence.
3. The eight type of intelligences are as follows:
1) Linguistic Intelligence-
 Skills involved in the production and use of language
 It is the capacity to use language fluently and flexibly to express one’s thinking and
understands others.
 Persons high on this intelligence are ‘word-smart’, i.e. they are sensitive to different shades
of word meanings, are articulate, and can create linguistic images in their mind.
 E.g –Poets, writers, orators
2) Logical-Mathematical Intelligence-
 Skills in scientific thinking and problem solving
 Persons high on this type of intelligence can think logically and critically.
 They engage in abstract reasoning, and can manipulate symbols to solve mathematical
problems.
 E.g- Scientists, Mathematicians, Economists Nobel Prize winners
3) Spatial Intelligence-
 Skills in forming visual images and patterns
 It refers to the abilities involved in forming, using, and transforming mental images
 The person high on this intelligence can easily represent the spatial world in the mind
 E.g- Pilots, sailors, sculptors, painters, architects, interior decorators, and surgeons
4) Musical Intelligence-
 sensitivity to musical rhythms and patterns
 It is the capacity to produce, create and manipulate musical patterns
 Persons high on this intelligence are very sensitive to sounds and vibrations, and in creating
new patterns of sounds
 E.g- singers, instrument players, music composers
5) Bodily-Kinaesthetic Intelligence
 using whole or portions of the body flexibly and creatively
 This consists of the use of the whole body or portions of it for display or construction of
products and problem solving.
 E.g- Athletes, dancers, actors, sportspersons, gymnasts, and surgeons
6) Interpersonal Intelligence-
 Sensitivity to subtle aspects of others’ behaviours
 This is the skill of understanding the motives, feelings and behaviours of other people so as
to bond into a comfortable relationship with others
 E.g- Psychologists, counsellors, politicians, social workers, and religious leaders
7) Intrapersonal Intelligence-
 awareness of one’s own feelings, motives, and desires
 This refers to the knowledge of one’s internal strengths and limitations and using that
knowledge to effectively relate to others
 Persons high on this ability have finer sensibilities regarding their identity, human
existence, and meaning of life
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 E.g- Philosophers and spiritual leaders present

8) Naturalistic intelligence-
 Sensitivity to the features of the natural world
 This involves complete awareness of our relationship with the natural world
 It is useful in recognising the beauty of different species of flora and fauna, and making
subtle discriminations in the natural world
 E.g.- Hunters, farmers, tourists, botanists, zoologists, and bird watchers

 TRIARCHIC THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE by Robert Sternberg (1985)

Sternberg views intelligence as “the ability to adapt, to shape and select environment to
accomplish one’s goals and those of one’s society and culture”.
According to this theory, there are three basic types of intelligence: Componential,
Experiential, and Contextual
1. Componential Intelligence
 It is also called as Analytical intelligence
 It involves the analysis of information to solve problems
 Persons high on this ability think analytically and critically and succeed in schools.
 This intelligence has three components, each serving a different function-
First is the knowledge acquisition component, which is responsible for learning and
acquisition of the ways of doing things.
The second is the meta or a higher order component, which involves planning concerning
what to do and how to do.
The third is the performance component, which involves actually doing things
 E.g.: learning the procedure to ride a bicycle or prepare a dish, learning paper quilling,
reading and understanding a particular novel

2. Experiential Intelligence
 It is also called Creative intelligence
 It is involved in using past experiences creatively to solve novel problems
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 It is reflected in creative performance

 Persons high on this aspect integrate different experiences in an original way to make new
discoveries and inventions.
 They quickly find out which information is crucial in a given situation.
 E.g.- maintain balance while riding a bicycle with different postures, preparing a learnt dish
in unique manner, keeping making different art pieces using quilling,
3. Contextual Intelligence
 It is also called Practical intelligence
 It involves the ability to deal with environmental demands encountered on a daily basis
 It may be called ‘street smartness’ or ‘business sense’
 Persons high on this aspect easily adapt to their present environment or select a more
favourable environment than the existing one, or modify the environment to fit their needs
 They turn out to be successful in life.
 E.g.- riding a bicycle with different gears/ functions, preparing learnt dish with limited
items, preparing quilling material from available resources like newspaper

