CHAPTER ONE

VARIATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN HUMAN FUNCTIONING

 Variability – fact of nature – individuals are no exception - People possess different

combinations of traits.
 People differ in terms of physical characteristics, height, weight, strength, etc. and also vary
along psychological dimensions like intelligent/ dull, dominant/ submissive,
outgoing/withdrawn, etc
 Each one of us is unique. We display a typical combination of traits –
 Individual differences – Distinctiveness and variations among people’s characteristics and
behaviour patterns.
 Situationism – Situations and circumstances in which one is placed influence one’s
behaviour
 Behaviours are influenced more by situational factors.
Eg: A calm and relaxed person may get panicky during an earthquake.
Eg: A short tempered person will not get angry towards his boss.
Eg: A relaxed person may get anxious if his house is on fire.
 Sometimes situations are so powerful that people with different personalities respond in
almost the same way.
Eg: Everyone will get scared during a hijack of a plane.
Eg: Everyone will panic during an earthquake/ tsunami.
 According to Situationism, human behaviour is a result of interaction of external and internal
factors.

ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

 Psychological attributes are involved in phenomena like reaction time as well as happiness
(everyone has a different reaction time and different concept of happiness).
 Reaction Time – Time taken to respond to a stimulus
Eg: Hand touches a hot iron, time taken to react to the sensation is known as reaction time.
 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 and
scientific procedures.
 Example: Harish is dominant – we refer to the degree of dominance in Harish

ASSESSMENT

Formal Informal
 It is objective, standardized and  Varies from case to case and from
organized assessor to assessor
 Done through formal tests and tools  It is open to subjective interpretations
 Psychologists are trained to do this
 Eg: Assessing a person’s personality  Eg: Assessing a person’s personality on
using standardised tools like a self-report the basis of interaction/ observation
 measure

 Assessment helps to predict behaviour.

 Eg: If a person has a dominating personality, we can predict that he will be good at
leadership tasks.
 The attributes chosen for assessment depends upon our purpose.
 Eg: In order to help a child perform well in exams, we assess his intellectual strengths and
weaknesses.
 Eg: For a poorly motivated person, we can assess his interests.
 Psychological assessment uses systematic testing procedures to evaluate abilities, behaviour
and personal qualities of individuals with the help of standardised tools.

DOMAINS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

 Psychological attributes are complex and multidimensional.

 If you want a complete assessment you need to assess various domains like cognitive,
emotional, social, etc.
 Some psychological attributes are:
1. Intelligence
 It is the global (overall) capacity to understand the world, think rationally and
use available resources effectively during challenges.
 Intelligence tests provide a global measure of a person’s general cognitive
competence.
2. Aptitude
 An individual’s underlying potential for acquiring skills (capabilities – inborn)
 Aptitude tests are used to predict what an individual will be able to do if given
proper training.
 Eg: A person with high language aptitude can be trained to be a writer.
3. Interest
 It is an individual’s preference for engaging in one or more activities.
 Interest tests help students to decide what subjects to pursue comfortably and
with pleasure – these choices promote life satisfaction and performance on jobs
4. Personality
 It is the relatively enduring characteristics of a person that make him distinct
(different) from others.
 Personality tests assess an individual’s unique characteristics and predict how he
will behave in the future.
5. Values
 These are enduring beliefs about an ideal mode of behaviour.
 Values guide a person’s actions and also set a standard for judging others.
 In value assessment, we determine the dominant values of a person – political,
religious, social, economic, etc.

ASSESSMENT METHODS
 1. Psychological Tests
 It is an objective and standardised measure of an individual’s mental and
behavioural characteristics.
 Measure all dimensions of psychological attributes.
 Eg: Intelligence, aptitude, etc.
 Used for clinical diagnosis guidance, personnel selection, training, etc.