 PLANNING, ATTENTION-AROUSAL, AND SIMULTANEOUS-SUCCESSIVE (PASS) MODEL

OF INTELLIGENCE by J.P. Das, Jack Naglieri, and Kirby (1994)
 According to this model, intellectual activity involves the interdependent functioning of three
neurological systems, called the functional units of brain. These units are responsible for
arousal/attention, coding or processing, and planning respectively.
a) Arousal/Attention
 Arousal refers to a state of being physiologically awake or alert
 State of arousal is basic to any behaviour as it helps us in attending to stimuli. Arousal and
attention enable a person to process information.
 An optimal level of arousal focuses our attention to the relevant aspects of a problem.
 Too much or too little arousal would interfere with attention.
 For e.g., when told by your teacher about a test which s/he plans to hold, it would arouse
you to attend to the specific chapters. Arousal forces you to focus your attention on reading,
learning and revising the contents of the chapters.
b) Simultaneous and Successive Processing
 The information can be integrated into knowledge system either simultaneously or
successively
 Simultaneous processing takes place when you perceive the relations among various
concepts and integrate them into a meaningful pattern for comprehension. For example, in
Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM) Test requires simultaneous processing helps you in
grasping the meaning and relationship between the given abstract figures to choose one of
the six options that best completes the missing design
 Successive processing takes place when you remember all the information serially so that
the recall of one leads to the recall of another. For example, learning of digits, alphabets,
multiplication tables, etc.
 For e.g. while simultaneous processing is require while listening to music and writing,
successive processing is required while solving mathematical problem step-wise
c) Planning
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 After the information is attended to and processed, planning is activated

 It allows us to think of the possible courses of action, implement them to reach a target, and
evaluate their effectiveness
 If a plan does not work, it is modified to suit the requirements of the task or situation.
 For example, to take the test scheduled by your teacher, you would have to set goals, plan a
time schedule of study, get clarifications in case of problems and if you are not able to tackle
the chapters assigned for the test, you may have to think of other ways (e.g., give more time,
study with a friend, etc.) to meet your goals.
 These PASS processes operate on a knowledge base developed either formally (by reading,
writing, and experimenting) or informally from the environment.
 These processes are interactive and dynamic in nature; yet each has its own distinctive
functions.
 Das and Naglieri have also developed a battery of tests, known as the Cognitive
Assessment System (CAS)-
1) It consists of verbal as well as non-verbal tasks that measure basic cognitive functions
presumed to be independent of schooling.
2) The battery of tests is meant for individuals between 5 and 18 years of age.
3) The results of assessment can be used to remedy cognitive deficits of children with learning
problems.

C. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN INTELLIGENCE

C1. Interplay of Nature and Nurture (Heredity or environmental factors)

1) Role of Heredity/ Nature
The evidence for hereditary influences on intelligence comes mainly from studies on twins
(identical and fraternal) and adopted children.
Correlation value Reared together Reared apart
Identical twins 0.90 0.72
Fraternal Twins 0.60 -
Siblings 0.50 0.25

 The intelligence of identical twins reared together correlate almost 0.90.

 The intelligence of identical twins reared in different environments correlate 0.72,
 Those of fraternal twins reared together correlate almost 0.60,
 Twins separated early in childhood also show considerable similarity in their intellectual,
personality and behavioural characteristics.
 Those of brothers and sisters reared together correlate about 0.50
 Siblings reared apart correlate about 0.25.
 Another line of evidence comes from the studies of adopted children, which show that
children’s intelligence is more similar to their biological rather than adoptive parents
2) Role of Environment/ Nurture
 Studies have reported that as children grow in age, their intelligence level tends to move
closer to that of their adoptive parents.
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 Children from disadvantaged homes adopted into families with higher socioeconomic status
exhibit a large increase in their intelligence scores.
 There is evidence that environmental deprivation lowers intelligence while rich nutrition,
good family background, and quality schooling increases intelligence.
3) Conclusion
 There is a general consensus among psychologists that intelligence is a product of complex
interaction of heredity (nature) and environment (nurture).
 Heredity can best be viewed as something that sets a range within which an individual’s
development is actually shaped by the support and opportunities of the environment.