2. Interview
 It involves seeking information from a person on a one-to-one basis.
 Eg: Counsellor interviews a client, journalist interviews people of national
importance

3. Case Study (add points from class 11 book – chap 2)

 It is an in-depth study of the individual in terms of his psychological attributes,
history in context of the psychosocial and physical environment.
 Widely used by clinical psychologists
 Case analyses of lives of great people can be highly illuminating for those willing to
learn from their life experiences
 Data is collected by different methods. Eg: interview, observation, questionnaire,
psychological tests, etc.

4. Observation
 It employs (uses) systematic, organised and objective procedures to record
behavioural, phenomena occurring naturally in real time.
 Ex. Mother child interactions
 Observer has little control over situations and can make subjective interpretations.

5. Self-Report
 Person provides factual information about himself/ herself, opinions, beliefs, etc.
 Information may be obtained using interview, questionnaire, psychological test or a
personal diary.

INTELLIGENCE

 Characteristics of an intelligent person according to the psychological notion of intelligence:

- Mental alertness
- Ready wit
- Quickness in learning
- Ability to understand relationships
 Oxford Dictionary explains intelligence as the power of perceiving, learning, understanding
and knowing.
 Alfred Binet (first psychologist to research intelligence) –Intelligence is the ability to judge
well, understand well and reason well.
  Wechsler (explained intelligence in terms of its functioning) – Intelligence is the global
(overall) and aggregate (total) capacity of an individual to think rationally, act purposefully
and to deal effectively with his/her environment.
 Gardner and Sternberg – Suggested that an intelligent individual not only adapts to the
environment but also actively modifies or shapes it.

THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

Psychometric Approach Information Processing Approach

 Considers intelligence as an aggregate  Describe the processes people use in
(sum) of abilities intellectual reasoning and problem
solving
 Expresses performance in terms of a  Focus is on how an intelligent person
single index of cognitive abilities acts
 Focus on the structure of intelligence  Study cognitive functions underlying
and its underlying dimensions intelligent behaviour
 Eg: Uni factor/One Factor, Two factor,  Eg: Triarchic Theory, PASS Model Theory
Primary Mental Abilities, Level I and II,
Structure of Intellect, Theory of Primary
Mental Abilities

PSYCHOMETRIC APPROACHES/ THEORIES

1. Alfred Binet – Uni Factor/ One Factor Theory

 His theory rose from his interest in differentiating between more intelligent people
and less intelligent people.
 Intelligence consists of one similar set of abilities which can be used for solving
every problem in an individual’s environment.
 Theory disputed when psychologists analysed data which was collected using Binet’s
tests

2. Charles Spearman (1927) – Two Factor Theory

 He used a statistical method called factor analysis.
 Intelligence consists of g-factor and s-factor.

G factor S factor
 General factors  Specific factors
 Mental operations that are primary and  Specific abilities which allow people to
common to all performances excel in their respective domains
 Eg: Problem solving and decision -  Eg: Sachin Tendulkar is an excellent
making abilities cricketer, a professional chef is an
excellent cook

3. Louis Thurstone – Theory of Primary Mental Abilities

 Intelligence consists of seven primary abilities. They are all relatively independent
of each other (not related/ connected).
a. Verbal Ability – Understanding meaning of words and concepts.
 b. Numerical Ability – Speed and accuracy in calculation.
c. Spatial Relations – Visualizing patterns and forms
d. Perceptual Speed – Speed in perceiving details
e. Word Fluency – Using words fluently and flexibly
f. Memory – Accuracy in recalling information
g. Inductive Reasoning – deriving general rules from presented facts

4. Arthur Jensen
 It is a hierarchical model of intelligence with abilities operating at two levels.
 Level 1 – Associative Learning- Output is more or less similar to input (eg: rote
learning and memory)
 Level 2 – Cognitive Competence – Involves higher order skills as they transform the
input to produce an effective output, using existing knowledge (eg: reasoning,
problem solving)