C2. Assessment of Intelligence

1. Measurement of intelligence
Name Year Description
Alfred Binet 1905  first successful attempt to formally measure intelligence
and  the scale was revised, they gave the concept of Mental
Theodore 1908 Age (MA), which is a measure of a person’s intellectual
Simon development relative to people of her/his age group
 Chronological Age (CA) is the biological age from birth.
 Retardation was defined by Binet and Simon as being
two mental age years below the chronological age
William 1912  Devised the concept of Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
Stern  IQ refers to mental age divided by chronological age, and
multiplied by 100. The number 100 is used as a
multiplier to avoid the decimal point.

 The mental age of 5 means that a child’s performance on an intelligence test equals the
average performance level of a group of 5-year olds.
 A bright child’s MA is more than her/his CA; for a dull child, MA is below the CA
 When the MA equals the CA, the IQ equals 100.
 If MA is more than the CA (MA>CA), IQ is more than100 (IQ>100)
 When the MA is less than the CA (MA<CA), IQ becomes less than 100 (IQ<100)
 For example, a 10-year-old (CA) child with a mental age (MA) of 12 would have an IQ of 120
(12/10 * 100), {MA/ CA*100}
Whereas the same child with an MA of 7 would have an IQ of 70 (7/10 * 100)
 The average IQ in the population is 100, irrespective of age.

2. Distribution of IQ scores
 IQ scores are distributed in the population in such a way that the scores of most people tend
to fall in the middle range of the distribution.
 Only a few people have either very high or very low scores.
 The frequency distribution for the IQ scores tends to approximate a bell-shaped curve, called
the normal curve.
 This type of distribution is symmetrical around the central value, called the mean
 The distribution of IQ scores in the form of a normal distribution is shown in Figure
representing Normal Curve Pattern Showing Distribution of IQ Scores in the Population
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o The mean IQ score in a population is 100.

o People with IQ scores in the range of 90–110 have normal intelligence.
o People with IQ below 70 are suspected to have ‘Intellectual disability’
o Persons with IQ above 130 are considered to be intellectually gifted.

The IQ score of a person can be interpreted by referring to Table –

IQ Range Descriptive label Percent in
population
Above 130 Very superior 2.2
120 – 130 Superior 6.7
110-120 High Average 16.1
90-110 Average 50.0
80-90 Low Average 16.1
70-80 Borderline 6.7
Below 70 Intellectually disabled
a) 55-70 a) Mild Intellectual disability 2.2
b) 40-55 b) Moderate Intellectual disability
c) 25-40 c) Severe Intellectual disability
d) Below 25 d) Profound Intellectual disability

 All persons do not have the same intellectual capacity; some are exceptionally bright and
some are below average
 One practical use of intelligence test is to identify persons at the extremes of intellectual
functioning.
 With reference to above Table it can be noticed that about 2 per cent of the population have
IQ above 130, 0, and a similar percentage have IQ below 70. The persons in the first group
are called intellectually gifted; those in the second group are termed intellectually disabled.
These two groups deviate considerably from the normal population in respect of their
cognitive, emotional, and motivational characteristics.
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

C3. Variations of Intelligence

1) Intellectual Deficiency
 There are children who face enormous difficulty in learning even very simple skills.
 The American Association on Mental Deficiency (AAMD) views Intellectual Disability as
“significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in
adaptive behaviour and manifested during the developmental period”.
 This definition points to three basic features.
a) First, in order to be judged as intellectually disabled, a person must show significantly sub-
average intellectual functioning. Persons having IQs below 70 are judged to have sub-
average intelligence.
b) The second relates to deficits in adaptive behaviour. Adaptive behaviour refers to a person’s
capacity to be independent and deal effectively with one’s environment.
c) The third feature is that the deficits must be observed during the developmental period that
is between 0 and 18 years of age.
 Individuals who are categorised as having Intellectual disability show significant variation in
their abilities, ranging from those who can be taught to work and function with special
attention, to those who cannot be trained and require institutional care throughout their
lives.
 The different levels of Intellectual disability are: mild Intellectual disability (IQs 55–69),
moderate Intellectual disability (IQs 40–54), severe Intellectual disability (IQs 25–39), and
profound Intellectual disability (IQs below 25).
 Although the development of people with mild Intellectual disability is typically slower than
that of their peers, they can function quite independently, hold jobs and families. As the
level of retardation increases, the difficulties are strongly marked.
 The people with moderate Intellectual disability lag behind their peers in language and
motor skills. They can be trained in self-care skills, and simple social and communication
skills. They need to have moderate degree of supervision in everyday tasks.
 Individuals with profound and severe Intellectual disability are incapable of managing life
and need constant care for their entire lives.
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2) Intellectual Giftedness
 Intellectually gifted individuals show higher performance because of their outstanding
potentialities.
 The study of gifted individuals began in 1925, when Lewis Terman followed the lives of about
1500 children with IQs of 130 and above to examine how intelligence was related to
occupational success and life adjustment
 Although the terms ‘talent’ and ‘giftedness’ are often used interchangeably, they mean
different things. Talent is a narrower term and refers to remarkable ability. The highly
talented are sometimes called ‘prodigies’. It has been suggested by psychologists that
giftedness from the teachers’ point of view depends on a combination of high ability, high
creativity, and high commitment.
 Giftedness is exceptional general ability shown in superior performance in a wide variety of
areas specific field (e.g., spiritual, social, aesthetic, etc.).
 Each gifted student possesses different strengths, personalities and characteristics. To
equate giftedness with brilliant academic performance is not correct. Athletes who show
superior psychomotor ability are also gifted.
 Some important characteristics of gifted children are :
1) Gifted children show early signs of intellectual superiority. Even during infancy and early
childhood, they show larger attention span, good recognition memory, preference for novelty,
sensitivity to environmental changes, and early appearance of language skills.
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2) Advanced logical thinking, questioning and problem solving behaviour

3) High speed in processing information
4) Superior generalisation and discrimination ability
5) Advanced level of original and creative thinking
6) High level of intrinsic motivation and self-esteem
7) Independent and non-conformist thinking
8) Preference for solitary academic activities for long periods
 Performance on intelligence tests is not the only measure for identifying the gifted. Many
other sources of information, such as teachers’ judgment, school achievement record,
parents’ interviews, peer and self-ratings, etc. can be used in combination with intellectual
assessment.
 To reach their full potential, gifted children require special attention and different educational
programmes beyond those provided to normal children in regular classrooms. These may
include life enrichment programmes that can sharpen children’s skills in productive
thinking, planning, decision-making, and communication.

3) Intellectual giftedness versus intellectually disabled

Intellectual giftedness Intellectually disabled
Giftedness is exceptional general ability Intellectual Disability as “significantly sub-
shown in superior performance in a wide average general intellectual functioning
variety of areas specific field existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive
behaviour and manifested during the
developmental period”.
Those with IQ beyond 130 are said to be Those with IQ below 70 are said to be
intellectually gifted intellectually disabled
Gifted children show early signs of Intellecually disabled show significant
intellectual superiority. variation in their abilities, ranging from
those who can be taught to work and
function with special attention, to those
who cannot be trained and require
institutional care throughout their lives.
Advanced logical thinking, questioning and the development of people with mild
problem solving behaviour Intellectual disability is typically slower than
that of their peers
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D. TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS

1) On the basis of their administration procedure, they can be categorised as individual or
group tests.
Individual test Group test
An individual intelligence test is one which A group intelligence test can be
can be administered to one person at a time. administered to several persons
simultaneously.
Individual tests require the test Group tests, however, do not allow an
administrator to establish a rapport with the opportunity to be familiar with the
subject and be sensitive to her/his feelings, subjects’ feelings.
moods and expressions during the testing
session
Individual tests allow people to answer orally Group tests generally seek written
or in a written form or manipulate objects as answers usually in a multiple-choice
per the tester’s instructions. format.