5. J.P Guilford – Structure of Intellect Model

 Intellectual traits or behaviours are classified among three dimensions: Operations,
Contents, Products
 Operations – They are what the respondent does. Eg: Cognition, memory
recording, memory retention, divergent production, convergent production and
evaluation (6)
 Contents – They refer to the nature of information on which intellectual operations
are performed. Eg: visual, auditory, symbolic, semantic, behavioural (5)
 Products – They refer to the form in which information is processed. Eg: Units,
Classes, relations, systems, transformations and implications. (6)
 This classification includes 6x5x6 categories; therefore the model has 180 cells.
 Each cell has one or more factors/ abilities - some cells may have more than one
factor
 Each factor is described in terms of all three dimensions (contents, operations and
products).

INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACHES

6. Theory of Multiple Intelligence – Howard Gardner

 Intelligence is not a single entity. Distinct types of intelligences exist.
 Each of these intelligences are independent of each other.
 If a person has one type of intelligence, it does not indicate being high or low on
other types.
 Different types of intelligence interact and find the solution to a problem.
 He described eight types of intelligences which are independent of each other.

a. Linguistic
 These are skills involved in the production and use of language.
 It is the capacity to use language fluently and flexibly to express oneself.
 They are sensitive to different shades of word meanings, articulate, can create
linguistic images in their mind.
  Eg: poets, writers
b. Logical-Mathematical
 Skills involved in scientific thinking and problem solving.
 Persons high on this can think logically and critically, do abstract reasoning, can
manipulate symbols to solve mathematical problems.
 Eg: Scientists, nobel prize winners
c. Spatial
 It involves skills in forming visual images and patterns.
 These are the abilities involved in forming, using and transforming mental
images.
 Persons high on this can easily represent the spatial world in their mind.
 Eg: Pilots, architects
d. Musical
 It is the sensitivity to musical rhythms and patterns.
 It is the capacity to produce, create and manipulate musical patterns.
 Persons high on this are sensitive to sounds and vibrations in creating new
patterns of sounds
 Eg: Music directors, singers
e. Bodily Kinesthetic
 It is the skill of using whole or portions of the body flexibly and creatively for
display or construction of products and problem solving
 Eg: Athletes, dancers, surgeon
f. Interpersonal
 Sensitivity to subtle aspects of others’ behaviour
 It is the skill of understanding motives, feelings and behaviour of others.
 Persons high on this are sensitive to others’ behaviours.
 Eg: Psychologists, Social Workers, politicians, counsellors, religious leaders
g. Intrapersonal
 The skill of being aware of one’s own feelings, motives and desires.
 Persons high on this are aware of one’s strengths and weaknesses and use this
knowledge to relate to others.
 They have finer sensibilities, sense of identity, human existence and meaning
of life.
 Eg: Philosophers, spiritual leaders
h. Naturalistic
 Persons high on this are sensitive to the feature of the natural world.
 They recognise beauty of different species of flora and fauna.
 Eg: Hunters, farmers, botanists, tourists, zoologists

7. Robert Sternberg (1985) – Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

 Sternberg defined intelligence as ‘the ability to adapt, to shape, and select
environment to accomplish one’s goals and those of one’s society and culture’.
 He said that there three basic types of intelligences:
 Componential Experiential Contextual
Knowledge Acquisition
Higher order/meta
(planning)
Performance

i) Componential Intelligence
 Also known as analytical intelligence.
 It involves analysis of information to solve problems.
 People high on this think analytically, critically and succeed in schools.
 The three components of componential intelligence each serving a different function are:

Knowledge acquisition Meta or higher order Performance

Learning ways of doing things Planning what to do and how Actually performing or doing
to do the task

Eg: Driving – Learning about the parts of the car and their usage (knowledge acquisition), planning
when to go for a drive (higher order/ meta), actually driving (performance).

Eg: A child learns a scientific concept for an exam (knowledge acquisition), he makes a time table
to structure his routine as to when he will study (higher order/ planning), giving the exam
(performance). (BOOK EXAMPLE)

ii) Experiential Intelligence

 Also called creative intelligence.
 People use past experiences creatively to solve new problems.
 Reflected in creative performance
 People high on this integrate different experiences originally to make new inventions and
discoveries.
 Quickly find out which information is crucial in a given situation
 Eg: Steve Jobs, Newton, Einstein are high on experiential intelligence

iii) Contextual Intelligence

 Also known as practical intelligence.
 It is the ability to deal with the environmental demands on a daily basis.
 Persons high on this are ‘street smart’ and have business sense.
 They are able to adapt to any environment or select a favourable environment and modify
it to fit their needs – turn out to be successful in life

(LEARN Fig 1.1 – pg 8 – Important)

8. PASS MODEL of Intelligence – J.P Das, Jack Naglieri, Kirby (1994)

 PASS MODEL: Planning, Attention-Arousal, Simultaneous- Successive Processing

 Intellectual activity involves the interdependent function of three neurological systems
(called the functional units of the brain).
  These are responsible for arousal/ attention, coding/processing and planning.

Arousal/ Attention

 Arousal (energised/ charged up) is basic to any behaviour.

 It helps us to attend to stimuli and process information.
 Too much or too little arousal interferes with attention.
 Optimum level of arousal is needed to focus attention to relevant aspects of a problem
 Ex. Teacher tells she will take exam – you are aroused to focus attention, read, learn and
revise the chapters

Simultaneous and Successive Processing – used for integrating information

Simultaneous Processing Successive Processing

 When you perceive relations among  When you remember all information
various concepts and integrate them serially.
into a meaningful pattern for
understanding.
 Helps to understand the meaning of  Recall of one leads to recall of another.
abstract figures.
 Eg: Raven’s progressive matrices (RPM)  Eg: learning of Digits, maths, tables,
alphabets

Planning

 After information is attended to and processed – planning is activated

 Planning allows us to think of the possible courses of action, implement them to reach a
target and evaluate their effectiveness.
 If plan does not work – it is modified to suit requirements of the task
 Eg: You plan a schedule to study for an exam. If you are unable to cope, you ask the teacher
for extra help.

PASS MODEL – operates on knowledge base developed formally (reading, writing, experimenting) or
informally from the environment – interactive and dynamic processes – distinctive functions

DAS and NAGLIERI have also developed a battery of tests known as the Cognitive Assessment
System (CAS).

 It consists of verbal and non-verbal tasks that measure basic cognitive functions
independent of schooling
 The battery of tests is meant for individuals between 5 and 18 years of age.
 The results of the test can be used to remedy cognitive deficits of children with learning
problems.

INTELLIGENCE: Interplay of Nature (genes) and Nurture (environment)

 Hereditary influences on intelligence can be seen from studies on twins and adopted
children.
 Intelligence of identical twins reared together correlates almost 0.90.
  Intelligence of identical twins reared in different environments correlates 0.72.
 Fraternal twins reared together is 0.60.
 Brothers and sisters reared together 0.50.
 Siblings reared apart correlate about 0.25.
 With respect to the role of the environment - As children grow in age, intelligence levels
move closer to adoptive parents.
 Children from disadvantaged homes adopted by families with higher economic status –
increase in intelligence scores
 Environmental deprivation lowers intelligence while rich nutrition, good family background
and quality education increases intelligence.
 Intelligence is a product of interaction of hereditary (nature) and environment (nurture).
 Hereditary sets a range within which an individual’s development is shaped by the support
and opportunities of the environment.

ASSESSMENT OF INTELLIGENCE

 First attempt to measure intelligence was made by Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon in
1905.
 In 1908, they gave the concept of mental age (MA) – it is a measure of a person’s intellectual
development relative to people of his/her age group.
 Chronological Age (CA) is the biological age from birth.
 For a bright child, MA is more than CA. For a dull child, MA is below CA.
 In 1912, William Stern (German psychologist) gave the concept of IQ (Intelligence Quotient).
 IQ refers to MA divided by CA and multiplied by 100.