2) Tests can also be classified on basis of language and the nature of items used as either
verbal or performance tests.
Verbal Test Non-Verbal Test Performance Tests
Verbal tests require The non-verbal tests use Performance tests require
subjects to give verbal pictures or illustrations as the subjects to perform a
responses either orally or test items particular task
in a written form
verbal tests can be Non verbal test can be used A major advantage of
administered only to with illiterate persons as well performance tests is that
literate people they can be easily
administered to persons
from different cultures.
Example- Example- Raven’s Progressive Example- Koh’s block
Matrices (RPM) Test is an of a design test
non-verbal test

3) Depending upon the extent to which an intelligence test favours one culture over another, it
can be judged as either culture-fair or culture-biased.
Culture-Fair Test Culture Biased Test
tests that are culture-fair or culturally Intelligence tests show a bias to the
appropriate, does not discriminate against culture in which they are developed.
individuals belonging to different cultures
Such tests assess experiences common to all The norms for such tests are also drawn
cultures or have questions in which from particular cultural groups
language usage is not required
Non-verbal and performance tests help Such tests are largely verbal tests
reduce the cultural bias usually associated
with verbal tests.
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

E. SOME MISUSES OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS

 Intelligence tests serve many useful purposes such as selection, counselling, guidance, self-
analysis, and diagnosis. Unless used by a trained investigator, they may be misused either
intentionally or unintentionally.
 Some of the ill-effects of intelligence testing by naive testers are:
a) Poor performance on a test may attach a stigma to children and thereby adversely affect
their performance and self-respect
b) The tests may invite discriminating practices from parents, teachers and elders in the
society
c) Administering a test biased in favour of the middle class and higher class populations may
underestimate the IQ of children coming from disadvantaged sections of the society
d) Intelligence tests do not capture creative potentialities and practical side of intelligence, and
they also do not relate much to success in life
e) One should guard against erroneous practices associated with intelligence tests and take the
help of trained psychologists to analyse an individual’s strengths and weaknesses.

F. Intelligence Testing in India

 S.M. Mohsin made a pioneering attempt in constructing an intelligence test in Hindi
 Bhatia’s Battery of Performance Tests
 Group Test of General Mental Ability by S. Jalota
 Group Test of Intelligence by Prayag Mehta
 The Bihar Test of Intelligence by S.M. Mohsin
 Indian Adaptation of Stanford-Binet Test (Third Edition) by S.K. Kulshrestha
 Test of General Mental Ability (Hindi) by M.C. Joshi. Performance
 Draw-a-Man Test by Pramila Pathak
 Adaptation of Wechsler Adult Performance Intelligence Scale by R. Ramalingaswamy
 Long and Mehta prepared a Mental Measurement Handbook listing out 103 tests of
intelligence in India that were available in various languages
 The National Library of Educational and Psychological Tests (NLEPT) at the National Council
of Educational Research and Training
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

IV. CULTURE AND INTELLIGENCE

A. Relation between Culture and intelligence

 A major characteristic of intelligence is that it helps individuals to adapt to their
environment. Culture is a collective system of customs, beliefs, attitudes, and achievements
in art and literature. A person’s intelligence is likely to be tuned by these cultural
parameters.
 The cultural environment provides a context for intelligence to develop
a) Vygotsky has argued that culture provides a social context in which people live, grow, and
understand the world around them. For example, in less technologically developed societies,
social and emotional skills in relating to people are valued, while in technologically advanced
societies, personal achievement founded on abilities of reasoning and judgment is
considered to represent intelligence
b) Vygotsky also believed that cultures, like individuals, have a life of their own; they grow and
change, and in the process specify what will be the end-product of successful intellectual
development.
c) According to him, while elementary mental functions (e.g., crying, attending to mother’s
voice, sensitivity to smells, walking, and running) are universal, the manner in which higher
mental functions such as problem solving and thinking operate are largely culture-produced.
 The unique features of culture now find some representation in theories of intelligence.
a) Sternberg views intelligence as “the ability to adapt, to shape and select environment to
accomplish one’s goals and those of one’s society and culture”.
b) Sternberg’s notion of contextual or practical intelligence implies that intelligence is a product
of culture.

 Western versus non-western culture’s view of intelligence

Western culture’s view of intelligence Non-western culture’s view of
intelligence
Technologically advanced societies adopt Non-western societies adopt child
child rearing practices that foster skills of rearing practices that foster cognitive as
generalisation and abstraction, speed, well as social and emotional skills
minimal moves, and mental manipulation
among children (Cognitive skills).
These societies promote a type of behaviour, Technological intelligence is not so
which can be called technological valued in many Asian and African
intelligence. societies
In these societies, persons are well-versed in The qualities and skills regarded as
skills of attention, observation, analysis, intelligent actions in non-western
performance, speed, and achievement cultures are sharply different.
orientation.
Intelligence tests developed in western In addition to cognitive competence that
cultures look precisely for cognitive skills/ is very specific to the individual, the
cognitive competence in an individual. non-western cultures look for skills to
relate to others in the society
Western culture value personal achievement Some non-western societies value self-
and individualistic orientation. reflection and collectivistic orientation
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

B. Intelligence in the Indian Tradition

 Intelligence in the Indian tradition can be termed as integral intelligence, which gives
emphasis on connectivity with the social and world environment.
 Indian thinkers view intelligence from a holistic perspective where equal attention is paid to
cognitive and non-cognitive processes as well as their integration.
 The Sanskrit word ‘buddhi’ which is often used to represent intelligence is far more
pervasive/ prevelant in scope than the western concept of intelligence.
 Buddhi, according to J.P. Das, includes such skills as mental effort, determined action,
feelings, and opinions along with cognitive competence such as knowledge, discrimination,
and understanding.
 Buddhi is the knowledge of one’s own self based on conscience, will and desire. Thus, the
notion of buddhi has affective and motivational components besides a strong cognitive
component.
 The following competencies are identified as facets/ aspects of intelligence in the Indian
tradition –
a) Cognitive capacity (sensitivity to context, understanding, discrimination, problem solving,
and effective communication
b) Social competence (respect for social order, commitment to elders, the young and the needy,
concern about others, recognising others’ perspectives)
c) Emotional competence (selfregulation and self-monitoring of emotions, honesty, politeness,
good conduct, and self-evaluation)
d) Entrepreneurial competence (commitment, persistence, patience, hard work, vigilance, and
goal-directed behaviours).
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

V. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
 The notion of emotional intelligence broadens the concept of intelligence and considers that
intelligence includes emotions.
 Emotional intelligence is a set of skills that underlie accurate appraisal, expression, and
regulation of emotions.
 It is the feeling side of intelligence.
 The concept was first introduced by Salovey and Mayer who considered emotional
intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s emotions, to discriminate among
them, and to use the information to guide one’s thinking and actions”.
 Emotional Quotient (EQ) is used to express emotional intelligence in the same way as IQ is
used to express intelligence.
 In simple terms, emotional intelligence refers to the ability to process emotional information
accurately and efficiently.
 Characteristics of Emotionally Intelligent Persons
a) Perceive and be sensitive to your feelings and emotions
b) Perceive and be sensitive to various types of emotions in others by noting their body
language, voice and tone, and facial expressions
c) Relate your emotions to your thoughts so that you take them into account while solving
problems and taking decisions.
d) Understand the powerful influence of the nature and intensity of your emotions.
e) Control and regulate your emotions and their expressions while dealing with self and others
to achieve harmony and peace.
 Emotional intelligence is receiving increasing attention of educators as-
a) A good IQ and scholastic record is not enough to be successful in life. Many people who are
academically talented may be unsuccessful in their own life. They experience problems in
family, workplace and interpersonal relationships. The source of their difficulty may be a
lack of emotional intelligence.
b) It helps students/ people in dealing with students who are affected by stresses and
challenges of the outside world.
c) Programmes aimed at improving students’ emotional intelligence have beneficial effects on
their academic achievement.
d) It encourages cooperative behaviour and reduce their antisocial activities
e) These programmes are very useful in preparing students to face the challenges of life outside
the classroom.
 Emotional Intelligence versus Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence Intelligence
 Emotional intelligence is a set of skills that Intelligence as the global and aggregate
underlie accurate appraisal, expression, capacity of an individual to think rationally,
and regulation of emotions. act purposefully, and to deal effectively with
her/his environment.
It is measured in terms of Emotional It is measured in terms of Intellectual
Quotient (EQ) Quotient (IQ)
It measures the affective component of It measures the cognitive component of
behaviour behaviour
EQ can be developed through training IQ cannot be developed, it can only be
shaped by environment
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