IQ = MA/CA x 100

(Eg: IQ = 20/15 x 100

= 2000/15 = 133.3

 The IQ scores are distributed in a way that most of the people fall in the middle range.
 The frequency distribution for the IQ scores tends to approximate (look like) a bell shaped
curve – called the Normal Curve or the normal probability curve.
 It is symmetrical around the centre value called the mean.
 Mean IQ score – 100; 90 – 110 is normal intelligence. IQ below 70 suspected to have
intellectual deficiency and 130 above have exceptional talents
 --------ID--------I--------AVERAGE--------I------GIFTED-------------

NOTE: Learn Table 1.1 and fig 1.2 from the book pg 11 – IMPORTANT

VARIATIONS IN INTELLIGENCE

I-------------------------------------------(RANGE)-----------------------------------------------I

Intellectual Deficiency Gifted

Intellectual Deficiency

 The American Association of Mental Deficiency (AAMD) views intellectual deficiency as

“significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with
deficits in adaptive behaviour and manifested during the developmental period.
 Three features to be judged as intellectually deficiency are:
a) Significantly sub-average intellectual functioning (below IQ of 70)
b) Deficits in adaptive behaviour – Adaptive behaviour is a person’s capacity to be
independent and deal effectively with one’s environment
c) During the developmental period – between the age of 0 to 18 years

Individuals with ID have the following features:

 Significant variations 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 care
throughout their lives.

LEVELS OF DEFICIENCY

Mild Deficiency 55 – 70
Moderate Deficiency 35-45 to 50-55
Severe Deficiency 20-25 to 35-40 IQ RANGE
Profound Deficiency below 20-25
Mild
 Can function independently
 Hold jobs and families

Moderate
 Lag behind in language and motor skills
 Can be trained in self-care skills, simple social skills and communication skills
 Moderate degree of supervision

Profound and Severe

 Incapable of managing life
 Need constant care

INTELLECTUAL GIFTEDNESS

 Show higher performance because of their outstanding potentialities.

 Study about gifted children began in 1925, when Lewis Terman followed the lives of 1500
children with IQs of 130 and above.
 Giftedness is exceptional general ability shown in superior performance in a wide variety of
areas.
 Talent is a narrower term which refers to remarkable ability in a specific field (eg: spiritual,
social, aesthetic).
 Highly talented are called ‘Prodigies’.
 Giftedness is a combination of high ability, high creativity and high commitment – this is
based on the teacher’s point of view.
 Each gifted student possesses different strengths, personalities and characteristics

CHARACTERISTICS OF GIFTED CHILDREN

 Intellectual superiority
 Larger attention span
 Sensitivity to environmental changes
 Good recognition memory
 Preference for novelty (new things)
 Advanced logical thinking
 Early appearance of language skills
 Questioning and problem-solving behaviour
 High speed in processing information
 Superior generalization (similarities) and discrimination (differences) abilities
 Advanced level of original and creative thinking
 High level of intrinsic (internal) motivation and high self-esteem
 Independent and non-conformist thinking
 Prefer solitary (alone) academic activities

Sources of information about identifying the gifted:

 Teacher’s judgement
 School achievement record
  Peer and self-rating
 Intellectual assessment

To reach their full potential, gifted children require special attention and different educational
programmes needed to go beyond those provided to normal children in regular classrooms

 Life enrichment programmes

 Sharpen productive thinking, planning, decision-making and communication

TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS

1. Individual Tests or Group Tests

Individual Tests Group Tests

 Administered to one person at a  Administered to several people
time simultaneously
 Administrator should establish  Do not allow an opportunity to be
rapport with the subject – be familiar with the subject’s feelings
sensitive towards his feelings and
moods
 People answer orally or in a written  Seek written answers in a multiple-
form or manipulate objects as per choice format
the tester’s instructions

2. Verbal, Non-Verbal or Performance Tests

Verbal Non Verbal Performance

 Subjects give verbal  Use pictures or  Subjects manipulate
responses either illustrations as test objects and other
orally or in a written items materials to perform
form a task
 Can be administered  Raven’s Progressive  Written language not
to only literate Matrices (RPM) (a necessary
people pattern with a
portion is missing,
options to complete
the pattern)
 Eg. WAIS, Wechsler  Koh’s Block Design
Test
 Can be easily
administered to
different cultures

3. Culture Fair or Culture Biased

  A lot of tests developed in America and Europe represent an urban and middle class
culture ethos.
 The items do not respect the cultural perspectives of Asia and Africa.
 Psychologists have tried to develop tests that are culture fair or culturally
appropriate, i.e. one that can be administered to people belonging to different
cultures - does not discriminate against individuals belonging to different cultures
 Items assess experiences common to all cultures and help to reduce cultural bias.
 Non – verbal and performance tests reduce cultural biases associated with verbal
tests

INTELLIGENCE TESTING IN INDIA

 S.M Mohsin made pioneering attempt in constructing an intelligence test in Hindi in 1930s.
 C.H Rice – standardised Binet’s test in Urdu and Punjabi.
 Mahalanobis – standardised Binet’s test in Bengali
 Indian researchers developed Indian norms for western tests – RPM, WAIS, Alexander’s
Pass Along, Cube Construction and Koh’s Block Design Test
 Long and Mehta – prepared Mental Measurement Handbook – listing out 103 tests of
intelligence in India – available in various languages.
 The National Library of Educational and Psychological Tests (NLEPT) at the National Council
of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has documented Indian tests.
 NLEPT has brought out handbooks in the area of intelligence, aptitude, personality,
attitudes and interests.

CULTURE AND INTELLIGENCE

 The cultural environment provides a context for intelligence to develop.

 Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist said the culture provides a social context in which
people live, grow and understand the world around them.
 Eg: In less technologically developed societies – social and emotional skills are valued.
 In technologically advanced societies, achievement funded on reasoning and judgment
abilities is considered intelligent.
 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.
 Sternberg – intelligence is a product of culture (contextual or practical intelligence).
 Vygotsky – Cultures have a life of their own; they grow and change, specify the end
product of successful intellectual development.
 According to Vygotsky – elementary mental functions (crying, walking, running,
sensitivity to smells, etc.) are universal; higher mental functions (problem solving,
thinking) are culture produced.
 Technologically advanced societies adopt child rearing practices that foster skills of
generalization and abstraction, speed, minimal moves and mental manipulation
among children.
  These societies promote technological intelligence – persons are well versed in skills of
attention, observation, analysis, performance, speed and achievement orientation.
 In addition to cognitive competence that is very specific to the individual, Non-western
societies look for skills to relate to others in the society, value self-reflection and
collectivistic orientation as opposed to personal achievement and individualistic
orientation

INTELLIGENCE IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT

 Intelligence in the Indian tradition – integral intelligence – emphasis on connectivity with

the social and world environment.
 Indian thinkers – view intelligence as a holistic view – cognitive and non-cognitive processes
and their integration.
 Sanskrit word ‘Buddhi’ represents intelligence.
 J.P Das explained the term Buddhi. It involves skills such as mental effort, determined
action, feelings, opinions along with cognitive competence such as knowledge,
discrimination and understanding.
 Buddhi is knowledge of one’s own self based on conscience, will and desire.
 Buddhi has affective (emotional), motivational and cognitive components.
 Competencies identified as facets of intelligence in the Indian tradition:

a) Cognitive Capacity
 Discrimination
 Sensitivity to context
 Understanding
 Problem solving
 Effective communication
b) Social Competence
 Respect for social order (norms)
 Commitment to elders, young, needy
 Concern about others
 Recognizing others’ perspective
c) Emotional Competence
 Self-regulation and self-monitoring emotions honestly
 Politeness
 Good conduct
 Self-evaluation
d) Entrepreneurial Competence
 Commitment
 Persistence
 Patience
 Hard work
 Vigilance
 Goal directed behaviours

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
  Emotional Intelligence is a set of skills that underlie accurate appraisal (evaluation),
expression and regulation of emotions.
 It is the feeling side of intelligence.
 Salovey and Mayer – defined 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) expresses emotional intelligence.
 It is the ability to process emotional information accurately and efficiently.
 Increase in emotional intelligence decreases anti-social behaviour.