VI. SPECIAL ABILITIES

A. Aptitude
 Aptitude refers to special abilities in a particular field of activity.
 It is a combination of characteristics that indicates an individual’s capacity to acquire some
specific knowledge or skill after training.
 The knowledge of aptitude can help us to predict an individual’s future performance.
 People with similar intelligence differed widely in acquiring certain knowledge or skills. There
are certain areas/ skills in which some intelligent students do not do well. These specific
skills and abilities are called aptitudes. With proper training these abilities can be
considerably enhanced.
 In order to be successful in a particular field, a person must have both aptitude and interest.
Interest is a preference for a particular activity; aptitude is the potentiality to perform that
activity. A person may be interested in a particular job or activity, but may not have the
aptitude for it. Similarly, a person may have the potentiality for performing a job, but may
not be interested in doing that. In both cases, the outcome will not be satisfactory. A student
with high mechanical aptitude and strong interest in engineering is more likely to be a
successful mechanical engineer.
 Aptitude tests are available in two forms-
a) Independent (specialised) aptitude tests- Clerical Aptitude, Mechanical Aptitude, Numerical
Aptitude, and Typing Aptitude are independent aptitude tests.
b) Multiple (generalised) aptitude tests- Multiple Aptitude Tests exist in the form of test
batteries, which measure aptitude in several separate but homogeneous areas. Differential
Aptitude Tests (DAT), the General Aptitude Tests Battery (GATB), and the Armed Services
Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) are well-known aptitude test batteries. Among these,
DAT is most commonly used in educational settings. It consists of 8 independent subtests:
(i) Verbal Reasoning, (ii) Numerical Reasoning, (iii) Abstract Reasoning, (iv) Clerical Speed
and Accuracy, (v) Mechanical Reasoning, (vi) Space Relations, (vii) Spelling, and (viii)
Language Usage. J.M. Ojha has developed an Indian adaptation of DAT. Several other
aptitude tests have been developed in India for measuring scientific, scholastic, literary,
clerical, and teaching aptitudes.
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

VII. CREATIVITY
A. Nature
 Creativity refers to ability to think in novel and unusual ways and to come up with unique
solutions to problems. Manifestations of creativity can be observed in a novel solution to a
problem, an invention, composition of a poem, painting, new chemical process, an
innovation in law, a breakthrough in preventing a disease and the like.
 There are differences in the potential for creativity across individuals and the manner in
which creativity is expressed. Despite differences, one common element among these is the
production of something new and unique.
a) Some are highly creative and others are not so creative.
b) Some may express creativity in writing, still others in dance, music, poetry, science and so
on.
c) Individuals vary in terms of the level and the areas in which they exhibit creativity and that
all may not be operating at the same level. Creativity is not just limited to a selected few,
every individual has potential to be creative. On one hand, the outstanding creative
achievements as reflected by artists, scientists, poets or the inventors depict the ‘special
talent creativity’, for e.g outstanding contributions of creative persons like Tagore, Einstein,
C.V. Raman, Ramanujan etc. in different spheres. Einstein’s theory of relativity is an
example of the highest level of creativity which implies bringing out altogether new ideas,
facts, theory, or a product. On the other hand, an ordinary individual who is engaged in
simple occupations like pottery, carpentry, cooking, etc. can also be creative and reflected in
form of ‘everyday creativity’.
d) Another level of creativity is working on what has already been established earlier by way of
modifications, by putting things in new perspectives or to new use.
e) Research literature suggests that children begin to develop their imagination during the
early years of childhood but they express creativity mostly through physical activities and in
non-verbal ways. When language and intellectual functions are fully developed and store of
knowledge is adequately available, creativity is expressed through verbal modes too. Those
who are outstanding in their creativity may give an indication about the direction in which
their creativity lies through their self-chosen activities.
 Variations in the potential for creativity can be attributed to the complex interaction of
heredity and environment.
a) Limits of the creative potential are set by heredity environmental factors stimulate the
development of creativity.
b) How much of the creative potential can be realised, when and in what specific form and
direction is largely determined by environmental factors such as motivation,
commitment, family support, peer influences, training opportunities, etc.
c) Although no amount of training can transform an average person to the level of Tagore,
Shakespeare, etc. but it is also true that every individual can raise her/his level of
creative potential beyond its present level.
 Features of Creativity tests –
a) Creative tests came into existence to assess variations in terms of the potential for
creativity in contrast to intelligence.
 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

b) Creativity tests are open-ended. They permit the person to think of different answers to
the questions or problems in terms of her/his experiences, whatever these may have
been. These help the individual to go in different directions.
c) There are no specified answers to questions or problems in creativity tests. Therefore,
there is freedom to use one’s imagination and express it in original ways.
d) Creativity tests involve divergent thinking and assess such abilities as ability to
produce a variety of ideas, i.e. ideas which are off-the-beaten track, ability to see new
relationships between seemingly unrelated things, ability to guess causes and
consequences, ability to put things in a new context, etc.
e) Since expressions of creativity are varied, tests have been developed using different
stimuli like words, figures, action, and sounds. These tests measure general creative
thinking abilities like ability to think of a variety of ideas on a given topic/ situation,
alternative ways of looking at things, problems or situations, to guess causes and
consequences, to think of unusual ideas to improve and to use common objects, ask
unusual questions and so on.
f) A few investigators have also developed tests of creativity in different areas such as
literary creativity, scientific creativity, mathematical creativity, etc. Some of the famous
psychologists who have developed creativity tests are Guilford, Torrance, Khatena,
Wallach and Kogan, Paramesh, Baqer Mehdi, and Passi. Each test has a standardised
procedure, a complete set of manual, and interpretation guide. These can be used only
after extensive training in administration and interpretation of test scores.

B. Creativity and Intelligence

 Relationship between creativity and intelligence
a) Terman, in the 1920s, found that persons with high IQ were not necessarily creative. At
the same time, creative ideas could come from persons who did not have a very high IQ.
b) Other researches who followed up gifted persons throughout their adult life have shown
that those such people had not become well-known for creativity in some field.
c) Researchers have also found that both high and low level of creativity can be found in
highly intelligent children and also children of average intelligence.
d) The same person, thus, can be creative as well as intelligent but it is not necessary that
intelligent ones, in the conventional sense, must be creative. Intelligence, therefore, by
itself does not ensure creativity.
e) Researchers have found that the relationship between creativity and intelligence is
positive. A certain level of intelligence is required for creativity but beyond that
intelligence does not correlate well with creativity.
f) All creative acts require some minimum ability to acquire knowledge and capacity to
comprehend, retain, and retrieve. Creative writers, for example, need facility in dealing
with language. The artist must understand the effect that will be produced by a
particular technique of painting, a scientist must be able to reason and so on.
g) Creativity can take many forms and blends. Some may have more of intellectual
attributes; others may have more of attributes associated with creativity.

 Creativity versus Intelligence

 PSYCHOLOGY CLASS XII NOTES

Creativity Intelligence
Creativity refers to ability to think in novel Intelligence is the global and aggregate
and unusual ways and to come up with capacity of an individual to think rationally,
unique solutions to problems. act purposefully and deal effectively with
his/ her environment
Requires creation of something new and Requires cognitive competence when faced
appropriate with challenges
A person is said to be creative when s/he A person who has the ability to learn faster
devises new ways of learning and doing and reproduce accurately may be
considered intelligent
A Certain amount of intelligence is required All intelligent persons may not be creative.
to be creative. So, average intelligence is So, creativity is not a prerequisite of
prerequisite of creativity. intelligence
Creative tests measure fluency, flexibility, Intelligence tests measure speed and
originality and novelty accuracy of cognitive behaviour
Creativity tests involve divergent thinking Tests of intelligence which mostly involve
and assess such abilities as ability to convergent thinking.
produce a variety of ideas.
Creativity tests permit the person to think In tests of intelligence, the person has to
of different answers to the questions or think of the right solution to the problem
problems in terms of her/his experiences, and the focus is on assessing abilities such
whatever these may have been. There are as memory, logical reasoning, accuracy,
no specified answers to questions or perceptual ability, and clear thinking
problems in creativity tests.
There is freedom to use one’s imagination There is little scope for the expression of
and express it in original ways spontaneity, originality, and imagination.
Creativity tests are open-ended. Intelligence tests are close ended
E.g- Rita is another student who is just E.g- Sunita is regarded by her teachers as
average in her studies and has not achieved an excellent student. She does her work on
high grades consistently. She prefers to time, scores the highest grades in her class,
learn on her own. She improvises new ways listens to instructions with care, grasps
of helping her mother at home and comes quickly, reproduces accurately but she
up with new ways of doing her work and rarely comes out with ideas which are her
assignments. She is considered to be more own. She is considered to be more
creative. intelligent.