(Box 1.2 – pg 17 Learn)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

APTITUDE: NATURE AND MEASUREMENT

 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.
 Knowledge about aptitude helps to predict performance in future.
 People with similar intelligence differ in aptitude.
 Eg: A and B can have IQ of 110 but A may be good at maths and B at English.
 Interest is a preference for a particular activity; aptitude is the potentiality to perform that
activity.
 To be successful in a field, a person must have aptitude and interest.
 Eg: A student high on mechanical aptitude is likely to become a successful mechanical
engineer.

APTITUDE TESTS

Independent Multiple
 Also called specialised  Also called generalized
 Eg: Clerical, Mechanical, Numerical,  Test Batteries
Typing
 Eg: DAT (Differential Aptitude Test),
General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB),
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude
battery (ASVAB)

 DAT is the most common: 8 independent subsets

i) Verbal Reasoning
ii) Numerical Reasoning
iii) Abstract Reasoning
iv) Clerical Speed & Accuracy
v) Mechanical Reasoning
vi) Space Relations
 vii) Spelling
viii) Language Usage

J.M Ojha developed Indian adaptation of DAT.

CREATIVITY

 Some people express creativity in writing while others in science, or dance, etc.
 One can observe creativity in the form of novel solutions to a problem, an invention, a
painting, new chemical process, composition of a poem, innovation in law, breakthrough in
preventing disease, etc. – one common element – something new and unique
 Individuals vary in terms of the level of creativity they show.
 Creativity can be expressed in verbal, non-verbal ways as well as physical activity.
 Creativity is a result of hereditary (genes) as well as environment.
 How much creative potential can be realized (achieved) is determined by environmental
factors such as motivation, commitment, family support, etc.

CREATIVITY AND INTELLIGENCE (Relationship between creativity and intelligence)

 A person who has the ability to learn faster and reproduce accurately may be considered
intelligent.
 If a person devises new ways of learning and doing, will be considered more creative.
 In 1920, Terman found that people with high IQ were not necessarily creative.
 At the same time, creative ideas could come from people who did not have very high IQ.
 The same person can be creative as well as intelligent but it is not necessary that the
intelligent ones may be creative.
 Intelligence by itself does not ensure creativity.
 All creative acts require some minimum ability to acquire knowledge, capacity to
comprehend, retain and retrieve.
 Eg: An artist must understand the techniques of painting.
 A certain level of intelligence is required for creativity but beyond this there is no
correlation.
 Creativity tests are open ended. They allow a person to think of different answers to a
problem. They involve divergent thinking. There is scope for originality and imagination.
 Whereas intelligence tests are close ended and involve convergent thinking where there is
only one correct answer. There is little scope for imagination in intelligence tests
 Some psychologists who have developed creativity tests are Guilford, Passi, Kogam and
Paramesh.

NOTES FOR THE BOXES

1. What are some misuses of Intelligence tests?

  Poor performance on a test may attach a stigma to children.
 Discriminating practices from parents, teachers, and elders.
 Do not capture creative potentials and practical side of intelligence.
 Can be biased – in favour of middle class and higher populations and underestimate IQ
of children from rural sectors
 May not relate to success in life

2. LEARN TABLE 1.2 book page no. 15

3. What are the characteristics of emotionally intelligent persons?

 Sensitive to feelings and emotions
 Sensitive to facial expressions and body language, voice and tone
 Understand the powerful influence of emotions
 Can control and regulate emotions
 Take emotions into account while problem solving and decision making